ESPN. Sports Illustrated. Fox Sports. National sports coverage that occasionally dollops attention on major markets. The Washington Post. The LA Times. The Boston Globe.
Major market papers that keep an eye on national stories. But
what happens to sports on the outskirts of those major markets? What
happens when there are sports in the forest and no major media outlets
are there to hear it?
In Granite Fringes, John Weaver goes to those forests in search
of answers, paying particular attention to the author's beloved home
state, the great state of New Hampshire (it's the one right by
Vermont). New columns appear Fridays, exploring what sports coverage
and sports fandom is like in the places big media fears to tread.
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Written by John Weaver
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Monday, 24 April 2006 |
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Welcome to the zenith of this column, welcome to the height of
fringe sports media. When I started this column, in the back of my
mind, I think I always knew it would come to this. All of the sports
media I’ve written about thus far have been media about legitimate
sports. Not many people nationally are paying attention to basketball
in Glendive, Montana or hockey in Bemidji, Minnesota, but no one denies
that those are, indeed, sports. I’m taking this column to the next
level. Today’s column looks at the media coverage of an event that some
refer to as “The fastest growing sport in the country” while others
refer to it as “Waiting for idiots to choke.” I’m talking about
competitive eating.
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Written by John Weaver
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Thursday, 13 April 2006 |
While reviewing the media coverage of Eastern League teams last week, I was struck by how many of them offer streaming online game broadcasts. Given how much revenue and exposure this has meant to center sports like the MLB and the NCAA basketball tournament, this could have huge implications in the long run for minor league teams and other fringe sports.
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Written by John Weaver
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Tuesday, 11 April 2006 |
When an event or issue breaks in the national media, you have to ask yourself if it’s new or if it’s the culmination of something older. If it’s new, then the media coverage is well timed and deserving. If it’s old, then the media coverage is long overdue and there’s a sense of media trying to make up for lost time. When we read about Duke lacrosse and see television’s coverage of the alleged rape by the players, apparently refuted by the newly-released DNA evidence, we have to ask ourselves: is this new? Or did the camel’s back finally break?
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Written by John Weaver
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Wednesday, 05 April 2006 |
As the Red Sox and all that is good in the major leagues – as well as the Yankees and all that is bad – start to work out their spring training kinks in games that actually count, the next great players are doing it in smaller parks and on more buses. Minor league baseball, that great American fringe sports tradition, has started again. Since one of the strongest minor leagues in the country, the Eastern League, has a team in my beloved Granite State, I wanted to take a quick tour of the league, looking at what kind of media love each of the twelve gets.
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Written by John Weaver
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Wednesday, 29 March 2006 |
The NBA is attempting to do something very hard: create a minor league system out of thin air. Since 2001, the NBA Developmental League (stuck with the unfortunate nickname, “the D-League”) has acted as a training ground for NBA talent… sort of. Right now it’s more of a neo-minor league, with the potential to be an outright farm system in the future. But if there’s one thing that’s harder than creating a minor league out of thin air, it’s creating media coverage for a minor league out of thin air. If the D-League (can you bring your A-game to the D-League?) is going to succeed, it will need local media coverage.
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