Ok so I have been involved with interaction with the media for a long time. It used to be that Seahawk beat reporters made themselves accessible to the public because the social media age was just starting.
During Holmgrens tenure with the Seahawks I created relationships with Mike Sando and Clare Farnsworth. I would email them daily asking questions and sometimes just BS about one subject or another for the entire Holmgren era and beyond.
My wife and I would go to Seahawk training camp, and we would have lunch with Clare and Sando, but we were never friends per say but I always had access. Still 20 years later I still talk to Sando... Clare not so much he kind of disappeared in retirement.
It became very clear to me that Clair had inside information for some reason or at least he would tell me things a day or two before they happened... Sando not so much...Not sure if Sando knew the info and was not telling me or if he just didn't have the information that Clair had. I think Clare had been a reporter for a long time and was closer to the organization and he just reported the facts, very little if any speculation or at least that's the way i remember it. I think that's why Clare got inside stuff because he was respected and would keep off the record info, off the record. Sando just reported the facts as well with very little if any speculation and i'm not sure how much off the record info Sando had. I think Both of these reporters were well respected with in the Seahawk organization.
The reason why I'm talking about this is because i learned some things about the media. I learned that some reporters knew more than others because of the relationships they built within the organization. But I also learned that they didn't know everything that was going on, as i had assumed that they had inside info, but were unwilling to tell me which could have been the case, but I know they didn't know everything.
This is how i know this. I Learned quickly at training camp that if you talk to the lower tear coaches like Nolan Cromwell
who was WR coach, that you could get information because these guys were not in the spotlight, and I don't think they had an idea of what was being talked about as current information to the media.
So... I'm in the parking lot at training camp and Nolan Cromwell walks by and I get into a conversation with him, and we start talking about the QB's. At the time, Brock Huard was battling it out with Seneca Wallace. I mentioned to Cromwell, that it was going to be quite a battle between Huard and Wallace and that Huard was probably going to beat out Wallace. Cromwell told me that that was not the case that Wallace had won the job. Oh... how interesting! :drool:
So later that day I caught up with Sando and Clare and I was going to buy Sando lunch but Clare had an interview with Hass so he couldn't go... but walking up to the cafeteria we were talking about the battle between Huard and Wallace and both of them said Huard was going to win the battle. I said well... that's not what Cromwell just told Me... and both of them just looked at me funny. like What? Clare took off to his interview and I went to by Sando lunch... there were many more instances of where i got info that they didn't have, which means they didn't know it all. Now don't take me wrong I'm not trying to blow my own horn I'm trying to make a point.
How does this relate? The first thing is that after Holmgren Left and Carroll stepped in EVERYTHING tightened up. as the access to the team was all of a sudden VERY limited... not just for fans but to the media as well. and as well the media tightened up their access to the fans...not sure why. Sando left for ESPN and Clare retired and was unavailable. None of the new reporters would talk to me Not Gregg Bell not Bob Condotta nor anyone else... I still had Sando, but he was on to bigger and better things.
So... Carroll tightened up access to the media? probably because of his experience with the media in new England and New York. but also, because the media changed its focus. It has moved away from the way Clare and Sando reported, fact based, no speculation to professional analysis speculation. I know this drives Carroll NUTS!
But more importantly the organization does not respect the media like they did in the Holmgren era. Part of that is because Holmgren used to use the media to lay his groundwork for certain things he wanted to leak, hence the "Trader Bob" series of articles written by Les Carpenter, which by the way landed Les a great job in NY can't remember what paper. But, the bottom line is the reporters now days don't know any more than you and I or what is said in press conferences.
most of what they are reporting is from the questions they ask, and from them reading between the lines which could be true or might not be true. Here is the point if respected reporters such as Sando and Farnsworth who the organization respects don't know everything than why would some third-rate reporter like Joe Fann have any type of inside scoop? They don't... and this is very important to know before anyone draws conclusions to what the media reports.
And so i just wanted to share with you my experiences and why I am skeptical about loose information
LTH
During Holmgrens tenure with the Seahawks I created relationships with Mike Sando and Clare Farnsworth. I would email them daily asking questions and sometimes just BS about one subject or another for the entire Holmgren era and beyond.
My wife and I would go to Seahawk training camp, and we would have lunch with Clare and Sando, but we were never friends per say but I always had access. Still 20 years later I still talk to Sando... Clare not so much he kind of disappeared in retirement.
It became very clear to me that Clair had inside information for some reason or at least he would tell me things a day or two before they happened... Sando not so much...Not sure if Sando knew the info and was not telling me or if he just didn't have the information that Clair had. I think Clare had been a reporter for a long time and was closer to the organization and he just reported the facts, very little if any speculation or at least that's the way i remember it. I think that's why Clare got inside stuff because he was respected and would keep off the record info, off the record. Sando just reported the facts as well with very little if any speculation and i'm not sure how much off the record info Sando had. I think Both of these reporters were well respected with in the Seahawk organization.
The reason why I'm talking about this is because i learned some things about the media. I learned that some reporters knew more than others because of the relationships they built within the organization. But I also learned that they didn't know everything that was going on, as i had assumed that they had inside info, but were unwilling to tell me which could have been the case, but I know they didn't know everything.
This is how i know this. I Learned quickly at training camp that if you talk to the lower tear coaches like Nolan Cromwell
who was WR coach, that you could get information because these guys were not in the spotlight, and I don't think they had an idea of what was being talked about as current information to the media.
So... I'm in the parking lot at training camp and Nolan Cromwell walks by and I get into a conversation with him, and we start talking about the QB's. At the time, Brock Huard was battling it out with Seneca Wallace. I mentioned to Cromwell, that it was going to be quite a battle between Huard and Wallace and that Huard was probably going to beat out Wallace. Cromwell told me that that was not the case that Wallace had won the job. Oh... how interesting! :drool:
So later that day I caught up with Sando and Clare and I was going to buy Sando lunch but Clare had an interview with Hass so he couldn't go... but walking up to the cafeteria we were talking about the battle between Huard and Wallace and both of them said Huard was going to win the battle. I said well... that's not what Cromwell just told Me... and both of them just looked at me funny. like What? Clare took off to his interview and I went to by Sando lunch... there were many more instances of where i got info that they didn't have, which means they didn't know it all. Now don't take me wrong I'm not trying to blow my own horn I'm trying to make a point.
How does this relate? The first thing is that after Holmgren Left and Carroll stepped in EVERYTHING tightened up. as the access to the team was all of a sudden VERY limited... not just for fans but to the media as well. and as well the media tightened up their access to the fans...not sure why. Sando left for ESPN and Clare retired and was unavailable. None of the new reporters would talk to me Not Gregg Bell not Bob Condotta nor anyone else... I still had Sando, but he was on to bigger and better things.
So... Carroll tightened up access to the media? probably because of his experience with the media in new England and New York. but also, because the media changed its focus. It has moved away from the way Clare and Sando reported, fact based, no speculation to professional analysis speculation. I know this drives Carroll NUTS!
But more importantly the organization does not respect the media like they did in the Holmgren era. Part of that is because Holmgren used to use the media to lay his groundwork for certain things he wanted to leak, hence the "Trader Bob" series of articles written by Les Carpenter, which by the way landed Les a great job in NY can't remember what paper. But, the bottom line is the reporters now days don't know any more than you and I or what is said in press conferences.
most of what they are reporting is from the questions they ask, and from them reading between the lines which could be true or might not be true. Here is the point if respected reporters such as Sando and Farnsworth who the organization respects don't know everything than why would some third-rate reporter like Joe Fann have any type of inside scoop? They don't... and this is very important to know before anyone draws conclusions to what the media reports.
And so i just wanted to share with you my experiences and why I am skeptical about loose information
LTH
