When Sports Becomes Features/STAR
Sweeter dreams await offense (Emily Davis, Houston Chronicle, 10/23/05)
The Texans might not like the bed they've made. But they might be able to sleep a little easier now that things seem to be looking up on offense.
Sure, a 38-20 loss to Indianapolis — the sixth of the year and seventh straight — wasn't the way the Texans wanted to spend a beautiful Sunday afternoon.
But with the season on a steady downward spiral, the team is looking for any reason to stay positive.
Brown savors 'special' win: Kicker dedicates game to 9-year-old victim of cancer (Emily Davis, Houston Chronicle, 10/31/05)
Veteran kicker Kris Brown wanted the Texans to win more than anyone Sunday.
But it wasn't to snap a franchise-record seven-game losing streak or give the Texans their first win of the season.
When Brown strode confidently onto the field at Reliant Stadium and kicked the game-winning 40-yard field goal with 2:50 left in the fourth quarter, he had a young fan on his mind and dedicated the win to him once the Texans held on to beat Cleveland 19-16.
This ongoing MeMofication of the sports pages really is annoying.
Is the target audience of the sport pages really that interested in reading college-newspaper-style features writing?
I'm certainly not.
UPDATE (11-01-05): Good gawd, this is even worse than I thought. More examples below.
Mr. Big stands tall for the winners (Emily Davis, Houston Chronicle)
They had practiced the play all week. But Jerome Mathis didn't know he'd be the one executing it against the Cleveland Browns on Sunday.
So when his number was called, Mathis had only one thing on his mind.
"I wanted to make that play," he said.
Payne delivers it to Texans (Emily Davis, Houston Chronicle)
It was a private moment shared with his Texans teammates.
It was filled with emotion and heated words and cut to the core of what an NFL veteran and leader on and off the field knew his team was desperate to hear.
While Seth Payne's exact words will be known only to the Texans' family, the results of his fiery speech prompted by the sixth loss of the year Sunday already can be measured.
His words stuck. The Texans are taking them to heart.
Area schools celebrate centennial (Emily Davis, Houston Chronicle)
I grew up in Beaumont. And when I was 6 years old, the city celebrated its 150th anniversary. There were weekly parties and festivities, and I even participated in a play re-enacting the events that put Beaumont on the map.
Yes, Beaumont is on the map!
Anyway, I still have fond memories of that time. So I get nostalgic when I see area schools enjoying the same type of celebrations.
Please make this stop. That's just brutal, especially that last.
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 10/31/05 21:56 | Media Matters | Technorati
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Comments
Ahhh, interesting to see that writing style has finally infected the Sports section as well. I wonder what the Chron's sports reporters and columnists think of it?
(From first-hand experience, I can guess.)
Posted by anne @ 06:21 on 11/01/05
At long last, Kevin, something we can agree on re: the Chron. But the irony I see here is this - for all the cheerleading that the "new media" will oneday trump the "old media," do you really see this devolution of journalism going any other way?
Oh, and good look on the new site redo. I'm sure it'll put you, too, on the map.
Posted by Greg Wythe @ 19:03 on 11/01/05
for all the cheerleading that the "new media" will oneday trump the "old media," do you really see this devolution of journalism going any other way?
I'm not actually one of those "trump" cheerleaders. I think new media can complement and even supplement old media, and we can even act as shadow editors and fact-checkers, but at the end of the day, we're still gonna need professional news gatherers and editors. Especially editors (the biggest weakness at the Chronicle I would contend, and I think some reporters would probably agree, but not on the record).
But I do think online news media can learn some things from bloggers -- like getting news out there quickly, and coming in with rolling updates, and making use of comments and trackback and other technology to improve the story. Further, I think the notion of journalist as omniscient knower and judge of all topics is being put to rest; there's always a smarter reader (or several dozen) out there - why not leverage the free talent?
Oh, and good look on the new site redo. I'm sure it'll put you, too, on the map.
Thanks! I don't know about the map. :) But I have to say, the silvers and grays were becoming as depressing as the sun setting at 6pm in the winter. Blar! I can't control the sun with a stylesheet, but the blog I can do something about!
Posted by Kevin @ 07:52 on 11/02/05
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