Brendan Quinn (former MLive hoops reporter) joins The Athletic Detroit
The days of getting to read Brendan's great stories for free on MLive have sadly passed. According to this letter, he'll still be covering UM/MSU hoops, just now for The Athletic Detroit.
https://theathletic.com/77997/2017/07/24/quinn-the-thrill-of-finding-th…
I've only ever paid a subscription fee for one recruiting site, but I may add another now. His in-depth stories are great and I'm sure they'll get even better now that he can focus more. Incredibly talented writer.
He was BY FAR the best writer for MLive. This is a brutal loss for them.
But not surprising, as soon as I read his first article I knew he'd be getting a major gig sooner than later. He'll be with one of the big outlets within a few years.
We still got Nick B. Period.
I find it interesting he's going to a subscription-based position, though. Is that the future for talented writers?
I would imagine it is. If you can write premium content, it's probably going to become more the norm/necessity to charge a smaller base of readers (who truly appreciate it) a nominal fee. If you have to rely on advertising, you need a large readership base and premium content isn't as conducive to a wide readership base.
It's like network television vs premium. Just the way content is going.
Fuck, that explains why there was no Wolverine Beat this week.
couldn't get him. I have loved that site, but there is always just a slight lack of energy there, with Dylan--working largely on his own--getting to stories, sometimes, after they have popped elsewhere. I gave him a few bucks every year, but resist paying straight up for content.
I am glad that Dylan has started noting on the front page when the articles are for payers, because a couple of times I went in and felt a little annoyed. . . as if he was fishing for clicks and payers. I also thought he handled the MattD skirmish poorly, not speaking up until things had gone way past ridiculous on both sides, and with very hazy scruples about what was in fact unacceptable in the way of player and coach criticism. It got him clicks short-term, and may have killed him long-term. Just one man's epinion, and maybe a bit of a threadjack, but possibly worth voicing. I've been tempted to start a thread on the subject several times, but the site seems so vulnerable, and as a follower from jump I wanted him to succeed. I know that you reference him sometimes, Ypsi, one reason that I mention it here. . .
That UM Hoops doesn't have a great draw. It is such a hyper-focused blog in a market that is completely dominated by college football.
If anything, I think the few posters that are over there have a ton of energy and passion.
Michigan Hoops, other than a few months during the year, does not have a big draw overall.
I agree on the lack of energy. Dylan is great on stats/metrics, but a lot of people like more personality coming through in the writing (a la Brian Cook). I'm one of those people. I like occasional references to KenPom, etc, but giant statistical breakdowns bore me and I'm a total hoops junkie.
Still think MGoBlog should have a convo about roping UMHoops in and doing more bball coverage.
Really good idea. Have their own section and maintain the structure of the coverage, but fit it into this site.
As to the MattD skirmish, I wasn't contributing on the boards like I used to (got a bit bored with it) but did see some of what went on.
I'm definitely in MattD's corner when it comes to criticism. Seems like any negativity toward Beilein gets UM bball fans in a tizzy. You see it on this site, UMHoops, Rivals, etc. If you give any slightly negative opinion about something entirely legitimate (like Beilein's verified less-than-communicative approach to recruiting kids), people jump all over you and say you think he's a terrible coach and should be fired. It's silly.
I can see how some people thought that he came off as a bit of a know-it-all, but I think that's just having strong opinions. He has some good thoughts and clearly pays attention to this stuff. His contributions are good and I think thoughtful contributions from internet commenters are pretty rare, so you shouldn't chase those kind of people away.
The UMhoops forumn certaintly misses mattd.
As a UMHoops poster, and a fan of MattD. He is definitely a know-it-all and is very up front with his opinions and how strongly he feels about them. I can see how that can grate on people.
But, for me, I recognize he is much more knowledgable than me so I value his opinion. I definitely miss him on the UMHoops board.
on UMHoops was too often to belittle the other poster's opinion. I found the forum painful to read at times, especially back when Guestavo was doing the same. It's a shame because he contributed a lot of insight.
Dylan strikes me as someone who saw a need and decided to fill it by starting his blog, but his passion is writing about UM basketball, rather than running a blog. He'd be a great fit on this site.
seemed to have a serious hatred for Beilein that he couldn't let go of (everyone understood pretty quickly what his beefs were). And he was strikingly off on some players, including one who now plays for the Milwaukee Bucks. To his credit he owned it.
I'm only an occassional visitor of UMhoops - and very occassional during the offseason.
I've seen a handful of writers joining the Athletic recently. They already have Toronto and Chicago and are now adding Detroit and SF (Tim Kawakami recently joined) and I'd assume they will keep expanding to other major cities. The coverage appears be more in depth and similar to Grantland. Will be very intersting to see how the model holds up and if they can get enough subscribers.
Does anyone know if the membership covers all markets or just 1?
I signed up this morning after seeing Brandon would be moving over there. It looks like one subscriptions covers all the different markets.
too as a CFB writer.
I hope mattD replaces him
Are people sure he's leaving MLive? in the link posted he states:
"For those of you who’ve previously read my work, here’s the deal: I’m going to keep doing what I did for the last four years at MLive, an opportunity that I remain wildly grateful for. "
To me, that reads as if he's doing both? I hope so as i really enjoyed his writing and the work they did on the Wolverine Beat...
I think it's just poor phrasing/verbage. He won't be doing both, his spot on both the Michigan and MSU beats has been filled.
ah... ok thanks...
now that i reread it, i can see it being read the other way too now... ie he'll be doing the same things that he did previously at MLive...
Its a shame as i really loved their podcast...
Quinn does offer interesting observations, and I regret he's leaving MLive. However, he seems more impressed with his vocabulary than may be warranted. Repeatedly in his articles, he throws in a fancy word that doesn't quite mean what he thinks it means.
Contrast Brian: in all his free-wheeling allusions, slang, erudite and pop-cult references, and the many words he gives us regularly, he's always clear, always accurate.
Between the shitty ad-spewing slideshows, the comments, and the sometimes not-awesome writing, their M sports section has really lost what lustre it had.