Just saw this quote from Mark Stepneski of ESPN Dallas on his FB:
Quote:
My contract with ESPN Dallas has expired, so I will no longer be providing Dallas Stars coverage for them. I have decided against firing up the old Andrew's as an independent site. There's the possibility I could continue to cover the Stars for another entity. There's also the possibility I could hang it up and move on to something else. Should know which way I am going in a few weeks. Just thought I would let you know.
Gonna be really sad if he doesn't come back. Loved him on the beat. Before Heika got Twitter, Mark was the only way to get real time information.
One of a kind. I sometimes find myself still trying to go to Andrews Dallas Stars page. Hopefully he continues to cover Stars hockey in some capacity as I think he's pretty much the only local media person with any truly legitimate amount of hockey knowledge and perspective.
One of a kind. I sometimes find myself still trying to go to Andrews Dallas Stars page. Hopefully he continues to cover Stars hockey in some capacity as I think he's pretty much the only local media person with any truly legitimate amount of hockey knowledge and perspective.
Andrew's was THE place to get info on the Stars. I posted on the message board there before coming here. Basically, I never used to go to the Stars official website because I didn't need to. The layout was easy to use and pleasing to the eye. ESPN Dallas hired Mark IMO because they A) didn't want the online competition and B) he's the best at what he does.
He did a great job, but with fan interest at near zero levels over the past few years thanks to the team having no owner and no desire to win, you know his blog was getting little to no traffic. No fan interest translates to low attendance, low TV ratings, and not enough hits to justify ESPN paying a dedicated hockey writer. Mark is just another victim of Tom Hicks.
That really sucks. Mark was amazing at ferreting out information and he always had the scoop. I hope he gets picked up by someone or decides to give it a go himself. He has a passion for it and I'd hate to lose that. Besides quality information about the Stars can be really hard to come by at times.
I think this has more to do with ESPN cutting finances across the entire country. They have shut down their high school beats in pretty much every major city (Dallas included), and scaled back on journalists across the board. I would guess that you will see Durrett take the Stars back, as he was doing it before they hired Stepneski.
Just saw this quote from Mark Stepneski of ESPN Dallas on his FB:
Gonna be really sad if he doesn't come back. Loved him on the beat. Before Heika got Twitter, Mark was the only way to get real time information.
I wish Mark could join the Dallas Stars website. IIRC, Chris Botta made the transition from blogger to employee of the Islanders before he moved on to a different position.
Stepneski provides the best Stars coverage by a long shot IMO, and I'd hate to see him move on (unless that's what he truly wants to do).
With or without Mark, the Stars need someone like him for their website ... someone with a good relationship with the team that could also travel with them.
Maybe we could bug the Stars about it on Twitter just to see if they'd bite.
Mark has more of a sense of humor than you guys think, especially on a personal level. He's just an old-school, little-bias media guy when it comes to his coverage.
Mark has more of a sense of humor than you guys think, especially on a personal level. He's just an old-school, little-bias media guy when it comes to his coverage.
My reply to that comment was pure sarcasm. I never got that he did or didn't have a sense of humor but did exactly what you said, report without much bias.
ed at our most likely free agent to sign. In the words of glovesave, NSS.
