[Enlund's Blog] McKay commits to MU

[TomEnlundSays]

McKay commits to MU
               




               

http://www.jsonline.com/blogs/sports/157017225.html
               

[GGGG]

Hey the carrier pigeon has arrived!

[muhoops1]

whoa, whoa, whoa.  Hold the phone.  Mckay committed?  Get out!

[jmayer1]

We landed on the moon!!

[tower912]

Thanks for the timely update chock-filled with interesting information.....like.....what year he is coming.....comments from McKay himself......you know, stuff that many other sites not affiliated with Milwaukee or Marquette had nearly 72 hours ago.   

[madtownwarrior]

or that he is from an MPS school, or what position does he play...

why does enlund / MJS even bother at this point...

Thanks for the timely update chock-filled with interesting information.....like.....what year he is coming.....comments from McKay himself......you know, stuff that many other sites not affiliated with Milwaukee or Marquette had nearly 72 hours ago.  

[brewcity77]

When did this happen? 

[MUCrew]

why does enlund / MJS even bother at this point...

Yup.  I remember when he was first hired he had a short run of putting up some good stuff.  Actually made me retract some of the stuff I said about him.  Since then he's been garbage.  Regurgitated garbage. 

So yeah, now it's back on.

[The Process]

Yup.  I remember when he was first hired he had a short run of putting up some good stuff.  Actually made me retract some of the stuff I said about him.  Since then he's been garbage.  Regurgitated garbage. 

So yeah, now it's back on.

Yep.  Methinks we should all go mock him on Twitter.  Oh, wait - he hasn't posted ANYTHING there since the Lockett signing a MONTH ago!

@tenlund on Twitter, if you're interested.

Anyone think of a creative hashtag we can use for when we rip on him?

[Boone]

Nice effort, Tom. Thanks for mailing that one in.

[JamilJaeJamailJrJuan]

This guy really is a joke.

Pretty convinced any semi-regular poster on here could blow him out of the water with very little effort. Truly a sad display of professionalism. Hate to say it, but he should be ashamed of the work he does.

[bleedbluegold03]

Should really just read "TomEnlundSays" jack crap

[dw3dw3dw3]

This guy really is a joke.

Pretty convinced any semi-regular poster on here could blow him out of the water with very little effort. Truly a sad display of professionalism. Hate to say it, but he should be ashamed of the work he does.

Not to defend him, but he has has put out 7 Marquette articles in the last 8 days (Autry (1 blog, 1 article), Aki (1 blog, 1 article) , Chew (1 blog, 1article), and McKay (now with quotes).

He's also been working the state track meet and has put out about 10 articles on that.

While I would love for coverage to be better, I think it's kind of a uncalled for cheap shot to say people are a joke without knowing the hand they are playing.

[Bocephys]

Not to defend him, but he has has put out 7 Marquette articles in the last 8 days (Autry (1 blog, 1 article), Aki (1 blog, 1 article) , Chew (1 blog, 1article), and McKay (now with quotes).

He's also been working the state track meet and has put out about 10 articles on that.

While I would love for coverage to be better, I think it's kind of a uncalled for cheap shot to say people are a joke without knowing the hand they are playing.

Don't start injecting facts into this firestorm of baseless conjecture!

In all honestly, no one is getting their breaking news from him anyway, so why complain?  If he pumps out a few in depth puff pieces a month and contributes some solid postgame quotes that otherwise won't be picked up by national media then I'm happy. 

[eroc830]

Don't start injecting facts into this firestorm of baseless conjecture!

In all honestly, no one is getting their breaking news from him anyway, so why complain?  If he pumps out a few in depth puff pieces a month and contributes some solid postgame quotes that otherwise won't be picked up by national media then I'm happy. 

I agree.  He does other things than the MU beat.  Its June, not March.

[Silkk the Shaka]

For those defending Enlund, why did out of market papers have articles up about McKay's commitment & ramifications, as well as Chew's move to MU & ramifications within hours, yet it takes days for the hometown paper to get up a four sentence blurb about ANY positive news with zero insight or elaboration?  It really is a complete joke.  Hack reporting at its finest.

[bamamarquettefan]

Hey the carrier pigeon has arrived!

BTW Sultan, like the new photo!

Sorry if anyone else commented.  I was on a silent three-day retreat PRAYING when McKay committed so learned of it just a little before the Journal.

Based on this experience, I believe I will skip the entire NCAA tournament next year for a month-long silent retreat, and then return to civilization in early April to read the Journal story on the National Championship LOL!

[brewcity77]

Not to defend him, but he has has put out 7 Marquette articles in the last 8 days (Autry (1 blog, 1 article), Aki (1 blog, 1 article) , Chew (1 blog, 1article), and McKay (now with quotes).

He's also been working the state track meet and has put out about 10 articles on that.

While I would love for coverage to be better, I think it's kind of a uncalled for cheap shot to say people are a joke without knowing the hand they are playing.

If he's overworked, then get a staff writer or intern to throw something together. Both McKay and Chew were major stories about their hometown college basketball team. Milwaukee simply isn't on the map compared to Marquette in terms of college basketball, and sorry Potrykus, but the Badgers have their own paper called the Wisconsin State Journal.

I know that the MJS treats Marquette as second fiddle, but you can't break a story 2 1/2 days later and just get a pass. If Enlund is out of town or too busy, someone else should be at the very least getting something online and a blurb in the print edition.

While no one may be turning there first, it's disappointing to see such a lackluster product as our only newspaper. The MJS is a perfect example of why being a one-newspaper town is a losing proposition for the business. 25 years ago, it mattered who got the story out first. There was a reason to buy the afternoon paper, because it might actually have info that wasn't in the morning paper. Today, they can let significant local stories sit on the shelf for days because they know that there isn't a local competing paper that will scoop them. Not like anyone's driving down to Chicago for a Sun-Times or Trib (both of whom probably had both stories before the MJS, at least online).

[Pakuni]

For those defending Enlund, why did out of market papers have articles up about McKay's commitment & ramifications, as well as Chew's move to MU & ramifications within hours, yet it takes days for the hometown paper to get up a four sentence blurb about ANY positive news with zero insight or elaboration?  It really is a complete joke.  Hack reporting at its finest.

Which out-of-market papers had stories about McKay and Chew?
Note: Chicago/Illinois papers don't count on the latter, given that was as much a U of Illinois story as a Marquette story.

Sorry to burst some bubbles, but outside the hardcore fanbase (i.e. the people who inhabit sites like this), the casual fan doesn't care all that much about the verbal commitment of some JUCO kid he or she has never heard of. We may think it's significant, but it's unlikely that the average person picking up the sports page would agree. Newspapers - and all media outlets - know very well which stories drive traffic and which stories don't, and use those figures to guide coverage. If the JS editors believe Enlund's time is better spent covering the state track meet than chasing down a verbal commitment at MU, it's probably because readership numbers tell them that's so.

What's interesting is all the anger directed at Enlund. For a bunch of people who don't like his coverage, the MJS, etc., you sure seem to crave their validation that this is important news. You all found out about McKay's commitment two days ago. Why does it matter to you when the MJS gets around to covering it?

[The Process]

In all honestly, no one is getting their breaking news from him anyway, so why complain?  If he pumps out a few in depth puff pieces a month and contributes some solid postgame quotes that otherwise won't be picked up by national media then I'm happy. 

Because other, non-local news sources beat him to the punch not by hours... but by DAYS.  And their articles make Enlund's look absolutely pathetic.

I know that the MJS treats Marquette as second fiddle, but you can't break a story 2 1/2 days later and just get a pass. If Enlund is out of town or too busy, someone else should be at the very least getting something online and a blurb in the print edition.

While no one may be turning there first, it's disappointing to see such a lackluster product as our only newspaper. The MJS is a perfect example of why being a one-newspaper town is a losing proposition for the business. 25 years ago, it mattered who got the story out first. There was a reason to buy the afternoon paper, because it might actually have info that wasn't in the morning paper. Today, they can let significant local stories sit on the shelf for days because they know that there isn't a local competing paper that will scoop them. Not like anyone's driving down to Chicago for a Sun-Times or Trib (both of whom probably had both stories before the MJS, at least online).

Exactly.  It's just a matter of time until the Urinal Sentinel goes the way of the New Orleans paper.  Sad, but true.  Their attempts to pander to their increasingly-apathetic subscriber base are not likely to succeed.

Not to defend him, but he has has put out 7 Marquette articles in the last 8 days (Autry (1 blog, 1 article), Aki (1 blog, 1 article) , Chew (1 blog, 1article), and McKay (now with quotes).

He's also been working the state track meet and has put out about 10 articles on that.

While I would love for coverage to be better, I think it's kind of a uncalled for cheap shot to say people are a joke without knowing the hand they are playing.

Ok, so really he's now put out 4 articles, as the blogs became much of the real article.  As Brewcity said, if Enlund is otherwise occupied (whether it be at the state track meet or taking another nap on the couch in the back office), perhaps another writer on staff can get something, anything up on the blog... rather than waiting for the carrier pigeon to drop off the news.

What's interesting is all the anger directed at Enlund. For a bunch of people who don't like his coverage, the MJS, etc., you sure seem to crave their validation that this is important news. You all found out about McKay's commitment two days ago. Why does it matter to you when the MJS gets around to covering it?

Because it's hilarious when Don Walker runs an endless stream of non-stories about MU basketball players at a nightclub *gasp* UNDERAGE yet whenever something good for Marquette happens... the Urinal Sentinel is sound asleep at the wheel.  I'm sure if DJO *had* bought McKay's burger this weekend, Walker/Enlund would have had stories up breathlessly telling about each and every sortid detail behind the NCAA violation and how long MU was likely to be suspended from postseason play.

[MUfan12]

Sorry to burst some bubbles, but outside the hardcore fanbase (i.e. the people who inhabit sites like this), the casual fan doesn't care all that much about the verbal commitment of some JUCO kid he or she has never heard of.

Normally, I'd agree. But this is a local kid. An MPS product that has worked his way up to a high major, Big East program. In Milwaukee.

You don't think there's an audience for that type of story?

[Pakuni]

Because it's hilarious when Don Walker runs an endless stream of non-stories about MU basketball players at a nightclub *gasp* UNDERAGE yet whenever something good for Marquette happens... the Urinal Sentinel is sound asleep at the wheel.  I'm sure if DJO *had* bought McKay's burger this weekend, Walker/Enlund would have had stories up breathlessly telling about each and every sortid detail behind the NCAA violation and how long MU was likely to be suspended from postseason play.

And by "Endless stream" you mean three blog posts (which, by the way, came about the same time as a post about MU merchandise sales on the rise ... another negative story)?
http://www.jsonline.com/blogs/archive/?startDate=03-01-2012&blogID=28007179&endDate=03-31-2012&archive=y
And if it's a non-story, why were there literally hundreds of posts about it here? And why was it picked up by national sites like ESPN? Seems like a story to me.

I was hoping we were past this conspiracy business.

[Pakuni]

Normally, I'd agree. But this is a local kid. An MPS product that has worked his way up to a high major, Big East program. In Milwaukee.

You don't think there's an audience for that type of story?

There may be an audience, but the JS editors - right or wrong - apparently have decided it's not a significant one. Or at least not significant enough to pull someone off another assignment they deem more significant.
Maybe they're wrong. And it's fine to think so.
FWIW, from my own experience in the business, prep sports drive way more traffic to local news sites than college sports. So it gets the coverage.
Let's check the most read stories on the JS site tomorrow morning, and see if McKay is up there. I'm guessing it won't be.
All that said, it's silly to believe it's the result of some mass incompetence, or worse yet a conspiracy against Marquette.

[brewcity77]

My displeasure isn't just the lack of coverage for Marquette, it's a general decline in the quality of newspaper in Milwaukee. This morning's paper was a perfect example. There was a major fire yesterday that sent 5 Milwaukee firefighters to the hospital. 2 of them are still hospitalized. It was on all the news networks. Yet when I saw the front page of this morning's paper...nothing. I'm sure they'll cover it tomorrow, but this happened at 6:30 pm. That's plenty of time to get a story going. It's being investigated by ATF, not a small deal. And yet all they have on their website is a blurb.

If this is a 2-newspaper town, they would be showing this story the same attention the TV news outlets are. Maybe I'm biased because of my profession and my school, but if I'm one regular guy that can find two biases from that paper with woeful undercoverage, something tells me there are probably many other things going on around town that don't get the coverage they deserve.

I'm somewhat torn as far as what should happen to the MJS. Part of me thinks that the obvious direction of the paper is to go out of business, and that might simply be for the best because all the city of Milwaukee is getting is a shrinking paper with less and less worthwhile news while the cost of the daily goes up. I hate to see the newspaper business going the way of the dinosaur, but if the MJS is going to stand as the example of a local newspaper, it's probably for the best.

[MUCrew]

Try.  It's all I ask.  Read the "articles" he's pumping out about Marquette.  Some of it seems word for word from other articles. 

I'm not a journalist, so I have no idea what work goes into it, but sorry, Rosiak set a high bar for all of us and Endlund is WAY below it.  Not asking for anything earth-shattering, but put some insight to the article.  Something to differentiate yourself from the other stuff we've read.