Zach Frazer story of course. It's Zach Frazer all the time this week.
Reading everything today about Frazer, I must say that sometimes good intentions go bad in Randy Edsall's case. He knew what was going to happen, I can't believe he went through with it. Why not a teleconference call with reporters? No cameras?
Edsall has been better this year, but his first reaction is always to protect, and that burned him again. How the heck is the conversation about whether Frazer can speak or not the story as opposed to 5-0 Top 25 UConn team facing North Carolina?
That's not good for the university. Speaking as a professional, I do the stories that are there. I can dig a little more and am working on it. Am I angry that Frazer isn't available? No. It's football for God's sake. I am mostly disappointed because I could have wrote a good story this week on him. I hate giving up a good story.
I will give a brief journalistic lesson. Frazer, as everyone knows, is the story this week. When Edsall says he is available Saturday night, to him 5 days doesn't matter. That may seem to the lay person as reasonable.
To a journalist, five days as well could be a 1,000 years. An important part of story telling is timing. The Frazer story has a time element in it, and by the time he is allowed to speak on Saturday night that time element would have expired.
It's gone forever. Every journalist worth their salt can see the time element of the story. That's why there is push back.
The point that he is available on Saturday and thereafter is moot to someone as myself who want to interview this man who is now the face of the Huskies program.
Frazer is a compelling story this week, but once Saturday happens, the story shifts to something else. The Frazer story loses its time element, and its impact. Frazer may be the story, but it isn't the same story. Friday's story is different than Sunday's.
What does this have to do with the team? ZILCH. It is a distraction, not for the team but the writers. It is getting side tracked from the issue at hand.
Still, my one regret is I think people who read this blog and follow the Huskies enough to read feature stories would have liked to have read the Frazer story.
You will get a Frazer story eventually. But, it won't be the one that would have been written this week. And it's the die-hard fan who gets enjoyment out of reading that story who loses out.
9 comments:
Im not sure I agree with you John. Im a hardcore fan and I 100%understand why Edsal is saying no Frazer till Saturday....id rather not risk even the off chance that the interview could have altered his focus...even a little.
Dont forget dude, Hardcore fans are lay people too and waiting a few games to read a report wont kill or bother most of us. Trust me...he will be as big a story on saturday as he is today...win or loose.
Honestly, I think there may be 15 people in the state that are upset about no access to Frazer this week...and 14 of them are the writers.
Seriously, if you guys thought about fot 5 minutes like a football coach, you'd understand, maybe not agree with it, but understand.
I cant believe evdery writer in the state chose to make the "no-access" thing the story...it should have just been a blurb at the bottom of your article on Uconn/UNC
Would I like to have read a story about Frazer this week? Yes, but if not talking to the media helps him focus better and perform better for his first start then I would rather wait for the story. I actually could go without a Frazer story all year if it meant he went in there and performed better week in and week out because of it.
I am a fan though and if I was a reporter trying to do my job it would be really frustrating.
Go Huskies!
I don't want to think people this is weighing my mind. Inconsequential to the issues at hand.
Good points guys.
John:
I love your blog but as you can see only the writers in the state are bothered by the lack of access to Zach.
By the way. Can you tell me why none of the writers are on the phone to Zach's high school football coach, his parents, coaches at ND, coffeee shop in his home town?
You can still write a story about Zach without Zach. Some people say that's too much work and writers in CT want it fed to them.
Just saying.
Anonymous,
All in due time. Patience. These people have to be tracked down. His high school coached passed away.
Also, a story out of ND is a non-starter. You won't get anything there. Trust me on that. A dead end.
Also,any story without Frazer in it talking about Frazer is flawed. You can work around it, but the story suffers.
Working on it...
This may be a first, but I agree with Edsall. You have a backup quarterback, who was 3rd on the depth chart a couple weeks ago, and you want to give the kid an opportunity to establish himself and actually start a game before he goes through interviews.
Now, no matter how he plays against UNC, he will be given an opportunity to speak to the media afterwards, lets hope he will be describing how UConn pulled off a hard fought victory.
Agreed John. 10 minutes of talking to people to get his name out there is not going to muddle his focus. playing madden for an hour and a half later that night while using auburn's playbook? that might.
Post a Comment