JT Vs Fisher

[rhinobean]

His a baseball fan as far as I can tell!

 

[Fatbot]

I agree with the comments saying JT and the P-D are pretty neutral. If you graphed a spectrum of home team negativity (NY media) on one end and pollyanna ass kissing (SF media) on the other, the P-D would be in the middle, slightly toward the negative side. Which I do tend to think keeps the reporting at least honest, even if the column opinions are overly negative. I don't think they go out of their way to paint the Rams bad, but I think there is the stereotypical "show me" element before they get on board with the Rams company line.

If I was to use one word to describe the P-D's biggest attribute it would be lazy. I swear they all act like they are under a tenure system or something, I've never seen any Rams story break thanks to the journalistic hustle of a P-D guy -- indeed I chuckle at the concept of Bernie getting off his fat ass to do anything other than pick up his Papa John's.

 

[SteveBrown]

Nobody on this board including yours truly felt they had a chance in hell against the Broncos, he could have focused on anyone, but he knew JT would take it well, which he did!

I, 100%, thought they could hold the broncos to 20-23 points. And, with a 'return' of some sort, plus 17 from the offense, that could do it. I really believed in the defense before the game. THe offense was the shocker for me--still is.

 

[Alan]

mr.stlouis seeing things from his slant:
What's the line? When your asking questions that generally make the coach look bad. Or a rhetorical question that doesn't beam a positive image on the couch. What he does is ask a few easier ones before he drops one Fisher doesn't care for. There are several press conferences where Fisher answering JT's questions pretty much is the press conference. JT is very factual with his reporting, but he can be a sneaky snake with a discrete hidden agenda. I've been onto his game for some time, lol.

A couple of things here.

I haven't noticed this and while I'm not agreeing or disagreeing with your take, I think that's somewhat telling. Is it so subtle that only readers who are really paying attention notice it?

When a question makes the coach look bad is it because it's deserved or because JT has an agenda? How can you tell the difference? Should you not ask questions that address problems? Because if a question has the possibility of making the coach look bad it automatically means he's asking about a problem area. Personally, those are the areas where I want answers and who's at fault is immaterial.

I could go on in the same vein but I'm sure you see where I'm coming from. The bottom line here is that you seem to think JT is purposely trying to either make Fish look bad, or get under his skin for some reason. Why would he do that? Isn't it potentially very bad for his ability to do his own job if he's doing that? I see no credible motive for him trying to make Fish look bad while simultaneously hurting his own career. Having said that, humans frequently do really stupid self destructive things so maybe you're right about this. I'll be paying more attention to this in the future. Right now I have my doubts though.

 

[Thordaddy]

JT changed his entire attitude when his "friend" (informant) Todd Hewitt was ungraciously terminated by the Spagnuolo regime. He was accustomed to getting all the "inside scoop" from his guy, and when he was fired, Thomas did a complete 180 in his approach to the coverage of this organization. He does make a point of "getting it right" as to the actual reporting, which does separate his from most of the minutia working at the STL Post-Dispatch. But make no mistake, he is NOT a fan of this organization.

As far as the Rams disdain for the PD, is there any wonder why? They go out of their way to "report" (speculate) about things that tend to make the organization look bad. For example, making a "story" out of a photo op that Tavon Austin had with LA RAMS fans, and somehow inciting the local fan base by saying it was a direct shot at the STL fans somehow making it to be a statement about Austin's and the Rams players preferring a move back to LA. Bernie is the absolute worst (there's a shock) when it comes to writing about this team. In the past 4 years, I have NEVER seen him show his face at Rams Park during training camp. But he somehow finds a way to digest every stat out there to show this team in a unfavorable light. One day he is on the Bradford bandwagon, the next, he's all about how Bradford is the biggest part of the problem.

As is the nature of the beast in today's media, this "newspaper" is much more interested in finding the scandals than reporting on anything productive coming out of Rams Park. Fisher is on record stating his feelings about the types of stories that this paper publishes. That he can even be civil to Thomas shows his understanding of his role as the Head Coach, and how its a necessary part of the job.

For what its worth, not to sound self serving here, but I have seen things while attending training camp practices, the same practices that the professional "beat writer" attends, that he has zero clue about. Most of the time, the flock of media all stand around on one end of the field, commiserating among themselves, paying little attention to what actually is happening on the field during practice. Then they just copy and paste the information that comes out of the post practice reports.

Right on O, but as I posted I'm not a fan of the press ,I meant almost universally, the if it bleeds it leads / "Dirty Laundry" paradigm is just too prevalent to even the extent that I firmly believe the situation in Ferguson was exacerbated by the press soft peddling anything that would defuse the situation and putting the pedal to the metal on anything that would inflame and FWIW they have a financial interest In the strife because it builds ratings in the "news as entertainment " culture that has been created.

I haven't checked your age but this "team moving" issue is not my first rodeo , I watched as two newspapers portrayed the St. Loius football Cardinals in as negative a light as they possibly could and did a pretty stalwart job of shaping public opinion that saw to it that Cardinals never got what they needed to stay ,they moved and LOW AND BEHOLD this year the Cards will host their second Super Bowl.
I don't know where Rich Koster and Tom Barnidge have gone I'm just glad they are,they were both "Bernie's" in a time when people ( like me ) read their newspapers daily.

BTW , RIP Brian Burwell, of the PD reporters he seemed to me to have the desire to grind the ax.

 

[Angry Ram]

I think Jim Thomas is dry and boring. Wish he'd put a little enthusiasm in his tweets and articles.

 

[RaminExile]

Was just going to say how much more I prefer Bryan Burwell when I saw the news. RIP Bryan.

 

[Greg Stone]

While I agree with Coach O I'd also like to point out that local sports reporting, like most businesses, is driven by demand. The PD wants to make money so they print pretty much whatever gets the most readers. The reporters are doing their jobs and the majority of the readership is getting the type of entertainment they want.

 

[CodeMonkey]

I think Jim Thomas is dry and boring. Wish he'd put a little enthusiasm in his tweets and articles.

I actually enjoy his deadpan demeanor and dry delivery.

He is more of a "just the facts" kind of reporter rather than one who has an agenda. Sometimes when your team is struggling, good and valid questions can be painful.