AAQ says:
“Excellent post Mr. Sherman, but please quote or refer to comments when you respond to make things easier to follow. In my opinion you proved that the water polo team received far too much coverage this year. Coverage should be based on student interest and we know there is not much for water polo or most minor sports.”
I appreciate the comment AAQ. You raise an interesting point about how we cover sports. Your argument is valid on many levels but there is a Catch 22. You say that coverage should be based on interest and sports with little student interest should not get coverage. Hypothetically, this is true. Coaches will argue that there is little interest in their squads because the Hatchet does not cover them well. This fall, like many falls before, we covered an abundance of soccer and volleyball. Generally, those are the sports that draw the most fans. The men’s soccer team is the reigning Atlantic 10 champions and made it into the second round of the NCAA tournament. All of the other squads are having mediocre seasons, compared to past results. Now, the golf team has had the best year in recent memory. We did not do a great job covering them and I plan to rectify this in any way possible. Out of any small fall sport, I’d say water polo got the best coverage. We even got a photographer to a game, something we didn’t do last year. In the winter, we cover primarily basketball. This year, with both teams in the top 25, basketball will be taking over this campus. Other sports, such as gymnastics, swimming and diving, also get coverage. Spring has been loaded with baseball and softball. Baseball is tricky because games are played far away but we do our best. Last season, the women’s lacrosse team did well so this season, they will get a lot more student attention and coverage from the Hatchet. So my answer is yes. We sometimes base coverage on student interest. When basketball had all those losing seasons, they still were always above the fold in the Hatchet. But that does not mean we ignore the small sports. This is great! Keep the comments coming.
