Access makes a difference

A good number of people have taken time to tell me they appreciated our "positive" stories about Coach Joe Paterno and his Hall of Fame induction, and our editorial on the coach last week.

Yes, we had coverage fitting for a Hall of Fame event, thanks to sports writer Jeff Rice and a little thing I'll call access.

Access makes the difference, I tell people. Time set aside to talk to Paterno, to hear from him, really did make a difference last week and always will make a difference. Same goes for access to players, to hear from them regularly, rather than have them kept off limits. 

It shouldn't be hard to figure out, yet is seems to be a struggle for Penn State. There isn't a whole lot of access for football reporters to the coach, to players, or to the program itself.

It's been like that for ages and ages, I know, but just consider what access did to help last week's coverage become fitting for a Hall of Fame event.

Pretty simple stuff.

Interesting that I write this two days after the football banquet, which is reported in brief form today. Access to that? Nope, it's closed to the press.