Pete Scantlebury covered the Tigers for PowerMizzou from 2009-2016. He has been off the beat for a few years, but still following and at times covering, Mizzou football. Pete has returned to the team and each Wednesday he will share his perspective as someone who has been on both sides of the fence as a fan and a media member.
It’s been three years since I last covered Missouri’s preseason football camp in full. That was 2016, Barry Odom’s first year in which I left Gabe high-and-dry late in camp for bigger and better things in Atlanta.
And now, that streak continues as I return to the friendly confines of PowerMizzou-dot-com as a (checks pay stub and overdue bills) part-timer in charge of the newsletter.
Take that, Gabe!
The more things change, the more they stay the same, and we can see that just in the fact that August camp (and, yes, it’s August camp, not Fall camp, get a calendar, bro) is once again completely open to the media.
In my Big J-Journalist days, I’d be thrilled about such a development. Now, in my current role as a Big F-Fan (OK, that one needs some work), I realized this might not be seen as a big deal, or not a net positive, at least. It’s not because there’s a fear that the Gabe DeArmonds and Dave Matters of the Missouri media world are going to finally activate as sleeper agents and sell state secrets to Kirby Smart and Will Muschamp.
So in this, the inaugural column in which I try to bridge the gap between Big J and Big F, let me lay out what fans can expect from an open-to-the-media August camp:
CLOSED CAMP: Today’s availability was all 12 scholarship seniors on the team. Four of them spoke to the media. Tomorrow, six of the eight outlets at camp will write a story on a former walk-on who earned a scholarship at camp. Seven more outlets who weren’t at camp will aggregate that story into their own.
OPEN CAMP: With every player and coach available for interviews, the journalists in attendance are much more spread out amongst the players and coaches -- Kelly Bryant and Barry Odom notwithstanding. Depending on the scrum, media can hold onto interviews for longer, conducting more background interviews to write deeper, more meaningful stories. Seven more outlets who weren’t at camp will aggregate these stories into their own.
CLOSED CAMP: After a vigorous period of warm-ups and stretching, the media gets ushered away into a closed room for the next 90 minutes. Sixty minutes of that includes various media members trying to figure out the MizzouWireless-Guest password. After that time is up, the media try to get players and coaches to tell them about top performers and big plays of the day’s practice.
OPEN CAMP: The media in attendance get to bake in the sun for two hours on 15 mornings throughout the month of August. Some dress appropriately, either for the sun or for their profession — occasionally both. Most wear cargo shorts (never trust a man with more than four pockets, Pa always said). The media are able to ask specific, informed questions about players that stood out, got reps with the ones or (God forbid) got injured. Seven more outlets who weren’t at camp will aggregate these stories into their own “Top Performers” articles.
CLOSED CAMP: A reporter from a national outlet will swoop into Columbia for a day midway through camp and ask questions about a star player that have already been asked and answered earlier in camp. The reporter will then write the “Definitive Star Player Feature” and ignore the fact that every local media outlet has written a similar “Definitive Star Player Feature.”
OPEN CAMP: A reporter from a national outlet will swoop into Columbia for a day midway through camp and ask questions about a star player that have already been asked and answered earlier in camp. The reporter will then write the “Definitive Star Player Feature” and ignore the fact that every local media outlet has written a similar “Definitive Star Player Feature.”
(All of those features will have already been aggregated by outlets not in attendance.)
The bottom line is this: Opening preseason camp is an absolute win. For the football program, for the media in attendance and for the fans. For nearly a full month, it’s a stream of (basically) feel-good stories for the football program. Meanwhile, the local media isn’t stuck to a set-in-stone schedule of specific availability. This, in turn, leads to more variety in the depth and breadth of stories reported -- a win for the fans.
PowerMizzou.com will be in attendance at every open practice of camp. You can see the full schedule here.
