Nationals Farm Authority

Most are aware that the Washington Times eliminated their sports section at the end of 2009 leaving fans of the Nationals with just the Post as a local mainstream media voice for the team. Not only did we as fans lose that local voice, it was in my opinion the best voice. Mark Zuckerman and Ben Goessling provided consistently strong coverage of the team both in print and online. Ben has since resurfaced with MASN while Mark has recently started his own blog Nats Insider.

Why do I bring this up now? Well, Mark has decided to go to spring training on his own and is looking for Nats fans to help him get and more importantly stay down there.

Why should we care? Honestly because we need to maintain the institutional knowledge from within the Nats coverage we have. Bill Ladson does a great job for MLB Advanced Media and Ben was a great hire for MASN; both guys have been doing this for some time and have the knowledge and connections necessary to provide in-depth Nats coverage.

After that, we have Chico Harlan who is a short timer for the Post. If the reports are true, Harlan may be around for part of spring training but is soon to be replaced. His replacement is almost certainly going to be someone with little or no knowledge of the Nationals.

That’s not a good thing. Nats fans who want informative discussions of the whos, whats, and whys of the team need to have a voice there who knows the right people, understands the brief history of the team and has established their own voice.

This is my long way of saying support Mark in whatever form you can. This is an opportunity for us as fans to influence the coverage of the team. Mark is aiming to raise $5,000. Money to cover his costs. He has established some donation levels that come with some additional benefits

• $20 — Exclusive daily audio file of Jim Riggleman’s morning or postgame media session
• $40 — Exclusive daily audio file of Jim Riggleman’s morning or postgame media session, plus another daily audio file of an interview with a Nats player, coach or front-office member
• $60 — Exclusive daily audio file of Jim Riggleman’s morning or postgame media session; plus another daily audio file of an interview with a Nats player, coach or front-office member; plus the opportunity to submit a question to be asked of Riggleman or a prominent player during a spring training interview

These are levels established by Mark but any amount you can provide will help in getting the Nats coverage we, as fans, hope to have.

Running sites like Mark’s or NFA takes time and costs money. Much of the information I get comes from reading the stuff from the mainstream media. I know how valuable those voices are. I have never asked anyone for any money to run this site. Not to sound to NPRish, but if you enjoy the Nats stuff you read here and elsewhere on the internet, donate whatever you can to help Mark get to Viera.

Help Send Mark to Viera