Call to action: Hold them to task

A familiar face was at the home opener Friday night, original Charger and Huntsville Times correspondent, Budd McLaughlin. Budd covers every game he can, but being a busy man and one of the best the Times has on it’s staff, Budd is often all over the place. So, when Budd wasn’t able to be at the game Saturday night, we couldn’t fault him for it. So, who did the Times send in Budd’s place to get reaction from Coach Cole and visiting Coach Mulhane?

No one.

The Times couldn’t be bothered to send anyone to cover the game. The only newspaper in the city couldn’t find so much as an intern to get reaction from the coaches on the game. And sadly this is nothing new.

Local media, be it the Times or the television outlets, continue to be woefully apathetic towards the boys and the program. Certainly they throw the occasional bone when the team is at home on VBC ice, but more often than not the program receives little attention. Take WHNT’s latest story on their site chronicling UAH splitting Notre Dame on the road, written a week and a half after that particular series and after the boys swept Air Force on the road.

And actual coverage on television is little better. When the boys swept Air Force there wasn’t mention of it on WAFF, but they found time to report on the exhibition game that the Havoc had. On average the Chargers are lucky if they get thirty seconds worth of coverage on air when they are at home, but when they are on the road they rarely, if ever, get mentioned.

Back when the CCHA decision was announced I said the greatest mistake we can make is letting the media forget about our plight. Now more than ever, we fans need to be in the media’s ear and in their inbox making our voice known. It’s time we band together to remind them of their obligation to report on the program.

So, I’m issuing this challenge, hold them to task. If you watch the local news the evenings we play and they don’t report on the outcome of the game ask them why they didn’t do so. If you notice that they report on the Havoc while they’re on the road, but not our boys, ask them why. If they make mention of a coming home match-up for the Havoc, but neglect to mention the same for the Chargers, ask them why.

What we would love to see is for you fans to be on the offensive trying to get the media to change their apathetic ways towards the boys. Listed below is the contact information for every sports director in Huntsville. When you see or hear something that you feel should have been reported, contact them and follow up with them as necessary. And let us know the outcome. If even a tenth of the people that have become fans of our effort on facebook contact these outlets it will send a clear message to those persons that we expect them to report on the program more than the minute amount that they currently do.

WHNT- John Pearson

WAAY- T.W. Starr

WAFF- Scott Theisen

Huntsville Times- Kevin Wendt (this is the Editor of the Times as the sports department doesn’t care about anything not football)

(WZDX has been left off the list as I could not find contact information for their sports department and, if  you didn’t already know, the broadcast is not local, it’s outsourced.)

Edit: It should be noted that often stories that make it to print in the Huntsville Times do not make it to the online version as they should.

Tags: The Huntsville Times, WAAY, WAFF, WHNT