ESPN has destroyed Mike Reiss' Patriots blog

[spacecrime]

For anyone that cares to do so, you can leave feedback on the changes here.

I sent an email to Reiss last night, but thanks for this link. I responded straight to ESPN.

I have switched to NBC's ProFootballTalk because the site is so much cleaner and I can click a single link to get just New England Patriot stories. I don't like Florio much, but it is a lot easier to get the same news, and his links bring me to the exact ESPN Boston story I want.

Still wish it wasn't Florio, but he is dfinitely the lesser of two evils.

 

[VrabelJr]

I feel bad for Reiss. He's one of the most respectable sports writers out there and puts a ton of hard work into his piece. ESPN is incredibly lucky to have him and cluttering up his work with a bunch of crap is so unfair to him and his readers.

 

[shmessy]

No one is forcing you to read the blog. I suspect that most of us read it every day.

You would be correct if the poster was complaining about a change he STILL was reading.

Until today, I didn't realize what this thread was about (hadn't seen it for a few days until this morning).

Then I read it this morning. Will definitely put it lower on my priority list in the future.

Bad move by ESPNBoston. When I used to go to that page it wasn't to hear about what Bill Polian thought about Jerricho Cotchery. For the very same reason no one comes to this particular forum hoping to see multiple threads about Colin Kaepernick.

Thank goodness for the variety and democracy of the internets! Next!

 

[shmessy]

It sounds like Mike didn't read the contract well enough.

ESPN suits want to get rid of him.

They are hearing about this Borges fellow who is trending bigtime on Twitter this week.

 

[shmessy]

I completely agree with you there. I understand the idea to make it one destination for information and condense everything to one page (so that people who click "Patriots" can finally go to one page to read Reiss, Yates, and whatever other columns are available on the team if they so desire) but they honestly need to go back to some of their previous designs and organize it a little better. Hopefully they figure it out and react to some of the feedback I'm sure they're already hearing.

Throwing all of it in one big list doesn't make any sense, but as I said in the Yahoo! thread it seems easier to just throw everything in either a Wordpress template or another CMS system and do it the way they all appear to be headed....I just don't get it.

Whoever the dude is who runs Patsfans.com knows what he is doing.

There, they have a Patriots forum separated from an NFL forum and other subject forums.

That guy is head and shoulders above the ESPN executives.

 

[shmessy]

For anyone that cares to do so, you can leave feedback on the changes here.

Thank you. I wrote them and informed them that Reiss' blog was my #1 go to site for breaking New england Patriots news and that the beauty of the internet is that there are 50+ other sites to go for Patriots news. They are entitled to their business decision, but they are not the only option in 2013.

 

[Uncle Rico]

Thank you. I wrote them and informed them that Reiss' blog was my #1 go to site for breaking New england Patriots news and that the beauty of the internet is that there are 50+ other sites to go for Patriots news. They are entitled to their business decision, but they are not the only option in 2013.

Somehow I have this vision of a bunch of recent college grads sitting in an office in New York, reading the feedback and saying with disdain: "Hey, guess who doesn't like our changes? New England fans! What a shock. Those losers don't like anything. Pfft. Rednecks."

 

[shmessy]

Somehow I have this vision of a bunch of recent college grads sitting in an office in New York, reading the feedback and saying with disdain: "Hey, guess who doesn't like our changes? New England fans! What a shock. Those losers don't like anything. Pfft. Rednecks."

The same MBA's who devised "New Coke" in 1984.

But really, who else reads the Patriots Blog on ESPN other than people who want to read about the Patriots?

I could understand the point if it was a league-wide blog to begin with.

This particular move is simply business suicide. But, perhaps, they INTENDED to get rid of the most respected Patriots reporter on the planet and get rid of their Patriots-centric, targeted market regional blog . In that case, it is genius.

 

[VrabelJr]

Mike Reiss in his Patriots Chat today again referenced how he feels about ESPN's NFL Nation overhaul. Mike is very honest and I think we can all appreciate that. He doesn't like it just like we don't.

 

[VrabelJr]

This "NFL Nation" project that ESPN launched looks like some cheap steal from SBNation.com or Bleacher Report. The funny thing about it is that both of those sites suck in my opinion.

 

[Ian]

I sent an email to Reiss last night, but thanks for this link. I responded straight to ESPN.

I have switched to NBC's ProFootballTalk because the site is so much cleaner and I can click a single link to get just New England Patriot stories. I don't like Florio much, but it is a lot easier to get the same news, and his links bring me to the exact ESPN Boston story I want.

Still wish it wasn't Florio, but he is dfinitely the lesser of two evils.

There's also this page:
New England Patriots News - PatsFans.com

That has the majority of Patriots links, including ESPN Boston, as well

 

[Ian]

Whoever the dude is who runs Patsfans.com knows what he is doing.

There, they have a Patriots forum separated from an NFL forum and other subject forums.

That guy is head and shoulders above the ESPN executives.

LOL, hardly, but I do my best

 

[signbabybrady]

I thought that was the whole purpose of ESPN Boston was to give it (and the other cities) more of a local feel and to create a more direct connection with those readers. But clearly things are changing.

I can only assume that the sites did not do as well in the other cities but largerly due to Reiss I know it was extremely popular here and just seems so counter to what they launched originally to be linking to so many national sites and even to the other local ones.

 

[Uncle Rico]

Oy. Top item now is a John Clayton video piece:

John Clayton examines the pluses and minuses of the fast-paced offenses being run in Denver, New England, and Buffalo. Inside the Huddle looks at whether the addition of Reggie Bush in Detroit may lead Matt Stafford to another 700-pass season.

Led with a pic of ... Peyton Manning. Yeah, that'll sell it to New England fans.

 

[borg]

Just curious...what's the membership tally for this site?

 

[jmt57]

Just curious...what's the membership tally for this site?

Per the very bottom of this sub-forum's page:

Members: 20,785
Active Members: 1,140

 

[Sciz]

I hadn't noticed any of this, because I don't actually go to the blog. I get all of my ESPN Boston info through an RSS reader. Somehow, the RSS feed has not changed. It is still almost completely stuff from Reiss and Field Yates. You'll need an RSS reader for this link as opposed to just a browser, but I'd suggest it as an alternative that actually hides all of this new crap.

<![CDATA[ESPN.com - New England Patriots]]>

 

[QuantumMechanic]

Mike Reiss in his Patriots Chat today again referenced how he feels about ESPN's NFL Nation overhaul. Mike is very honest and I think we can all appreciate that. He doesn't like it just like we don't.

Agreed. There's the quote someone already posted upstream and then there's from near the beginning of the chat:

Merek, I read it (Reiss is referring to the RS story) late last night. There have been some things going on work-wise -- some changes at ESPN -- that have drawn me away from things. ...

 

[farn]

Only went to site for Reiss. Do not like the changes.

 

[captain stone]

There's also this page:
New England Patriots News - PatsFans.com

That has the majority of Patriots links, including ESPN Boston, as well

Damn right. I have not given PFT even one click since 2007, and have no intention whatsoever
of doing so in the future.