Count me on board with Scout.com's Temple coverage

By Mike Gibson
One of the most interesting developments in Temple sports over the last few months has occurred not on a practice field, a basketball court or in coach's office but behind a computer.
There are now two pay sites providing coverage for Temple's major sports teams.
That's one more site than I ever thought Temple fans could sustain.
Maybe I'm wrong.
I hope I'm wrong.
After a summer that included major knee surgery and a close family member suffering a stroke, I've been neglecting this blog for awhile.
My apologies to all who've missed it.
Now that football season is back, so am I.
One of the things I have had time for, though, is to check out the two websites that provide coverage.
I've reserved judgment but after careful analysis over a period of months, I've come to two inescapable conclusions:
One is merely good.
The other is outstanding.
Count me on board with the Scout.com coverage provided by editor Shawn Pastor of OwlsDaily.com.
Pastor's Scout.com coverage is as relentless as a Jim Johnson pass rush. I'm not the only one who feels this way. My friend, Sal Salamone, chronicled just two typical coverage days recently on the OwlsDaily.com website.
I like the approach Pastor is taking with his website, too.
When someone has a problem with Owlscoop.com and posts a negative comment about that website, editor John DiCarlo says something to the effect that "if you have a problem with anything send me an email." Then he lists a gmail address.
I've never understood that approach. I'm sure he'll invite me to send him an email to explain it.
No thanks.
Pastor handles it then and there, right in the same thread, often in the same hour.
That's the way things should operate. Out in the open.
After all, that's the way a message board should work.
A message board, after all, is a community. Why should a community not see the answer to a fair question/comment made by a poster? Why direct people to email?
Speaking of same, the message board often is the engine that powers a pay site.
Scout.com's volume and messages and quality responses dwarfs that of Owlscoop.com.
I'm on board with Scout.com basically because I'm bored with Owlscoop.com. I'm bored, and quite frankly annoyed, with the Bumfuzzleds and Fat Pinone's of the world. Scout.com's "ignore this user" function allows me to block people like that should they infest Shawn's website with a similar virus.
Owlscoop.com likes to pound its chest and tell everyone it is the best.
OwlsDaily.com proves it quietly and professionally every day. I will keep my Owlscoop.com subscription active because I believe that DiCarlo is an honest guy giving an honest effort.
It's just not good enough.
I've joined Scout.com's OwlsDaily community today.
And it's not just because of the Sports Illustrated swimsuit edition that comes with the year-long commitment.