Worse Columnist: Souhan, or Reusse?

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jmag21

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Anybody get a chance to read Souhan's latest? I thought Reusse's recent column was the nadir for sports journalism in this town, but Souhan's giving him a run for his money. Souhan's basic point is that the Gophers shouldn't be seen to be underdogs, but should instead realize that if they lose against Xavier, they are underachieving failures. It's truly unbelievable.

Here's a season where the storyline could not be more clear. The Gophers lost three probable starters, were counted out by most, had dissension in the team, were statistically one of the unluckiest in D-1 basketball, and had one chance to redeem themselves. They did so by playing their best basketball of the season to rescue themselves, and get themselves back to the tournament. It's a great story. Instead, Reusse and Souhan look for the most negative spin to place on it. I'd understand if they were simply attempting to get a different angle on a story, but they don't have any problem going for the easy cheap shots at Minnesota sports teams that are failing. And I don't necessarily fault them for that. But don't be constantly negative. Write something positive ONCE in a while.

It's obvious that they're just reflexively anti-Minnesota sports fans. I can no more trust their "journalistic integrity" than I can in reading a Fox News report on Obama, or an MSNBC report on Obama, for that matter. The bias is too clear. Plus, to be honest, Reusse used to be a pretty good stylist, and somewhat entertaining. Not anymore. He's become so invested in "poking" Gophers fans, he's lost all entertainment value. I call it the Doonesbury effect. On the other hand, Souhan's never had an ounce of talent as a columnist. Not even a little bit. I say, with no reservation whatsoever, that I would be twice the columnist he is, right now, with no training whatsoever, writing from home, and so would about 65% of this board. The guy is terrible (though he wasn't too bad as a beat reporter.) Seriously, Star Trib and Pioneer Press, any chance you could hire somebody competent to cover sports in this town? Maybe people would start thinking about buying your newspapers again. I don't buy them now because I can find better writing on four or five sites for each sport the papers cover.
 

Souhan.

At least Reusse has the occasional gem column in him, and has been writing good stuff far longer than he's been hacking his way to the buffet line.

Souhan was slash-and-burn from the time he started writing columns.
 

Sigh. Every time I read Souhan or Reusse, and I always feel like that guy buying the car from Jerry Lundegaard in Fargo.

"These guys, these guys... its always the same. Its always more!"

You'd think after all these columns written in the same tone about the Gophers, they'd mix a positive on in there from time to time, just to mix it up. They've gone to the negative well far too often for them to have any legitimacy as 'sports journalists. There's a difference between being critical and simply contrarian.

Understand that these guys couldn't get away writing columns like this year after year in Madison, Columbus, or Ann Arbor - they be shipped out of town on a rail.
 

The negative writing normally doesn't bother me but Souhan's column is really, really bad. If he truly believes the Gopher's are the better team, why not write about how good they've become recently or how they got such a great draw for the tourney? Instead, he generalizes about how the Big Ten is so great and the A10 is so weak, writes nothing substantive about Xavier's season or players, and wholly ignores the U's challenges this season and their recent success.

It is simply a set up article to further trash the Gophers. If the Gophers win, Souhan can say it was no big deal. If they lose, Souhan can trash the program even further.
 

Re: Souhan article

I love the part about Minny having a big "home court" advantage because the game is in Milwaukee. Just plain dumb.

6.5 hr. drive vs. 6 hrs.

Well researched, Souey
 


jmag21 said:
Anybody get a chance to read Souhan's latest? I thought Reusse's recent column was the nadir for sports journalism in this town, but Souhan's giving him a run for his money. Souhan's basic point is that the Gophers shouldn't be seen to be underdogs, but should instead realize that if they lose against Xavier, they are underachieving failures. It's truly unbelievable.

Here's a season where the storyline could not be more clear. The Gophers lost three probable starters, were counted out by most, had dissension in the team, were statistically one of the unluckiest in D-1 basketball, and had one chance to redeem themselves. They did so by playing their best basketball of the season to rescue themselves, and get themselves back to the tournament. It's a great story. Instead, Reusse and Souhan look for the most negative spin to place on it. I'd understand if they were simply attempting to get a different angle on a story, but they don't have any problem going for the easy cheap shots at Minnesota sports teams that are failing. And I don't necessarily fault them for that. But don't be constantly negative. Write something positive ONCE in a while.

It's obvious that they're just reflexively anti-Minnesota sports fans. I can no more trust their "journalistic integrity" than I can in reading a Fox News report on Obama, or an MSNBC report on Obama, for that matter. The bias is too clear. Plus, to be honest, Reusse used to be a pretty good stylist, and somewhat entertaining. Not anymore. He's become so invested in "poking" Gophers fans, he's lost all entertainment value. I call it the Doonesbury effect. On the other hand, Souhan's never had an ounce of talent as a columnist. Not even a little bit. I say, with no reservation whatsoever, that I would be twice the columnist he is, right now, with no training whatsoever, writing from home, and so would about 65% of this board. The guy is terrible (though he wasn't too bad as a beat reporter.) Seriously, Star Trib and Pioneer Press, any chance you could hire somebody competent to cover sports in this town? Maybe people would start thinking about buying your newspapers again. I don't buy them now because I can find better writing on four or five sites for each sport the papers cover.
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Maybe you should start writing sports columns for the Star. Seriously, see if they have any openings. You seem to have this whole thing figured out! You'd be a perfect fit. You seem to think that you can do better than these two, which shouldn't be surprising because based on your response, you appear to know everything that goes into sports journalism and even get into the integrity part of it.
What a joke.
 

This was an awful column. Xavier has won 11 NCAA tournament games since the last time the Gophers won a tourney game.

Included in that list of 11 are: Wisconsin, Georgia, Purdue, West Virginia, BYU, Louisville, Mississippi State and Texas.
 

BigGopherFan said:
Maybe you should start writing sports columns for the Star. Seriously, see if they have any openings. You seem to have this whole thing figured out! You'd be a perfect fit. You seem to think that you can do better than these two, which shouldn't be surprising because based on your response, you appear to know everything that goes into sports journalism and even get into the integrity part of it.
What a joke.
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Naw, I think I'll pass. I've already got a job I enjoy. No need to swim out to a sinking ship. It doesn't change my sincere opinion that I could do a better job than Souhan. As I've said, I don't think that makes me unique. Most of the posters on this board are capable of being a better columnist than Souhan.
 

Souhan. Souhan is to sports writing what Maureen Dowd is to political commentary. All cheap, stupid wordplay and cutesy little sentiments. Both the Souhan and Reusse columns about gophers bball have been terrible, and I definitely won't defend Reusse on his last one. I get that these guys want to be realistic and grounded, but this town has been seriously rallying around this team for the last week or so. Why tease out every possible minor negative you can find? Isn't the Strib failing? Aren't you trying to sell papers?

Generally, Reusse is a curmudgeon but his writing is far superior to Souhan's. I guess I'm better at handling the cynicism when it's directed at the Vikings, who I love but at the end of the day are a bunch of rich adults, than at this team full of kids who fought through a ton of adversity to do something really impressive.
 



BigGopherFan said:
Maybe you should start writing sports columns for the Star. Seriously, see if they have any openings. You seem to have this whole thing figured out! You'd be a perfect fit. You seem to think that you can do better than these two, which shouldn't be surprising because based on your response, you appear to know everything that goes into sports journalism and even get into the integrity part of it.
What a joke.
Click to expand...

You're right, most of us don't know everything that goes into sports journalism (or journalism in general). But there is one thing pretty much everyone agrees upon; a good journalist will check to make sure the "facts" they put in their writings are true. Unfortunately, that doesn't happen very often anymore it seems, and makes the person look really stupid in my opinion.
 

Has anyone read the Xavier Hoops message board at all? They have just been ripping into Souhan all morning. After reading the other threads on that board though, they have to be the thinnest skinned group of fans I have ever heard. They seem absolutely outraged at anything anti-Xavier related. They already have an absolute hatred of the Gophers, its actually pretty entertaining.
 

anonymous said:
This was an awful column. Xavier has won 11 NCAA tournament games since the last time the Gophers won a tourney game.

Included in that list of 11 are: Wisconsin, Georgia, Purdue, West Virginia, BYU, Louisville, Mississippi State and Texas.
Click to expand...

But he would have to research to figure that out. That's hard work. Souhan is awful.
 

People are already looking for excuses on why we might lose. Between this and the bus trip...
I love this board!

If Xavier is a better program than MN, then MN should be embarassed about it. Souhan was giving us our props being a better team. Vegas even has us favored, and they play no favorites...
 



Mr Souhan needs to receive these comments in his 'in box' ..... Pat could care less what people think of his writing....
 

BigGopherFan said:
Maybe you should start writing sports columns for the Star. Seriously, see if they have any openings. You seem to have this whole thing figured out! You'd be a perfect fit. You seem to think that you can do better than these two, which shouldn't be surprising because based on your response, you appear to know everything that goes into sports journalism and even get into the integrity part of it.
What a joke.
Click to expand...

So you love Barrero, Gaard, and Souhan.

You must be tons of fun at parties....:rolleyes:
 

gopherbadgerman said:
People are already looking for excuses on why we might lose. Between this and the bus trip...
I love this board!

If Xavier is a better program than MN, then MN should be embarassed about it. Souhan was giving us our props being a better team. Vegas even has us favored, and they play no favorites...
Click to expand...

Why is that?
 

gopherbadgerman said:
People are already looking for excuses on why we might lose. Between this and the bus trip...
I love this board!

If Xavier is a better program than MN, then MN should be embarassed about it. Souhan was giving us our props being a better team. Vegas even has us favored, and they play no favorites...
Click to expand...

Xavier IS a better program than Minnesota right now. That's what 7+ years of Dan Monson brought us. I'm baffled as to how you wouldn't know that.

Embarassing? How so? They've been to the Elite Eight twice in the past six years. A lot of teams -- including many in BCS conferences -- would love to be able to say that. Hopefully we're on our way toward that level.
 

He's setting it up so he can dismiss it if we win, and talk more smack if we lose.
 

I don't care if Reusse or Souhan write positive or negative columns, but I don't like when they write columns which are primarily designed to get a rise out of their readers. I've never been a fan of Souhan's writing. I used to agree with most of his takes on Twins baseball, but even those have gotten more out-there in recent years. I've always thought that Reusse was a good writer, but he often openly tries to stir the pot by throwing out outrageous opinions (i.e.--his opinion Favre would be a bust for the Vikings), and he doesn't know jack about basketball. With the overabundance of blogs on the internet, newspaper columnists have become dinosaurs and , like newspapers, will soon become extinct. You can find bloggers or columnists on the net that can give much more informative takes on your sport or team of choice.

And with the Star Tribune, I've always felt that the columnists have been somewhat negative to offset the outrageous and unrealistic positivity of Sid. This dates back to Barreiro and has continued with Reusse and now Souhan. The U is certainly due some criticism with football, hockey and women's basketball struggling in recent years. But I think some of the negativity would be gone if Sid wasn't such an unrealistic homer and these other writers didn't think they have to balance this out.
 

gopherbadgerman said:
If Xavier is a better program than MN, then MN should be embarassed about it. Souhan was giving us our props being a better team. Vegas even has us favored, and they play no favorites...
Click to expand...

There are only 2 programs in the Big Ten that have a better tourney resume than XU over the last 10 years.

(Hint: neither of them are your Badgers, Slappy.)
 

If you're writing columns to "stir the pot", that's not opinion. If you take a position to counter Sid, that's not opinion. Opinion is stating what you actually think, not saying whatever will stir the pot, not saying something negative just to balance something positive. Now, you can get opinions everywhere, but when your paid to write your opinion, you're supposed to be paid to write an informed opinion.
 

Souhan and Reusse are such losers

tubbytubbytubby said:
Souhan. Souhan is to sports writing what Maureen Dowd is to political commentary. All cheap, stupid wordplay and cutesy little sentiments. Both the Souhan and Reusse columns about gophers bball have been terrible, and I definitely won't defend Reusse on his last one. I get that these guys want to be realistic and grounded, but this town has been seriously rallying around this team for the last week or so. Why tease out every possible minor negative you can find? Isn't the Strib failing? Aren't you trying to sell papers?

Generally, Reusse is a curmudgeon but his writing is far superior to Souhan's. I guess I'm better at handling the cynicism when it's directed at the Vikings, who I love but at the end of the day are a bunch of rich adults, than at this team full of kids who fought through a ton of adversity to do something really impressive.
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Very well said. Lazy, pseudo-clever and cynical. They are not interested in doing the demanding shoe leather chasing of revealing, meaningful information. They would rather sit in their offices and dream up creative, provocative little essays. And, of course, you can't be a great journalist without a full measure of biting sarcasm and cynicism. In any other job, these guys would be viewed as toxic losers that everyone would avoid as complete downers.
 

What the excuse you're referring to when you say "this"? As for your Xavier comment...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Xavier_Musketeers_men's_basketball

check it out, you might learn something. Looks like a pretty comparable NCAA record to your badgers. Not bad.

Just curious, why do you occasionally decide to use the words "we" or "our" when you refer to the gophers? No need to try to blend in... we figured it out a long time ago.


gopherbadgerman said:
People are already looking for excuses on why we might lose. Between this and the bus trip...
I love this board!

If Xavier is a better program than MN, then MN should be embarassed about it. Souhan was giving us our props being a better team. Vegas even has us favored, and they play no favorites...
Click to expand...
 

gopherbadgerman said:
People are already looking for excuses on why we might lose. Between this and the bus trip...
I love this board!

If Xavier is a better program than MN, then MN should be embarassed about it. Souhan was giving us our props being a better team. Vegas even has us favored, and they play no favorites...
Click to expand...

change your moniker now you putz! :)
 

underground629 said:
What the excuse you're referring to when you say "this"? As for your Xavier comment...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Xavier_Musketeers_men's_basketball

check it out, you might learn something. Looks like a pretty comparable NCAA record to your badgers. Not bad.

Just curious, why do you occasionally decide to use the words "we" or "our" when you refer to the gophers? No need to try to blend in... we figured it out a long time ago.
Click to expand...

I dont understand your point?
And what did "we figure out a long time ago?"
 

On the Xavier board, they called Souhan a "Gopher hack", assuming he's a Gopher homer. It's a reasonable assumption, at most schools, the local media gives positive press to the local school. Reasonable, but wrong.
 


It was great to hear Xavier's HC (post-game interview) thank Souhan for the motivation for him and his team coming into this game.
 


Tom Powers is better than both of them

And Marcus Fuller does a pretty good job, too, considering his beat is basketball and football. Powers is more clever and little more fair in his commentary. It's like he purposely tries to take the exact opposite angle as Souhan and Ruesse. Powers does his homework, and finds a humorous way of delivering it.

Fuller breaks more stories, and I respect him for balancing the basketball and football beats.

I know the PiPress' reporting set the Gophers back 10 years, but I'll always read Fuller's gamers and Powers' columns.
 

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