Why is Bickley still in this town?

[MastersofCombat]

Suns: What we say The Suns began the season amid uncertainty (roster overhaul, AmarÈ Stoudemire's knee surgery) but find themselves in a good spot (35-17) as they start the home stretch tonight. The Republic's Bob Young, Paul Coro, Paola Boivin and Dan Bickley re-examine their predictions and look toward the future. Here are the writers' preseason predictions for the Suns' mark at the All-Star break, and a comment from Tuesday on what's next:

Bickley (26-26): "The Suns have surprised everybody. But a meeting with San Antonio or Dallas won't end well."

Wow Bickley you are so predictable its just astonishing: Did you not know there are limbs on a tree?

By effectively always staying with the national media blasting every team Phoenix has you have effectively left yourself on one dangling high branch.
As a Phoenix Sports fan, I will applaud the day they send your Chicago favoritism A$$ packing out of here.


Bickley: Your a broken 45 record that is warped and skipping - your value and contribution to this city measures at 0.

 

[JS22]

Bickley is an idiot. And to think, I used to like him when he had an afternoon show with MJ.

Now, for some reason, I HATE their morning show.

 

[Treesquid PhD]

Suns: What we say The Suns began the season amid uncertainty (roster overhaul, AmarÈ Stoudemire's knee surgery) but find themselves in a good spot (35-17) as they start the home stretch tonight. The Republic's Bob Young, Paul Coro, Paola Boivin and Dan Bickley re-examine their predictions and look toward the future. Here are the writers' preseason predictions for the Suns' mark at the All-Star break, and a comment from Tuesday on what's next:

Bickley (26-26): "The Suns have surprised everybody. But a meeting with San Antonio or Dallas won't end well."

Wow Bickley you are so predictable its just astonishing: Did you not know there are limbs on a tree?

By effectively always staying with the national media blasting every team Phoenix has you have effectively left yourself on one dangling high branch.
As a Phoenix Sports fan, I will applaud the day they send your Chicago favoritism A$$ packing out of here.


Bickley: Your a broken 45 record that is warped and skipping - your value and contribution to this city measures at 0.

He is not the Gorilla his job is to give his opinion even if wrong in the end.

 

[George O'Brien]

One thing about Phoenix that seems odd is how many sports reporters seem to actively dislike the NBA (this goies beyond the Suns). Bickley, Bob Kemp, and Bob Young come immediately to mind.

Some of it may be that they would like to focus on other sports, but the Suns are the only winning team in town (unless you count ASU baseball). Bickley and Kemp absolutely don't care about hoops in general and Young still holds a grudge for something or another after previously being the Suns beat writer.

As I said, I can't think of many cities where so many sports reporters are as more overtly hostle to their area's only winning team than to the losers.

 

[Chaplin]

One thing about Phoenix that seems odd is how many sports reporters seem to actively dislike the NBA (this goies beyond the Suns). Bickley, Bob Kemp, and Bob Young come immediately to mind.

Some of it may be that they would like to focus on other sports, but the Suns are the only winning team in town (unless you count ASU baseball). Bickley and Kemp absolutely don't care about hoops in general and Young still holds a grudge for something or another after previously being the Suns beat writer.

As I said, I can't think of many cities where so many sports reporters are as more overtly hostle to their area's only winning team than to the losers.

I think it's even stranger how many people dislike the teams in this market. Bickley will write all the time about the Suns and Cardinals, but you never get the feeling that he actually enjoys them. The only team that Gambo has any liking for is the Coyotes (and maybe the Suns to a lesser extent). He despises the Dbacks.

 

[myrondizzo]

The only team that Gambo has any liking for is the Coyotes (and maybe the Suns to a lesser extent). He despises the Dbacks.

isnt he a yankees fan? he's still bitter.

 

[George O'Brien]

isnt he a yankees fan? he's still bitter.

That's a good point. In other cities it is not uncommon for sports writers to have grown up in the area, while I suspect that none of the Phoenix sports writers are from here.

 

[Treesquid PhD]

I think it's even stranger how many people dislike the teams in this market. Bickley will write all the time about the Suns and Cardinals, but you never get the feeling that he actually enjoys them. The only team that Gambo has any liking for is the Coyotes (and maybe the Suns to a lesser extent). He despises the Dbacks.

I have thought about this.

Some reasons maybe
- Most writers come from somewhere else, they think their city is a"real" sports town. They think their job is to educate the inferior fans in this sports town

- Phoenix writers have a bit of an inferiority complex, they often like to say how fans everywhere else are better, more passionate, intellegent, yet call up sometime and suggest the same thing about the media, they flip out. It maybe overcompensation for feeling inferior.

- Hockey and the coyotes are a media favorite because it's the easiest to break home ties to, it's a minor sport when compared ot the other 3 the emotional investment is smaller so it's easier to break the tie, if you moved which team are you most likely to lose your home alliegence to?

- It's their job to stir the pot, fans are often too idealistic and sensitive and think their teams are really trying to do the right thing, even when they constantly screw up how else do you explain the people who defend the bidwills to the death?

- People/writers from other places do not have the unconditional love most fans have, I think most of the media hates ASU for this very reason. They see this love and don't feel it themselves so they seek to focus on the negative things rather than the positive.

 

[Ouchie-Z-Clown]

One thing about Phoenix that seems odd is how many sports reporters seem to actively dislike the NBA (this goies beyond the Suns). Bickley, Bob Kemp, and Bob Young come immediately to mind.

Some of it may be that they would like to focus on other sports, but the Suns are the only winning team in town (unless you count ASU baseball). Bickley and Kemp absolutely don't care about hoops in general and Young still holds a grudge for something or another after previously being the Suns beat writer.

As I said, I can't think of many cities where so many sports reporters are as more overtly hostle to their area's only winning team than to the losers.

george, have you ever lived outside of az? from my time in both boston and dc, not to mention having all my college/law school friends from nyc, i can assure you that relatively speaking, our media is soft on ALL our teams. y'all (and i'm including more than you here, george) cry about journalists/editorials being negative about our teams and you have NO idea how bad it can really be.

 

[myrondizzo]

- It's their job to stir the pot, fans are often too idealistic and sensitive and think their teams are really trying to do the right thing, even when they constantly screw up how else do you explain the people who defend the bidwills to the death?

I've never head the bidwells defended. grant i dont visit the cards board here but most people i have ever talked to blame the cards stuggles on the bidwells and the bidwells alone.

 

[Mike Olbinski]

Do any of you listen to him on the radio?

He loves the Suns, he loves Shawn Marion...saying he hates this team is just unfounded and not true.

He's a columnist, and he has his opinions...just like you all do...

He may tend to be more on the pessimistic side, but that's just him. Don't read him if you don't like his style, but don't make up crap about him hating the Suns.

I say bad things about the Cards all the time, but I love them...

 

[elindholm]

I say bad things about the Cards all the time, but I love them...

Yeah, but the Cardinals suck. You'd have to be living in fairy land not to be pretty pessimistic about them.

 

[carrrnuttt]

Do any of you listen to him on the radio?

Yes. For 4 years straight almost, until this past summer, when I realized that he's simply a bitter hack that gets scooped by GAMBO, of all people. He decided to side with JJ's 'camp' all the way, and after being proved wrong with all his nay-saying this past summer, he held on to his pessimism. Maybe Sarver flirted with his wife?

I guarantee he is LOVING this BC development.

Of course there is no voice of reason to set him straight, as his partner Jurecki is a Cardinals/football guy all the way, and neither know much about basketball.

 

[Treesquid PhD]

I've never head the bidwells defended. grant i dont visit the cards board here but most people i have ever talked to blame the cards stuggles on the bidwells and the bidwells alone.

true most do but there are always a few they are just harder to find

 

[Gaddabout]

I think one of the problems is anyone 30 or older grew up in Phoenix when it was completely the opposite. The Rep and the Gazoo used to be Phoenix cheerleaders. Sports radio didn't come around until 1989 or so to this market, so guys like Jude LaCava (who was among the first to rally for a Phoenix expansion baseball team) and Brad Cesmat were the only sports voices besides Al McCoy.

Of course, I am not ignoring the Hacksaw, but c'mon ... the guy still rooted for ASU football even if he and Colangelo hated each other.

 

[HooverDam]

I really dont like the Phoenix sports media. Some say "its worse in Boston" but at least in place like that (or here in St Louis, where I live), when someone is critical of the team, its because they love the team and want them to get better. You don't get that from most of the media people in Phoenix.

If I ran the Republic, The Trib or any sports radio networks, I would slowly start phasing out the current sports writers. I'd fire them and replace them w/ ASU graduates, who like me grew up in the valley and LOVE valley teams. I want to hear from a sports writer who was depressed when Paxson hit his shot, who remembers ASU being on the brink of a National title in 96 as a MINIMUM. I'd really prefer people who have been in the valley even longer (who can recall the days of Kush and the early Suns teams).

Its one thing to be critical because you love the team, its another to do it because you think Phoenix is inferior and you wish you were back in your home market.

 

[MaoTosiFanClub]

I really dont like the Phoenix sports media. Some say "its worse in Boston" but at least in place like that (or here in St Louis, where I live), when someone is critical of the team, its because they love the team and want them to get better. You don't get that from most of the media people in Phoenix.

If I ran the Republic, The Trib or any sports radio networks, I would slowly start phasing out the current sports writers. I'd fire them and replace them w/ ASU graduates, who like me grew up in the valley and LOVE valley teams. I want to hear from a sports writer who was depressed when Paxson hit his shot, who remembers ASU being on the brink of a National title in 96 as a MINIMUM. I'd really prefer people who have been in the valley even longer (who can recall the days of Kush and the early Suns teams).

Its one thing to be critical because you love the team, its another to do it because you think Phoenix is inferior and you wish you were back in your home market.

This is just dumb. The reason guys like Bickley and Gambo are so popular (yes, they do own their competitors in ratings) is because they provide a perspective that the majority of people currently living in Arizona can relate to. They like the overwhelming majority of current Arizonans are transplants and tranplants generally are pretty apathetic about Phoenix sports and tend to be more interested in national sports coverage. There is still plenty of coverage on local sports, but the Republic is smart enough to realize who reads their newspapers and gives equal coverage of both national and local events to satisfy as many potential readers as possible.

I guess you could buy the Republic, but just to let you know catering to ASU graduates who were born and raised in Phoenix and understand the history of Phoenix's limited era as a major sports town is going to give you a pretty small audience. If you want that kind of news coverage, you go to websites like this or look into certain radio programs.

 

[MastersofCombat]

Theres some good points here for sure:

If Bickley is always trying to take the opposite side of the fans, then why doesnt he support Bill Bidwill?

Bickley is a Phoenix basher, Im just saying I miss alot of the things that this town use to have. Some of you call them cheerleaders but what is wrong with that?

Cheerleader commentary can get you pumped up for a game, but these commentators would rather have you hate your team, hate the management, and always always see the grass is greener in another town.

Sick of it, I listened to sports talk radio for 5 years now its been almost 5 since Ive turned it on. To be honest it sucks that the internet is the only place to see and read good, supportive, objective, opinionate, you name its all there.

 

[Gaddabout]

Some of you call them cheerleaders but what is wrong with that?

Maybe we can have our news reporters paint a rosier picture, too.

I'm not saying negativism is good journalism, or that Bickley is a worthwhile read, but it seems to me sometimes what's considered negative in this town is nothing more than an opinion from a non-partisan point of view. In most places that's honored as good journalism.

 

[Mainstreet]

Generally after I read a Bickley sports article, I feel like I have been injected with rattlesnake venom. I don't know why he has to be so negative. If I read any of his articles, it's just to skim the article to make sure there might not be a relevant piece of information somewhere.

As far as Gambo goes, I just feel he lacks enough passion and information to cover the Suns adequately. However, I do feel he has improved in his Suns' reporting and he is not mired in the negativity which I associate with Bickley.

 

[HooverDam]

This is just dumb.

(Obviously) I disagree. Phoenix does have a lot of transplants now, but those transplants are having kids. No need to sour those kids on Phoenix sports. I know growing up before school I read the sports section every day. Also, there is no reason those transplants wont either change allegiances or begin to follow a valley team as well as their home team.

My main point was, there is a difference in the types of being negative. When you cover a local team, I think you should at heart like that team. If you are criticizing because you want them to improve its one thing, if you criticize to get ratings, stir the pot or try to propel yourself to a job elsewhere, thats another.

 

[Chaz]

Yeah, but the Cardinals suck. You'd have to be living in fairy land not to be pretty pessimistic about them.


Hey pal, don't knock fairy land.

I live there at least 6 months of the year.

 

[Bunker]

Mr. Doomsday--- Bickley

Bickley is a negative jerk. I cannot stand listening to this total downer! I can predict his takes everytime. I feel sorry for him, he must have a real chip on his shoulder.

 

[Treesquid PhD]

Well if you take a step back and listen to Bickley he cares more about these teams than you may think. He gets negative because he actually was a big fan of the team last year and hates Sarver like a disgruntaled fan for breaking up his team. I think that's pretty cool because it's honest.

I hate cheerleader writers, they teach me nothing about the team with their filtered good news and good feelings and I definately don't want a media like the cactus ranch runs their boards, very sensored and all positive no matter what discussion is limited at best that is what you get when you just put a bunch of guys with strong ties in the media. Being a hard headed crybaby like Bickley is being is better than a bunch of cheerleader sensor nazis would won't write a bad thing about their team unless it fits their yeahooo agenda.

 

[George O'Brien]

Bickley is not objective and does not present both sides. He's not a journalist, he's a columnist who would rather make people angry than get his facts straight.