An ongoing issue in the world of local high school sports coverage is the connection between the teams and media outlets in terms of reporting the scores and stats of games.

In the past, it was typical for every team to report the details of their games directly to the media, it was standard practice. Nowadays, with the decline in print and the emergence of social media, the gap has widened in that connection.

This is nothing more than theory, but my guess is that with the use of social media when it comes to posting photos, videos, highlights, these teams lose sight of the fact that we need to report the full story. Sure, we’ll take whatever we can get, but full box scores are ideal.

Over the weekend I saw a fellow journalist have an online back and fourth with a local coach. The media member called out coaches for not reporting scores, and this one coach fought back saying that teams post their scores to places such as GameChanger and MaxPreps which should be satisfactory.

It went on from there, but I will give you my take.

GameChanger and MaxPreps are fantastic resources when used correctly. Not all sports use GameChanger, but this site has become a staple for baseball and softball, specifically, and even some lacrosse teams have begun using it. This spring has been great so far in that I have not struggled too much to get the skinny on our teams, much thanks to these sites.

My issue, though, is that far too often are there errors in these teams’ reporting. I know this because I have had a handful of occasions when people have reached out to let me know, whether it is coaches or parents.

Now, could these people be in the wrong? Sure, but the fact that these conflicting messages are being sent is concerning. There are times now when I’ll actually ask representatives from my teams if the stats on these sites are reliable.

I can’t tell you how often I have coaches refer me to these sites. I don’t blame them, they catalog all of their stats and info within these programs, so why would they retype everything or spend time relaying it over the phone?

That is my issue. If you are going to refer the media to these sites, then please make sure the stats and information is correct. In the aforementioned argument online, I stayed out of it, but the one thing I would have chimed in on would have been the dependability of these sites.

Although things have improved with the implementation of these sites, there is still work to do and room for growth. Many teams still don’t make their stats and scores available, which is a shame. Sure, this is a business and we get paid to report on sports. At the end of the day, though, most of us are in it for the right reasons beyond the paycheck and enjoy celebrating local athletes and their accomplishments. That’s why we got into the business in the first place.

To the coaches that report their stats, thank you. To the ones that don’t, please keep this message in mind and always feel free to reach out to arrange a system in which we can get the ball rolling. I am always willing to help.

The Patriots drafted a fresh crop of rookies this past weekend in the NFL Draft. All things considered, I was happy with the haul they brought on board, but it was not perfect.

The biggest headline was quarterback Drake Maye with the third overall pick. I am not wild on Maye to be honest, but I can’t blame them for focusing on getting a talented quarterback with a premium pick. Maye’s fundamentals deteriorated in a trying season in 2023, but the talent is there to be great.

The team picked up a pair of wideouts in Ja’Lynn Polk and Javon Baker. The reports on these guys are quite similar. Two smart, savvy players that are competitive and can contribute right away. The knock on each of them, though, is that neither have elite traits that translate into top receivers at the NFL level.

Then the other notable pickup was tackle Caedan Wallace in the third round. The team desperately needs a left tackle, but the majority of his experience was on the right side. Team personnel said the plan was for him to switch and that they were confident that he could make that transition successfully.

If you couldn’t tell, although I’m happy that they drafted based on need, I was not thrilled with each specific player.

There were faster, more dynamic receivers available and there were tackles with experience on the left side. These talent evaluators know more than I do, and I am certainly not saying they blew it, but I was just hoping to see the team add some explosiveness … some firepower. Sure, it added probably NFL starters with upside, but I do not think this team is much better, if at all better, than it was a week ago.

My grade for the Patriots’ draft: B.