Comments on: Media day-Washington

By: DP

DP — Fri, 03 Aug 2007 06:07:35 +0000

Unfortunately, many people have made comments on this site and others about how much the Times’ coverage of Cal has gone down since Heater left. Some have questioned Okanes’ ability, including the first person to post here who even tried to tell Okanes how he should cover the team. What’s the point? Give the man a chance to build his sources and his rapport with the players….players who haven’t even reported to camp yet. Obviously the last post here was not from someone who reads this blog regularly. If he had, he would have seen the constant complaining from Cal fans who so dearly miss Heater. But he’s gone so who cares what how he did his blog. Did anyone with a supposed Cal education think that maybe Okanes’ blog might turn out to be better? Obviously from the tone of some of the posts here, the answer is no. To read some of these idiotic “this blog sucks” posts makes me embarrassed to be a Cal fan.

By: TrumanHugh

TrumanHugh — Fri, 03 Aug 2007 02:12:43 +0000

DP…Most of us realize, now, that Jay is gone, but for some of us, this is still news.

I, for one, only found out a few days ago when I clicked on my Cal Bear Blog bookmark. Being the off-season, I had no need to see if there were any recent posts until now.

Also, I am not a regular reader of The Contra Costa Times–I live in another part of the state and we have our own local newspapers here–so I had no way of knowing that Mr. Heater had moved on, why or when. It’s only natural for those of us just learning this to be a little surprised and, perhaps, a little time to adjust to the change.

I’ll deal with it and move on without much effort or loss of sleep, but if someone wants to draw comparison between or make reference to the “old” and the “new” elements of our blog, so what?

No doubt, you will read more from “these Cal fans” who are just coming back after the hiatus and haven’t quite dealt with it.

Deal with it.

By: DP

DP — Thu, 02 Aug 2007 03:08:56 +0000

To all these Cal fans who keep bringing this up, you need to get this through your heads. Heater’s gone. Deal with it.

By: SpruceBear1

SpruceBear1 — Wed, 01 Aug 2007 21:56:59 +0000

Jonathan, I for one am hugely appreciative of the frequency and content of your posts. Can’t wait to read more as the season progresses!

By: Lawrence Ross

Lawrence Ross — Wed, 01 Aug 2007 14:49:50 +0000

You guys took the words right out of my mouth. Jay’s genius was that no matter the entry, I learned something new about the team or Cal’s opponent. As Jonathan says, things might be slow,but now it’s August. Right now, I’m coming here because of habit. But in the coming weeks, I hope for longer,deeper stories, that give me the inside dope on my Cal Bears.

By: SonOfAPappysBoy

SonOfAPappysBoy — Wed, 01 Aug 2007 04:37:48 +0000

Jonathan
I would 2nd the comments, but also appreciate the replies. All of us would love to read inside info n the Bears, and I hope there are some good items (whose doing well, issues, etc.) from your summer camp reports. Remember, we all WANT your stint as the Cal beat guy to be successful! Can’t wait to read more….

By: sanjuanbear

sanjuanbear — Wed, 01 Aug 2007 01:25:11 +0000

Thanks Jonathan. Looking forward to it.

By: Jonathan Okanes

Jonathan Okanes — Wed, 01 Aug 2007 01:08:32 +0000

Sanjuanbear, KS,

If you went back and looked, I think you’ll find that most of the insights Jay provided were during the season. Summer is kind of a down time. I’ll be around the team much more next week when camp starts and be able to provide many more insights and tidbits. I went back and looked and Jay didn’t even post that often between the end of the season and spring practice. So be patient, and I think you will be satisfied.

By: KS

KS — Wed, 01 Aug 2007 00:06:13 +0000

I agree with sanjuanbear. A lot of the content on this blog is stuff that we can read elsewhere/know already. This is the place that makes us feel like true Cal fans, and we want to know what DeSean ate for breakfast. Information about UW doesn’t really make me feel like one.

By: sanjuanbear

sanjuanbear — Tue, 31 Jul 2007 23:53:38 +0000

Jonathan,

I appreciate you continuing the Cal Sports Blog. With that said your content could really use some improvement.

Take a look at some of Heater’s old blogs. The people that are fanatic enough to read this blog already know things like Washington has a tough schedule or that Cal has come in 2nd in the media poll. What we want is news about the team that we can’t get from other sources.

You as a beat writer have unique access to the team and if you use that access correctly you could build a very devoted readership. For example, we fans would love to hear things like which young players have excelled in summer workouts or who looks like they are ready to make the leap from backup to starter. Hopefully once practice starts you can use this space to start maximizing the potential of this blog. Good luck.

sanjuanbear