WRIC8 Reviving Sports Dept

[CRF4Dan]

During the pandemic WRIC8 and WWBT12 in the Richmond market did away with their sports department. WTVR6 has done a superb job in the Richmond Region with my friends Sean Robertson & Lane Cassadonte holding it down. Now it looks as though at least one local news station is getting back into the sports game...

Pre-pandemic, as it relates to high school football and sports in general it was always WTVR6, WWBT12 and then WRIC8 as far as who did the best. Will be interesting to see how much time the new sports dept at WRIC8 devotes to high school sports and of course the sport we love the most, football.

 

[DinwiddieProud]

Lane and Sean set a mighty high bar for any other competing interest. With respect to high school football, they have have something that most sportscasters don’t. That being a love true for the game, the people, and the atmosphere. It’s not a job for them. It’s “fun” that they get paid to have. That “intangible” shows in their sportscast and will be hard to replicate. But, I’m glad to see WRIC taking a stab at it. (Maybe Chip Tarkington can be lured out of retirement to help?)

While I’m at it, I want to give a shout out to someone else that does a great job bringing high school football to the people. (Other than the very best, you Danny). That’s Zach Joachim with the RTD. Whenever Zach makes it down to Dinwiddie, he is a blast to have around. Very personable, and extremely knowledgable of the game.

Just think gang, just a little over two months and life begins again!!!

 

[CRF4Dan]

Lane and Sean set a mighty high bar for any other competing interest. With respect to high school football, they have have something that most sportscasters don’t. That being a love true for the game, the people, and the atmosphere. It’s not a job for them. It’s “fun” that they get paid to have. That “intangible” shows in their sportscast and will be hard to replicate. But, I’m glad to see WRIC taking a stab at it. (Maybe Chip Tarkington can be lured out of retirement to help?)

While I’m at it, I want to give a shout out to someone else that does a great job bringing high school football to the people. (Other than the very best, you Danny). That’s Zach Joachim with the RTD. Whenever Zach makes it down to Dinwiddie, he is a blast to have around. Very personable, and extremely knowledgable of the game.

Just think gang, just a little over two months and life begins again!!!

Zach is one of the best I've met in the newspaper business. You are spot on with the personality and knowledge of the game. We have the best conversations along the sidelines when we end up at the same games. He has become a friend along the way as well.

Zach catches a bunch of grief, especially on Twitter for the lack of coverage of HSFB and high school sports in general. The sad part is that it is not his fault. By seasons end he is being pulled in the direction of VCU basketball and the RTD sports department has shrunk so much over the last 10-15 years due to budget cost that he has his hands in so many things it is tough to give every sport its full attention.

As for the crew WTVR6... the best in the biz in Lane & Sean... you nailed it. It is tough to compete with those guys but I will say Marc Davis had something going at NBC12 with Rob Witham before the pandemic hit. Marc Davis left NBC12 to go to the 757 where they were still covering sports... and of course more money and better opportunity played a part as well. I'm glad to see WRIC8 acknowledging the demand for sports coverage and from what I've been told they are going to bring back the Sports Blitz.

Thing that puzzles me to this day is that NBC12 has 5 meteorologist and has the morning anchor gals reading sports headlines when they know nothing about the sport. 5 meteorologist multiple time slots for news and yet they don't see the importance of a sports department. Half the time the meteorologist miss the forecast so why do we need 5 of them? LOL

 

[DinwiddieProud]

Zach is one of the best I've met in the newspaper business. You are spot on with the personality and knowledge of the game. We have the best conversations along the sidelines when we end up at the same games. He has become a friend along the way as well.

Zach catches a bunch of grief, especially on Twitter for the lack of coverage of HSFB and high school sports in general. The sad part is that it is not his fault. By seasons end he is being pulled in the direction of VCU basketball and the RTD sports department has shrunk so much over the last 10-15 years due to budget cost that he has his hands in so many things it is tough to give every sport its full attention.

As for the crew WTVR6... the best in the biz in Lane & Sean... you nailed it. It is tough to compete with those guys but I will say Marc Davis had something going at NBC12 with Rob Witham before the pandemic hit. Marc Davis left NBC12 to go to the 757 where they were still covering sports... and of course more money and better opportunity played a part as well. I'm glad to see WRIC8 acknowledging the demand for sports coverage and from what I've been told they are going to bring back the Sports Blitz.

Thing that puzzles me to this day is that NBC12 has 5 meteorologist and has the morning anchor gals reading sports headlines when they know nothing about the sport. 5 meteorologist multiple time slots for news and yet they don't see the importance of a sports department. Half the time the meteorologist miss the forecast so why do we need 5 of them? LOL

Maybe they are trying to improve their odds of getting the forecast correct with five sets of eyes trying to figure it out. Hey, I’ve got an idea. Why don’t they get all five to report a totally different forecast? Odds are, at least one of them might be close. 😇

Yeah, poor Zach is fighting an uphill battle. In fact, everyone in the print media has a tremendous struggle trying to stay relevant and viable.

 

[Virginia HS Football Fan]

Lane and Sean set a mighty high bar for any other competing interest. With respect to high school football, they have have something that most sportscasters don’t. That being a love true for the game, the people, and the atmosphere. It’s not a job for them. It’s “fun” that they get paid to have. That “intangible” shows in their sportscast and will be hard to replicate. But, I’m glad to see WRIC taking a stab at it. (Maybe Chip Tarkington can be lured out of retirement to help?)

While I’m at it, I want to give a shout out to someone else that does a great job bringing high school football to the people. (Other than the very best, you Danny). That’s Zach Joachim with the RTD. Whenever Zach makes it down to Dinwiddie, he is a blast to have around. Very personable, and extremely knowledgable of the game.

Just think gang, just a little over two months and life begins again!!!

I really enjoy watching Lane and Sean. Their high school football show just flies by. And when you host a show and it flies by, you're doing a great job. Their show is tight. Boom. Boom. Boom. Very little in terms of filler. They also have great rapport on set and they know the teams and the schools.