Press Row

Just updating a previous post: it looks like Len Pasquarelli has returned to ESPN.com.

A podcast posted today (9/2/08) featured Pasquarelli making division predictions with Jeremy Green.  Check out where it appeared on ESPN’s NFL page:

For starters: we’re certainly glad to see that Len has recovered well enough from his heart surgery to return to the ESPN lineup.

But with his return, we’re now left to ponder the question of where he belongs on the dot-com.

Since the Super Bowl, ESPN has hired a slew of new NFL writers, including Pat Yaskinas, who, as the NFC South writer, now lays claim to any Atlanta Falcons stories that LenPa once ruled the roost on.  (Think about it; if Lenny keeps reporting the Falcons scoops now, how does that possibly help establish Yaskinas as a credible reporter across the NFC South?)

If Len rejoins ESPN as a national columnist, he joins a fairly crowded room.  Aside from the Blog Network–who ESPN tends to give national-level columns to on a fairly regular basis–you’ll also see lead stories from John Clayton, Jeffri Chadiha, Gene Wojechowski and Seth Wickersham, among others.

Then again, it could also work into ESPN’s master plan of offering the most depth of reporting of any sports site currently available.

Cold, Hard Football Facts embodies everything that the new wave of sports media represents.

They have the time and resources to take deeper dives that the “lowest common denominator” newspapers don’t touch. They can post things that have little to do with the game, without worrying about the editor’s wrath. Their excellent writing gets publicity in more “mainstream” pubs, yet the old guard still regards their kind as a type of mercenary, a specialist who answers to no one yet reigns over many.

And, above all, they treasure their brash, free-swinging style of commentary that so many up-and-coming sports websites, like CHFF, have perfected.

CHFF is, for the new generation of football fan, an absolute must-read. It holds a seat at the big boys table, with the likes of Mike Florio (PFT), Aaron Schatz (FO), Michael David Smith (AOL/many others), and the other giants of the sports internet.

I had a chance to check in with Kerry Byrne, the creator of CHFF (and also the food and drinks writer for the Boston Herald) for a Q&A about the site, its history, and some incredible viewpoints on the world of sports journalism. It’s a lengthy (but insightful) read, so enjoy.

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After a fairly lopsided week of voting, the crew at Pigskin Podcast has won the inaugural Access Awards contest.  Congratulations!

As the victors, they will receive a $25 gift card to Best Buy, and be automatically entered for a chance to win another $100 in Best Buy bucks at the end of the football season.

The other four entries will be considered for the September Access Awards, against our newest submissions.

Thanks to everyone who voted!  Don’t forget to start submitting your sports blogs for your chance to win $25 in Best Buy gift cards.

Like him or not—and I don’t think many do—Jay Mariotti’s departure from the Chicago Sun-Times leaves yet another sizeable void in the sports newspaper world.

While his editor seems to think Mariotti’s strange exit will produce some mysterious spike in readership, bringing back all those jilted Chicagoans that just boycotted the paper because of Mariotti, that is simply not realistic. If those readers subscribe to newspapers in the Chicago area, then that means they’re probably already subscribers of the Tribune, and most people don’t have the money or time to subscribe to and read both. Besides that, hasn’t he heard that newspaper subscriptions are sinking faster than—thank you, Jay—the Titanic? There aren’t many magical “untapped publics” left for newspapers to tap into.

But, anyway…let’s take a moment to look exactly at what Mariotti is doing. Of course, we’ll be assuming that Mariotti’s resignation is part of some bigger plan—and we’ve seen how much trouble Mariotti has when he tries to look ahead.

Looking at his reasons for leaving his post with the Sun-Times, it sounds like he desperately wants to hook on with one of the major web-based sports sites, like ESPN.com or Yahoo!, which he heaped praise on during his resignation address on the radio Wednesday morning.

So, where might Jay end up?

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We here at Press Row are excited to announce our first group of Access Awards contestants for August 2008.  Voting is now open on the poll on the right sidebar of the homepage.  To give voting an entire week, we will end on 12 AM, Tuesday, September 2nd.

We received many high quality submissions for this month’s Awards, which from our view, already makes this process a victory. One of the major reasons for starting the Awards was to highlight talent within the sports blogosphere, making note of quality writing and a general job well done wherever it might be.

The fact that so many solid, up-and-coming sports websites found their way to Press Row so quickly not only raises hope for the future of the Access Awards, but also shows how many great sports minds exist out there. In about three weeks, we received a bunch of great submissions. Who knows how many more are out there?

All that being said, we had to limit this month’s awards program to five sports blogs to go up for voting. If you weren’t selected, don’t worry—we’ll reconsider your blog next month. And, if you don’t win the August poll, we’ll re-submit you for September automatically. Don’t forget to submit your great sports blog for consideration.

So, without further ado, here are this month’s five entries to the Access Awards.

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Many of you may not know that I am an alumnus of NFL Europe / Europa. No, I didn’t run play quarterback for the Amsterdam Admirals like Kurt Warner, but I did work with the league during their last season of existence in 2007, when I was a US PR Assistant for the Berlin Thunder.

It was a fantastic experience, which I had the wherewithal to document as I lived it. One of the reasons that I love the NFL preseason is, for better or for worse, it’s the only time of the year when we see most of the former NFLE players in action. With the league folding after last season, the number of these players will slowly decline, until eventually, the last of them retires or no longer plays for an NFL team.

It’s fun to scroll through the box scores and see which former NFLE stars got to prove their worth and fight to achieve their dream. One of my favorite players from that last season in Berlin, Walter Curry, is doing his best to make the 49ers, while former two-time league MVP of the Frankfurt Galaxy, J.T. O’Sullivan was just named the regular season starter over Alex Smith and former Amsterdam Admirals QB Shaun Hill.

So, who’s still around? Here’s a brief look at which other NFLE alumni are still on NFL rosters this training camp. There’s a 100% chance I’ve left a current or former NFL player off this list, so if there’s a name that you know belongs here, let me know. (click through for list)

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As a college and NFL fan who loves stats and knowing every last detail of what’s going on, there are few times of the year more fun than training camp.

It’s that time when every last player on the roster has a chance to make their mark and prove they belong. It’s also probably the only time you’ll get to see some of your favorite college players get any meaningful professional action (I’m looking at you, D.J. Shockley)—not to mention keeping track of the Reshard Lee’s and Todd Bouman’s of the world.

For the media, however, training camp is a hectic whirlwind of two-a-days and covering inconsequential events like preseason games and intra-squad scrimmages, devoting full columns to who the team’s sixth receiver will be, and featuring any number of the 30-or-so new faces around the team that summer.

There is definitely no shortage of topics to write about during training camp. After reading the articles year after year, though, you can begin to pick up some of the common “storylines” that a beat reporter can turn to for the day’s entry.

Why, just perusing Redzone and taking a look at today’s print articles, plenty of the training camp “form” articles are represented.

The Old Veteran: Professor LT giving Bolts backs savvy education or Old but steady, Kendall provides line stability
The Improved Veteran: Panthers linebacker in position to bust out or 49ers’ McDonald showing a lot of improvement
The Come-Back Veteran: Jaguars’ Reggies — Hayward and Williams — ready to return
The New Guy: Favre still trying to digest Jets offense
The Small-School Underdog: Would-Be Redskin Westbrook Can Taste the NFL
The Stand-Out Rookie: Eagles rookie Mays impressing while he’s learning or Rookie could be Royal pain for opponents
The “Grooming The Future” Angle: Running back Green, Texans keep faith
Who Will Make The Team? Little-known, little-paid players could make team
The Position Battle Update: Right guard competition heating up
The GPS Article: After two preseason games, Patriots are far from being a super team or Is it time for Lions fans to believe?
Details of the game: NFL punters must develop intricate routine or Tall WRs pick on corners

Next time you’re reading a training camp article, give it a shot.

Every now and then, I’ll occasionally put on the ol’ football analysis hat and tackle an issue that’s on my mind. Right now, I’ve been mulling one over that I’ve vented about to my friends, and the evidence is, once again, starting to build in my favor.

In general, USC football players fail at the pro level.

Let’s get some of the basics out of the way first: I’m looking more at the Pete Carroll-era USC teams, which have been marked by near-complete dominance over the college football scene, fielding some of the greatest teams of all time (like the one that ESPN essentially anointed the best ever…then watched them lose the National Title in one of my favorite football games I’ve ever seen.) Additionally, there are plenty of talented NFL players that came from USC, and even some from this particular timeframe in question.

But, on the whole, even the USC players that have been drafted very high just haven’t lived up to the hype at the NFL level. Call them a team full of Jeff Tedford professional disasters.

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To the casual fan, the world of sports media looks stronger than ever.

Networks like ESPN/ABC and FOX offer unprecedented levels of coverage, both online and on television. (Just look at NBC’s projected coverage of the Olympics–a great read from The Globe and Mail in Canada.) The blogging realm gains more and more steam, with thousands of opinions and ideas casting a wide net on every new issue. And while the print media continues to fall and flounder, most fans don’t notice–they get the majority of their news online, anyway. (That’s even an old article from–imagine what those numbers would say now?)

But a deeper look at the issues and recent events in sports journalism–or, how sports journalism covered recent events–gives us a great snapshot at the truth of the matter: the field is in major flux, with no sense of direction and in serious need of an overhaul for a few reasons I’ll discuss here.

That’s quite a claim to make without any obvious common knowledge-style evidence to speak of. Then again, that’s why we’re calling it a “deeper look,” right?

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