Iup basketball

[EyeoftheHawk]

That's what has been and what is now. In my post above, I am suggesting what could be, and what is in a comparable small sports market. I am asking the question of why something like that can't be generated in Indiana. I question whether anybody in Indiana has the vision to sidestep the IG and create something new.

So, there is a “guy” that does it for the high school teams, but it’s very much at the grassroots level. He puts on a lot of miles, takes a ton of photos of the kids, and sometimes writes brief Facebook stories about some of the games. He does not cover IUP. Nice enough guy doing what he can, but it’s not what you’re suggesting. There’s another guy that just takes photos, and very good ones, but he doesn’t write about the games.

I suppose it could be done but it would still take some resources. The person or people would have to have nothing else to do, have some talent, and not care if they make any money. Even then a few bucks to cover expenses would certainly help. I suppose you could put together a 5ish person team to cover games and submit their stories to a central hub, and come up with a sponsorship ask to cover expenses and maybe throw the writers a few bucks per game covered, but I don’t know if sponsors would line up for that. Hard to say.

[IUPbigINDIANS]

It's been a long, long time (if ever) since one could refer to Clarion visiting the KCAC as a big game.

The last 'big' Clarion vs IUP basketball game, in fact, came in the PSAC playoffs - about 25 years ago. The Golden Eagles pulled a stunning upset that night. In context, Clarion was pretty good back then.

While that long-ago game had bigger ramifications, tomorrow's game is real important for both teams.

IUP (5-6, 9-9) is about exactly what its record says it is. Good one game. Bad the next. Often times a mix of both.

Clarion (4-7, 9-8) has struggled to close out games in PSAC play.

The West is a jumbled mess. Two teams won't get invited to the conference tournament. As of now, both IUP and Clarion are on the bubble.

This is really a 'must win' for both.

Trying to figure Clarion's season out isn't easy. Much like IUP, the Golden Eagles can certainly have their moments.

For instance, Clarion started the season on fire -- racking up a 7-1 record. Since then, however, they've gone 2-7. But, don't let that stretch fool you.

Along the way, the Golden Eagles have had some heart-breakers -- losing by (3) points at Shippensburg, (2) points to Edinboro, (2) points at Seton Hill, and (3) points to UPJ.

And, by the way, most recently Clarion hung 97 points on Slippery Rock in a 97-87 win.

So, anybody expecting a pushover tomorrow better re-think that real fast. Clarion is four buckets away from having a 13-4 record instead of being 9-8.

One other little item: The Golden Eagles have had a full week to prepare for the trip to Indiana.

IUP offsets that a bit, however, because scouting IUP is next to impossible. I don't think even the players know what they are running from set to set on either end. Joe changes his press calls three times before the ball gets tossed in. So, studying film of this Joe team may make your head explode.

That said, the KCAC should be rocking tomorrow. Students are finally back. It's Boy Scout Day. It's late January with little other options for sports fans.

They both really need this win. That in itself should make it an entertaining game.

[Ship69]

Obviously Tony is well aware but for you others ... The Gazette is a tricky newspaper, sports-wise. Yes, Indiana (proper) is a small town, but the Gazette's circulation and coverage area extends well beyond Indiana High School. The IG covers (used to) the majority of the Heritage Conference schools in addition to Indiana High and IUP. That's a big load for a very lightly-staffed sports department. They also sell papers in to the Apollo-Ridge school district, so that's another one you have to toss a bone at occasionally.

For years IUP could supply the IG with a lot of 'stringers' to help out. I'd guess that fell off some over the years.

The political dynamic is interesting, too. On here, we think IUP sports should be front and center. However, most of Indiana County could give a rats' a$$ about IUP sports. They want the emphasis on high school coverage.

On top of it, as mentioned above, you have the (heavy) influence from IUP breathing down your neck. Tony covered IUP Basketball under Gary Edwards' regime. My goodness the stories he could have probably written about those renegade teams. There was no coach, also, more flamboyant than Edwards. Joe is a coach-speak master and often just talks in circles (but, it sounds good). Edwards could go off the deep end.

But, as stated, it's a very small town. You start writing glaring stories about the program and, well, they won't talk to you anymore. These coaches at IUP don't live under the same microscope as say Pat Narduzzi. If you pi$$ Joe off as a reporter, he's just going to ignore you. It's not like they have obligatory press conferences.

Take Tort's epic Timeout debacle. Had the Pitt coach done that he'd have been lambasted by the media. Tort barely talked about it (and of course blamed everything and everybody under the sun when he did).

As for the IG's rapid decline, it is depressing. I can read the Post-Gazette all day but I tire very quickly reading about Tomlin 365 days a year. They cover high school but it's largely just the big readership schools (NA, PR, etc.). I get it. It's all about clicks today.

The Valley News Dispatch (owned by the Trib) is a pretty good, smallish paper. It's much bigger than the IG, but similar. I'd have much preferred the Trib had bought the IG instead of another of these chop-shop conglomerates.

In fairness, the new Sports Editor is 'new' and still getting his feet wet. But, so far, the IUP hoops coverage has been, well, terrible. It seems Matt is going to stay on and cover IUP Football. I sure hope, anyway. Reading an SID cheerleader release in a newspaper makes me want to vomit.

Had I been covering Tort on a small-town basis, I'd obviously have questioned him about what happened with the timeout fiasco. You can't leave an obvious blunder like that out of your story. You take either his answer or "no comment" and put it in the story. What you wouldn't do is write a column roasting the guy as they do in the big-city press. As you mention, you are in a more intimate setting and you have to work with your sources. This isn't only necessarily true of small programs. Bob Hammel, the newspaper reporter who covered Bob Knight at Indiana for many years, muted his criticism of some of Knight's more hare-brained stunts. I've read other journalists who met Hammel and actually thought he was a good and very knowlegeable writer, and they had some sympathy for his position. In Indiana you had to cover IU basketball, and you couldn't very well do it if the team's coach wasn't speaking to you.

You also go in degrees when you're covering teams. I was almost never critical of high school kids, in most cases 16- and 17-year-olds who are playing because they like the game, and I wasn't too hard on high school coaches, whose compensation at most schools was a phys ed job and a few thousand extra for coaching. Neither was I too hard on small-college guys. Alumni, parents, and boosters will run a coach out of town if they don't like what is going on. I never felt the need to get too involved in that. Somebody like a P4 coach or NFL coach is a different animal. I think if you're going to paid $8 million to coach a football team you need to be able to account for your decisions. And some of these players pulling in a million or more of NIL compensation are going to find out that brings more scrutiny as well.

[Fightingscot82]

Obviously Tony is well aware but for you others ... The Gazette is a tricky newspaper, sports-wise. Yes, Indiana (proper) is a small town, but the Gazette's circulation and coverage area extends well beyond Indiana High School. The IG covers (used to) the majority of the Heritage Conference schools in addition to Indiana High and IUP. That's a big load for a very lightly-staffed sports department. They also sell papers in to the Apollo-Ridge school district, so that's another one you have to toss a bone at occasionally.

For years IUP could supply the IG with a lot of 'stringers' to help out. I'd guess that fell off some over the years.

The political dynamic is interesting, too. On here, we think IUP sports should be front and center. However, most of Indiana County could give a rats' a$$ about IUP sports. They want the emphasis on high school coverage.

On top of it, as mentioned above, you have the (heavy) influence from IUP breathing down your neck. Tony covered IUP Basketball under Gary Edwards' regime. My goodness the stories he could have probably written about those renegade teams. There was no coach, also, more flamboyant than Edwards. Joe is a coach-speak master and often just talks in circles (but, it sounds good). Edwards could go off the deep end.

But, as stated, it's a very small town. You start writing glaring stories about the program and, well, they won't talk to you anymore. These coaches at IUP don't live under the same microscope as say Pat Narduzzi. If you pi$$ Joe off as a reporter, he's just going to ignore you. It's not like they have obligatory press conferences.

Take Tort's epic Timeout debacle. Had the Pitt coach done that he'd have been lambasted by the media. Tort barely talked about it (and of course blamed everything and everybody under the sun when he did).

As for the IG's rapid decline, it is depressing. I can read the Post-Gazette all day but I tire very quickly reading about Tomlin 365 days a year. They cover high school but it's largely just the big readership schools (NA, PR, etc.). I get it. It's all about clicks today.

The Valley News Dispatch (owned by the Trib) is a pretty good, smallish paper. It's much bigger than the IG, but similar. I'd have much preferred the Trib had bought the IG instead of another of these chop-shop conglomerates.

In fairness, the new Sports Editor is 'new' and still getting his feet wet. But, so far, the IUP hoops coverage has been, well, terrible. It seems Matt is going to stay on and cover IUP Football. I sure hope, anyway. Reading an SID cheerleader release in a newspaper makes me want to vomit.

Could be worse. I had thought the IG was bought by Ogden Newspapers, the company founded by the Nutting family. They own the Lock Haven Express.

[iupgroundhog]

Obviously Tony is well aware but for you others ... The Gazette is a tricky newspaper, sports-wise. Yes, Indiana (proper) is a small town, but the Gazette's circulation and coverage area extends well beyond Indiana High School. The IG covers (used to) the majority of the Heritage Conference schools in addition to Indiana High and IUP. That's a big load for a very lightly-staffed sports department. They also sell papers in to the Apollo-Ridge school district, so that's another one you have to toss a bone at occasionally.

For years IUP could supply the IG with a lot of 'stringers' to help out. I'd guess that fell off some over the years.

The political dynamic is interesting, too. On here, we think IUP sports should be front and center. However, most of Indiana County could give a rats' a$$ about IUP sports. They want the emphasis on high school coverage.

On top of it, as mentioned above, you have the (heavy) influence from IUP breathing down your neck. Tony covered IUP Basketball under Gary Edwards' regime. My goodness the stories he could have probably written about those renegade teams. There was no coach, also, more flamboyant than Edwards. Joe is a coach-speak master and often just talks in circles (but, it sounds good). Edwards could go off the deep end.

But, as stated, it's a very small town. You start writing glaring stories about the program and, well, they won't talk to you anymore. These coaches at IUP don't live under the same microscope as say Pat Narduzzi. If you pi$$ Joe off as a reporter, he's just going to ignore you. It's not like they have obligatory press conferences.

Take Tort's epic Timeout debacle. Had the Pitt coach done that he'd have been lambasted by the media. Tort barely talked about it (and of course blamed everything and everybody under the sun when he did).

As for the IG's rapid decline, it is depressing. I can read the Post-Gazette all day but I tire very quickly reading about Tomlin 365 days a year. They cover high school but it's largely just the big readership schools (NA, PR, etc.). I get it. It's all about clicks today.

The Valley News Dispatch (owned by the Trib) is a pretty good, smallish paper. It's much bigger than the IG, but similar. I'd have much preferred the Trib had bought the IG instead of another of these chop-shop conglomerates.

In fairness, the new Sports Editor is 'new' and still getting his feet wet. But, so far, the IUP hoops coverage has been, well, terrible. It seems Matt is going to stay on and cover IUP Football. I sure hope, anyway. Reading an SID cheerleader release in a newspaper makes me want to vomit.

That's what has been and what is now. In my post above, I am suggesting what could be, and what is in a comparable small sports market. I am asking the question of why something like that can't be generated in Indiana. I question whether anybody in Indiana has the vision to sidestep the IG and create something new.

[IUPbigINDIANS]

At one of the small-town newspapers where I worked we covered the three area high schools as best we could, and that included the girls teams. A coach from an opposing school was astounded to see me covering a field hockey game and taking photos. During the summer we'd print full box scores and standings for our Little League games. We had a large slow-pitch softball league at the time and would print summaries of those games if they were turned in. If I wasn't tied up with high school stuff on a weekend, I'd occasionally slip up to Ship to cover a PSAC football or basketball game. During the winter I was usually doing HS basketball on Tuesdays and Fridays and wrestling on Thursdays and Saturdays. In addition, I covered the local school board and had some other regular reporting duties. Weeks of 70 hours or so were common, I wasn't making a ton of money at a paper that size — and I enjoyed every minute of it.

Obviously Tony is well aware but for you others ... The Gazette is a tricky newspaper, sports-wise. Yes, Indiana (proper) is a small town, but the Gazette's circulation and coverage area extends well beyond Indiana High School. The IG covers (used to) the majority of the Heritage Conference schools in addition to Indiana High and IUP. That's a big load for a very lightly-staffed sports department. They also sell papers in to the Apollo-Ridge school district, so that's another one you have to toss a bone at occasionally.

For years IUP could supply the IG with a lot of 'stringers' to help out. I'd guess that fell off some over the years.

The political dynamic is interesting, too. On here, we think IUP sports should be front and center. However, most of Indiana County could give a rats' a$$ about IUP sports. They want the emphasis on high school coverage.

On top of it, as mentioned above, you have the (heavy) influence from IUP breathing down your neck. Tony covered IUP Basketball under Gary Edwards' regime. My goodness the stories he could have probably written about those renegade teams. There was no coach, also, more flamboyant than Edwards. Joe is a coach-speak master and often just talks in circles (but, it sounds good). Edwards could go off the deep end.

But, as stated, it's a very small town. You start writing glaring stories about the program and, well, they won't talk to you anymore. These coaches at IUP don't live under the same microscope as say Pat Narduzzi. If you pi$$ Joe off as a reporter, he's just going to ignore you. It's not like they have obligatory press conferences.

Take Tort's epic Timeout debacle. Had the Pitt coach done that he'd have been lambasted by the media. Tort barely talked about it (and of course blamed everything and everybody under the sun when he did).

As for the IG's rapid decline, it is depressing. I can read the Post-Gazette all day but I tire very quickly reading about Tomlin 365 days a year. They cover high school but it's largely just the big readership schools (NA, PR, etc.). I get it. It's all about clicks today.

The Valley News Dispatch (owned by the Trib) is a pretty good, smallish paper. It's much bigger than the IG, but similar. I'd have much preferred the Trib had bought the IG instead of another of these chop-shop conglomerates.

In fairness, the new Sports Editor is 'new' and still getting his feet wet. But, so far, the IUP hoops coverage has been, well, terrible. It seems Matt is going to stay on and cover IUP Football. I sure hope, anyway. Reading an SID cheerleader release in a newspaper makes me want to vomit.

[Ship69]

I always hold the record-online (see link) from Clinton County (Lock Haven) up as an example of how the local community might need to do the coverage themselves. Lock Haven and Indiana actually have a lot of similarities as communities go. The record-online is local advertising-based. The local sports coverage is comprehensive on the high school and college levels. I just watched a Central Mountain High School wrestling match using their portal.

The local paper, The Express, is the equivalent of the IG. Traditional small town paper that has been bought up by a small town paper conglomerate. The coverage in The Express is lacking. The corporate management doesn't care. The record-online was originally a newspaper from nearby Renovo (they still have coverage for that town). John Lipez, owner of the local LH radio station, bought it and turned it into 100% online. I do not see why a community like Indiana could not come up with something similar.

https://therecord-online.com/site/

At one of the small-town newspapers where I worked we covered the three area high schools as best we could, and that included the girls teams. A coach from an opposing school was astounded to see me covering a field hockey game and taking photos. During the summer we'd print full box scores and standings for our Little League games. We had a large slow-pitch softball league at the time and would print summaries of those games if they were turned in. If I wasn't tied up with high school stuff on a weekend, I'd occasionally slip up to Ship to cover a PSAC football or basketball game. During the winter I was usually doing HS basketball on Tuesdays and Fridays and wrestling on Thursdays and Saturdays. In addition, I covered the local school board and had some other regular reporting duties. Weeks of 70 hours or so were common, I wasn't making a ton of money at a paper that size — and I enjoyed every minute of it.

[iupgroundhog]

I was only a very casual reader and can concur. IG coverage was superb especially considering that compared to some other media markets of D2 schools, IUP's coverage was still among the best. Its rather nice to get 1 or 2 weekly articles or columns. I also appreciate the transparency that comes from those because I'm sure Tony and Matt have relationships with Tort and Joe. Outside of those feel good media day stories fed by the SID, the best coverage Edinboro got were Erie news regurgitations of SID stories.

I always hold the record-online (see link) from Clinton County (Lock Haven) up as an example of how the local community might need to do the coverage themselves. Lock Haven and Indiana actually have a lot of similarities as communities go. The record-online is local advertising-based. The local sports coverage is comprehensive on the high school and college levels. I just watched a Central Mountain High School wrestling match using their portal.

The local paper, The Express, is the equivalent of the IG. Traditional small town paper that has been bought up by a small town paper conglomerate. The coverage in The Express is lacking. The corporate management doesn't care. The record-online was originally a newspaper from nearby Renovo (they still have coverage for that town). John Lipez, owner of the local LH radio station, bought it and turned it into 100% online. I do not see why a community like Indiana could not come up with something similar.

https://therecord-online.com/site/

[Fightingscot82]

We could see the writing on the wall, Tony. I’m barely holding on as a subscriber at this point and I have to imagine a lot of other people feel the same. There have been/are a lot of good people who have worked at the Gazette and it has to be hard for them to take. When the paper was clicking on all cylinders it was outstanding. Sports coverage in particular was amazing and every local game was covered and the IUP coverage was among the best in the country for D2 sports.

I was only a very casual reader and can concur. IG coverage was superb especially considering that compared to some other media markets of D2 schools, IUP's coverage was still among the best. Its rather nice to get 1 or 2 weekly articles or columns. I also appreciate the transparency that comes from those because I'm sure Tony and Matt have relationships with Tort and Joe. Outside of those feel good media day stories fed by the SID, the best coverage Edinboro got were Erie news regurgitations of SID stories.

[Ship69]

We could see the writing on the wall, Tony. I’m barely holding on as a subscriber at this point and I have to imagine a lot of other people feel the same. There have been/are a lot of good people who have worked at the Gazette and it has to be hard for them to take. When the paper was clicking on all cylinders it was outstanding. Sports coverage in particular was amazing and every local game was covered and the IUP coverage was among the best in the country for D2 sports.

As someone who worked for a couple of small-town papers, including sports coverage on occasion, it's been very painful to watch. Ship used to have 3-4 papers covering them to some degree or another. Now it's nothing. Mac doesn't even hold press conferences after football games these days because nobody shows up. To the area television stations, we might as well not exist. It's all Penn State or covering the pro teams that we already see covered ad infinitum on network or cable TV.

[IUPalum]

Why is Dante's boy Sarp getting 30 plus minutes every game?

[IUPbigINDIANS]

Last night is the game that's going to haunt this IUP team.

No excuse in the world to lose that game - and Joe was firing them out faster than he could talk last night.

SRU was severely short-handed -- stars Maceo Austin and Jomo Goings weren't dressed. That's 33.5 ppg in tracksuits. Goings is also arguably their best defender.

IUP played a fairly decent first half (offensively) and held a 5-point lead at halftime. They had the big crowd fairly subdued.

Then, of course, all hell broke loose. Joe's defense (if you want to call it that) collapsed in the final 20 minutes. They had absolutely no answer for Ike Herster (again).

When IUP would get a stop or force a turnover, they'd simply give it right back.

Joe's lineup configurations continue to baffle. Sarp Furtun played 34 of the least-productive minutes (on both ends) that one could draw up. He finished with (3) points and was abused on the defensive end. SRU could drive the ball at will last night. Luke Triggs played just (5) minutes. Tyler Grove only got 21 minutes. Alfonso Pickens, clearly one of IUP's top defenders, got a measly (11) minutes.

Joe's team went a blistering 6-for-25 from outside. They were approaching 'can't hit the side of a barn' territory yet they kept firing. Instead of feeding Damir Brooks all night they just kept launching. Brooks was scoring or getting fouled every time he touched the ball. SRU didn't have much of an answer for him. Yet ...

It was a terribly coached game. Joe's defense was being shredded yet they rarely came out of it. Their offense wasn't working in the second half and they just kept running the same things. Lapse after lapse. Missed assignments. Step too late. It was bad.

We all know by now this team is going to have good nights and bad nights. Last night, in particular, was an awful night.

For starters, it's just not a typical IUP team. That's no secret. It could, however, be much better. Joe isn't playing his best lineups/combinations. This group still isn't clicking. After 18 games they are far too often out of position, late, early, missing layups, etc.

Ian Herring should just about never come off the floor. Sarp is playing WAY too much. If he's getting 34 minutes his production on both ends should be much, much better. Joe needs to let Triggs play. He's micro-managing the crap out of him. Pickens should be playing substantially more minutes.

This season is almost over. It's time to take the diapers off some of these kids and let them learn to swim.

Last night was the 'low point' of the season thus far -- and probably Joe's worst-coached game in a decade. I fully suspect a much better defensive effort/performance Saturday. Clarion is far from a pushover. If we see the same IUP team we saw last night, Clarion will blow them out.

[EyeoftheHawk]

In response to the earlier comment about the Gazette: It is a shame Sample Media ruined something my staff and I built. Sample doesn't care about its readers or its employees. I'll post my substack story shortly.

We could see the writing on the wall, Tony. I’m barely holding on as a subscriber at this point and I have to imagine a lot of other people feel the same. There have been/are a lot of good people who have worked at the Gazette and it has to be hard for them to take. When the paper was clicking on all cylinders it was outstanding. Sports coverage in particular was amazing and every local game was covered and the IUP coverage was among the best in the country for D2 sports.

[tonyc]

IUP-Slippery Rock game story: https://open.substack.com/pub/tonyco...meOnShare=true

[tonyc]

In response to the earlier comment about the Gazette: It is a shame Sample Media ruined something my staff and I built. Sample doesn't care about its readers or its employees. I'll post my substack story shortly.