Everyone’s a critic. I know, because over the past few
weeks, there were several of you out there who have been telling me
via e-mail how to do my job as sports editor.
This is a good thing.
Please, continue to tell me how to do my job.
Or please, send me an e-mail about UCLA sports.
The Daily Bruin is nothing without its readers, and now you have
the opportunity to be famous: We might print your letter.
Starting tomorrow, we will print letters every Tuesday that our
faithful readers e-mail to us.
So why am I writing this column and wasting your time?
Well, as you may have noticed, the newspaper looks a little
different today. It’s called Daily Bruin version 2.0, and the
goal of this change is to make this newspaper more
reader-friendly.
Many of you have told me how to do my job, and I have considered
some of your suggestions.
“Do the world a favor and put the time you spend
“˜writing’ to a more useful purpose ““ working
out,” Eric Lamp from New York City writes.
“From the photo supplied with these idiot ramblings, it
seems you’ve got a double chin in dire need of cardio, or
liposuction, or both.”
Working out requires effort and athletic ability. I’m a
sports journalist, which means I can’t be that good at
sports.
It’s a rule.
I will, however, tell you all how I do my job and what the Daily
Bruin sports section stands for, since there seems to be a big
misconception among some of our readers.
In the Daily Bruin sports section, we are not homers. We make
every effort to report on Bruin teams fairly, win, lose or
““Â if you’re soccer”“ tie. Sorry, I had to get
a soccer jab in there. Yes, I do really like soccer.
We are not homers.
This is done not only for good, ethical journalism, but also to
give you the best possible newspaper out there. We try to give you,
the reader, an unbiased look at all the sports news you need and
want to know.
One e-mailer suggested to me a couple of weeks ago that we
shouldn’t have covered the Stanford men’s basketball
game.
“I can’t believe you dedicated almost the entire
back page to the men’s basketball team,” Rachel Moody
wrote. “NEWSFLASH: THEY LOST. I love John Wooden as much as
the next Bruin, and likewise, I was bummed as much as anyone else
that our team didn’t beat Stanford … but they
couldn’t pull it together, end of story.”
Like I said, we can’t cover teams only if they win.
Even after the Stanford game, there was tons of commotion about
it on local sports talk radio.
And people not only care about men’s basketball, but about
every sport at UCLA, including when the teams lose. More people do
care about football and basketball ““ the attendance figures
and ratings say it all ““ but I get plenty of e-mails asking
for lacrosse, volleyball, sailing, swimming and crew coverage.
Personally, my favorite UCLA sport to attend in person
isn’t basketball or football. It’s men’s
volleyball, because it’s fast-paced, the crowd is lively and
the way volleyball is set up in college, every point is
exciting.
If we don’t cover your favorite sport, it’s not
because I don’t like it. My staff is made up of students,
just like most of you reading this. Stuff slips through the cracks
while juggling school and the newspaper.
I’m sorry if this column sounds overly defensive.
And I swear, I’ll write a normal column about a real
sports topic next week.
Until then, please keep reading us, e-mail us any thoughts or
suggestions and remember ““ we’re neutral in order to
report news fairly.
If we wrote articles saying the Bruin men’s basketball
team is really good, would we have any credibility?
No.
I will, however, make this prediction (for entertainment
purposes only):
If Ben Howland’s squad gets the No. 8 seed, it will
miraculously beat Stanford in the first round of the Pac-10
Tournament.
Trust me. Remember, I have no bias.
Gilbert also predicts Washington State will win the Pac-10
Tournament. E-mail him at gquinonez@media.ucla.edu.