Marcia Fails To "Register" & Bruins Fire Back
by Nestor on Aug 7, 2008 3:00 AM PDT
in Media Watch
15 comments
I will go ahead and run with tasser10's idea for the title of this post. In case you haven't read it yet, check out bluestreet's fanpost concerning Marcia Smith, the OC Register "reporter" (and former beat writer for UCLA) who currently blogs on "UCLA Blog".
Looks like Marica has followed up her recent concern trolling re. our football program with another sloppy and poor researched (and as she implies herself a totally uninformed) article taking all kinds of snark filled cheap shots against our football program. I will go ahead and repost the excerpt from the fan post which will serve as bulletin board material for Neuheisel for years to come:
The first day of fall camp on Tuesday felt like the premiere of a B movie. Beyond the coaches, Spaulding Field wasn’t a who’s who but a who’s that?
Look at the front of the new Bruin media guide. It’s No. 93 and No. 86, or – let me dig up my numerical roster - Harwell and tight end Logan Paulsen.
Harwell and Logan are both on preseason watch list for national awards at their respective positions. Harwell, the player Neuheisel (above) brought with him to last month’s Pac-10 media day, has emerged as an early “star” more on his personality than his recent performance. Harwell missed the final 11 games of last season because of a knee injury and received a medical hardship redshirt so that he could return for a fifth year.
Outside of the football team, nobody knows who the Bruins are or how good – if at all – they will be.
“There are a lot of question marks but we think we can win,” said senior center Micah Reed. “We’re hopefully going to surprise some people.”
Like on Halloween, maybe.
Well it looks like finally some comments from Bruins are showing up in that sad, empty and unpopulated "blog" and they are not pretty. From Vision:
You are blogging about the Bruins but can’t recognize two proven commodities and senior leaders without referencing their numbers in the media guide? Those pesky helmets, eh…makes it so hard to see the guys.
Regarding your slamming the kicking game…talk to Florida State or Michigan about how important that can be. Or maybe recognize that sometimes special teams is where the young and unproven get their first taste of the game. At first I thought you didn’t know the Bruins, but perhaps you just don’t know football.
At least you are catching up to the LA Times in one department - unqualified and embarassing columnists reporting on a team they obviously do not appreciate, know or even respect. Kudos!
tasser:
Wow…this is supposed to be the UCLA blog? Perhaps you should tone down the sarcasm, Marcia. People who follow the team know what’s going on. Clearly you are not one of those people. Not sure what your point is anyway, other than to make snarky comments about a team that has a very tough road ahead. You are borderline rude and certainly disrespectful. And where were you when Karl Dorrell was bringing the program to this point? Yeah. Thought so. Wake me up when you write something important.
bungo:
Pretty lame article and blatantly baised given that you pick one defensive lineman’s # and a tight end’s #, the former who IS one of our best players, yet did not get much playing time last year due to injury, and our top tight end, who was not utilized in the vaunted Dorrellian offense last year (both reasons which may account for the lack of awareness of his jersey numbers).
Ask how many USC fans would know players who were injured or not utilized for much of last season by their numbers…
Or perhaps a better question why did you not ask who were #7 (Ben Olson) or #36 (Khalil Bell)? Oh yeah, because most people would know who they were…
BTW, ask how many peopl ever heard of Marcia C. Smith and I guarantee you’ll hear the crickets chirping…
and isodore:
Smith: UCLA? Who are these guys?
They are the team you are getting paid to cover. How about you do some research, and cut the snark, and maybe you will write something worth reading.
*note to the editors* Please remove this “writer” and replace her with someone willing to cover the team using facts, and not sloppy sarcasm.
You can add your 2 cents here (be nice and on point).
Again just to see the ineptness in the local traditional media. For folks who are connected via BN and other UCLA online communities, they find a way to get info. But what a disservice it is for others who are still depending on the traditional media to get their sports fix to be subjected to this kind of poorly written material.
We would also hope that Morgan Center itself would take notice of this type of "reporting" and make an earnest effort to get them to do their job in a professional and competent manner.
GO BRUINS.
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I Wonder ---
1. If these bloggers write this crap to stimulate responses which translate into “hits” which validate the blog; my approach, which I’ve instituted with Doh!. is to simply ignore people like this and not give them numbers so as to deny their claims that they have readers.
2. If people like this get UCLA press credentials and privileges. I want to echo a them raised last year and repeated in Nestor’s post - not everyone with a pencil or laptop should get the preferential treatment given “real reporters”. I’m sure the athletic department vet’s the applications for credentials. It should take more than an association with a newspaper - it should take at least a rudimentary knowledge of a program. I’m not suggesting content censorship based on content—but rather withholding privileges from those with no content. They can still “cover” the program, they will just have to do it the hard way, buying their own tickets, creating the credibility necessary to gain access, and by buying their own meals at games.
sjh
by Class of 66 on Aug 7, 2008 4:50 AM PDT reply actions 0 recs
I agree with 66
Re point number 1: The only time I read what Doh! has to say is when it’s quoted here. So here’s a challenge to our moderators and contributors—how about a one-week moratorium on any reference to Doh! ? See what happens. I suspect that the BN will survive and thrive without references to that guy.
Re point number 2: In a mini-debate with the trOJie who blogs about UCLA, I volunteered to run the justsc blog. If the fishwrap gave me that job and a press pass, how long do you think I would get access to Inheritance Hall and to the players and to the locker rooms. (Probably I would get one visit to the locker rooms and then get beaten to a pulp by the thugs or their entourages, at which time my career would end, but I digress.) justsc would not admit to pulling all my credentials to censor me, but they would certainly say they don’t believe I have the curriculum vitae to qualify me to write about their school. It should be the same with Morgan Center. Mr. Guerrero, you can’t censor reporters - it just can’t be done. But you don’t have to give them freedom to roam where the public isn’t allowed. Pull the credentials from “reporters” who have forfeited the right to unlimited access and incredible perks by the content of their writings. Criticism is fair. Unfairness or inaccuracy or the advancement of one’s agenda at the expense of the truth is out of place and need not be tolerated. Don’t worry about public outrage - there will be plenty of reporters who will publish your side of the story.
And you can start with the fishwrap’s trOJie of the moment who writes the alleged UCLA blog.
by Fox 71 on Aug 7, 2008 5:34 AM PDT up reply actions 0 recs
hahahah ...
“inheritance hall” ... love that.
you know, i’ve always wondered about that theory of writing something controversial just to get a lot of publicity—any publicity is good publicity. sure you’ll get hits, but you’re taking a giant blow to your credibility, so it’s not even worth it really.
by deepdish on Aug 7, 2008 11:01 AM PDT reply actions 0 recs
Adam Rose
stated that an absurd, ill-informed, inflammatory piece he wrote was “was intended to bait people. Based on the frenzy it still stirs, looks like it was a success!”
I believe 66 is completely correct: We need to boycott this ignorant drivel. If nobody rises to the “bait,” it is, by definition, a “failure.” In the spirit of full disclosure, I commented on Miss Marcia’s previous, equally blundering blog. I did wonder at the time if I was actually feeding the beast, so to speak.
Marcia hates her subject, that is obvious, and she clearly takes no pride in what she is doing, whatsoever. Let us allow her blog the cheap, empty, slow and silent death it so richly deserves.
And by all means, yank her UCLA press pass.
Love My Bruins
by Bruingirl83 on Aug 7, 2008 12:18 PM PDT reply actions 0 recs
Agree and disagree
Agree that we shouldn’t feed the beast (shoddy reporting/writing).
However, I think it is imperative that we throw some heaters – high and tight – to let folks know we are paying attention and that we are going to do what we can to hold reporters who are doing bad jobs covering our team accountable our way.
These guys got away with it over the years without hearing any kind of chin music from alums/students/fans who are paying attention. It’s not the same anymore. Times have changed and when it merits they need to hear it.
Marcia need to know she is not going be able to get away with writing crap because if she continues to stay on this track her credibility will totally get shredded. Let’s hope she makes an effort to do better reporting and provide UCLA fans with some actual information on a “UCLA blog” hosted by a traditional media outlet.
by Nestor on Aug 7, 2008 4:30 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs
I like the baseball analogy N
Personally, though, I’d like to skip the ol’ chin music and just throw for her head. But that’s just me. :)
by norcald503 on Aug 7, 2008 6:25 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs
Throwing high and inside versus intentionally hitting a batter
(Thanks, Ozzie. You provided a nice basis for analogies.)
A high, inside fastball to people like Doh! and Marcia, and by extension to their editors, only enables them. They crowd the plate just to get brushed back to give them a reason to charge the mound. To switch analogies, they are the journalistic equivalent of Jungle Jim Loscotoff, whose only reason for existence was to act as a bully. Given the absurdity of the publications for which they write, perhaps a more apt analogy would be that they are the equivalent of Freddie Blassie – the quintessential bad guy who only existed because of the need to have a bad guy. The roles filled by lightweights such as Doh! and Marcia (I can’t help thinking that I should automatically add Brady after Marcia) make them immune from criticism. Criticism is another enabling mechanism for them.
I think we need to listen to the wisdom of Ozzie Guillen. We need to do more than just brush Doh! and Marsha Brady off the plate. We need to plunk them in the ribs. I think the way to do this is to pull their credentials. Let them squawk all they want. Every time them make a fuss, it just calls attention to the reason their fussing, and that calls attention to the reason the credentials were pulled. And that’s what needs to be emphasized. You can criticize all you want as long as you do it fairly. Report accurately. Report completely. Leave your agenda at home. If you call a fact a fact, be ready to prove it. Doh! is plainly guilty of this and so much more than this that he deserves to be told that the next time he comes into the Rose Bowl or into Pauley, he better have a ticket. Marcia Brady needs to be told the same thing. Then let them write anything they want. It would focus the attention on their work product where it belongs, and which cannot withstand scrutiny.
by Fox 71 on Aug 7, 2008 7:02 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs
I disagree somewhat
I get your point, but I think you may be underestimating the value of the brush back pitch, to further strain the analogy.
Sure, we respond, they get hits. But, that doesn’t give them an audience. Just a momentary spike of hits, with few to follow. And, Marsha (,Marsha, Marsha!!! (to strain that one)) gets to look bad to her boss, who badly want to build a blog with a community to replace the OCR’s former circulation numbers.
Dohn has managed to attain this by providing actual reporting alongside his commentary. Marsha doesn’t seem capable of this. I suspect Marsha will either shape up, or, at present pace, ship out. Maybe that sounds cocky on my part, but I’m done underestimating this place.
by Menelaus on Aug 7, 2008 8:49 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs
Fox, You Pencil Necked Geek!
Ah, I haven’t thought of Freddie Blassie for a long long time.
Nothing like going to the Olympic Auditorium to see him wrestle and watch the little old ladies hit him with their umbrellas as he entered the wring.
Fox, you and I sure were luck to be there in the good old days.
sjh
by Class of 66 on Aug 7, 2008 9:11 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs
The ribs?
Sorry Ozzie, I’m still set on throwing the heat right at the earhole. That’ll teach ‘em.
Seriously though, the LA MSM is a non-factor in my life (being in Northern California), so the only time these goobers get traffic on their “blogs” is when BN links to their stupid crap.
To a certain extent, I somewhat agree that ignoring them altogether is the equivalent of depriving the fire of oxygen. However, when someone says something shitty about you (or in this case, your team) and there’s no response, the silence can be deafening.
Just a thought.
by norcald503 on Aug 7, 2008 9:17 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs
Yeap
I believe one of the reasons Trojans have dominated LA’s traditional media is because their PR department can work the refs and they are at good playing the game. Our guys haven’t been playing ball in this area … ever. So the least we can to is to point out and call out the LA media on their anti UCLA garbage because I am not sure Morgan Center is going to do it.
By the way … did Adam Rose link Menelaus’s post re. “USC’s compliance form”? I would think many UCLA fans would get a kick out of checking it out via link to BN? Did Rose link it on What’s Bruin?
by Nestor on Aug 7, 2008 9:24 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs
I understand what everyone is saying about firing back
There is merit to that, of course. Is there any way to look at the numbers of hits on these blogs? You blogsters might know how to do that. If there are an insignificant number, then our firing back would (a) get no wider circulation than what would be generated here, and (b) allow Marcia Brady (can’t help it) et al to show their hit numbers to their editors to show they’re doing a good job. But if there are big numbers, then it a series of blasts (if published) would probably act as the purpose pitch that Ozzie likes to order up from time to time.
OK, one more beanball allusion. We’re talking about charging the mound. If we charge the mound against Bob Gibson, then it’s significant and the purpose for the charge will be discussed. If we charge the mound against some guy or girl named Joe simply because we are smarter than they are and can do it, then much less is accomplished in my opinion.
Now I’m going to retire the baseball figures of speech and head back to the dugout.
by Fox 71 on Aug 8, 2008 7:30 AM PDT up reply actions 0 recs
66 is right
What a cheap ploy to get patronage of any kind. Certainly an afront to good Journalism. Reverse phsychology, to an intellegent audience, does not work. An insult is just an insult. Ignorance cloaked in controversy is still ignorance. I find nothing there to motivate me to look again.
Good try Marcia; but no cigar. Sometimes a cigar is just a cigar.
by northbaybruin on Aug 7, 2008 1:14 PM PDT reply actions 0 recs
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