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Nick Nelson

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Blog Entries posted by Nick Nelson

  7. Nick Nelson
    Back when I was in college, I was a huge Golden Gopher hockey fan (well, still am; can't wait to see the boys battle Boston College on Thursday). Since I was majoring in journalism and had an acute interest in sportswriting, I figured it would be wise to seek an opportunity to cover the team for a media outlet.
     
    I ended up landing in a volunteer position with the school radio station. The gig consisted of watching Friday night games from the press box, calling in to give live on-air updates between periods and collecting sound bites from coaches and players in post-game interviews.
     
    Watching the game as a member of the press had its perks, no doubt. I was rubbing shoulders with professionals I admired, gaining valuable experience, and there was even free food.
     
    But overall, the process was tedious, challenging and stressful. It was work.
     
    I've covered numerous sporting events over the years, including the Twins at Target Field, and what I've invariably come to realize is that it sucks the magic out of the game. Cheering in the press box is taboo (which was especially tough at Gopher games), you're forced into awkward interview situations with players and coaches who largely view you as a nuisance, and you're so busy framing story ideas and scrambling against deadlines that you can't really slow down and appreciate or enjoy what's happening.
     
    On occasion, when the Gophers were trailing by a goal late, I'd find myself hoping in the press box that they wouldn't score and send it to overtime, so I could finish up and file my work more quickly. That's certainly not how the fan in me would feel.
     
    When Phil Mackey went on a mystifying rant about how "sports bloggers" are suffering from a lack of accountability and gloats about how "access paints such a more valuable picture," it miffed me and others. Mackey's remarks set off a whirlwind of debate, with other mainstream media pros chiming in words of agreement and bloggers firing back.
     
    I've stayed out of the whole fracas, for the most part. It's a frustrating situation – drama driven by egos, professional pride and poor communication. John wrote a piece here about how corporate journalists are feeling threatened by independent writers. I wouldn't go that far. I don't think the mainstream media need to fear us, but they do need to understand us.
     
    We write from the perspective of a fan. Fans don't have access. If we crossed that threshold we'd be writing from a different and in many ways more limiting perspective. Obviously readers are thirsting for the type of relatable, removed-from-the-subject insight that bloggers provide, otherwise these "too large" platforms that Mackey complains of wouldn't have grown so large in the first place.
     
    Having media members cover the team from inside the clubhouse, reporting news and providing first-hand viewpoints, is absolutely quintessential. There are several people who do that in this market – Mackey better than most. But while access adds another dimension it also involves a lot of extra work. Reporters get paid for that work, bloggers don't.
     
    That, really, is the bottom line here. I can say with great confidence that if it wasn't their salaried job, these reporters wouldn't be in the clubhouse covering the team every day. Most of them probably wouldn't even be writing about the Twins, or about baseball, at all. There's an assortment of really talented writers in this market who have other jobs but take the time to write about the Twins for meager compensation (if any) simply because they're passionate about it.
     
    When it comes down to it, which would you rather have: passion or access?
     
    Why should you have to choose?
  19. Nick Nelson
    Yeah, it's only the second week of March. But early in spring training, positive signs have been hard to come by for this offense.
     
    Today at Hammond Stadium, the Twins snapped a string of 27 consecutive scoreless innings, but did so without a run-scoring hit. Their two runs both came on bases-loaded walks. The latter took place with two outs in the ninth inning, drawing the Twins within a run of the Cardinals before Rene Tosoni grounded out to second on the first pitch of the next at-bat to end the game.
     
    Aye, aye, aye.
     
    The Twins, who haven't collected an extra-base hit since last weekend, continue to look stagnant at the plate. Only one player finished with multiple hits on Friday, and it was Wilkin Ramirez, a non-roster invitee who singled in his two plate appearances after relieving Brian Dinkelman in left field.
     
    On the pitching side, Jason Marquis got the start for the Twins and allowed one run over three innings. Certainly an improvement over his first outing, but with only 20 of his 39 pitches going for strikes, he's leaving plenty to be desired in the control department.
     
    Glen Perkins struck out two in a perfect fourth inning – his first appearance since signing a new three-year deal – while Matt Capps was tagged with the loss after giving up a home run to Rafael Furcal in the fifth, though he also induced a pair of swinging strikeouts.
     
    The Twins' record in Grapefruit League play now sits at 3-5.
  24. Nick Nelson
    The following are examples of comments we've received on blog posts over the past few days.
     
    The first came from Twins Daily member roger responding to my post earlier this week about the Zumaya injury:
     
     
    The second came from StarTribune.com user "njc264isback" on Seth's bullpen article there today:
     
     
    Look, I'm a huge fan of reader interaction and I value pretty much every comment received – even the ones I vehemently disagree with. But I hate comments like these ones.
     
    When you've got a multi-contributor site like Twins Daily, you're inherently going to get a wide array of viewpoints, perspectives and styles. Different writers take different approaches with their craft. Seth's a guy who nearly always writes with a positive slant and uses lots of exclamation points. I pride myself on being a straight-shooter who looks at things objectively despite being a lifelong fan. I like to examine matters critically and I'm not shy about voicing my disagreement when I think it's warranted (although I would absolutely challenge the notion that my writing is consistently negative; of my last three posts, one laid out a realistic blueprint for the Twins to contend and one concluded that this year's bench should be more well rounded than past iterations).
     
    Our tones are very different, but neither should be shunned. We'll tackle topics from our own – sometimes conflicting – unique angles, and so will John and Parker. That's the beauty of this site. Readers will have the opportunity to take in a multitude of different viewpoints and are encouraged to impact the conversation by sharing their own.
     
    Use this site however you like. Share your feedback. Contribute. Just please, please don't endlessly complain about the tone of certain writers being too positive or negative. If you really can't handle reading a little well-evidenced optimism or thoughtful criticism, authors' names are very clearly displayed on the front page and it's easy to be selective about what you choose to read.
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