Writers and sports talkers that address the Cowboys need ideas and sources. There is nothing wrong with tapping into fan sites to pick up the vibe and if they do that enough, they also pick up on who they want to follow. One way of finding a good source is to check their posts and Likes and then the content to see what it is about this poster that draws the Likes.
If you find enough of those types of posters across a few sites, you've got a source to tap into to get a feel for the fans. These are fans that are willing to spend their time discussing their team and they are also the most likely to listen to sports talk and read the articles about their teams.
The other source a site like this supplies is to those writers that are going to do the coach's call the week of the game. What better source could an out-of-towner have than a site like this?
I think most of the people assigned to discuss this team at least drops by to scan the headlines and if something shines, they drill down into it and see if it's got legs. If this is what the hardcore fans are talking about, this is what they want to talk about. And it is really easy to scan this site and in a matter of minutes pick up on what's hot.
Do we really think these people wanted to keep talking about Prescott's contract? They came here and saw so many threads about that subject, they knew the P1's, the ultra audience for radio shows, would not stop talking about it so it's easier to feed people food they like. And they have space and time to fill.
The advantage of a site like this for them is it is not mainstream like FB and Twitter where people will try and talk about anything. The people here are a very specific concentrated focus group and not only do they come here, they start threads to see what kind of legs they can get out of that topic. Wouldn't you?