Here is the link to the fall sports streaming schedule.

https://appstatesports.com/news/2023/8/ ... edule.aspx

@EthanJoyceWSJ: email exchange with ESPN reporter

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@EthanJoyceWSJ: email exchange with ESPN reporter

Unread post by asu66 » Fri Oct 19, 2018 10:29 am

If it happens to the Apps, it happens to me!

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Re: @EthanJoyceWSJ: email exchange with ESPN reporter

Unread post by Rick83 » Fri Oct 19, 2018 7:59 pm

Could you post the text of the article? I've gone over my allotted online articles for the week apparently. Thanks.

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Re: @EthanJoyceWSJ: email exchange with ESPN reporter

Unread post by ASU84 » Fri Oct 19, 2018 8:46 pm

Appalachian State's football team is gathering national recognition.

The Mountaineers (4-1, 2-0 Sun Belt) received 55 points in the USA Today coaches poll and 51 points in the AP Top 25 poll after their most recent victory, a 35-9 win against Arkansas State on Oct. 9.

They've also gained the attention of David Hale recently. Hale, an ESPN college football reporter who's been with the organization for seven years, has pointed to the Mountaineers a couple times this week as a team to pay attention to.


Johnny Clickbait
@ADavidHaleJoint
ESPN’s efficiency numbers are not a poll, so don’t overreact, but they are a good metric for underlying performance and… one of these teams is not like the others.

We see you App State!



Johnny Clickbait
@ADavidHaleJoint
Comparing the advanced analytics resumes… ESPN’s Strength of Record tends to more closely resemble the voters’ opinions. The advanced numbers say we’re WAY overrated Oregon & Texas and underrating App St, Penn St & Okla.

1:08 PM - Oct 15, 2018
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Hale monitors football across the country. As of right now, he spends much of his time around the ACC. But that said, he has to keep tabs everywhere. So it seemed like a good time to use Hale's nationwide perspective to properly gauge where Appalachian stands right now.

Here is an email exchange between myself and Hale, covering his bold prediction of App State garnering the Group of Five bid for a New Year's Six bowl; how the metrics like the Mountaineers; and where he feels Appalachian is right now in the football landscape, among other topics.

Ethan Joyce — I’ll start with this question: Recently, you made the “really bold” prediction of App State receiving the G5 bid for a New Year’s Six bowl. You briefly explained it, but what really made you confident enough to write that, even with UCF, Cincinnati and USF as top-25 teams right now?


David Hale — A couple of things. First, these were intended to be “bold” predictions, so backing UCF wouldn’t have sufficed. But I do think there’s a realistic chance this could happen. App’s schedule the rest of the way is winnable, whereas UCF, USF and Cincinnati all play one another, which could certainly end up eliminating all three. USF has not looked great this year despite the record, and Cincy hasn’t really been tested. UCF is obviously the elephant in the room, but I’m not sold they’re as good as last year. Lastly, I think there’s some energy building among smarter media in support of App State’s work. The advanced metrics all like the Mountaineers a lot, and if they keep winning, I think more people will start noticing.

EJ — I'm glad you bring up metrics. I think it was Sunday, or at least sometime this week, when you noted App State's sixth-place spot in ESPN's team efficiencies ranking (see above tweet). Now, I can read the description of that metric, but as a reporter who may work with those figures more than most, what do you glean from that information? And also, what should fans take away from registering such high marks here?


DH — The way I typically try to describe advanced metrics is in terms of input vs. output. The output is the results, your wins and losses. Ultimately, that’s what we’re judging teams on. But when we try to evaluate how good a team is, the wins and losses can be deceiving for any number of reasons — from a weak schedule to a few lucky bounces that changed the outcome. More advanced metrics like our efficiency ratings or S&P+ are a better measure of how a team performs — the input. So when you see App State ranked far higher in those things than in the polls, what that usually indicates is that voters haven’t watched many of their games and dismiss their results based on schedule strength. The computers aren’t bringing any program-size bias into it. They’re strictly evaluating the input, and thus far, it’s been really strong for the Mountaineers.

EJ — I'm always curious how national writers balance their attention across the college football landscape. I feel like I see you covering Clemson/the ACC more than anything (and correct me if I'm wrong there), so you're very much around this general area. But how often do you find yourself tuning in for an App State game and/or Group of Five play?

DH — It's a tough balance. I'd always been a beat writer, where my job was to know everything about one team. Then the job became more of an ACC gig, and it was a difficult thing to figure out how to be knowledgeable about 14 teams (and sometimes Notre Dame). Then as the job morphed again into a more general focus, there's got to be at least an awareness of 130 teams, and that's next to impossible. I think fans sometimes get upset with us for either ignoring their team or being ignorant of what's really happening, but the fact is, there are only so many hours in the day, and I killed a lot of brain cells with whiskey in college. So what I try to do is be thoughtful, read as much as I can, and then figure out what's important or seems like a good story, and really focus on that stuff. I want to know what's going on around the country — even with the smaller programs — but odds are, any App State or ECU or USF fan is going to know a lot more about their team than I do. But if there's a good story at one of those places, I want to dig deeper than anyone else. The end goal is to be a jack of all trades and a master of at least a few really important ones.

EJ — Do you feel that App State's schedule and/or conference will hold them back from that potential NY6 appearance?

DH — They need help. That's the bottom line. If any one of the American Conference teams wins out, they'll get the bid. Utah State, Fresno State and San Diego State are in the mix too. But I do think there's some burgeoning interest in App's season, and if a few things fall their way, they'll definitely be in the mix. At this point, UCF is the only team with a huge head start in the polls, so an 11-1 App State deserves to be in the conversation.

EJ — Lastly, what’s your perception of Scott Satterfield and the program he’s built? Also, what are your thoughts on football programs hiring Power-5 coordinators vs. G5 head coaches (They’re are examples of both, but it seems the former is trendier than the latter right now)?

DH — I had a good conversation with Virginia Tech coach Justin Fuente before the season, and he was telling a good story about his first game as a head coach. He had a guy on his staff who’d been a head coach before, and the guy offered some advice that as long as it was the head coach and not assistants, you could say anything you wanted to officials. So, sure enough, the first blown call, Fuente chews out a ref and gets flagged. He turns to his assistant and says, “I thought you told me this was OK.” The point of all this is — being a head coach is a different gig, and there’s so much you don’t know as an assistant that you need to know as the head guy. So my perspective is, I’d always prefer the guys who’ve learned by doing. They know what it takes. Maybe not all of it, but they have had boots on the ground, doing the job. It’s sort of like writing and editing. I could get promoted to an editor job, and no matter how much I know about journalism, that doesn’t mean I’d be good at it. They’re different roles, and not all assistants are cut out for it. Anyway, that’s a long way of getting to the point that I think Satterfield has a really bright future. He’s well respected in the profession, and at some point, he’s going to have his pick of jobs. But I also think coaches like him are being more selective now. They aren’t taking a job just for the sake of it because the money is good enough even at smaller places like App State that they don’t need to jump for the paycheck. It’ll have to be a good fit. But I think that’s coming sooner than later.

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