Wow - this Canadian journalist is so misinformed. Our team is one of the most covered teams by MSM in the NHL. At last year’s playoff games, we had a SRO press box and YES, we allowed bloggers to join the fray. So the answer is YES - Yes -Yes. Bloggers are welcome into the Capitals press box. Always have been and always will be. It is our responsibility to manage a big tent and welcome anyone who will generate pixels for the team.
Ted's Take
Ted,
Please! A major reason you welcomed the bloggers into the Caps is because your media coverage was/is negligible at best. We have the junior beat writer covering the Caps for the Post, and the odd entry from the Times. You’ve also invested a huge amount of time and effort to get all the Caps games televised which isn’t needed in Canada.
Look at Tariq’s entry from today that listed no less than five different articles about the Caps coming to Calgary and the various plot-lines.
In Ontario, there’s a “Toronto Maple Leafs” television channel. All Leafs, all the time.
Elliotte Friedman is simply saying “hey, the Oilers don’t really need the extra coverage, so if you are getting access, just be professional while writing your observations because you have access”
Why is this so mis-informed or wrong??
ted—-I remember elliot friedman from years ago and he was/is a well informed/competent media person in canada. moreover his reference to the caps is basically, in my view, complimentary.
further while your tent was big enough for everyone, as you have not lived in montreal or toronto,i think it is difficult for you to completely understand the love for and demand for access to games both by fans and media. For example as I stated before, talk radio in those cities is 24/7 hockey. so i will cut elliot some slack and say that he is still an informed journalist who was simply asking a rhetorical question. (which you have emphatically answered !!!)
I think it’s great that the Capitals allow such access to bloggers. But I am still so incredibly impressed at how open the Caps organization is to allowing the fans so close to the players, practices, events around the area, and just in general letting the fans know they are important and they can reach out to their favorite players with such ease.
Ted & the Caps organization have done an excellent job at this. I’m not sure how other organizations & professional leagues do this, but they should look at the Capitals as a great example of how to approach this correctly to meld fans + alternative media + staff & players together.
Ted,
I think you missed the larger point. Maybe he is wrong regarding the coverage of the Caps by MSM, but that really is just a footnote to his thesis. The fact is that the bloggers who cover the Caps do a very professional job, nothing like what was at issue here. Your response begs the question — what would the Caps do if a blogger in your press box started covering games in this manner?
Ted–I think you are taking the article a little too personally. I think its a fair assumption that canada has more press coverage than US and in this case the Caps. I didn’t see that as a cheap shot.