*** Official Shark Pool List of Helpful Team and NFL Sources (1 Viewer)

[Joe Bryant]

I'm taking Borden's thread and spinning it to something I think will be much more useful.

I'm a big believer in context and source. Hearing a bit of news from the guy at the barbershop is radically different than hearing the same bit of news from Chris Mortensen on ESPN. Context and source matter. A lot.

But there's a wide range of quality in reporting out there. In case you haven't noticed, the internet is pretty wide open.

What I'd like to do here is start putting together a list of sources with feedback from you guys. I'm particularly interested in local people that have a good take on their team. In other words, I'd like to hear from Cleveland people about who they listen to closely on the Browns. Or who Patriot fans listen to closely for New England news. That kind of thing.

So here's how we'll do this.

List a reporter or reporters for a specific team or NFL in general that you like or trust or follow. Let's make this specific reporters. Please don't use this to pimp your favorite www.MyFantasySiteIsKing.com

I want the vast majority of this to be positive. I'm way more interested in the guys you like than the guys you don't like. But if you've got someone you honestly go out of your way to avoid, it's ok to list that too. BUT then specifically state why you think what you think.

It's the same thing I hated with the "Kaepernick is a punk but I don't have anything specific to back that up with" stuff. That won't stay here. If you don't like a Dallas reporter, you need state specifically why and give some detail. Maybe you think the reporter is a homer or too sensational or whatever. But you need to specifically say why. But for the vast majority of these, let's make this positive.

The outcome I'm looking for is we have a list that I'll keep updating in this first post of who you guys like for each team.

Have at it. I think you guys can do this.

J

The List:

ARZ

ATL

BAL

BUF

CAR

CHI

CIN

CLE

DAL

DEN

DET

GB

HOU

IND

JAC

KC

MIA

MIN

NE

NO

NYG

NYJ

OAK

PHI Reuben Frank. He covers all sports, but his articles are great and he'll still keep you posted on the Birds.
https://twitter.com/RoobCSN
http://www.csnphilly...ic/reuben-frank (Recommended by ShaHBucks)


PIT

SD Kevin Acee http://www.utsandieg...aff/kevin-acee/ (Recommended by Joe Bryant)

SEA

SF

STL

TB

TEN

WAS

 

[MAC_32]

Want to know who the Browns will pick? Ask Mary Kay Cabot the day before.

 

[Joe Bryant]

I'll go first.

San Diego: Kevin Acee http://www.utsandiego.com/staff/kevin-acee/ Acee consistently seems to deliver thorough and level headed Charger news. He doesn't appear to get caught up in too much hype and doesn't go nuts when they struggle. The last two seasons with San Diego struggling and then getting on a roll were two good opportunities to see that. If Acee says something about the Chargers, I listen.

J

 

[Joe Bryant]

Want to know who the Browns will pick? Ask Mary Kay Cabot the day before.

Exactly what are you saying about Cabot? Do you think she's a good source for Browns info? Why or why not. Thanks.

J

 

[MAC_32]

Want to know who the Browns will pick? Ask Mary Kay Cabot the day before.

Exactly what are you saying about Cabot? Do you think she's a good source for Browns info? Why or why not. Thanks.

J

i think she says what the Browns want her to say then they throw her a bone with a couple of big leads before they happen as a thank you. She has nailed the Browns draft each of the last two or three years. Seems that is her thank you.

 

[Joe Bryant]

Want to know who the Browns will pick? Ask Mary Kay Cabot the day before.

Exactly what are you saying about Cabot? Do you think she's a good source for Browns info? Why or why not. Thanks.

J

i think she says what the Browns want her to say then they throw her a bone with a couple of big leads before they happen as a thank you. She has nailed the Browns draft each of the last two or three years. Seems that is her thank you.

Thanks.

In general, when you see a Cleveland story by her, do you how much do you value her take on it?

Say it's Week 8 on Thursday and the story she's reporting is that a player dealing with a knee injury looked strong in practice and she expects him to play Sunday. How much faith do you put in that?

J

 

[BoltNlava]

I'll go first.

San Diego: Kevin Acee http://www.utsandiego.com/staff/kevin-acee/ Acee consistently seems to deliver thorough and level headed Charger news. He doesn't appear to get caught up in too much hype and doesn't go nuts when they struggle. The last two seasons with San Diego struggling and then getting on a roll were two good opportunities to see that. If Acee says something about the Chargers, I listen.

J

Acee has been a good read or listen in San Diego for a while now. As a San Diego Charger fan for many many years, I can say he has the pulse of the fans and the organization pretty well nailed.

 

[ShaHBucks]

Eagles: If I could only give one recommendation it would be Reuben Frank. He covers all sports, but his articles are great and he'll still keep you posted on the Birds.
https://twitter.com/RoobCSN
http://www.csnphilly.com/topic/reuben-frank

If you want the latest up to date news/rumors - http://www.philly.com/philly/sports/eagles/
The bloggers I follow from this same site write for one of the bigger local papers in the area here http://www.philly.com/philly/blogs/inq-eagles/

Dave Spadero is basically the Eagle PR guy. He does a webcast/podcast I think (I haven't checked in a while but the link is third).
https://twitter.com/davespadaro
http://www.philadelphiaeagles.com/news/on-the-inside.html
http://www.philadelphiaeagles.com/multimedia/videos/channel/

Another site to stay up on the latest - http://www.phillymag.com/birds247/

My fav unknows: if you like All-22 type of breakdowns of the "Chip Kelly offense"
start here for the basic concepts ~~> http://fishduck.com/the-chip-kelly-oregon-spread-offense-analysis/understanding-the-oregon-offense/
Follow in season ~~>http://chipwagon.typepad.com/eagles/

I hate to list this one last because it's one I check most frequently. As of now he's the best best if you want a look at how FA/Rookies will fit on the team by analyzing what the coaches want. http://igglesblitz.com/

 

[ShaHBucks]

Poster Whitney26 made the holy grail of new resources https://docs.google.com/document/pub?id=10SRlgh0IJydR3lnGlacJaPbptZbtFFXevjTqp7UKCwY

Follow Bloom's list on twitter if you know how and another list I follow that I also got from Whitney26. That guy is amazing.

https://twitter.com/SigmundBloom

https://twitter.com/TonyWiltshire

Ok Im done..

 

[MAC_32]

Want to know who the Browns will pick? Ask Mary Kay Cabot the day before.

Exactly what are you saying about Cabot? Do you think she's a good source for Browns info? Why or why not. Thanks.

J

i think she says what the Browns want her to say then they throw her a bone with a couple of big leads before they happen as a thank you. She has nailed the Browns draft each of the last two or three years. Seems that is her thank you.

Thanks.

In general, when you see a Cleveland story by her, do you how much do you value her take on it?

Say it's Week 8 on Thursday and the story she's reporting is that a player dealing with a knee injury looked strong in practice and she expects him to play Sunday. How much faith do you put in that?

J

if it is regarding a negative story the spin she delivers is often bs. Grossi is a better source for the truth. If it is something positive or transaction related her success rate seems strong.

 

[MAC_32]

Preseason.fluff stuff from MKC is usually manufactured too.

 

[Joe Bryant]

Preseason.fluff stuff from MKC is usually manufactured too.

Thanks for the insight. When you see something specific on this during the summer, please post it here. I'd like to see a specific example of what you're saying. Thanks.

J

 

[Borden]

Doug Farrar

Awesome general NFL guy. He is in Seattle so sometimes his twitter (@SI_DougFarrar) has some more Seahawks specific content but mostly just general NFL.

Here's some draft stuff he's doing right now:

http://nfl.si.com/2014/04/09/2014-nfl-draft-top-64-scott-crichton/

 

[5-ish Finkle]

Pittsburgh:

For legit stuff, Ed Bouchette or Daley Lolley, in that order. Particularly Bouchette. He has been on the Steeler beat for over 25 years, IIRC. He has sources pretty high up the chain in that front office.

Most times anything else you see from local beat types has either already been reported by one of those two guys. Some other local types used to be okay when they had more reliable contacts(so, say, a Jerry Dulac, who was rumored to be very buddy buddy with Bruce Arians), or it's complete conjecture as the beat type in question isn't anywhere near as "embedded" as he'd have you believe(so, your Mark Kabolys of the world who, if rumors are to be believed, are not well liked inside that Steeler locker room and are avoided).

Nationally, John Clayton has typically been pretty solid for Steeler info.

 

[Faust]

Packers:

Bob McGinn

Raiders:

Vic Tafur

Jerry McDonald

49ers:

Matt Maiocco

Matt Barrows

 

[Bob Magaw]

Rams - ESPN beat reporter Nick Wagoner, he has a good insight into the team, coaches, scheme, personnel, needs, trends, team history context. He is balanced, not a shill or puppet but not excessively negative. His takes generally seem well thought out and reasonable. If he doesn't know something he is clear to distinguish what is speculative, but I have a certain level of confidence and trust in his informed conjecture.

I used to like local St. Louis-based journalist Jim Thomas (former long time Sporting News beat reporter), I'm not sure if he is slipping, but I just haven't found him as insightful as Wagoner lately. The national media seems to have a track record of breaking stories before these guys. Maybe he just isn't as engaged in the off-season, I'll look at that in the pre-season.

I also used to like local journalist Bernie Miklasz more, at his best he is capable of knowledgeable coverage. He at times seems to insert himself into the story a bit too heavy handedly for my taste. Lately (as in this offseason) I find him kind of all over the place and inconsistent. He will praise or criticize the team for something, but shortly after flip his take for the exact same thing. I find that hard to take seriously.

I don't know if Bryan Burwell (seen on ESPNs NFL Insiders at times) writes about the Rams less often than the others, I don't seem to see his content as much as the others, even in-season. He has kind of a personal style of writing, too, but because I find it more consistent (i.e. - not flip flopping), it doesn't seem as intrusive or objectionable. He comes across as more of an idea guy and trend identifier (at his best) than a nitty gritty details reporter.

I used to see more things by local writer Randy Karraker and Howard Balzer (USA Today Sports Weekly, at least at one time) who I associate with the team, but not as much lately.

 

[rockaction]

Steve Corkran of the Contra Costa Times was always good for Raiders receiver info back in 11/'12 OAK

https://twitter.com/CorkOnTheNFL

SB Nation and Danny Kelly's Field Gulls are also at the top of the class for Seattle news, and NFL stuff in general. But I think the cat's long been out of the bag on that one, and is a bit obvious.

http://www.fieldgulls.com

 

[Joe Bryant]

Steve Corkran of the Contra Costa Times was always good for Raiders receiver info back in 11/'12 OAK

https://twitter.com/CorkOnTheNFL

SB Nation and Danny Kelly's Field Gulls are also at the top of the class for Seattle news, and NFL stuff in general. But I think the cat's long been out of the bag on that one, and is a bit obvious.

http://www.fieldgulls.com

Hi rockaction,

We're looking for guys that are good now. Aside from 11/12, do you think Corkran is the guy to listen to for Oakland info now?

And don't worry about "obvious" stuff. What may be obvious to you is likely of much interest to others.

J

 

[fatness]

Washington Redskins

Best by far: John Keim, now with ESPN, formerly with several different DC area media outlets covering the Skins. His overall knowledge of the roster, team thinking, team needs, strengths, and weaknesses is just plain good and has been for years. Also is on twitter. Seldom breaks a story but often has more in-depth reporting than any other Skins reporter.

Good: Mike Jones, Washington Post. Much more in tune with the team than he was several years ago. Twitter feed.

Dianna Marie Russini, NBC Washington. She's on TV on a station I don't get so I can't comment on her TV skills. She has broken more Skins stories in the last year than anyone else. Seems to have a ton of contacts, be persistent in asking questions. Has been fed some not-so-true stories as well. Overall good, and improving.

Rich Tandler, CSN Washington and his own blog. Has covered the Skins for a million years and has been steadily good. Twitter feed.

Chris Cooley, ESPN 980. On air from 4-7 pm M-F, can listen online, spends 30-60 minutes a week breaking down film of Redskin games into understandable explanations of who did well, poorly, etc. The film breakdowns are great. Also did film breakdowns for free agents which were good as well. Weakness is a tendency to overrate Redskin players relative to other players in leage (this was obvious in his free agent FA breakdowns), probably because most of them are friends of his. He's surprisingly good on air, and improving.

Not So Good: Chris Russell , mostly an on-air "Redskins Insider" employed by the Redskins. Used to be an excellent reporter directly from training camp who relayed what was happening, who looked good or bad, factual stuff, and did that very well. Moved on to being a radio host where he was terrible, being highly defensive and wordy. Uses 40 words to say 4 words. Now is just used as an "insider" source by different outlets, has some detailed information mixed with some PR. Threatened to quit if the Skins signed DeSean Jackson and was widely mocked by other Redskin reporters and fans.

 

[rockaction]

Steve Corkran of the Contra Costa Times was always good for Raiders receiver info back in 11/'12 OAK

https://twitter.com/CorkOnTheNFL

SB Nation and Danny Kelly's Field Gulls are also at the top of the class for Seattle news, and NFL stuff in general. But I think the cat's long been out of the bag on that one, and is a bit obvious.

http://www.fieldgulls.com

Hi rockaction,

We're looking for guys that are good now. Aside from 11/12, do you think Corkran is the guy to listen to for Oakland info now?

And don't worry about "obvious" stuff. What may be obvious to you is likely of much interest to others.

J

You know, I don't know who the best is, but he was always spot-on during camp and the season that year. Just someone to look out for. He's already doing "Cork on the Couch" internet chat segments on the Raiders this year, though he seems to be a little focused on the SF Giants right now. I didn't say he was the best, just someone to look for. In years past, when I've mentioned him in this forum, I've gotten nothing but positive feedback and nodding "yes's" from those in the know.

 

[Faust]

Steve Corkran of the Contra Costa Times was always good for Raiders receiver info back in 11/'12 OAK

https://twitter.com/CorkOnTheNFL

SB Nation and Danny Kelly's Field Gulls are also at the top of the class for Seattle news, and NFL stuff in general. But I think the cat's long been out of the bag on that one, and is a bit obvious.

http://www.fieldgulls.com

Hi rockaction,

We're looking for guys that are good now. Aside from 11/12, do you think Corkran is the guy to listen to for Oakland info now?

And don't worry about "obvious" stuff. What may be obvious to you is likely of much interest to others.

J

You know, I don't know who the best is, but he was always spot-on during camp and the season that year. Just someone to look out for. He's already doing "Cork on the Couch" internet chat segments on the Raiders this year, though he seems to be a little focused on the SF Giants right now. I didn't say he was the best, just someone to look for. In years past, when I've mentioned him in this forum, I've gotten nothing but positive feedback and nodding "yes's" from those in the know.

Corkran is very good at covering the Raiders, so I will second this recommendation.

 

[Biabreakable]

Poster Whitney26 made the holy grail of new resources https://docs.google.com/document/pub?id=10SRlgh0IJydR3lnGlacJaPbptZbtFFXevjTqp7UKCwY

Follow Bloom's list on twitter if you know how and another list I follow that I also got from Whitney26. That guy is amazing.

https://twitter.com/SigmundBloom

https://twitter.com/TonyWiltshire

Ok Im done..

I just wanted to second my appreciation for Whitney26. He made my 2013 rookie evaluations much better through his great organizational skills. It also saved me a lot of time. On a similar note I found ZWKs information on college prospects very useful as well.

For the Vikings I really do not like most of their writers.

One journalist I do like who covers the Vikings is Arif Hasan who recently launched his own website for coverage of the Vikings here: http://vikingsterritory.com/

He does podcasts that I find pretty informative and entertaining as well. He also writes for the Daily Norseman and Bleecher report sometimes.

 

[Joe Bryant]

I too want to say great job to Whitney's gathering all the sources together. That's great.

To be clear though, I'd like this thread to be very different. This is more on the lines of "from the stockpile of sources out there to get Bears info, which sources do YOU trust?"

The beauty of the internet can also be it's curse. There are now SO many sources for info. But there are also SO many sources for info. I'd like this to be a thread where you guys help each other (and me too) to distill down the giant list of sources into a "best of" type thing.

Thanks.

J

 

[MattFancy]

For the Redskins, there isn't really anyone better than John Keim.

Also like Rich Tandler too.

 

[Evilgrin 72]

Pittsburgh:

For legit stuff, Ed Bouchette or Daley Lolley, in that order. Particularly Bouchette. He has been on the Steeler beat for over 25 years, IIRC. He has sources pretty high up the chain in that front office.

Most times anything else you see from local beat types has either already been reported by one of those two guys. Some other local types used to be okay when they had more reliable contacts(so, say, a Jerry Dulac, who was rumored to be very buddy buddy with Bruce Arians), or it's complete conjecture as the beat type in question isn't anywhere near as "embedded" as he'd have you believe(so, your Mark Kabolys of the world who, if rumors are to be believed, are not well liked inside that Steeler locker room and are avoided).

Nationally, John Clayton has typically been pretty solid for Steeler info.

Second every word of this post.

 

[Sidewinder16]

For the Redskins, there isn't really anyone better than John Keim.

Also like Rich Tandler too.

If it's even needed, I'll add another "vote" for John Keim. If you can only have one Redskin source, you'd be foolish to leave him out. To add to what fatness said about him, I'll also point out that he's a pretty good "X's and O's" guy. He seems to spend a lot of time talking to coaches and players about schemes, concepts, playbooks, etc., as well as individual player skills and techniques.

He also seems to stay fairly level-headed in his outlook on, or assessment of, the team. He doesn't get swayed by hype and he has no problem saying the team, or a player, is bad when their bad, or good when their good.

 

[SaintsInDome2006]

@Joe Bryant can you bring this sort of thing back to TSP?