06Raider
02-10-2010, 11:29 AM
I have been around the Peninsula District track scene for about 10 years now as an athlete and (current) coach. Each year I hope that coverage by the Daily Press will get better...and each year that fails to happen. I won't hold my breath for a response, but thought my comments were worth posting anyway.
The article about yesterday's Peninsula District Championships is absolutely abysmal. The newspaper's correspondent seemed to be unaware that athletes from schools besides Bethel actually won events, or even competed in the meet. I have grown used to the DP fawning over the Bethel girls team for years, but this was an absurdly one-sided piece of reporting. If the Daily Press is going to do this bad of a job, save the ink and don't write the article. I am disgusted and feel sick for my athletes and the other athletes in the District who had amazing accomplishments yesterday that went unrecognized.
Kudos to John Streit, who wrote the piece about the PD swimming championships. That's an example of the way a high school meet should be reported. In 558 words, Mr. Streit was able to mention, by my count, 14 athletes and 2 coaches from 5 of the 10 District schools. In 533 words, Jack Lambert ony got around to mentioning 4 male athletes (no females) and 1 coach from, count them, 1 of 10 District schools. Shame. Mr. Lambert, I suggest that you read Mr. Streit's piece so you can see what high school athletes who work hard all season DESERVE to read at the end of their championship meet.
Let's take a look at just a few of the things overlooked by Mr. Lambert in his Bethel press release:
1. Hampton's Renay Ransaw scoring 38 points by herself at a championship meet (wins in the long and triple jump, second place finish in the shot put, and 3rd & 4th places in two running events). 38 points is more points than 6 entire girls teams managed to score with all of their athletes. I'm not taking away from those teams, but merely pointing out the magnitude of what Renay did yesterday.
2. Daniel McFadden of Heritage scoring 28 points by himself by winning the long jump and 55 hurdles and placing second in the triple jump. That is more points than 3 boys teams scored.
3. Warwick's boys and Bethel's girls took 3 of the top 4 places in the 500m dash. Warwick was led by sophomore Javon Walker's victory and also took 2nd and 4th places. Bethel's girls were led by Rashaun Combs' win and also captured 3rd and 4th places. Bethel's girls also swept the top 3 places in the 1000m run.
My list could go on, but I'll end there. In short, while I've learned to stop expecting improvement from the Daily Press in their track coverage, I still hope each and every year that athletes who perform well get the coverage that they deserve. With all of the problems out there in our community, we still have young people who are willing bleed, sweat, and train from November through March in sun, sleet, rain, ice, and snow. Their motivations are different: some want to be Olympians, some want to lose a few pounds, and others just want to belong to a team. Regardless of their reasons for joining, all Peninsula District track athletes deserve better coverage than the Daily Press gave them this season.
The article about yesterday's Peninsula District Championships is absolutely abysmal. The newspaper's correspondent seemed to be unaware that athletes from schools besides Bethel actually won events, or even competed in the meet. I have grown used to the DP fawning over the Bethel girls team for years, but this was an absurdly one-sided piece of reporting. If the Daily Press is going to do this bad of a job, save the ink and don't write the article. I am disgusted and feel sick for my athletes and the other athletes in the District who had amazing accomplishments yesterday that went unrecognized.
Kudos to John Streit, who wrote the piece about the PD swimming championships. That's an example of the way a high school meet should be reported. In 558 words, Mr. Streit was able to mention, by my count, 14 athletes and 2 coaches from 5 of the 10 District schools. In 533 words, Jack Lambert ony got around to mentioning 4 male athletes (no females) and 1 coach from, count them, 1 of 10 District schools. Shame. Mr. Lambert, I suggest that you read Mr. Streit's piece so you can see what high school athletes who work hard all season DESERVE to read at the end of their championship meet.
Let's take a look at just a few of the things overlooked by Mr. Lambert in his Bethel press release:
1. Hampton's Renay Ransaw scoring 38 points by herself at a championship meet (wins in the long and triple jump, second place finish in the shot put, and 3rd & 4th places in two running events). 38 points is more points than 6 entire girls teams managed to score with all of their athletes. I'm not taking away from those teams, but merely pointing out the magnitude of what Renay did yesterday.
2. Daniel McFadden of Heritage scoring 28 points by himself by winning the long jump and 55 hurdles and placing second in the triple jump. That is more points than 3 boys teams scored.
3. Warwick's boys and Bethel's girls took 3 of the top 4 places in the 500m dash. Warwick was led by sophomore Javon Walker's victory and also took 2nd and 4th places. Bethel's girls were led by Rashaun Combs' win and also captured 3rd and 4th places. Bethel's girls also swept the top 3 places in the 1000m run.
My list could go on, but I'll end there. In short, while I've learned to stop expecting improvement from the Daily Press in their track coverage, I still hope each and every year that athletes who perform well get the coverage that they deserve. With all of the problems out there in our community, we still have young people who are willing bleed, sweat, and train from November through March in sun, sleet, rain, ice, and snow. Their motivations are different: some want to be Olympians, some want to lose a few pounds, and others just want to belong to a team. Regardless of their reasons for joining, all Peninsula District track athletes deserve better coverage than the Daily Press gave them this season.