Saturday, March 19, 2005 |
WGN Cubs Blog
It's interesting to see them do it for a couple of reasons; obviously, direct contact with the broadcasting team provides them more time to answer questions, but then, those questions tend to be repetitive after a while, not to mention less than enlightening. For that reason, it's not surprising that comments don't work; how much feedback can you really handle anyway? Given the relatively light exposure of Cub Reporter and the frequently logorrheic output of their visitors (200+ comments on a single post are not uncommon, and their quality is, um, uneven), a broadcaster-driven blog would tend to be far worse. Listening to Ross Porter take calls on the Dodger Talk show in 2003, he sounded pained most of the time, as though this assignment were some sort of punishment.
Then there's the problem of basic quality. For instance, take this entry, where Kasper succumbs to the temptation of the diary when he didn't really have anything to say. That's one of the most annoying problems with blogs to begin with: self-indulgence. If you're going to write, make sure you have something to write about. Maybe he needs to take lessons from the Fourth Outfielder, or at least learn how to give a good explanation.
That brings us to the real danger of letting broadcasters blog: this pair really isn't the right two guys to do it. Steve Stone would have interesting things to say. So, probably, would Vin Scully, if he wanted to do such a thing (which I doubt). But Brenly -- here I sail on uncharted waters -- got chased from the Arizona dugout after thoroughly proving his middling managerial competence. Kasper seems game enough, but he comes across as the kind of homogenized, shrinkwrapped and blow-dried presence you expect in a second-tier team, happy to be behind the mike or in front of a camera, but not particularly interested in baseball -- you get the feeling he'd rather call Bears games.
Probably, somewhere, somebody will say this represents an advance for blogging. More likely, for WGN, anyway, it's just another temporary Internet fad that will blow over as soon as the broadcasters realize it takes time away from chatting up the baseball groupies, or whatever it is that broadcasters do when they're not in the booth.
Newer› ‹Older
 |
Post a Comment
Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.