The staff does plenty of interviews during August. Fuente makes himself available a couple times a week.

But there are two things that frustrate the media right now:

1.) The interview sessions are very blah. Coaches and players standing behind a lectern fielding questions from all the media at once leads to everyone getting the same quotes and writing the same story. Not to mention that standing in front of a crowd causes people to freeze up and be very bland and generic.

(Scot Loeffler was a mediocre interview in front of a crowd, a good interview when he was hanging out with 2-3 reporters, and a dynamite interview one on one.)

A superior model for the media is a casual "breakout" setup, where several coaches and players are available simultaneously, and media can circulate and get exclusive, or close to exclusive, access.

2.) The media rarely gets players they request. Every week, they request certain coaches and players, and every week, VT seems to send out whomever they please. Last week, the media requested bunch of wide receivers -- next to the QB race, the WR situation is THE story of the spring -- and VT sent out the Edmunds brothers instead.

Hey, we love the Edmunds, but that story's been done. And getting back to #1 (the lectern situation), even the Edmunds brothers, who have great personalities, are a little stiff behind the lectern.

I will say this regarding #2: That situation -- not getting players that were requested -- happened under Frank, as well. That's not a new thing. It's a time-honored tradition, haha.

And some players simple are NOT ready for prime time and should NOT be in front of reporters, for various reasons. So I respect VT's decisions where that kind of thing is concerned. But it is frustrating for the media.

Everyone bashes the media, but the writers I know got into this business to tell stories and talk to people ... and when you can't get to the people or the stories are repetitive or sanitized, it's not a fun day at work. It doesn't bother me too much, because I'm not a daily beat guy, but it bothers the beat guys, who all want to do a good job for the fans and have fun at their work.