Bo and the Blogosphere

One of the big complaints about how the sports media use new technologies such as blogging and Twitter is the lack of time and consideration devoted to stories. Today, ideas and rumors are often posted immediately to the web, with little or no investigation or old fashioned journalistic leg work.

A perfect example took place this weekend involving Nebraska quarterback Taylor Martinez and his coach, Bo Pelini. After Pelini went after his quarterback on the sidelines in Saturday's loss to Texas A&M, rumors started to swirl that Martinez had quit the team, and by Monday, the Internet was buzzing with reports of Martinez's departure. It got to the point that Pelini finally had to respond, flatly denying that Martinez had quit.

Interesting that none of the rumors (as far as I can tell) appeared in what we would call the traditional or "legacy" media (television, radio and newspapers) that cover the Nebraska program. They all surfaced on fan or private blogs, which forced the traditional media to pursue the story, thus giving it longer life.

There are plenty of people today who predict that the traditional media are doomed, and will be replaced by some form of new/social media. But this is another important demonstration that the "old" media, particularly in sports, still have a place in our news society, especially because they are willing to do the dirty, old-fashioned work of journalism.