Should I not expect better writing from ESPN?

B

blkngldFRO

Well-Known Member
Come on when your the leader of sports news you should get it right. Its not like no one knows who Iowa is, or the Big ten.

"We know the Hawkeyes can be dominant against inferior opponents, but it has been hard to gauge just how good Iowa is because of the recent losses by both Penn State and Arizona."

"Robinson and the Wolverines ran the ball well against Michigan last year in Iowa City"

What to watch in the Big Ten: Week 7 - College Football Nation Blog - ESPN

Am I expecting to much from sports writers?
 
The first quote is simply saying its hard to say how Iowa is because we haven't played a lot of top level talent. He is saying Arizona and Penn State recently lost, so it brings our team into question a bit.

The second is obviously a typo if its quoted correctly. But Michigan did have decent success running the ball against us last year.
 
Yes, you should. It would also be great if message board contributors learned the difference between your and you're and its and it's.
 
Actually, there was another error in that article...

9. Iowa begins critical stretch: October will be a revealing month around the Big Ten and especially for Iowa, which opens a three-game stretch against Michigan, No. 18 Wisconsin and No. 13 Michigan State.
Click to expand...

When the first draft or version of the article was up, it read "No. 13 Minnesota".

But those are simple typos. Plenty of us get mixed up when we're talking or writing, and when you're discussing several different teams in the same sentence, and are writing an article about various other teams...it can be easy to make mistakes.

That said, you'd think people who write for a living would proofread better...
 
tweeterhawk said:
Yes, you should. It would also be great if message board contributors learned the difference between your and you're and its and it's.
Click to expand...

I almost always get these right:

1. your and you're
2. it's and its
3. there, their, and they're

I never know what to do with this one:

4. who and whom
 
For who and whom, plug in he and him to see which one you should use. Thats my trick.

Or if its an object of a preposition, but that may not be as easy.
 
They'll get it right once Iowa stops being overlooked. Everyone in the media forgot about Iowa after we lost to AZ. The PSU game was overlooked because of 2, 1 loss teams playing each other early in the year. This weeks game against Michigan will be overlooked because they proved that they can't win against a decent defense. Wisconsin game will be overlooked because tOSU will beat them, and they will have 2 losses. If and when MSU is unbeaten coming into IC, look for ESPN to get it right. They'll probably be there for gameday, so they'll have to.. Just a couple more weeks ladies and gents.
 
The problem with ESPN as far as hawk fans go is Hawks are only a relevant national story when BIG10 is successful. OSU stays #1 then all we will hear about is can OSU beat Iowa in IC. Iowa was talked about alot last year, then SI jinx, if you beleive in it, Iowa losses to NW Hawks fall of radar. Iowa at OSU was second best game of year last year but had no "luster" because NC was not part of big picture between the 2 teams!
Look at how many games ESPN/ABC are broadcasting. Worry when the only air time Iowa gets is the 11 am big ten game!
 
imported_blkngldFRO said:
Come on when your the leader of sports news you should get it right. Its not like no one knows who Iowa is, or the Big ten.

"We know the Hawkeyes can be dominant against inferior opponents, but it has been hard to gauge just how good Iowa is because of the recent losses by both Penn State and Arizona."

"Robinson and the Wolverines ran the ball well against Michigan last year in Iowa City"

What to watch in the Big Ten: Week 7 - College Football Nation Blog - ESPN

Am I expecting to much from sports writers?
Click to expand...

Have you seen the quantity of material Rittenberg contributes? Bound to have some missteps now and again. And at least he'll admit when he's wrong.. I think overall he's a really good blogger.
 
EyeAmHawk said:
Have you seen the quantity of material Rittenberg contributes? Bound to have some missteps now and again. And at least he'll admit when he's wrong.. I think overall he's a really good blogger.
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I agree with that. He puts out like ten times the copy (do bloggers produce "copy") that most of the other writers do. Plus he's more level-headed than the other ESPN guys that try to put something out there that's sensationalistic enough to draw attention.
 
Well if we are going to be picky about grammar on this board. Then let me point out that the words "to" (a preposition), "too" (also), and "two" (a number) are often used incorrectly as well. Also, I agree that writers and editors (at newspapers anyway) are horrendous proofreaders, and it's their job (go figure). I can live with it, I'm just saying...

As for the Hawks in national media. We get good exposure I think. There is a relevant story about us somewhere at least monthly. They could be better written and more factual at times, but at least they are there. There are plenty of other top tier programs that seem to not get as much press as we do. Das89's posting above about ABC/ESPN gametime exposure proves that.

We are a top 10-15 program, not top 5. We are relevant in the national spotlight accordingly. We need to win some "BIG" games at the "RIGHT" times to be considered a perennial SOLID contender.
 
imported_blkngldFRO said:
Come on when your the leader of sports news you should get it right. Its not like no one knows who Iowa is, or the Big ten.

"We know the Hawkeyes can be dominant against inferior opponents, but it has been hard to gauge just how good Iowa is because of the recent losses by both Penn State and Arizona."

"Robinson and the Wolverines ran the ball well against Michigan last year in Iowa City"

What to watch in the Big Ten: Week 7 - College Football Nation Blog - ESPN

Am I expecting to much from sports writers?
Click to expand...

Maybe I'm missing something but I don't see what's so wrong about what they wrote. Iowa has been dominant against inferior opponents, and we don't know how good we are yet (especially since PSU and AZ both lost at home last Saturday). Also, Denard did run well on us last year. 49 rush yards on 9 carries and a 3-yard TD. Ignoring the TD, he was averaging 5.75 YPC. These are fairly innocuous statements of fact.
 
edr247 said:
Actually, there was another error in that article...



When the first draft or version of the article was up, it read "No. 13 Minnesota".

But those are simple typos. Plenty of us get mixed up when we're talking or writing, and when you're discussing several different teams in the same sentence, and are writing an article about various other teams...it can be easy to make mistakes.

That said, you'd think people who write for a living would proofread better...
Click to expand...

Whether mistake or not anyone who could draft up "No. 13 Minnesota" should be fired on the spot. It's a deliberate attempt at sabotage or an amazing cheapshot at goofer nation.
 
I'm a Vikings fan. You'd be amazed how often 'lose' is spelled 'loose' on their boards. A Minnesota thing, I guess.
 
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