Local Media Coverage of Grunfeld...

[McGully Culkin]

Been a LONG time member here, but I don't post too much. Love lurking, because honestly, I feel as though we're a passionate and VERY smart fanbase. That being said, what's your take on the local media's coverage of the Wizards and EG? As we all know, Grunfeld has made a mess of the direction of the franchise over the years with his draft blunders, contracts given, etc. Summer of '16 will haunt this team for a while as money was mismanaged and as it stands, the team is in a strange place due to not having too much roster/salary cap flexibility due to Grunfeld's decisions.

This brings me to the local media. If Grunfeld was the GM in a market like New York or LA, he would have been skewered by now by the press for his ineptitude. Grunfeld, to me, has been treated with kid-gloves for his entire tenure here in DC. We get it as fans...he's awful. However, the pass that I feel that he's receiving by the local media (WaPo, in particular) is egregious. If the front office was getting questioned by our beat writers by way of hit pieces, maybe the process of making a change of GM would have be accelerated or happened by now.

There is no way I'm alone in feeling this way. It really stinks to see this team as it's constructed having a ceiling. I just wish that someone in our local media would call out Grunfeld and leave no stone unturned when doing so.

[closg00]

Agree 100%, been watching the media coverage of Grunfeld since he arrived and the local media has a hands-off approach when it comes to EG. Why? Because the writers need access to the team and games to continue to write their articles, the sole exception to this has been Tom Lavaro of the Washington Times, he has called-out Ernie multiple times.

[dlts20]

You also have to remember that we won a title in the late 70s but then we have sucked since. In the mean time Joe Gibbs made it an NFL town so in one way you can look at it like Ernie should be killed locally for never making the ECF but the flip side is that until we make the ECF, then this will always be a football town with the Skins taking the spotlight from Ernie. Even our baseball teams are taking the spotlight and the Caps also are better. Again, ernie should get killed for that but losing also keeps him behind our other major teams in coverage

[payitforward]

He has a perpetual free pass, no matter what he does. I'll never understand it.

I remember reading a quote from Ted a couple of years ago saying that Ernie was "respected around the league."

He gave Phoenix a lottery pick for Markieff Morris. I'm sure they respect him, oh yeah: when they hear he's on the line their faces light up with happiness!

[Dat2U]

The Wizards have simply never mattered enough for the local columnists to care.

Were 4th on the local sports landscape.

[penbeast0]

You also have to remember that we won a title in the late 70s but then we have sucked since. In the mean time Joe Gibbs made it an NFL town so in one way you can look at it like Ernie should be killed locally for never making the ECF but the flip side is that until we make the ECF, then this will always be a football town with the Skins taking the spotlight from Ernie. Even our baseball teams are taking the spotlight and the Caps also are better. Again, ernie should get killed for that but losing also keeps him behind our other major teams in coverage

Actually, even in the Fat Lady season with our title, it was clearly a Redskins town and has been ever since Bob Short packed up the Senators in the middle of the night and ran. Redskins got 10X the WaPo coverage even in the best years of the franchise as George Allen was competitive, if not ultimately successful, and always good copy.

[Dark Faze]

Actually virtually EVERY local media entity thinks Grunfeld should be gone. Whether its a Washington post article, radio hosts, etc. It's just not..."loud", or particularly visceral.

[AWIZZINGBULLET]

Wizards' fans need to start up a deafening "Fire Grunfeld!!!" chant during home games where they lose against sub .500 teams.

[gravytrain24]

Wizards' fans need to start up a deafening "Fire Grunfeld!!!" chant during home games where they lose against sub .500 teams.

Sounds like a board meetup needs to occur.

[AWIZZINGBULLET]

Wizards' fans need to start up a deafening "Fire Grunfeld!!!" chant during home games where they lose against sub .500 teams.

Sounds like a board meetup needs to occur.

Sounds good.

[FAH1223]

Read on Twitter

[McGully Culkin]

Bumping this real quick...so, EG had his presser, but no one thought to question him about why these extensions he earns are on the hush-hush? It's crazy to see the pass he's getting....if our local media who follows the team only had the same passion for this squad as some of the members on here do, it would be a COMPLETELY different story...

[gtn130]

The Wizards have simply never mattered enough for the local columnists to care.

Were 4th on the local sports landscape.

Yeah, no one cares. The people who actually cover the team all want access, so the coverage is always very charitable.

[closg00]

If you watched the press conferences, the reporters did press Ernie on taking another wing, they also asked about Williams too, but they didn’t ask about his secret extension.

[closg00]

Something appalling just happened over at the Washington Post Sports section, they deleted comments critical of the writer Jerry Brewer, and Ted and Ernie. There were at-least 70-85 comments, now there are only 4, WTF
https://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/wizards/the-wizards-are-beginning-to-take-the-steps-necessary-to-catch-up-with-the-nba/2018/06/27/74bd9686-7a3d-11e8-80be-6d32e182a3bc_story.html?utm_term=.0eb3d8639c44

[payitforward]

They probably deleted them because Ted asked them to. In a nice tone of voice.

I remember when Ted was going to be available to fans, do you? There was an email address -- obviously it would be staff reading/replying but so what? Plus his blog allowed comments.

Then he started getting emails that were critical, so he closed that email account. Then he started getting critical blog comments, so he stopped allowing comments on the blog.

It's easy to always be right; just shut down your critics.

"Mirror mirror on the wall
Who's the smartest one of all?"

"Why you are, Ted darling. Pay no attention to wins & losses; those are determined by chance. Good decisions, on the other hand, are determined by who makes them. When you make them, Teddy dear, they are good. Ernie's too -- because after all, his decisions are just your decisions decided by someone else. You hired him to make your decisions -- not bad decisions, your decisions!

[Ruzious]

They probably deleted them because Ted asked them to. In a nice tone of voice.

I remember when Ted was going to be available to fans, do you? There was an email address -- obviously it would be staff reading/replying but so what? Plus his blog allowed comments.

Then he started getting emails that were critical, so he closed that email account. Then he started getting critical blog comments, so he stopped allowing comments on the blog.

It's easy to always be right; just shut down your critics.

"Mirror mirror on the wall
Who's the smartest one of all?"

"Why you are, Ted darling. Pay no attention to wins & losses; those are determined by chance. Good decisions, on the other hand, are determined by who makes them. When you make them, Teddy dear, they are good. Ernie's too -- because after all, his decisions are just your decisions decided by someone else. You hired him to make your decisions -- not bad decisions, your decisions!

It's so disheartening because he started out sounding like the PERFECT owner - this guy was going to make the Zards a model franchise... and then... well, we see his true colors.

[closg00]

They probably deleted them because Ted asked them to. In a nice tone of voice.

I remember when Ted was going to be available to fans, do you? There was an email address -- obviously it would be staff reading/replying but so what? Plus his blog allowed comments.

Then he started getting emails that were critical, so he closed that email account. Then he started getting critical blog comments, so he stopped allowing comments on the blog.

It's easy to always be right; just shut down your critics.

"Mirror mirror on the wall
Who's the smartest one of all?"

"Why you are, Ted darling. Pay no attention to wins & losses; those are determined by chance. Good decisions, on the other hand, are determined by who makes them. When you make them, Teddy dear, they are good. Ernie's too -- because after all, his decisions are just your decisions decided by someone else. You hired him to make your decisions -- not bad decisions, your decisions!

It's so disheartening because he started out sounding like the PERFECT owner - this guy was going to make the Zards a model franchise... and then... well, we see his true colors.

In all my years of reading Wiz coverage in the Post, I have NEVER seen them delete comments. The comments were the usual critical comments, no cursing etc. The one thing that was different is that someone had posted the link to the Jay Glassie article, where Jay eviscerated Ted/Ernie, including a quote where Ted had called Jay into his office after Jay had given the Wizards a bad mid-season? review. So-yeah, Ted was probably on the phone quick to his people at the Post.

[queridiculo]

Something appalling just happened over at the Washington Post Sports section, they deleted comments critical of the writer Jerry Brewer, and Ted and Ernie. There were at-least 70-85 comments, now there are only 4, WTF
https://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/wizards/the-wizards-are-beginning-to-take-the-steps-necessary-to-catch-up-with-the-nba/2018/06/27/74bd9686-7a3d-11e8-80be-6d32e182a3bc_story.html?utm_term=.0eb3d8639c44

The posters eviscerated Brewer and the Post's soft coverage of the Wizards.

Absolutely appalling.

[verbal8]

I wonder if it got caught up in an effort to shut down anti-media comments in general?