The Good Ole Days

[apaladin]

I know how times have changed, believe me. Remember when the Greenville News was actually a real newspaper and had actual reporters? Remember when the News had a Furman practice report EVERY day? Remember when channel 4 actually gave FU some coverage? Channel 4 is an absolute joke now. As the News went downhill the official site picked up some of the slack and published some practice reports and now that has gone away. The official site in fact has not had one practice report or scrimmage report since practice started. Yes I know about the position previews, remember I was the one who started those right here before the official site started doing them and they didn’t even thank me for the idea. All we are left with are some videos that most never see and those offer little to no info. Even those have gone away. The last of those was a week and a half ago at fanfest. I know there will be those who say it is none of our business and we don’t need to know yada yada yada. Others will say its about not letting the opponent know anything, Thats lame IMHO. Anyway, since there is now no other outlet for Furman news IMHO the official site really needs to step up its game and give us fans some useful news/ info/interviews etc. Just my 2 cents.

[Roundball]

I know how times have changed, believe me. Remember when the Greenville News was actually a real newspaper and had actual reporters? Remember when the News had a Furman practice report EVERY day? Remember when channel 4 actually gave FU some coverage? Channel 4 is an absolute joke now. As the News went downhill the official site picked up some of the slack and published some practice reports and now that has gone away. The official site in fact has not had one practice report or scrimmage report since practice started. Yes I know about the position previews, remember I was the one who started those right here before the official site started doing them and they didn’t even thank me for the idea. All we are left with are some videos that most never see and those offer little to no info. Even those have gone away. The last of those was a week and a half ago at fanfest. I know there will be those who say it is none of our business and we don’t need to know yada yada yada. Others will say its about not letting the opponent know anything, Thats lame IMHO. Anyway, since there is now no other outlet for Furman news IMHO the official site really needs to step up its game and give us fans some useful news/ info/interviews etc. Just my 2 cents.

If you are not getting the information you need, you are not looking for it. There are plenty of great sources for Furman sports. Besides the folks on this board, there is the Charleston P&C-Greenville Edition, Twitter, Facebook, and https://www.furmanatt.com/sports/football/.

[BackupQB]

Articles cost money. Journalists cost money (and are underpaid as it is). Furman coverage makes no money.

Local news is dying off because the market has drastically changed. It's not happening because the Greenville News or WYFF hates Furman. It's happening because the average person:

A) Expects to get news for free
B) Gets all of their free news from Facebook and PatriotFreedomWatchBlog.org or whatever

As for official Furman marketing, they're doing what they can to drive engagement on social media, since Furman Athletics' weak point is the 40 and under crowd, and that's a real problem if you want any sort of long term sustainability. And to be honest, for a school of Furman's size, they do a decent job of getting that engagement. They routinely rank in the Top 25 in FCS on those metrics.

They probably look at things like practice reports, and have come to conclusion that they don't move any sort of needle that much compared to the effort it takes to do them. And they're probably right. It'll satiate the demands of a small handful of die-hards and old timers, but that's about it. Again, the 40 and under crowd doesn't spend much time (if any) looking for info on football websites.

[The Jackal]

Articles cost money. Journalists cost money (and are underpaid as it is). Furman coverage makes no money.

Local news is dying off because the market has drastically changed. It's not happening because the Greenville News or WYFF hates Furman. It's happening because the average person:

A) Expects to get news for free
B) Gets all of their free news from Facebook and PatriotFreedomWatchBlog.org or whatever

As for official Furman marketing, they're doing what they can to drive engagement on social media, since Furman Athletics' weak point is the 40 and under crowd, and that's a real problem if you want any sort of long term sustainability. And to be honest, for a school of Furman's size, they do a decent job of getting that engagement. They routinely rank in the Top 25 in FCS on those metrics.

They probably look at things like practice reports, and have come to conclusion that they don't move any sort of needle that much compared to the effort it takes to do them. And they're probably right. It'll satiate the demands of a small handful of die-hards and old timers, but that's about it. Again, the 40 and under crowd doesn't spend much time (if any) looking for info on football websites.

I'm in the under 40 crowd. There may be some of my contemporaries that have subscriptions to a newspaper, but I don't know any. It's just not a relevant means of contempt consumption in the digital age.

If the goal is to reach a younger and more diverse demographic and expand Furman's reach, worrying about the local newspaper or billboards is a waste of time. The reach is geographically limited and the folks you are trying to get interested aren't reading it anyway.

To me, continuing to complain about the "Greenville fishwrap" is archaic thinking. I do not know their internal numbers, but Furman's football accounts on social media almost certainly have a wide reach than the local newspaper, is free, and can pump out directed content their users want far quicker than the newspaper can.

[Yadkin]

The "Good Ole Days", as the originator of this thread labeled it, are gone, at least in what his mind considers good things from the past. For instance, the early 1980s scheduling model when Furman could call up any number of I-AA foes with the prospect of getting a single home (and no return date), is long gone, but only a few short years ago the thread originator was cooking Furman for not getting these games -- obviously stuck in the past. The Greenville News, which had seven sportswriters on staff 20 years ago, now has two. It's daily circulation is probably half of what it was then (being generous in saying half), and we've all seen what Greenville has experienced in the way of growth since 2000. Part of a dying industry for sure. Almost irrelevant, really, which is sad IMO, but it's reality. TV 4 had a staff of four sports folks 20 years ago. Now they have two, yet some folks expect them to cover the same, if not more, high schools than they did 20 years ago. Different era now. Furman's opportunities lie primarily in digital and in social media, which it has a lot more control over its product and message. Could you watch every Furman football, basketball game on TV in 1995? How'd you like waiting to Sunday to read the stats, box score as opposed to real-time info now? Digital, social media is where more and more folks get their news. Just a fact. Time to adapt or the world most assuredly will continue to pass you by.

[MNORM]

Adapt or die.
In the 50's people longed for the days of sitting around the giant radio and listening to Little Orphan Annie.
For the size school, Furman does a pretty dang good job of self-marketing in the mediums that really matter.
Greenville Rag and WYFF, at the end of the day, are barely relevant.

[FUBeAR]

In the 50's people longed for the days of sitting around the giant radio and listening to Little Orphan Annie.

FUBeAR caught the movie version in the early 80’s. Probably at Cedar Lane Drive-In. Heckuva performer!

[apaladin]

Pretty sure there was TV in the 50’s. In fact I’m sure of it.

[MNORM]

Pretty sure there was TV in the 50’s. In fact I’m sure of it.

Exactly. And I'm sure lots of the "older" set longed for the good ole days of sitting around the radio, like they did in the 30's. It's 2021...adapt or die.

[FurmanATT]

I'd like to put in a plug for my company, DHK Sports LLC, and FurmanATT.com. Our other sites are LaurensCountySports.com and ElectricCitySports.com, which covers Anderson County.
I'm a Furman grad. After a long career, 20 years of which were spent traveling the country on the NASCAR beat, this is sort of what I hope to be my crowning achievement.
The reason for my company is to fill the void in local sports coverage that the decline of other forms of media leave in its wake.
I loved being a newspaper beat reporter. I hate newspapers declined and not just because I am a casualty.
We have three fulltime employees and a small roster of correspondents, stringers and photographers.
Danny Barletta is at tonight's Presbyterian-Furman volleyball match. Recently he staffed women's soccer.
Yesterday we posted interviews with Clay as well as three top players. Caleb Gilbert and I will be staffing the football game. We'll go on the road when possible (we have high school football madness on Fridays), but Danny and Caleb are planning to be at N.C. State.
It's all free and will be, but as we launch the site and build our circulation, we'd love to have you voluntarily contribute or become a patron, via Patreon.com, of our sites. Any amount, whether a lump sum or a few bucks a month, helps pay the bills and fill the gas tanks. Refer us to advertisers. Spread the word.
Support us if you think we're worth it, and please do so in any way you find appropriate.
Our goal is not just to do it but to do it right.

https://www.furmanatt.com/

Thanks for giving it a look.

Monte

[apaladin]

Definitely will give it a look see. Thanks Monte