Chronicle Needs to Up Their Game

You know, this may open the whole can o’ worms about “traditional” media v. blogging and more social media outlets but I will say you’ve hit the nail directly on the head. I will also add that it is PRECISELY because of the love and enthusiasm (however “amateur” it may be, and I use those air quotes because as you noted I don’t think Ginge & the lot get paid for this) for the sport and for the Orangemen that have me on this site every day and following them on Twitter.

Maybe it just doesn’t get the page-hits that the Texans (guh) or the Rockets get, but I defy anyone to find a more passionate fanbase than the Dynamo. I’ve been to Reliant and there’s more action in the parking lot than in the stadium…and don’t even get me started about the Library at LaBranch. But JJdO is at least starting to show more promise than Fallas did…like you noted, with Fallas it was typically puff pieces that was more to the effect of “the Dynamo must win more”…which yeah, I think we all know that. Here he have nuanced points of view that add to the discussion. I’m hoping that with the stadium more “mainstream” hype and momentum is built and perhaps then we’ll see more daring coverage by the Chronicle. But honestly I don’t get my hopes up for the next 2-3 years. I do hope I’m wrong because of all the professional teams in Houston, the Dynamo are by far my favorite (and this is coming from a dyed-in-the-wool Rockets fan). It does say something that when I want to learn more or discuss Houston’s professional soccer team I don’t go to the official paper of record for the city, I come directly here. The Chronicle is simply an afterthought.

All this being said, I once again doff my cap to Ginge, Fuzebox and Martek (and you too play, you always chip in with insightful, humorous and dare I say, cheeky posts) to the work you guys do here on a daily basis. I really hope this site continues to grow so that maybe one day soon this can be something that you can all do full-time (as in, get paid…not ca$h money millionaire paid, but near enough)

As I noted about being a Rockets fan, one of my other interwebz destinations is Red94, which is the Rockets fan site analogue to Dynamo Theory. For anyone who loves or even likes the Rockets, I highly recommend. It also started out very much as an answer to the threadbare coverage given to the Rockets (although Feigen does try, he is only one person and has a limited space, it would seem). In any event, the site’s founder now actually has press credentials where he interviews players after the game…I would LOVE to see that happen for Dynamo Theory. To have guys who love the team actually be able to engage in interviews and maybe even feature pieces with players and coaches would be a dream.

McClain gives nothing of substance on the Texans, but when he does he is usually flat wrong. Richard Justice job description appears to be to try and antagonize fans to drive up page hits. Solomon’s go to move is to tell us why Houston sports fans are so dumb, and occasionally throw out the race card. Solomon can be good at times, and I do give him credit for the way he had an honest discussion with his critics on another blog years ago. Too often he just puts out the same old tired stuff though. None of them appear to have any interest in using their position to do any serious journalism. They just keep pumping out the same easy stories without making any effort to dig a little deeper and provide something more than just what’s at the surface.

I rarely ever even go to the chronicle sports section at all anymore. Between the SBnation sites, other blogs, twitter, etc you are going to get all the same rumors/news. If a major story is broken by a local reporter it is usually Berman anyway. I still go there for local news, and I do regularly read Stephanie Stradley and Lance Zeirlen’s blog on the Chronicle. Steph provides more balanced, reasoned, and thought provoking Texans content than the rest of the official staff combined. Lance can actually break down exactly what is going on the field and provides some great insight. I try to check out the dynamo section on the website regularly, usually when Ortiz puts something on Twitter. Many times what is there is often out-dated.

Honestly, I quit getting mad at the Chronicle. The way I see it is it is one of two things. I am not the kind of audience they are going for. They appear to have no desire to cater to the male 25-35 demographic like me who wants a little more than the basics. To be fair there is some truth to that. They are writing for a mainstream audience who often times doesn’t want anything more than a quick summary, and isn’t going to pay attention to detailed analysis of a fire zone blitz or discussion on the merits of different formations and tactics in soccer.

It’s that, or they are just an outdated media format that isn’t keeping up with a changing market who will sadly be gone sometime in the near future. Maybe the writers are just following orders and writing the kinds of things there editors tell them to write. I have no idea, but it does no good to get mad at them. I just don’t give them the page hits. That’s all I can do. There job is to write stories that people will read. As long as they keep getting the page hits they aren’t going to change, and you can’t blame them for that.