Reporting on Sam Bradford and the ‘know it’ curse
Sam Bradford made his decision public yesterday, ending a week of speculation, debate, cancellations and breaking news turned breaking predictions.
(Yes, that last part is a friendly shot at ESPN and their coverage on Thursday and Friday.)
In the end, everybody reported the truth at about the same time. Sam Bradford was having surgery. It’s scheduled for Wednesday. We’ve blogged about it. We’ve shot videos about it. We sent SMS text alerts. We sent e-mails. We wrote stories.
We have it covered. Reporters Jake Trotter and David Ubben have had it covered from the beginning. On Wednesday, NewsOK correctly reported the facts and reasons behind the news that Bradford’s news conference was cancelled. On Thursday, NewsOK was hoping it didn’t have to report about something that wasn’t scheduled and wasn’t planned, but when talk about an impending news conference became widespread, a report was necessary. It was good work by our local reporters. Jake and David can be counted on for the most complete and most accurate information about OU sports — guaranteed.
And now more about knowing Sam ….
See our ‘know it’ on Sam Bradford. It has everything you need to know about Sam. You can see all the stories, all the blogs, all the videos, all the stats, all the links from around the Web. You can even join the message board about Sam Bradford and talk about everything Sam.
We launched ‘know it’ topic pages on OU quaterback Sam Bradford and OSU quarterback Zac Robinson shortly before the season began. After the first couple of weeks, we thought we had unknowingly unleashed a ‘know it’ curse.
Look at the early evidence:
- Bradford was hurt and the Sooners lost. (See BYU)
- Robinson was looking a bit shaky early in the year. Was he secretly hurt? Did he gain too much weight? Was he just overrated?
Bradford’s luck continued down a unfortunate path, but Robinson has emerged as a strong All-Big 12 quarterback candidate. So I can rest easy — there is no ‘know it’ curse.
However, we also launched ‘know it’ topic on Kevin Durant. If he goes down with injury, I’ll reopen the investigation.
Story Wall No. 2: Another fair in another state
A few weeks ago, I shared a page we produced as a test. It was our first Story Wall – a collection of photos, videos, quotes and text from the Oklahoma State Fair 2009.
I was so inspired that I assigned another wall to be produced for the OU-Texas game 2009. I thought it would be a great way for OU football fans to re-live the biggest game of the year.
Of course, when I made the assignment and helped coordinate the specifics, I expected fans would be re-living and celebration a Sooner victory. Instead, it was a close loss in a demoralizing way (losing Sam Bradford …. again). It might be a game that nobody wants to talk about ever again, let alone re-live.
Alas, we did it anyway. And now that you are a full 48 hours removed from the end of the game, it might be a good time to experience our OU-Texas Story Wall. It truly is a fun experience.
NewsOK TV is on the air
NewsOK is officially on television now. Check out Dave Morris’ blog post for more details on how our stellar video team produced this show (and will continue to do so on a weekly basis).
But here is a quick steal from his blog – the air times for the shows:
Here is the upcoming schedule:
Sat 10/17 3:30-4:00pm 7 OKCOX7
Sat 10/17 8:30-9:00pm 7 OKCOX7
Sun 10/18 1:00-1:30pm 7 OKCOX7
Sun 10/18 4:00-4:30pm 7 OKCOX7
Wed 10/21 9:30-10:00pm 7 OKCOX7
Looking back at September in the middle of October
September was a record-breaking traffic month for NewsOK.com.
It was so outstanding that I had to stay far away from my blog for two weeks just to let the servers cool down. But now I’m back (we’re looking for a strong October, as well).
Breaking traffic records isn’t new. Our audience continues to grow steadily. The opening of the football season in September always provides a nice boost. And unfortunately, when a Heisman-winning quarterback at the University of Oklahoma sprains his shoulder in the first half of the first game, people care – and they go to the one place that covers OU football better than any other place.
It also rained a lot in September. And if people online in Oklahoma are interested in anything more than they are interested in football, it’s weather. We launched a new interactive weather radar. It’s really cool. You can change the settings and see exactly what you want to see — things like warnings/watches, current temperatures and lightning information. You can also scroll across the map and see the live radar for Australia if you want. (I believe knowing the weather conditions in Australia can be a big help).
We also shattered the records for traffic on the NewsOK blogs. It’s been the fastest growing area for traffic on NewsOK in the past year, and it doesn’t appear to be slowing down. Penny Soldan’s Television Blog and Brandy McDonnell’s BAM’s Blog led the way, followed closely behind Tim Henley’s Celebrity Gossip Blog, George Lang’s StaticBlog and Matt Price’s Nerdage. As you can see, our Life and A&E audience loves blogging. That works for us. (Side note – my blog did not crack the top 50. I’m counting on you to change that in October).
Thanks for making September a stellar month in both page views and unique visitors. We’re growing and adding and improving NewsOK.com every day. We’ll count them up again at the end of October.
