Matt Smith: The case for our All-Delco selections
One of the most polarizing jobs about being a local sports reporter with the Daily Times
comes at the conclusion of every high school season when we are tasked with producing All-Delco teams.
It’s not an easy gig, but it’s not brain surgery, either.
Feedback, both positive and negative, comes with the territory.
There are coaches and fans and parents who will defend their favorite athletes and question why they are missing from All-Delco First Team or Second Team or Honorable Mention lists. Going to bat for your player, so to speak, makes perfect sense.
When pressed for answers, we will happily defend our decisions.
Last week, the Bonner & Prendergast softball Twitter account was so dissatisfied that no Panda had made First Team, it questioned the legitimacy of statistics provided by other teams. The barrage of tweets has since been deleted.
“Our stats are real,” @ MBAP_Softball tweeted me. “Maybe we fake them next year.”
I don’t think falsifying information about your team is the way to go. And in case I didn’t get the message, a person associated with the team tweeted from their personal account, “#mattsucks,” an insult targeted at your’s truly.
Hey, it’s not the worst thing I’ve been called.
We live in a social media world. Everyone has an opinion about everything. All-Delco is a hotbed topic, and feelings get hurt.
Rest assured, we’re not purposely trying to anger you.
Debating the merits of our selection process, which is done after local coaches submit their nominations and offer input about their players as well as others throughout the county, is certainly encouraged.
One fan of Delco softball questioned the thought process behind our Softball Player of the Year choice. While it was a difficult decision, the honor went to Haverford High’s Heather Lazer, an extremely deserving candidate.
A reader emailed the sports department to argue against our pick.
“I’m perplexed as to how this could be possible when (her favorite player’s) stats were much higher and overall ... was the better player and is more deserving.”
A case could be made for this player. She was excellent. For the record, Lazer hit.480/.536/.813 (batting average, on-base and slugging percentage) with more extra-base hits (17) and runs scored (30) than this emailer’s favorite player.
The reader went on to suggest that the Daily
Times didn’t get the facts straight.
“If you look at the ‘real’ stats and not the fluffed up, padded stats, it is clear that (her player) was that much better.”
It’s not clear, exactly, what the reader was getting at when referencing made-up stats versus real ones. The person continued ...
“If you have a conscience at all, do yourselves a favor and look into this, find out the truth before printing a lie in the news.”
Here’s something that isn’t a lie: Heather Lazer received the most Player of the Year nominations of any softball player I can recall in my 10 years on the beat. The reader ended her rant by writing, “this is clearly a political decision, which is a damn shame.”
When asked to elborate on some of these claims, the reader didn’t respond.
The emailer is obviously very bias, which is normal, I suppose. They think their player is more deserving, because chances are they know the player very well and can attest to the player’s awesome softball talent.
As a reporter, we don’t hold biases. That’s the first rule of journalism, outside of getting the facts right. We don’t care if Team A beats Team B and we never cheerlead for a particular player or team. As reporters we must maintain objectivity with no strings attached. We’re not in the business of destroying careers or preventing student-athletes from winning awards or gaining college exposure. We provide a public service and we do it as best as we can.
In the case of AllDelco, it is not an exact science. It can make you question our decisions, which is perfectly fine by us. Pleasing everyone is impossible. But don’t disparage us, or make false claims about our integrity. Such discourse is unhealthy and benefits no one.
In the end, it’s probably best not to take AllDelco so personally.