Jacksonville Jaguars Fan Forums

Many times Jaguars fans complain about the lack of coverage this team gets.  Often, these claims are met with eye rolls from people on the board.

 

However, when I see things like this, I wonder if there is something to the whole media bias thing.

 

This from last Tuesday's MMQB After Further Review from Peter King and the editor...

 

Quote: 

Editor’s note: This column had planned to be about some of the teams not covered extensively in the Monday column. My apologies. News happened. I will have Tampa Bay, Tennessee and Jacksonville dispatches in my Monday column next week.

 

http://mmqb.si.com/2014/08/05/andy-dalto...s-mailbag/

 

Okay...smaller market teams suffered the sports media equivalent of getting bumped from a flight.

 

But, as King said...news happened.  No intent to slight anyone.  We'll see next Monday.

 

So next Monday (Today), here is his MMQB column...

 

http://mmqb.si.com/2014/08/11/johnny-man...-sam-rams/

 

What is in it about Jacksonville?

 

Well...there's this comment on a tweet of the week from Hays Carlyon in page 4...

 

Quote: 

The Jags beat man for the Florida Times Union, on Jacksonville GM Dave Caldwell’s trade of the seemingly hapless Blaine Gabbert to the 49ers in the off-season for a sixth-round draft pick.

Gabbert’s 49er debut at Baltimore Thursday night: 3 of 11, 20 yards, no touchdowns, one pick, a passer rating of 1.7.

Yes: 1.7.

 

And there's this from page 5...

 

Quote: 

5. I think I learned one thing on this trip that’s yet another reason why so many football people are against a permanent team in London. Last year, when the Jaguars were in London, GM David Caldwell was looking at the waiver wire and saw a linebacker, Martez Wilson, he liked on waivers. It was Thursday of a game week. Caldwell, number one, didn’t want to cut a player on his roster in London and unceremoniously ship him home from Europe before the game. Number two, he didn’t know what kind of game-shape or mental shape with the Jags’ playbook Wilson would be if he arrived, let’s say, on Friday evening in London. So Caldwell passed on the waiver claim (and because the Jags had waiver priority with the worst record in football, they would have gotten Wilson). Wilson was then claimed by the Raiders. Wasted chance. So I wonder how often a competitive issue like that would come into play if a London team was trying to do business in competition with the other NFL teams on this side of the Atlantic.

 

But that was it.

 

No training camp dispatch as promised.

 

No mention of Bortles' strong performance.

 

To be fair, Tampa really didn't get any mention at all.

 

You get a full page dedicated to the horribly overhyped and overcovered Johnny Dysfunction.

 

A full page devoted to the over saturated Michael Sam story.

 

But once again the coverage he promised was virtually nonexistent.

I wouldn't get too upset about this. The reality simply is, The Jags have done nothing to warrant extra coverage from media outlets the last decade. King for one has shown to have a heart for the Jags. I think maybe time constraints for his articles could've come into play. If Im a NFL writer, I'd get patriots/broncos/seahawks articles out before I would Titans/Jags articles.

Quote:I wouldn't get too upset about this. The reality simply is, The Jags have done nothing to warrant extra coverage from media outlets the last decade. King for one has shown to have a heart for the Jags. I think maybe time constraints for his articles could've come into play. If Im a NFL writer, I'd get patriots/broncos/seahawks articles out before I would Titans/Jags articles.

And what has Cleveland and the Rams done to warrant extra coverage?

 

Cleveland has been to the playoffs once since their return in 1999...not once in the last ten years.

 

The Rams haven't had a winning season in about ten years.

 

The thing is, King PROMISED coverage in his Monday column!  Not just for the Jaguars...but for Tampa as well.

Bad form.

Quote:And what has Cleveland and the Rams done to warrant extra coverage?


Cleveland has been to the playoffs once since their return in 1999...not once in the last ten years.


The Rams haven't had a winning season in about ten years.


The thing is, King PROMISED coverage in his Monday column! Not just for the Jaguars...but for Tampa as well.

The Browns drafted Johnny Football and the Rams selected Michael Sam. Both are and will continue to be mainstream media attention magnets.

Quote:The Browns drafted Johnny Football and the Rams selected Michael Sam. Both are and will continue to be mainstream media attention magnets.

But not for anything they have done as NFL players-at least not on the field.

 

What of Tennessee?  Why were they worthy of King honoring the promise to cover them?

Quote:But not for anything they have done as NFL players-at least not on the field.

I'm not arguing that but it makes no difference. Johnny Football is going to garner more attention/readers than Jaguars or Tampa right now.

If I had a choice of scenarios, I'd rather be undercovered with Bortles as my QB than over covered with Manziel as my Q. Same with Sam.

Quote:I'm not arguing that but it makes no difference. Johnny Football is going to garner more attention/readers than Jaguars or Tampa right now.

That's fine...but presumably without coercion, he promised to include the Jaguars, Bucs and Titans camp coverage in Today's column.

 

He only bothered to include the Titans.

Quote:That's fine...but presumably without coercion, he promised to include the Jaguars, Bucs and Titans camp coverage in Today's column.


He only bothered to include the Titans.

Maybe old age has influenced King's memory? :thumbsup: As Jax Jag said I would rather be under covered with Bortles than the alternative.

It's just the way it is.  I'm convinced if the Jags won the Superbowl, the lead story would be an examination of why the Cowboy's failed to make the playoffs.  What can you do?

Quote:It's just the way it is.  I'm convinced if the Jags won the Superbowl, the lead story would be an examination of why the Cowboy's failed to make the playoffs.  What can you do?

 

The media is biased and more biased as time passes.  Think about all the people that get their news from social media.  The "media" that uses algorithms to make sure they will "like" what they see.  It is a sad time for margins and the little guys of this world.

 

What we can do is enjoy our team and provide support.  I'll take quiet and steady improvement over the flash in the pan praise we got from our last time in the spotlight.  For the first time in years, I'm ignoring the mainstream NFL stories and just taking simple joy in Jaguars football.  From ownership to coaches and players, it really feels right this time and not some stop gap band aid.

Thank you for saving me about 30 minutes of reading.

I have no interest in neither player that are being "featured"...

I'm not losing any sleep over this.

Eh. No big deal.

Why is it that a segment of this fanbase continues to feel slighted about the lack of national coverage we get?

Quote:Why is it that a segment of this fanbase continues to feel slighted about the lack of national coverage we get?

Maybe because we continue to get slighted?

Quote:Why is it that a segment of this fanbase continues to feel slighted about the lack of national coverage we get?

I don't feel slighted myself, but I can understand people who might. Part of being a fan is a desire to see your team recognized on some level. The fact that we haven't done much to be recognized for lately is incidental to people who feel like the coverage is majorly biased towards the large markets. As I said before though, what can you do? The team will get back to being a contender again soon and that's enough in my book.

Here's a basic truth: Bortles had the best performance of the rookie QBs this week. It wasn't even close. The only other guy that did as well as playing in the fourth quarter, and we know what is in the game in the fourth quarter of the first preseason game.

 

Here is another basic truth: the NFL and the nation in general doesn't like it that we have a team in Jacksonville. They won't talk about Jacksonville unless they have to, and when they have to do it they'll be sure to frame it in the most negative way possible.

 

I look forward to being the worst team ever to win a Superbowl in a few years.

Quote:Here's a basic truth: Bortles had the best performance of the rookie QBs this week. It wasn't even close. The only other guy that did as well as playing in the fourth quarter, and we know what is in the game in the fourth quarter of the first preseason game.

 

Here is another basic truth: the NFL and the nation in general doesn't like it that we have a team in Jacksonville. They won't talk about Jacksonville unless they have to, and when they have to do it they'll be sure to frame it in the most negative way possible.

 

I look forward to being the worst team ever to win a Superbowl in a few years.

 

 

Here's an example of the emphasized portion above...

 

http://www.bigcatcountry.com/2014/8/10/5...ow-jaguars

 

Now nobody who actually watched the game thinks Bortles "started slowly" or had anything other than a good performance.

 

Why did ESPN list him that way?

 

Manziel had fewer COMBINED yards than Bortles had passing yards in the same amount of attempts.  He did not throw a TD either.

 

Why not list him under the "started slowly" category?