Reds Reporter "Catches On" With His Story

Kudos to C. Trent Rosecrans, the beat writer covering the Reds for the Cincinnati Enquirer. It was his report, and an accurate one at that, about Reds catcher Devin Mesoraco not being available to the Reds during their Sunday game against the Cardinals, which opened up a media controversy.


As you probably know, Reds Manager Bryan Price had a tantrum about Rosecrans' story by way of a more than five minute tirade laced with profanity. Rosecrans, and rightfully so, pointed out in his follow up column for the newspaper that not even Price questioned the accuracy of his story. That is the most important element of all of this.


Price, for some bizarre reason, feels that the media "covering" the Reds should not be doing anything which could impact the Reds in any way. Those fans who don't seem to mind when pro sports teams produce their "own" content for TV and radio shows should take notice of how many pro teams would prefer to handle "news" about their teams. The fans are paying enough money in ticket prices and for telecasts of the games to know the truth, and nothing but the truth.


I could see Price throwing a tantrum if the story was not accurate, but most definitely not for reporting the news. For all of the rumors and speculation which too many of today's media members confuse with "news", the last thing sports fans need is for a reporter to be chastised for simply reporting a news story accurately. The Reds were swept by the Cardinals in the weekend series. At least Price didn't get mad at every publication, TV and radio station, and web site which reported about all of the losses he managed.


Although Rosecrans was simply "doing his job" by being the first to report this information, it is what followed which should earn him kudos. His follow up column tells of how he turned down numerous interview requests, including CNN and ESPN, with the reason being a very simple "not wanting to be part of the story". This is how it should be, but not every "reporter" these days would have taken that perfect approach and gone for the air time and the glory.


ESPN, CNN, and other media were so very wrong in approaching Rosecrans for an interview. This is part of the problem with many of today's journalists. They wait until a "story" comes to them and then aim for the easy and sensational reaction. Instead of looking to make Rosecrans part of the "story", their producers and reporters should have been following up on the injury to Devin Mesoraco of the Reds. ESPN pays millions of dollars to televise and cover MLB, but a local reporter scooped them on a story.


Fans have the advantage of various forms of technology to receive their sports information. The "reporting" media needs to go back to actually reporting on stories and not be focused on someone who actually reported on one.




Speaking of the Reds, their all-time great Pete Rose has been hired by Fox Sports to be a studio analyst for Fox and Fox Sports 1 baseball telecasts, as well as appear on some of the rarely watched FS1 baseball coverage. It will be interesting to see if this association has any impact on Commissioner Manfred's possible decision to reinstate Rose to MLB in some form within the near future. Like him or not, Rose is extremely knowledgeable about today's players as well as the history of the game, and figures to add some pertinent commentary. Not sure even his presence will be enough to draw an audience to FS1.



As we continue with the first round of the NBA Playoffs, chances are the televising networks are rooting hard for LeBron James and the Cavaliers to keep advancing. The Cavs were involved in five of the six highest rated regular season telecasts on ESPN during the regular season. The first game between Cleveland and Boston on Sunday (4/19) on ABC was the third highest overnight rating ever for a Round 1 Game 1 matchup.


In the Cleveland area, the Cavs finished with the second highest local telecast ratings for the regular season (behind perennial winner San Antonio) with an impressive 137% ratings increase over the previous regular season (without LeBron).



While ESPN and NFL Network are putting the final touches on their in depth NFL Draft coverage for next week, Fox Sports is also planning its "NFL Draftcast" from Chicago. The network plans to simulcast its coverage online and on Fox Sports Radio Network, in what seems like another well kept secret.



NEW YORK: Rangers fever is strong even during the first round. MSG Network's Rangers vs. Penguins Game 2 telecast (on 4/16) finished as the highest rated first round telecast of the 25 years for which Nielsen ratings has been tracking this.



KANSAS CITY: The hot start by the Royals, combined with the intense series vs. Oakland this past weekend has been welcome news for Fox Sports Kansas City. FSKC's Sunday (4/19) telecast of that series' final game is now the highest rated telecast of any event in network history. The previous high was the 2008 Kansas vs. Missouri football game.



CLEVELAND: Word is that Chris Rose will become the new voice of Browns pre-season football on WEWS-TV Channel 5 in August. He would be working with Solomon Wilcots as his analyst.