Thank you, Matt Velazquez

[Skatastrophy]

http://www.reddit.com/r/BigEast/comments/38af48/butler_finally_has_a_new_beat_writer_after_a_year/

I was doing a little reminiscing in the Big East subreddit thread above.

Butler got their favorite beat writer back after a year of having to deal with a phony. I started doing a little writeup about our journey from Rosiak to Velazquez, and I'm sure I missed a lot of it. It was fun taking a trip down memory lane, and memory lane made me more appreciative for what we've gotten (and continue to get) from Matt Velazquez on the MU beat! So, thank you Matt!

Here's my comment from the link above if you guys would like to fact-check it:

It makes a huge difference having a beat writer you love.

Marquette used to have Todd Rosiak, who was (and still is fantastic). We now have Matt Velasquez[1] , who's fantastic. He puts his heart into it and he's a talented writer that's gained the trust of the team.
In between those two rock stars, we had Michael Hunt. No joke, our beat writer was named Mike Hunt.
Here is Mike standing behind Buzz Williams dressed for work.

Mike mailed his job in. Spitting out the bare minimum content acceptable to continue receiving a paycheck. He didn't understand new media, and the always-on opportunity that tools like Twitter provide.

The factual errors that you mentioned, SalemDrumline, resonate with me. The amount of crap that Hunt put out there as fact was unbelievable. Any participant on a Marquette bball forum could have quickly proofread his articles and he could have avoided all of his missteps.

Besides Rosiak and Velazquez we also had Lori Nickel (who was worse than Hunt) and another writer than only lasted a few months. Funny how the poor writers fade while the great writers stand out!

* Mike Hunt is sloppy and has too much hair.
* Mike Hunt get's a C for the season? Mike Hunt usually gets the D.
* MikeHunt's RSS feed is irregular
* If you'd clean up around the house more often, Mike Hunt would be available on a nightly basis.
* mikehunt should make you smile, not start grumpy OT posts
* Fortunately we don't see mikehunt often.

I really do miss the jokes

[GGGG]

I thought Nickel was before Rosiak.  And then there was the entirely forgettable Tom Enlund who was between Rosiak and Hunt.

[mu_hilltopper]

Nickel was ages ago, like 1997, Before Rosiak.  (Probably should refer to the JS years in terms of BR.)

.. And I'm pretty sure she was the beat reporter for multiple seasons, not just a few months..

[Skatastrophy]

Nickel was ages ago, like 1997, Before Rosiak.  (Probably should refer to the JS years in terms of BR.)

.. And I'm pretty sure she was the beat reporter for multiple seasons, not just a few months..

The few months person was Enlund, his name just escaped me.

I can't believe that Lori Nickel was before Rosiak. Memory sure is a funny thing.

[GGGG]

Enlund was around for the entire 2011-12 year. 

[DienerTime34]

I feel like Brad Galli from MUTV deserves a shout-out for the work he did at MU as well. He did more than the professionals or local TV news. I see he is about to become the top guy in the Detroit market and it won't be long before we see him nationally on ESPN or FOX, I would imagine.

[mu_hilltopper]

Brad Galli Fan Club President here.

.. Unbelievably too bad that MUTV couldn't carry his jockstrap after he graduated. 

[Lennys Tap]

Brad Galli Fan Club President here.

.. Unbelievably too bad that MUTV couldn't carry his jockstrap after he graduated. 

I'm with you, Topper. Brad was head and shoulders above what came before and after.

[JWags85]

Brad Galli Fan Club President here.

.. Unbelievably too bad that MUTV couldn't carry his jockstrap after he graduated. 

To be fair, thats like criticizing Joe Chapman or Dameon Mason for not carrying Wade's jockstrap after he graduated.

[Skatastrophy]

Enlund was around for the entire 2011-12 year.  

Dark days. I can't believe he was around for that long.

This stuff should be cannonized on the wiki so that people that smoked too much dope in high school don't have to rely on their faulty memories of what happened.

[PGsHeroes32]

I feel like Brad Galli from MUTV deserves a shout-out for the work he did at MU as well. He did more than the professionals or local TV news. I see he is about to become the top guy in the Detroit market and it won't be long before we see him nationally on ESPN or FOX, I would imagine.

Yeah he was awesome.

[The Lens]

Once MJS (or the economy) decided this was wasn't a high end beat any more we have eitehr gotten young / unproven:

Lori
Todd
Matt

Or playing out the string, former good reporters:

Tom
Michael

Lori has found her calling as exercise / personal interest stories.  Todd went on to one of the top 2 beats in WI and now we hold on to Matt V as long as we can.  Hopefully MJS realizes that a beat like Marquette can be a great learning experience for a young, hungry writer.   You should be able to attract good young talent by offering a Big East beat.  It is both somewhat big-time (beats having the The Wave or Admirals on your resume) and with limited attention, the SID / coaches should hopefully be accommodating, allowing good access for better stories.