I just wanted to post something to set expectations about spring ball this year.
We found out this week that NU has closed spring practice to the media, with the exception of two Saturdays (April 4 and April 11, the date of the spring game). We will get access to Fitz's post-practice press conference, as well as interviews with requested players. But that's it. That means that there won't be any practice reports on The Rock -- no descriptions of who did what on the field, who looked good, etc. The content, therefore, will be based on Fitz's comments, as well as feature stories on players, position groups, etc.
Why did NU do this? You'll remember that last season NU cut off practice reports of any kind later in the season. Practices were still open to the media, but nothing could be written about what happened on the field. NU did that because they felt that some sites -- including WR -- were disclosing too much information about practice to NU's opponents.
Even though there is no game planning for specific opponents done in the spring, I think this was a move to stop or at least curb the hype that will come with an open quarterback competition. I think NU wants to avoid the daily "who looked good, who didn't, who is in the lead for the job, who threw three picks" kind of stuff. They are going to split reps into thirds and I'm sure everyone would have a daily report on which QB did what.
Honestly, I think they have a point and I'm not surprised by this move. Closed practices, by the way, are the norm throughout the Big Ten. Last fall, when NU restricted access, I reached out to six other Rivals sites just to see what their school's policy was. Of the six, only one -- Purdue -- had all their practices open to the media and allowed practice reports. The rest were either closed, or access was restricted to the first 20-30 minutes or so (basically warmups).
So that's where we are. As always, I welcome your comments and questions.
We found out this week that NU has closed spring practice to the media, with the exception of two Saturdays (April 4 and April 11, the date of the spring game). We will get access to Fitz's post-practice press conference, as well as interviews with requested players. But that's it. That means that there won't be any practice reports on The Rock -- no descriptions of who did what on the field, who looked good, etc. The content, therefore, will be based on Fitz's comments, as well as feature stories on players, position groups, etc.
Why did NU do this? You'll remember that last season NU cut off practice reports of any kind later in the season. Practices were still open to the media, but nothing could be written about what happened on the field. NU did that because they felt that some sites -- including WR -- were disclosing too much information about practice to NU's opponents.
Even though there is no game planning for specific opponents done in the spring, I think this was a move to stop or at least curb the hype that will come with an open quarterback competition. I think NU wants to avoid the daily "who looked good, who didn't, who is in the lead for the job, who threw three picks" kind of stuff. They are going to split reps into thirds and I'm sure everyone would have a daily report on which QB did what.
Honestly, I think they have a point and I'm not surprised by this move. Closed practices, by the way, are the norm throughout the Big Ten. Last fall, when NU restricted access, I reached out to six other Rivals sites just to see what their school's policy was. Of the six, only one -- Purdue -- had all their practices open to the media and allowed practice reports. The rest were either closed, or access was restricted to the first 20-30 minutes or so (basically warmups).
So that's where we are. As always, I welcome your comments and questions.
