[NU Sports] Another fine story from Sun-Times Jim O'Donnell

[cherron604 at aol.com]

Along those lines...



Saw two cases of pathetic pandering in today's Sun-Times, marking the bankrupt tabloid as little more than an extension of the Evil Empire's Sports Information office.



First (and most embarrassing) was this 'Jimmy Claussen for Heisman' puff piece from Neil Hayes:



http://www.suntimes.com/sports/hayes/1828140,CST-SPT-neil16.article



It had it all...crazy predictions (Jimmy will someday be enshrined in the College Football Hall of Fame !), bad attempts at humor/writing style ( "Notre Dame football has been generating strong opinions since Knute Rockne was an undergrad."  "Put Notre Dame and Clausen together, and you've got a lightning rod with more surface area than the Golden Dome."  Wouldn't such a lightning rod be impossible to build, much less install ?), bold assertions, without very many facts to defend them ("The Notre Dame quarterback's rare combination of arm strength and accuracy has made him one of the best pure passers -- if not the best pure passer -- in college football."  What ??).  More entertainment follows, as Hayes suggests that he might be the first quarterback selected in the NFL Draft.



Next came Brian Hanley (who is usually a good writer and should know better):



http://www.suntimes.com/sports/colleges/1828004,CST-SPT-nd16.article



It seems strange that 2 articles on the same day open with the Jimmy Claussen limo arrival at the CF HOF in South Bend.  And I think that everybody is weary of the constant reminders of Beano Cook's skillful predictions - Ron Powlus would win 2 Heismans, Jimmy Claussen would win 2 Heismans...



He's looked good in beating 4 bad teams, and losing to a good team.  13-16 is, I believe, their opponents combined record.  But I haven't heard a lot of Claussen/Heisman talk - I musn't listen to or watch the right programs.



Chuck Herron   Tech '85












-----Original Message-----
From: Jonathan Hodges <jonathanwhodges at gmail.com>
To: cherron604 at aol.com
Cc: nwu-sports at tssi.com
Sent: Fri, Oct 16, 2009 9:49 am
Subject: Re: [NU Sports] Another fine story from Sun-Times Jim O'Donnell



NU alum Teddy Greenstein has done a nice job covering the 'Cats for the Trib this year.  Skip Myslenski did a nice job last year before he was let go, although now he's putting together some nice content for Northwestern (appearing on NUSports.com as well as in the game programs) with some of his own upscale writing style.  And there's also Lindsey Willhite at the Daily Herald, although his time seems to be more split than the guys at the major papers, so there is less total material there.

Last year it seemed like Skip and O'Donnell were in a competition for most unique writing style and I have to say that it made for interesting reads, so I say keep it up.

Even though NU doesn't get as much coverage as other schools (ND has its own oft-updated blog at the Trib), I think this group does a solid job covering the 'Cats and you can typically get 2 articles per week from each paper in addition to the pre/postgame stories and nuggets about injuries and such thrown into college football notes sections on the other days.  So, at least we're getting something out of the "traditional media."

And now, of course, there's the plethora of online content (where I contribute), so there should always be somewhere for NU fans to get their fix.

Jonathan


On Fri, Oct 16, 2009 at 9:38 AM, <cherron604 at aol.com> wrote:


We've had a mix of beat writers since our Football Renaissance, but I particularly like Jim O'Donnell's work in the Sun-Times.



Wednesday he had this in the S-T:



"Anything less than a warm-weather bowl would be considered a significant disappointment by NU's fickle fan base after the happy San Antonio purple of 2008. Six games in, the chances of a warm-weather bowl appear less likely than a rainbowed statue of center-square alum Paul Lynde popping up outside Ryan Field."



Earlier in the story he dropped in "laconic" and "iconic" in nearby paragraphs - they don't write like this in Norman, Oklahoma!  And I always like his references to "the enchanted lakefront'.



(On a side note, I try and go to the local papers online and check out their stories, before and after our games.  It is rather disappointing to see the uneven quality of some of the writing in these local papers.)



Chuck Herron   Tech '85




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