New Beat Writer

[Connor_J_Hughes]

Jets fans,

 

Good afternoon, my name is Connor Hughes. Informally introducing myself, I am a recent hire by About.com and employed as the site's New York Jets beat writer. 

 

Before hopping on the Jets beat, I covered both high school sports and the New York Giants. Over the last few weeks, I've been looking to interact and meet Jets fans in order to get a better understanding of the information they want. At the end of the day, how good I am at my job is based off of writing and creating content that you, the fans, want to read.  With New York, I'm fully credentialed and at each practice, game and any other team function. 

 

I've reached out to a few message boards to informally introduce myself, and let fans know that if there is every a story you want told, question you want answered or anything in between, please do not hesitate to reach out. I can be reached via email (connor_j_hughes@yahoo.com) or on twitter @Connor_J_Hughes. If you like, you can check out the site, too. NYJets.about.com. 

 

My door is open, so if there is anything you'd like to know regarding the team, please do not hesitate to ask. 

 

Thanks,

Connor Hughes

[drsamuel84]

Good luck!  I see you're a Monmouth U grad.  I graduated from there in 2007 fun school

[ucrenegade]

Jets fans,

 

Good afternoon, my name is Connor Hughes. Informally introducing myself, I am a recent hire by About.com and employed as the site's New York Jets beat writer. 

 

Before hopping on the Jets beat, I covered both high school sports and the New York Giants. Over the last few weeks, I've been looking to interact and meet Jets fans in order to get a better understanding of the information they want. At the end of the day, how good I am at my job is based off of writing and creating content that you, the fans, want to read.  With New York, I'm fully credentialed and at each practice, game and any other team function. 

 

I've reached out to a few message boards to informally introduce myself, and let fans know that if there is every a story you want told, question you want answered or anything in between, please do not hesitate to reach out. I can be reached via email (connor_j_hughes@yahoo.com) or on twitter @Connor_J_Hughes. If you like, you can check out the site, too. NYJets.about.com. 

 

My door is open, so if there is anything you'd like to know regarding the team, please do not hesitate to ask. 

 

Thanks,

Connor Hughes

don't be puissified for one ask the hard questions we don't like sugarcoating stuff.  Mehta was good till he was put on the jets beat then it seemed he sold out.

[Better2bgreenthanblue]

Who ties Woodys shoes in the morning? Cause no way hes got enough mental capacity to figure out the cross over looping stuff. Seriously thanks for reaching out to us fans. How about a feature story on the draft/player evaluation process. Seems we don't have a process but rather fall in love with rep, nicknames or stories (Louisville Slugger for example).

[pointman]

Good stuff. Welcome to the family. Please don't be like Manish.

[IPBanBadPosters]

Just don't be an obnoxious troll like Manish Mehta or Rich Cimini and you should be fine. Look at how professionally Jenny Vrentas handled the job when she was assigned to the Jets beat and try to emulate that approach instead.

[Connor_J_Hughes]

Who ties Woodys shoes in the morning? Cause no way hes got enough mental capacity to figure out the cross over looping stuff. Seriously thanks for reaching out to us fans. How about a feature story on the draft/player evaluation process. Seems we don't have a process but rather fall in love with rep, nicknames or stories (Louisville Slugger for example).

 

This will definitely be something that will be published come the draft. I have a few sources that can offer an inside look about how the draft takes place. From the scouting, to the actual selection. 

 

If featured articles are things you like, I encourage you take a look at a few exclusives that were published: 

• A Daughter’s Love: Antwan Barnes turned to child for inspiration
• Driven by Faith, Demario Davis living life the right way

On the site's main home page, there is an option to sign up for a newsletter where every week featured articles and some of the better content that is produced (non-breaking news) will be sent out to those that subscribed. If not, every Saturday a new featured article is run and published. You can keep a look out for it on the site's main page, or on twitter (nyjets.about.com). It is also tweeted out each week. 

[SayNoToDMC]

Just do better than the other guys, the bar is set at Andy Dalton low right now

[dundunit]

Jets fans,

Good afternoon, my name is Connor Hughes. Informally introducing myself, I am a recent hire by About.com and employed as the site's New York Jets beat writer.

Before hopping on the Jets beat, I covered both high school sports and the New York Giants. Over the last few weeks, I've been looking to interact and meet Jets fans in order to get a better understanding of the information they want. At the end of the day, how good I am at my job is based off of writing and creating content that you, the fans, want to read. With New York, I'm fully credentialed and at each practice, game and any other team function.

I've reached out to a few message boards to informally introduce myself, and let fans know that if there is every a story you want told, question you want answered or anything in between, please do not hesitate to reach out. I can be reached via email (connor_j_hughes@yahoo.com) or on twitter @Connor_J_Hughes. If you like, you can check out the site, too. NYJets.about.com.

My door is open, so if there is anything you'd like to know regarding the team, please do not hesitate to ask.

Thanks,

Connor Hughes

Appreciate the reach out. I personally haven't posted on the blog for a while because the Jets have made me sick this year. But I feel like many Jet fans have become frustrated with the beat writers like Manish and Cimini is because their writing seems to have an agenda. A sarcastic tone that seems to say "I told you so." It's frustrating and hard to read.

I think generally we all want stories that are unbiased accounts of practices and games and features on the players and the front office so we all know more about them. I don't mind you bashing the Jets either, because they definitely deserve it at times, but all I ask is make a well formatted argument that provides solid points/examples.

[KSJets]

I'll second the others here by saying just don't be a giant douche like Cimini and Mehta and you'll do fine here

[Integrity28]

Jets fans,

 

Good afternoon, my name is Connor Hughes. Informally introducing myself, I am a recent hire by About.com and employed as the site's New York Jets beat writer. 

 

Before hopping on the Jets beat, I covered both high school sports and the New York Giants. Over the last few weeks, I've been looking to interact and meet Jets fans in order to get a better understanding of the information they want. At the end of the day, how good I am at my job is based off of writing and creating content that you, the fans, want to read.  With New York, I'm fully credentialed and at each practice, game and any other team function. 

 

I've reached out to a few message boards to informally introduce myself, and let fans know that if there is every a story you want told, question you want answered or anything in between, please do not hesitate to reach out. I can be reached via email (connor_j_hughes@yahoo.com) or on twitter @Connor_J_Hughes. If you like, you can check out the site, too. NYJets.about.com. 

 

My door is open, so if there is anything you'd like to know regarding the team, please do not hesitate to ask. 

 

Thanks,

Connor Hughes

 

Welcome to the beat Connor. 

 

I remember when Manish Mehta was new to the Jets beat, he was very engaged in trying to figure out what the fans wanted for the first half-season of coverage. Then, he started to manufacture storylines, create controversy from "unnamed" sources that nobody believed were real, and in general "troll" the fanbase with click-bait. In effect, he took the easy route to garnering web traffic, he chose to be negative and stopped being objective.

 

My advice to you, despite what editors might tell you about the value of web traffic, is don't stop being objective. I work in the digital space, a large part of what I do everyday revolves around content strategy and driving analytics. There is a stark difference between getting eyes on your content and having it read, and appreciated, versus the type of content that Cimini, Mehta and PFT generally provide. Their content, while it may get those clicks, doesn't typically lead to a favorable emotional reaction the the brand that they represent, their respective newspapers / news outlets. Industries that revolve around click-bait are typically driven by a so-called expert that doesn't actually understand the relationship between web traffic and brand affinity. 

 

I'm not saying everything you write should be positive, but what you need to understand is that Jets fans are actually some of the more astute (though at times boorish) fans around the league. I've lived in a few different states over the years, and travel a lot for work, this isn't a generalization. They know when the author doesn't know their football first and foremost, they know when the author is pushing a narrative for web traffic, or an agenda is being served... And it does not sit well with them. Not only will a disingenuous or divisive writer fall out of favor, but so will the publication brand they represent, and the advertisers associated with it. Short term, it may get you some meaningless web traffic so you can hit analytics quotas, however, long term, it is not a good path towards building brand affinity — both for your employers brand and your own personal brand.

 

In other words, be a journalist. Write about football, don't try to manufacture controversy. Don't follow the trend establish by the NY sports media, help re-define it.

 

Not sure what else I can add, other than wish you good luck.

[Maxman]

Jets fans,

 

Good afternoon, my name is Connor Hughes. Informally introducing myself, I am a recent hire by About.com and employed as the site's New York Jets beat writer. 

 

Before hopping on the Jets beat, I covered both high school sports and the New York Giants. Over the last few weeks, I've been looking to interact and meet Jets fans in order to get a better understanding of the information they want. At the end of the day, how good I am at my job is based off of writing and creating content that you, the fans, want to read.  With New York, I'm fully credentialed and at each practice, game and any other team function. 

 

I've reached out to a few message boards to informally introduce myself, and let fans know that if there is every a story you want told, question you want answered or anything in between, please do not hesitate to reach out. I can be reached via email (connor_j_hughes@yahoo.com) or on twitter @Connor_J_Hughes. If you like, you can check out the site, too. NYJets.about.com. 

 

My door is open, so if there is anything you'd like to know regarding the team, please do not hesitate to ask. 

 

Thanks,

Connor Hughes

 

Thanks for signing up Connor. Hopefully you stop by from time to time and say hi.  

 

We just gave you a shout out and a follow on Twitter @JetNation. Good luck with your new job! 

[Ex-Rex]

As long as you aren't a hater like Serby and Cimini and tell fans the truth - even if it's not what we want to hear you should be fine. Don't toe the company line either - be your own man. The Jets are very important in the lives of the fans so keep us posted on whatever internal workings you can dig up WITHOUT the anonymous sources so often quoted by Cimini.

[faba]

 Welcome to the Jets beat- how about a research piece on how and who is involved in the Jets draft structure. as current- which hopefully will change

[T0mShane]

To echo Integrity's excellent post above, I think a new person on the Jets beat would find it more lucrative to play it straight at this point. Generating click-bait is nice in the short term, but I don't think Mehta has any sort of future in the industry moving forward other than as a professional troll for trash sites like The Bleacher Report. Eventually, the Post will replace him with the next 26 year-old dickhead who's willing to move down from Utica for $45k per, and Mehta will be on the street. Cimini, as obvious as he could be at times, tried to at least pretend he was a journalist and seemed to enjoy the gamesmanship of pushing fan's buttons. Mehta is completely artless with it to the point where it's not even fun on a satirical level. 

 

I think in looking at past examples, Hughes would do well to read the archives of Vrentas, Randy Lange (before he became a Jets stoolie), and Jane McManus. They've all been able to parlay their time served on the Jets beat into better gigs. Another guy he should emulate is Ralph Vacchiano (Giants beat). He does a great job, is objective, and seems fairly well respected by both the team and the fan base. 

[Integrity28]

 Welcome to the Jets beat- how about a research piece on how and who is involved in the Jets draft structure. as current- which hopefully will change

 

I didn't have a chance to watch it, but there was a show called "Finding Giants" that aired not long ago, perhaps it was a short series. I can't recall. Either way, the concept of providing visibility into the draft process would be incredible for our fanbase. The Giants providing that window is nice, but they've drafted like a pretty well oiled machine for years. It's much more interesting to look under the hood of a car with some engine troubles, and given how maligned the Jets franchise has been over their draft history, I cannot think of a better franchise to crack open and look at... except maybe the Raiders.

[ZachEY]

 I've been looking to interact and meet Jets fans in order to get a better understanding of the information they want. 

 

Answers to the existential questions, like, should I kill myself, or watch the Steelers game tomorrow?

[Bugg]

 Welcome to the Jets beat- how about a research piece on how and who is involved in the Jets draft structure. as current- which hopefully will change

Excellent idea. NFLN ran that Giants show. But really who are the Jets scouts? How are they organized? How do they collect, collate and organize data? Who is in charge? Who makes the final decision and how do they go about it? Where do Idizik, Johnson (who really should have no role at all) and Ryan figure on draft day? How do they make draft day decisions? They won't tell you all of that, but given how awful they have drafted doesn't really appear there is any structure nor system. 

 

Looks like they talk to Bradway-and then wing it. Smith looks exactly like a spur of the moment emotional decision.WE NEED A QB! PICK ONE NOW!

[Bugg]

To echo Integrity's excellent post above, I think a new person on the Jets beat would find it more lucrative to play it straight at this point. Generating click-bait is nice in the short term, but I don't think Mehta has any sort of future in the industry moving forward other than as a professional troll for trash sites like The Bleacher Report. Eventually, the Post will replace him with the next 26 year-old dickhead who's willing to move down from Utica for $45k per, and Mehta will be on the street. Cimini, as obvious as he could be at times, tried to at least pretend he was a journalist and seemed to enjoy the gamesmanship of pushing fan's buttons. Mehta is completely artless with it to the point where it's not even fun on a satirical level. 

 

I think in looking at past examples, Hughes would do well to read the archives of Vrentas, Randy Lange (before he became a Jets stoolie), and Jane McManus. They've all been able to parlay their time served on the Jets beat into better gigs. Another guy he should emulate is Ralph Vacchiano (Giants beat). He does a great job, is objective, and seems fairly well respected by both the team and the fan base. 

Would strongly suggest you take a long look at Mark Bowden's book about being the Eagles beat writer before he went on to bigger things. If for nothing else to check out how close Rex Ryan is to his father's INSANE idea that football is all about defense and offense is for nancy boys.  Which is how we got here- http://www.amazon.com/Bringing-Heat-Mark-Bowden/dp/0871137720. and Nick Davidoff's book about this mess.

 

And good luck. To bigger and better after this.

[TuscanyTile2]

Much appreciated Connor!  Very cool of you to reach out like this.  Looking forward to your opinions on stuff.  Don't feel overly pressured to please the message board audience btw.  Write what you think needs to be written.

 

Thanks again!

[flgreen]

Answers to the existential questions, like, should I kill myself, or watch the Steelers game tomorrow?

 

Wait until after the game.  You'll be much more depressed

[T0mShane]

I didn't have a chance to watch it, but there was a show called "Finding Giants" that aired not long ago, perhaps it was a short series. I can't recall. Either way, the concept of providing visibility into the draft process would be incredible for our fanbase. The Giants providing that window is nice, but they've drafted like a pretty well oiled machine for years. It's much more interesting to look under the hood of a car with some engine troubles, and given how maligned the Jets franchise has been over their draft history, I cannot think of a better franchise to crack open and look at... except maybe the Raiders.

 

 

It's really a fantastic project and one I highly recommend. I'm surprised the Giants agreed to do it because it makes no effort to make them look particularly good at any point. My take from watching it is that drafting players is ridiculously subjective, so much information about any player is unreliable, and that the scouting community is not nearly as sophisticated as we'd like to imagine.

[HessStation]

I can't believe I'm saying this but what Integrity and TOm said.

 

 

Good luck Connor!!! 

[Jack Straw]

If you could repeatedly whip Manish in the nuts with a car antenna, I would be eternally grateful. 

[WoodyJ]

I'd like to see some fair and objective articles that show how great of an owner the NY Jets really have, and make sure you take note of the facilities. Top notch.

[BroadwayJoe12]

It's really a fantastic project and one I highly recommend. I'm surprised the Giants agreed to do it because it makes no effort to make them look particularly good at any point. My take from watching it is that drafting players is ridiculously subjective, so much information about any player is unreliable, and that the scouting community is not nearly as sophisticated as we'd like to imagine.

 

You mean that guys getting paid slightly above minimum wage to schlep around a quarter of the country for 300 days out of the year, away from their families, doesn't attract the best and brightest minds in football?  Until there's some sort of true analytic way of evaluating these guys, it's going to left up to gut-instincts by people who've been around football for a long time.  It's no wonder they miss so many. 

[Shadetree]

hey new guy...enlighten us on the coach search.

Welcome to Hell.

[Bugg]

You mean that guys getting paid slightly above minimum wage to schlep around a quarter of the country for 300 days out of the year, away from their families, doesn't attract the best and brightest minds in football?  Until there's some sort of true analytic way of evaluating these guys, it's going to left up to gut-instincts by people who've been around football for a long time.  It's no wonder they miss so many. 

Was kinda striking that these guys weren't MENSA candidates. Was shocked how much of it was talking to coaches rather than going to games. In fact the bulk of the work appeared to be pumping coaches for information rather than gathering it themselves. With the availability of game film guess the need to see games in person isn't as important as it used to be.

[Larz]

a million years ago, "writers" would ask interesting questions to the coaching staff like;

 

which offensive lineman graded out the best ?

 

I really don't care about a "writers" opinion of the team

 

the job is to be a conduit and get information to the fans

 

don't preach to me what to think or what you think

 

I want to know what the coaches think

[BRONX DUDE]

I'd like to see some fair and objective articles that show how great of an owner the NY Jets really have, and make sure you take note of the facilities. Top notch

yuk yuk

[Connor_J_Hughes]

Thank you to all that replied, I appreciate it. From what many have said, you may like some of the featured articles we've run on the site. I encourage you to poke around and look at the content that is there. You'll find that, aside from a few sporadic columns, there is not many opinionated pieces. I do my best to report the facts and just the facts. 

 

nyjets.about.com

 

Features:

Harvin making case to stay with jets well after 2014 

A Daughter's Love: Antwan Barnes turned to child for motivation

A Common Bond: Antwan Barnes helping Jace Amaro make familiar transition

Driven by faith, Demario Davis living life the right way