To all the McGinn Detractors

[bobblehead]

I noticed a lot of people here who don't like Bob McGinn and I had to point out what I just read.

2007 McGinn predicted the pack would be between 12-4 and 14-2
2008 McGinn predicted 6-10
2009 he is set to make his prediction before the bears game...tune it, no reason to play the season, he is quite the prognosticator.

[pbmax]

Is he going to publish it, or will white smoke appear at the top of the Atrium at Lambeau Field?

[sheepshead]

Is he going to publish it, or will white smoke appear at the top of the Atrium at Lambeau Field?

[Fritz]

Just because he's predicted the Packers' record correctly the last two years doesn't make him a good sportswriter. People weren't unhappy with McGinn because he couldn't predict a team's success, they were unhappy because he A) lacked deep knowledge of the game he's supposed to cover, and/or B) seemed to often work without doing the legwork necessary to report rather than just speculate, and/or C) seemed to have a bias he needed to share.

[sharpe1027]

Re: To all the McGinn Detractors

I noticed a lot of people here who don't like Bob McGinn and I had to point out what I just read.

2007 McGinn predicted the pack would be between 12-4 and 14-2
2008 McGinn predicted 6-10
2009 he is set to make his prediction before the bears game...tune it, no reason to play the season, he is quite the prognosticator.

Good predictions. Kudos (insert image).

That doesn't change any of the reasons he is often frustrating to read.

[Waldo]

Just because he's predicted the Packers' record correctly the last two years doesn't make him a good sportswriter. People weren't unhappy with McGinn because he couldn't predict a team's success, they were unhappy because he A) lacked deep knowledge of the game he's supposed to cover, and/or B) seemed to often work without doing the legwork necessary to report rather than just speculate, and/or C) seemed to have a bias he needed to share.

This.

I don't care how well he can predict the season. Go to Vegas and get rich.

He uses his "unnamed scouts" for virtually everything he writes. Some of the stuff he says on behalf of them is laughable at best. The fact that he can't filter out the laughable at best statements just makes it worse ("Pickett can't handle the nose because he can't handle a double team." LOL).

During the Favre wars he was the most noticeably biased pro-Favre beat reporter, laying into the FO over and over.

Many of the falsehoods out there that get fans riled up, originated with him. He's been one of the leaders of the anti-ZBS crusade from day 1, doing a ridiculously poor job explaining it, and gets a jab in about it regularly. Some things he has gotten fans to believe is totally false (the whole "struggling in the red zone and on 3rd and short" is riled up by him and his constant low level gripes in the stuff he writes).

[Scott Campbell]

I hate his interviews. He interrogates his detainees like he's Mike Wallace unearthing some kind of cover-up.

[Partial]

Just because he's predicted the Packers' record correctly the last two years doesn't make him a good sportswriter. People weren't unhappy with McGinn because he couldn't predict a team's success, they were unhappy because he A) lacked deep knowledge of the game he's supposed to cover, and/or B) seemed to often work without doing the legwork necessary to report rather than just speculate, and/or C) seemed to have a bias he needed to share.

This.

I don't care how well he can predict the season. Go to Vegas and get rich.

He uses his "unnamed scouts" for virtually everything he writes. Some of the stuff he says on behalf of them is laughable at best. The fact that he can't filter out the laughable at best statements just makes it worse ("Pickett can't handle the nose because he can't handle a double team." LOL).

During the Favre wars he was the most noticeably biased pro-Favre beat reporter, laying into the FO over and over.

Many of the falsehoods out there that get fans riled up, originated with him. He's been one of the leaders of the anti-ZBS crusade from day 1, doing a ridiculously poor job explaining it, and gets a jab in about it regularly. Some things he has gotten fans to believe is totally false (the whole "struggling in the red zone and on 3rd and short" is riled up by him and his constant low level gripes in the stuff he writes).

I would like you to start quoting all of the scouts by name that are your sources, then. Oh wait, you don't have any connections and if you did you surely wouldn't throw them under the bus and risk their jobs. Face palm.

Have you ever considered that writers are trying to appeal to a wide audience, beyond football fanantics like yourself? The kind of stuff you steal from wikipedia or simply make up is well over the heads of 99% of the casual football fans who do not post in a forum. I bet a good chunk of these people still read a newspaper.

Your arrogance is what gets me. You have an I'm smarter than everyone else attitude, yet you're consistently wrong. McGinn, on the other hand, has a proven track record, has been extremely well respected in his industry w/ shoutouts from national journalists like Peter King, etc. What have you done? Where is your credibility to knock someone like McGinn? Writing some blog does not make you a published journalist.

BTW, still waiting on that check. PM me for my address. Be a man and admit that you were wrong.

[Zool]

Be a man and admit that you were wrong.

Umm...This might just be my opinion, but you need to learn when to STFU.

[Zool]

Is he going to publish it, or will white smoke appear at the top of the Atrium at Lambeau Field?

MIND FREAK!!!!!

[pbmax]

I don't mind McGinn or the rude questions. Wilde did take it too far when he asked McCarthy last year, in the middle of the Favre fiasco, "Can you answer fans who are wondering 'Do those two (T2) guys know what the hell they are doing' "?

But McGinn gets on an angle and nothing will shake him from it, for an example see the yearly ZBS questions despite the fact that they have been moving away from it year by year (or the fact that the rushing game the last two years has been more than serviceable). In a recent chat, he was on about how Rodgers was still acting like a know it all, overconfident fool in his second year. This despite the source of this impression starting with rumors during his draft. By his second year, we had reports that Rodgers outlook and approach had changed.

He clearly caught onto something about the 07 team earlier than others. But last year, everyone was predicting the Packers falling to near .500 because they believed 2007 to be either flukish or mostly Favre.

The fact that the QB and offense turned out well and the defense and ST went into the tank was not forseen by many I read. Give McGinn credit though. He was down on Sanders earlier than everybody but Bretsky and wist.

[mraynrand]

The critiques of McGinn on here are fair; people seem to have identified all his weaknesses. But I've read McGinn and a whole host of other beat reporters, living in NFL cities Chicago, Minneapolis, Seattle, San Fran, and Cleveland. Terry Pluto and Clare Farnsworth are thought to be among the best beat writers out there. In some ways, they are superior to McGinn - better writers, a little better internal knowledge of the game. But none of them match up with some of the in depth content of McGinn. McGinn presents more interesting and informative aspects of the game than most beat writers. He has some really annoying tendencies and some obvious flaws (mentioned above in this thread), but he compares favorably to other beat writers - even some of the best.

[sharpe1027]

I would like you to start quoting all of the scouts by name that are your sources, then. Oh wait, you don't have any connections and if you did you surely wouldn't throw them under the bus and risk their jobs. Face palm.

Have you ever considered that writers are trying to appeal to a wide audience, beyond football fanantics like yourself? The kind of stuff you steal from wikipedia or simply make up is well over the heads of 99% of the casual football fans who do not post in a forum. I bet a good chunk of these people still read a newspaper.

Your arrogance is what gets me. You have an I'm smarter than everyone else attitude, yet you're consistently wrong. McGinn, on the other hand, has a proven track record, has been extremely well respected in his industry w/ shoutouts from national journalists like Peter King, etc. What have you done? Where is your credibility to knock someone like McGinn? Writing some blog does not make you a published journalist.

BTW, still waiting on that check. PM me for my address. Be a man and admit that you were wrong.

Partial calling out someone for not admitting they were wrong? Did I wake up in Bizzarro world? Your beef with Waldo may be justified, but you have to realize you are one of the most stubborn SOBs in refusing to admit anything.

[mraynrand]

I would like you to start quoting all of the scouts by name that are your sources, then. Oh wait, you don't have any connections and if you did you surely wouldn't throw them under the bus and risk their jobs. Face palm.

Have you ever considered that writers are trying to appeal to a wide audience, beyond football fanantics like yourself? The kind of stuff you steal from wikipedia or simply make up is well over the heads of 99% of the casual football fans who do not post in a forum. I bet a good chunk of these people still read a newspaper.

Your arrogance is what gets me. You have an I'm smarter than everyone else attitude, yet you're consistently wrong. McGinn, on the other hand, has a proven track record, has been extremely well respected in his industry w/ shoutouts from national journalists like Peter King, etc. What have you done? Where is your credibility to knock someone like McGinn? Writing some blog does not make you a published journalist.

BTW, still waiting on that check. PM me for my address. Be a man and admit that you were wrong.

Partial calling out someone for not admitting they were wrong? Did I wake up in Bizzarro world? Your beef with Waldo may be justified, but you have to realize you are one of the most stubborn SOBs in refusing to admit anything.

Expected response: "No I'm not!"

[Tarlam!]

Wow, Partial. Probably the worst post I've ever seen here. Congrats on that.