Why Will The Daily Times Not Cover Local Sports And News?
As I return home from my first year of coaching Wicomico Post 64 American Legion Baseball I am baffled and confused by the Daily Times and their lack of coverage of local Salisbury sports, most recently the legion team's success this past summer.
For as long as I can remember Salisbury Post 64 American Legion Baseball has been a program that has been well respected and has well represented the Salisbury area.
It has always been recognized as one of the highest levels of baseball for our local high school and college players. Some pretty impressive numbers have been put up over the years by some big name local players who have gone on to great college careers and even a few to minor league careers. This program is a large part of baseball in Salisbury and of interest to many of the people of the Eastern Shore who follow baseball, not because I now coach it, but because of it's teams and the reputation they have built over the years.
So when we were playing in, and won, the first ever MD State Championship at the end of July in College Park we just naturally expected the Daily Times to cover our games and keep the community abreast of the teams success. After all, the Baltimore Metro teams and the Western MD teams each had their own beat writers at every game.
We never got a call from the paper during the entire tournament. I communicated the scores and results to Earl Holland and the Daily Times. Results? Nothing! One article on Wednesday August 4th after the tournament was over stating that we had advanced.
So on to Mid Atlantic Regionals and playing against other legion teams representing New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Virginia, Delaware, and West Virginia. The results of the tournaments first game against W VA were reported to Earl Holland after the game and I was told he would take care of it. I also told him that the games were live on CBS Sports Gametracker each night and he simply thanked me.
That's right, CBS Sports covered the games by Gametracker LIVE on their website each night in 8 different regions around the country and we could not get our local paper to even post a score? What is up with that? All they had to do was go online and follow the games and the scores live. They knew about how to follow us and did not!
We told them about the site, and even asked them to print the website in the paper so Salisbury could follow the team. Results? Nothing!. Scott Abrams from WBOC called and spoke with me and followed Gametracker live posting our scores on WBOC TV. Thank you Scott!
Again I cannot emphasize enough that this is not about me but about the Post 64 baseball program, these players, and Salisbury. Why not just the scores or some communication to the local people? Last week when we came home just 2 games shy of going to the American Legion World Series and having finished the season as one of the best 32 teams in the USA I again called the Times.I asked Earl Holland if he would like to do an article about Post 64 Baseball for the people of Salisbury and for the team members. He said he would call me back the next day. Results? Nothing! I called again and left a message. Results? Nothing!
So frustrating to be so censored. . . to have local news or sports suppressed in favor of what we get every day! Got to be something that we as the people of this area can do!
Coach Bill Cropper
DelMarVa's Premier Source for News, Opinion, Analysis, and Human Interest Contact Publisher Joe Albero at alberobutzo@wmconnect.com or 410-430-5349
This comment may seem long but it comes from many years of frustration from a local sports fan. Coach Cropper I too feel your frustration, welcome to the club. I have for many years communicated with the Daily Times about youth sports that occur in Wicomico County and have found if they can not get it off an Associated Press (AP) feed or visit a Salisbury high school for only the 1st 10 minutes of a sporting event, then they have no interest. And unlike you, I am not a coach of all the events I attend and get results from....so it definately does not benefit me personally. The west side and the east side of Wicomico County seem a little too far for the Daily Times sports staff to venture to get a story (good luck Somerset, Worcester, & Dorchester)....heck, I have even given them the whole story but my results are the same as yours..Nothing! The "phoning in" of scores is a joke. I followed their (Daily Times) procedures for calling in game results for both youth rec events and high school events faithfully but it became a waste of time because once out of 10 times it was put in the paper. The kids love to see their accomplishments in the local paper but I guess the Daily Times has got a business to run and they decide it is much easier to copy an AP feed for a story instead of featuring our local youth talent. Secondly, try to get pictures of local youth participating in sporting events in our area. If you are not one of their few amateur hand picked photographers they faithfully print pictures for, then they do not have any interest in local pictures. It would seem they would welcome the "free" reporting they are getting to keep a local subscription base thriving. And that is why I no longer subscribe to their publication and alot of parents feel the same as I thus bringing their subscriber rate down.
ReplyDeleteI never recall them putting too much coverage into Legion baseball to be honest. You'd get a score here or there but that's about it. Even the ESBL (not sure if that is the right name, Perdue Chicks team) doesn't get a ton of coverage either. Sadly their high school coverage has fallen off from what it used to be. Anyone remember when they covered ALL of the Bayside and Henlopen conferences, not just the South divisions?
ReplyDeleteGood grief, you're not being censored, you dummy. Their sports staff is clearly short-handed, and legion ball isn't making the cut anymore.
ReplyDeleteThe Daily Times sports section has completely gone to crap. I recall when I was in high schoo it was very good, that was in my begining years. A couple years down the road towards my Junior and Senior year the paper seemed to slack off. We could barely get a reporter to numerous events in Worcester county. Our high school team was one of the best around and won a few state championships. I recall winning one and seeing a picture of one of our fans hilding up a sign for her boyfriend on the team as the cover page ? How does that fit in with the game at all ? The Daily Times needs a sports section revamp.
ReplyDeleteThe Daily Times is dying. The paper is of such poor quality in every aspect. The coverage, the writing, and even the printing is shameful. I would imagine that within the next 10 years the Daily Times will be no more.
ReplyDeleteWe haven't had a good local Sports
ReplyDeleteeditor for years, in my opinion Rick Cullen was the best for local sports.
Congratulations of an outstanding year! Looking forward to next year already!!
ReplyDelete-Legionaire-
and for the idiot that said "Legion ball isn't making the cut anymore", you can pack sand!
In my opinion American Legion baseball is great entertainment and showcases the best baseball talent in the area. That includes coaches as well. The American Legion is a wonderful organization
ReplyDeletein which one of their primary goals is to support baseball.
The DT sucks. THey never cover any sports.How bout the local Perdue Cghick, The women Fast Pitch Leagoe Tournament,The Mens Fast Pitch Tournament. NOTHING.
ReplyDeleteHats off to the Post 64 American Legion for their support of this talented baseball program. Also to the coaching and the level of play. We should be more supportive as a community. The coaching is the highest level in our area as I have personally seen our college and high school programs and only Parkside's coaching staff matches up with Coach Cropper and AL baseball. Salisbury does want to follow our local teams and we do love local baseball as much or more than a steady dose of Shorebirds / Orioles off the AP wire. Go Post 64! Keep making Salisbury proud!
ReplyDeleteI'm pretty sure I've seen the Perdue team covered in that sports page. Check your facts before spouting off crybabies.
ReplyDeleteIf the local paper would cover local events and local kids, parents would buy it.
ReplyDeleteSince they don't, we won't, and the paper will die it's just death.
When the Daily Times axed Shawn and Tim their sports section went downhill. I'm told a guy that was an intern last year is now running it and he only makes about $10/hour. You get what they pay for!
ReplyDelete