Post by chipchip on Jul 16, 2014 17:32:48 GMT -6
Pilfered from the Bonker
**OT: Why I loathe Media Days
Let me start here: I love my job and I love writing for you all. I was headed for graduate school (counseling psychology) at Kentucky when I wrote my first newspaper story on a whim. I was hooked immediately. That was 1996. I've written thousands of stories since then -- a few that were very good, many more that were merely adequate.
I am not an epically talented writer. I am not an epically talented reporter. I have a few good skills, lots of experience and a desire to do a good job. I care about my work. I never spend a minute of my life lamenting that Bill Simmons didn't offer me a job at Grantland because, well, I'm not that good. I have no delusions.
With that said ...
Media Days is the low point of the year for me. I loathe being there.
It wasn't always like that. I remember attending the event 15 years ago. It was a rush for me to be surrounded by dozens of reporters I'd read or heard of. Plus the coaches. There goes Steve Spurrier! Hey, it's Woody Widenhofer. Stuff like that.
I met a young man from TouchdownAlabama.net (me neither) while in line for registration Monday morning. It was his first trip to Media Days. He was so stoked to be there, to be around the spectacle. I genuinely was happy for him. I told him to enjoy his time there and I have no doubt he did.
So why am I down on the whole damn thing?
a.) Coaches are just people. They're fallible just like you and me. They happened to get into a profession that yields big money and notoriety for a job well done*. I like Gus more than most because he's 0% bullshit. He doesn't walk around acting like he's something bigger than he is, which is a credit to him and, in my opinion, the job his parents did raising him. So when I see Gus being followed around by camera crews with people yelling questions at him, it creeps me out. He's a coach. He's a damn good one, but he's a coach. A day will come when he no longer is on top of the game. He won't make big money anymore and the cameras will be huddled around The Next Big Thing. But you know what? He'll still have the ability to inspire people, to empower people, to turn kids into responsible, mature men. But if he's not the brilliant football strategist he is now, he somehow loses value in the eyes of most people. Anyway, the spectacle gives me an uneasy feeling that I can't shake.
b.) I've been spoiled on the Auburn beat working alongside some awesome reporters through the years. Phillip Marshall, Jason Caldwell, B-Matt, Goldberg ... we've all spent 10+ years together working the beat every day. Those guys are pros. We have some great younger guys here now -- Ryan Black from Columbus, Joel and Brandon from AL.com, James from the Montgomery newspaper. I even grown to like Spanky from the O-A News. Then I go to Hoover and the reporter population is a mess. You have some awesome reporters, sure, but there are a lot of yahoos there who just want to cause a scene. Like the time Clay Travis asked Tim Tebow if he was a virgin. I know some of you all like Clay Travis and, yeah, he can be entertaining. He's also a jackass for asking that question. He made himself the story when the real story was Tim Tebow. Clay Travis doesn't have a monopoly on dumb questions, believe me. Every half-wit with a blog is there flossing like he (or she) is damn Pat Forde. Asking allegedly tough questions, trying to be all fierce. It's like when Kevin Durant called Chris Bosh a "fake tough guy." They're fake tough guys. Give it a rest; you're making us look bad.
c.) The overanalysis is insane. Every word is taken literally -- as if this is the one and only statement Gus Malzahn will make (or has ever made) about Nick Marshall, Bret Bielema, the alleged dangers of the hurry-up offense. There is this manufactured outrage or resounding agreement with these miniature "stands" coaches make in Hoover. Like Kevin Sumlin's jab at Bob Holt yesterday regarding the Johnny Manziel question. People who don't know Sumlin, who don't know Bob Holt (who is a pro), think that's a smackdown. People either trash Sumlin or, more likely, Bob Holt. Guess what? Coaches and writers go at it sometimes. Competitive people with different functions who work together closely have friction at times. Yeah, it happens. And, no, it's not a big deal. I've had shouting matches with Chizik, Cliff Ellis, Hugh Nall. I've had several sarcastic exchanges with Tuberville. So what? I like all those guys to differing degrees. I saw Tuberville at the Iron Bowl last season and I was genuinely excited. I count him as a friend. I'm just glad some of those press-conference exchanges we had in 1999 and 2000 weren't on video, you know?
d.) Everything there is manufactured. It's tough to get a good answer to anything because players are jarred by the spectacle. The coaches know this TV signal is beamed around the world, so they're working hard to say nothing silly ... which means nothing at all for most of them. Yes, Spurrier is hilarious. He's so comfortable with himself and it's awesome to watch. Most coaches aren't that way. Media Days is no place to get an actual story.
* = This current crop of head coaches is probably the last generation that probably got into coaching for love of the game. Salaries started blowing up in the mid 1990s for head coaches. Assistant coaches' salaries blew up in the late 2000s. There are kids right now, guys in their early 20s, who are trying to become college coaches for the money. I worry about that. Ellis Johnson has made a lot of money doing this, yes, but he got into this thing because he loved football and he loved helping young men get better at playing football and managing their lives. The motives were different back then.
POSTSCRIPT: I realize this makes me sound like an old fogey. I'm 42; I'm getting there. Someone asked me in an earlier thread why I loathe Media Days and I felt a responsibility to answer. I didn't intend for my explanation to be this verbose. It happens.
Have a nice day.
xoxox
**OT: Why I loathe Media Days
Let me start here: I love my job and I love writing for you all. I was headed for graduate school (counseling psychology) at Kentucky when I wrote my first newspaper story on a whim. I was hooked immediately. That was 1996. I've written thousands of stories since then -- a few that were very good, many more that were merely adequate.
I am not an epically talented writer. I am not an epically talented reporter. I have a few good skills, lots of experience and a desire to do a good job. I care about my work. I never spend a minute of my life lamenting that Bill Simmons didn't offer me a job at Grantland because, well, I'm not that good. I have no delusions.
With that said ...
Media Days is the low point of the year for me. I loathe being there.
It wasn't always like that. I remember attending the event 15 years ago. It was a rush for me to be surrounded by dozens of reporters I'd read or heard of. Plus the coaches. There goes Steve Spurrier! Hey, it's Woody Widenhofer. Stuff like that.
I met a young man from TouchdownAlabama.net (me neither) while in line for registration Monday morning. It was his first trip to Media Days. He was so stoked to be there, to be around the spectacle. I genuinely was happy for him. I told him to enjoy his time there and I have no doubt he did.
So why am I down on the whole damn thing?
a.) Coaches are just people. They're fallible just like you and me. They happened to get into a profession that yields big money and notoriety for a job well done*. I like Gus more than most because he's 0% bullshit. He doesn't walk around acting like he's something bigger than he is, which is a credit to him and, in my opinion, the job his parents did raising him. So when I see Gus being followed around by camera crews with people yelling questions at him, it creeps me out. He's a coach. He's a damn good one, but he's a coach. A day will come when he no longer is on top of the game. He won't make big money anymore and the cameras will be huddled around The Next Big Thing. But you know what? He'll still have the ability to inspire people, to empower people, to turn kids into responsible, mature men. But if he's not the brilliant football strategist he is now, he somehow loses value in the eyes of most people. Anyway, the spectacle gives me an uneasy feeling that I can't shake.
b.) I've been spoiled on the Auburn beat working alongside some awesome reporters through the years. Phillip Marshall, Jason Caldwell, B-Matt, Goldberg ... we've all spent 10+ years together working the beat every day. Those guys are pros. We have some great younger guys here now -- Ryan Black from Columbus, Joel and Brandon from AL.com, James from the Montgomery newspaper. I even grown to like Spanky from the O-A News. Then I go to Hoover and the reporter population is a mess. You have some awesome reporters, sure, but there are a lot of yahoos there who just want to cause a scene. Like the time Clay Travis asked Tim Tebow if he was a virgin. I know some of you all like Clay Travis and, yeah, he can be entertaining. He's also a jackass for asking that question. He made himself the story when the real story was Tim Tebow. Clay Travis doesn't have a monopoly on dumb questions, believe me. Every half-wit with a blog is there flossing like he (or she) is damn Pat Forde. Asking allegedly tough questions, trying to be all fierce. It's like when Kevin Durant called Chris Bosh a "fake tough guy." They're fake tough guys. Give it a rest; you're making us look bad.
c.) The overanalysis is insane. Every word is taken literally -- as if this is the one and only statement Gus Malzahn will make (or has ever made) about Nick Marshall, Bret Bielema, the alleged dangers of the hurry-up offense. There is this manufactured outrage or resounding agreement with these miniature "stands" coaches make in Hoover. Like Kevin Sumlin's jab at Bob Holt yesterday regarding the Johnny Manziel question. People who don't know Sumlin, who don't know Bob Holt (who is a pro), think that's a smackdown. People either trash Sumlin or, more likely, Bob Holt. Guess what? Coaches and writers go at it sometimes. Competitive people with different functions who work together closely have friction at times. Yeah, it happens. And, no, it's not a big deal. I've had shouting matches with Chizik, Cliff Ellis, Hugh Nall. I've had several sarcastic exchanges with Tuberville. So what? I like all those guys to differing degrees. I saw Tuberville at the Iron Bowl last season and I was genuinely excited. I count him as a friend. I'm just glad some of those press-conference exchanges we had in 1999 and 2000 weren't on video, you know?
d.) Everything there is manufactured. It's tough to get a good answer to anything because players are jarred by the spectacle. The coaches know this TV signal is beamed around the world, so they're working hard to say nothing silly ... which means nothing at all for most of them. Yes, Spurrier is hilarious. He's so comfortable with himself and it's awesome to watch. Most coaches aren't that way. Media Days is no place to get an actual story.
* = This current crop of head coaches is probably the last generation that probably got into coaching for love of the game. Salaries started blowing up in the mid 1990s for head coaches. Assistant coaches' salaries blew up in the late 2000s. There are kids right now, guys in their early 20s, who are trying to become college coaches for the money. I worry about that. Ellis Johnson has made a lot of money doing this, yes, but he got into this thing because he loved football and he loved helping young men get better at playing football and managing their lives. The motives were different back then.
POSTSCRIPT: I realize this makes me sound like an old fogey. I'm 42; I'm getting there. Someone asked me in an earlier thread why I loathe Media Days and I felt a responsibility to answer. I didn't intend for my explanation to be this verbose. It happens.
Have a nice day.
xoxox
