Urinal Sentinal

[2TimeWarrior]

A ranked and local MU team plays a big game at a highly ranked Pitt and when I go onto JS Online this morning the top story and picture I see is about two unranked teams from a subpar conference and the low scoring, crap game they played.

I don't know if they put it on the front page of the print paper too, but what a joke!  I hate that paper!

[esotericmindguy]

I hear ya, but there are many more WI fans in the state then there are MU fans.  I'm guessing thats their reasoning.  I switched over during MU's 12 minute break and the score was 13-9 MN with 5 minutes left in the half, MU scored 21 points in 4 minutes.

It was an awful game but great ending, Westrbrook scored the last 10 points and bo was whining the whole time.

[ATWizJr]

Was thinking the same thing.  IS it not a MKE paper and is MU not a MKE school?  Get your head out of your butt G. Howard.

[Eye]

As a guy who was a sports editor for 12 years, I think the issue is there's zero thought on a game-by-game basis when they both play on the same night which is the bigger game and which deserves more space because of that. I think the problem is that it's decided before the season begins that the Rodents will always trump MU in these spots, and that it's not being analyzed on a nightly basis. Two top 13 teams with all the storylines surrounding MU would trump two probably-in/middling-seeds type of teams in my book in terms of importance.

I think they're also designing the page to please what they perceive to be the vast majority of their audience (90 to 95 percent). While I'd admit there are more readers in their readership interested in the Rodents, I also think they have zero idea how much of their audience has interest in MU (I'd guess something like 40 percent, vs. what I'd guess they think is about 5 to 10 percent).

And lastly, I wouldn't put it past them that there are people there who love the Rodents and have a warped, incorrect subconscious bias against MU, and that influences the way things are done. But that's only a small part of the problem. I think the bigger problem is a lack of analyzation on a night-by-night basis, and a big lack of understating what percentage of their readership has some interest in reading about MU.

[GGGG]

Was thinking the same thing.  IS it not a MKE paper and is MU not a MKE school?  Get your head out of your butt G. Howard.

There are more Badger fans in Milwaukee than there are Marquette fans.  Furthermore, the MJS is basically the de facto newspaper of the state of Wisconsin these days.

[Eye]

The fact that they think they need to be the defacto paper of the state is a big part of the problem in my mind. They should be the unquestioned source of info on all things Brewers, Bucks, MU, even the Admirals. A certain percentage of their readership is going to get their Packers and Rodents news somewhere else.

[Brewtown Andy]

To be fair, the Badger game came down to the wire, and MU got blown out.

[Eye]

That's a fair point, and should be a factor. I'm guessing it may not have been, but it could have been.

[Chili]

There are more Badger fans in Milwaukee than there are Marquette fans.  Furthermore, the MJS is basically the de facto newspaper of the state of Wisconsin these days.

I am pretty sure the Wisconsin State Journal is the state paper.

[Eye]

To be honest, I don't think either one should be trying to be the state newspaper. Focus on being 100 percent the source of information for teams in your cities before you focus on teams not in your base city. I'm not a Packer fan, but if I was, I'd be looking to the GB Press-Gazette for my Packers news, not the MJS or WSJ. When I actually cared a lot about the NFL 13 and more years ago, I did everything I could to get a copy the San Francisco Chronicle, not the Sacramento or Fresno papers.

[Hards Alumni]

To be honest, I don't think either one should be trying to be the state newspaper. Focus on being 100 percent the source of information for teams in your cities before you focus on teams not in your base city. I'm not a Packer fan, but if I was, I'd be looking to the GB Press-Gazette for my Packers news, not the MJS or WSJ. When I actually cared a lot about the NFL 13 and more years ago, I did everything I could to get a copy the San Francisco Chronicle, not the Sacramento or Fresno papers.

Post Crescent > GBPG

[GooooMarquette]

The fact is, the U/S is more about making money than it is about sorting out stories based on "importance" or some other priority.  As a result, the Badgers story will always take priority over MU, because there are simply more UW@Madison alumni and fans in Milwaukee.

The good news today is that they got headlines that highighted a loss to a pretty average Minnesota team.  Frankly, I'd be fine if that made the lead story in USA Today, ESPN.com and wherever else they want to run it....

[HoopsMalone]

Also, the fact that they were playing Minnesota could have been a factor.  More of a local rivalry than the one involving Pitt and MU.

Wisconsin missed a chance to get their licks in before Trevor Mbakwe gets to Minnesota.

[Eye]

Also fair points. Money shouldn't be a factor, but as it is in so many things in life, it is. And the fact that it's Rodents - Minnesota is a minor factor.

[GGGG]

I am pretty sure the Wisconsin State Journal is the state paper.

Milwaukee Journal Sentinel's circulation is three times that of the Wisconsin State Journal...despite the State Journal being the official paper for state government notices.

[MUEng92]

As one of the seven remaining subscribers to the paper verison of the paper, I feel I should point out that the MU game article was more prominent than the UW article on the front of the sports page.

[ZiggysFryBoy]

As one of the seven remaining subscribers to the paper verison of the paper, I feel I should point out that the MU game article was more prominent than the UW article on the front of the sports page.

Awesome!

The WSJ runs the state notices in the already small sports page.  I get more sports news from my friends' facebook updates that the WSJ.