So if you don't want player and coach interviews or on-field access pre- and post-game, why would you even bother applying for credentials?
The fact that the NCAA has a blogger policy means that they are accrediting bloggers -- I was writing and taking photographs for a medium-sized blog focussed on an MLB team, and while the team was friendly to us, MLB had policies that specifically kept bloggers out. They found ways to give us access anyways, but it was difficult for them.
Like I said before, it ain't just a comfy seat -- you get a LOT of access to information and players and coaches and managers and owners. It's not necessary in order to blog about a team, but once you get used to sitting in a dugout chatting with players, it's hard to go back. And it really does make a giant difference to your writing, to have that extra level of insight.
Press credentials don't just get you a comfy seat -- they get you access to detailed press materials (like today's game notes -- ever wonder where all those stories that the broadcast team tells come from? The game notes, that's where) and even more importantly, access to the players and coaches and management in the press scrums and for one-on-one interviews.
That said, I don't know exactly what you get at the NCAA level. But at the MLB level, the access is phenomenal and you bend over backwards not to lose it once you have it.
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So if you don't want player and coach interviews or on-field access pre- and post-game, why would you even bother applying for credentials? The fact that the NCAA has a blogger policy means that they are accrediting bloggers -- I was writing and taking photographs for a medium-sized blog focussed on an MLB team, and while the team was friendly to us, MLB had policies that specifically kept bloggers out. They found ways to give us access anyways, but it was difficult for them. Like I said before, it ain't just a comfy seat -- you get a LOT of access to information and players and coaches and managers and owners. It's not necessary in order to blog about a team, but once you get used to sitting in a dugout chatting with players, it's hard to go back. And it really does make a giant difference to your writing, to have that extra level of insight.
Press credentials don't just get you a comfy seat -- they get you access to detailed press materials (like today's game notes -- ever wonder where all those stories that the broadcast team tells come from? The game notes, that's where) and even more importantly, access to the players and coaches and management in the press scrums and for one-on-one interviews. That said, I don't know exactly what you get at the NCAA level. But at the MLB level, the access is phenomenal and you bend over backwards not to lose it once you have it.