Just a couple of thoughts as this week gets started and we get closer to the start of the school year and most importantly, closer to the start of the NHL regular season.
Saad Yousuf of The Athletic recently tweeted (x-ed out? I don't know what they're calling it anymore) out that he will mostly be focusing on the Cowboys this upcoming NFL season and contributing to the Stars' coverage.
🏈 A programming note as Cowboys training camp begins today in Oxnard: I’ll be joining @jonmachota this season in our Cowboys coverage for The Athletic! I’ll contribute to Stars coverage, but excited to focus on the Cowboys season with Jon and rest of the incredible NFL staff! pic.twitter.com/zh4gfChabL
— Saad Yousuf (@SaadYousuf126) July 25, 2023
As of the 30th of July, the tweet has over a hundred and five thousand views and for many Stars' fans, it was not considered good news with many fans questioning what the future was going to look like for coverage of the Stars. Some even going as far to say they were going to cancel their membership.
Guess this is the beginning of the end of stars coverage on the athletic
— JWCatx11 (@JWConnerATX) July 25, 2023
Time to cancel the athletic. Really enjoyed the Stars coverage now it looks like it’s going to be an afterthought.
— Jon Frost (@txfrost44) July 25, 2023
Like I mentioned on our last episode, I'm not excited about this move from a selfish standpoint, because I think Saad has done an excellent job in covering the Stars since he's taken over for Sean Shapiro. However, many journalists have been vocal about how much of a dog-eat-dog world the sports journalism world is, and it appears that sports media is changing as well and Saad is just trying to evolve with it. I truly believe that the sports world is going more towards podcasts and YouTube content rather than the traditional written content.
I also know he mentioned he's still going to be covering the Stars, but he is going to be distracted more with the Cowboys. Sean Shapiro, on the podcast Spits and Suds (excellent Stars' podcast by the way. I highly recommend it!), said it's just a matter of fact that Saad can't be in Oxnard for Cowboys' training camp and be in Traverse City for the Stars' young prospect tournament. It's just physically impossible for him to be in both places at one time. It's pretty obvious throughout the season that the Stars will take a back seat to the Cowboys. I understand why, because the market clearly demands more football coverage than hockey coverage, but it doesn't mean that I have to like it.
With Saad adding the Cowboys as his main area of focus, the Stars no longer have a full time beat reporter from a major news outlet covering a potential Stanley Cup champion. I think it sucks for Stars' fans the most who will have less resources to go learn more about their favorite team.
We won't have anyone to tell us who really impressed at the Traverse City tournament, if Stankoven looks ready to take that same step to the NHL that Johnston took last year, or if maybe Bourque is ready to jump into the lineup. What about some insights into how the potential brand new Texas Stars blue line (Bichsel, Grushnikov, Kyrou) did at the tournament? It really sucks that there's less coverage now for us to know the answers to some of those questions.
However, there is PLENTY of Stars' coverage going on from many independent organizations who are doing some excellent work. I would hope I, along with my brothers, can include myself into that conversation. You just gotta go out and look for it. I promise it's out there.
In the meantime, give Saad a chance and don't cancel your Athletic membership. Wait until the season gets going and then maybe make a decision around Christmas time. That's at least what I'm going to do. He's done a great job covering the Stars. Shouldn't he at least deserve a little bit of leeway before we all jump ship?
