OT - Andy Staples to The Athletic, Austin Meek to cover Michigan Football
Following in the footsteps of approximately every other writer in the country, Andy Staples is leaving SI for The Athletic.
Additionally, The Athletic's hired ten new team-specific writers, including Austin Meek for Michigan.
To clarify, The Athletic had a Michigan-specific beat writer last year (Cody Stavengagen), but he's now their Tigers beat writer. So the Michigan-specific coverage isn't new, it's just a different guy.
Just wanted to say that I signed up for The Athletic a month or so ago when they were having one of their promotional deals. It was something like $20 or $30 for the year.
It is extremely worth it. I highly recommend signing up for it. There’s a bevy of excellent writers and so much content to keep you busy during boring work days.
but is there enough content to make me frustrated during busy work days?
If you have other teams, sports, or like reading national writer stories the answer is yes.
Isn’t that what MGo is for?
Given the uncertain future of Sports Illustrated after its recent sale, Staples move makes sense. It's a veritable second home for former SI writers.
I don't know if this is the case for other team sites on the Athletic, but I find it strange that they haven't found anyone who has covered Michigan before or is familiar with the program to hire. IIRC, Cody Stavenhagen came from Oklahoma, and it seems like Meek is from Oregon. Given how many Michigan alums are in the media, I'd figure there are some good writers out there that know more about the program.
They have Nicole Auerbach and Chantel Jennings but they both cover national news and aren't team specific.
Yea, they have alums on staff, but it doesn't help when they don't cover the team.
Who knows, maybe the Athletic and Michigan alums know they can't compete with MGoBlog for game and recruiting analysis.
Now long-form type pieces and Pistons and Red Wings and Hockey, and probably a lot of other national stuff, they're very good, if that's your jam.
I was never overly impressed with Stavengagen's UM work. It wasn't terrible, it just didn't offer anything all that different then what was found on free sites. Hopefully, Austin Meek will add a little more insight above and beyond what we are able to get from the Detroit News and Free Press. I am worried that with no ties to UM, Meek being new to UM is going to be in a very similar situation to Stavengagen (with few insider connections) and not have a lot of new things to report. This is in stark contrast to Ari Wasserman, the Athletic's OSU beat writer, who seems to write multiple articles a day in season and be an all-in-one writer, offering latest recruiting info, honest team analysis, interesting back stories of the team/coaches, and even occasional insider info.
I agree 100%, but with one cause for optimism: judging by a few pieces I've read, Meek seems to have a more distinct/unique writing style. So even if the coverage won't be as in depth as, say, MGoBlog's, I'm hoping that his stuff will be enjoyable and different to read.
Meek's opening column wasn't exactly a selling point from my point of view. OK, I get it you are coming from the program as an outsider, but I want more than just storytelling from my coverage of favorite college football team. Most good journalists write from a neutral perspective, but if you don't have access or relationships with the team and people around it or know the history, it may take you a while to learn to cover the team well if you ever do at all. There are too many good writers who cover Michigan or wrote for the Daily that make it hard to understand this hire. Not a subscriber, but I guess we will see if Meek can change my mind.
https://theathletic.com/1076328/2019/07/15/austin-meek-michigan-football-the-athletic/
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I though Brendan Quinn was covering Michigan at the Athletic. I subscribe (for a few months anyway), but the Michigan content hasn't been enlightening.
Quinn covers UM and MSU basketball (and PGA- go figure?) for the Athletic. He creates quality content, but not for football.
Brendan Quinn covers Michigan basketball not football, but I agree with your general point. Michigan football content on the Athletic has not been good enough compared to the other options in the market (mgoblog, Nick Baumgardner, Michigan Daily, 247Sports). I am surprised they did not find a better option and have held out from subscribing partly due to that fact. Losing Andy Staples will kind of suck though.