I like to read his stuff, but not so much to pay for it. I guess he believes he has enough of an audience to charge for his material, good for him. Dude must think very highly of himself.
Will be interesting to see how these new "professional" blogs like The Athletic turn out. What made Newberg's early reports so great was A) Access to minor league information that wasn't as widely available as it is now, and B) Legitimate trade/franchise rumors.
Over the years it morphed into somewhat of a mouthpiece for the organization (basically Jamey traded being critical for gaining access), and the last year or so with that access not being very exclusive it's become what he even admitted was a "diary blog for his kids to read when they get older".
I understand the shift, as newspapers are a dying industry... but I think a lot of these writers are in for a rude awakening in how much people are willing to pay to hear their insight on a trade or prediction for a club.
Billy and TexAgs are able to thrive as a pay site because he's actually breaking news and giving legitimate rumors that you can't find much anywhere else. You just don't get that as much in professional sports where everything is either tight-lipped or broken by ESPN or the latest tweeter-of-the-month.
I'd pay a nominal fee to hear legitimate trade rumblings posted before they happen or to get a real inside scoop on something.
Paying to hear some guy write about the game? Nah.
I barley read the report as it is now and am too lazy to unsubscribe. I'll occasionally look at who are the stars of minor league games, but not as much as when it first came out.
I think he jumped the shark when he began writing about Max and his 10 year old baseball team in the reports.
That's definitely when he jumped the shark (and he admitted that he knew no one really wanted to hear that but it was "for him")... but there was a significant shift when the Daniels regime fully took-over where Jamey went from someone who would often be critical of the manager or the front office to churning out reports that almost always seemed to be optimistic and supportive (at worst "cautiously supportive") of every single move the franchise made. It wasn't a surprise that that shift seemed to be when he was suddenly allowed more access to the organization.
Yeah, not paying for Newberg content. They are usually good to skim through, but you have to know before reading that they are written from a homer perspective. And sometimes they are loooooong for no apparent reason. Just get to the point! And just shoot me when he does the one long sentence routine that goes on and on and on.
I've been a Newberg subscriber for a long time (03ish maybe? I think I signed up to read about Ramon Nivar) but I don't think I'll follow him. The reports are no longer must read for me. It's not really his fault, I just don't have time to consume anywhere near the sports related content as I used to.
So many people have access, connections, and information spreads like a wildfire nowadays...seems easier nw to stick to the major websites and the services which accumulate many sources (Twitter, MLBTradeRumors, etc.)
If you pay, you get access to the whole site and not just the DALLAS writers, correct? I'm probably going to try it out bc it sounds like the only decent option for sports articles now that grantkand is gone.
I got a membership Monday and have really enjoyed it so far. I'm not really a big Newberg can anymore, but the site has Bob Sturm, Levi Weaver, along with some college sports writers that I enjoy. Beyond Evan Grant, I feel like the DMN is a void when it comes to sports. This is the first time I've had such a membership. I bought it for a year and I will see if I read it enough to be worthwhile.