Mr2Bits
Gator Fan
Yesterday, Urban Meyer offered an apology to the Orlando Sentinel's Jeremy Fowler following the confrontation that took place on the practice field Wednesday over Fowler's having taken the words of WR Deonte Thompson out of context. As much as I feel that Coach Meyer did nothing wrong and contrition was unnecessary on his part - I still support him 100% in this matter - he acted in the best interests of Gator Football having done so. Once again, Meyer was only doing what he could to protect his players and look out for the best interests of the football program, which any good coach will go out of his way to do, but it seems that the Sentinel can't seem to appreciate that. Urban is not obligated to pay lip service to them or ANY member of the media for that matter - and what part of that do they fail to understand?
That being said though, I still have a bone to pick with the Sentinel - and I intend to exercise my right to do just that. Despite the shape of the current world we live in tainted by political correctness and lack of accountability for one's actions, protocol demands an apology in such circumstances, but in my book one cannot retract the written or spoken word - had Fowler refrained from spinning the story to his own satisfaction all this would never have taken place - but with the Sentinel's penchant for inciting controversy with a purpose it came as no surprise to me. Even more ridiculous was Mike Bianchi's juvenile tirade where he labeled Meyer as being "cuckoo for cocoa puffs" in having called Fowler out.
Befor anybody starts waving a copy of the Constitution in front of my face and gets up on their soapbox about freedom of speech and the press, let me reiterate once more that those same freedoms don't encompass misrepresentation of facts OR slanderous behavior. If the media is guilty of such, by no means should any one of them be considered exculpable. In the real world, we hold other professions such as medicine and law at a high level of trust, and because of that physicians and attorneys purchase professional liability coverage in the event a wrongful act is committed. Those in the insurance industry must purchase errors and omissions coverage for those same reasons. I guarantee you, if journalists were required to do the same they'd likely conduct themselves in a more prudent manner. If you've come to the conclusion that I show no mercy towards the media, you guessed correctly.
Florida football's issues with the Sentinel are nothing new; back in the dubious 1979 season of 0-10-1, there was one incident involving former reporter Larry Guest, who has long since retired. That same year first-year coach Charley Pell met with members of the media, Guest among them, to discuss a pre-season injury to starting quarterback Tim Groves. Pell had disclosed the scope of Groves' injuries to those assembled on condition that those details were to remain confidential and off-the-record. With the exception of one reporter, Pell's request was honored - and wouldn't you know the stinker would turn out to be Guest, who printed a story in the Sentinel the following day in wanton disregard of Pell's request, only to be met with scorn from his media colleagues and the ire of Pell, who felt betrayed. To this day the Sentinel has acted like an antagonist towards the Florida program, only now the leading players are the crass Bianchi, the smug Fowler, and the obnoxious, instigating Andrea Adelson, who also has trouble understanding what the word confidential means based on her article published last week.
Late this past winter, ESPN obtained a recording of the 911 call Shelley Meyer made in dispatching paramedics to their home to rush Urban to Shands Hospital in an emergency following the SEC Championship game last December - and wouldn't you know, none other than the Sentinel acted as the "source."
Perhaps it's time to educate the Sentinel editorial staff about the pitfalls of questionable journalistic practices - if any of them remember their history, there was once a Hollywood gossip magazine called, oddly enough, "Confidential" back in the 1950's that was finally brought down in a case involving falsification of facts that nearly injured somebody's reputation, and in the 1980's the tabloid National Enquirer was the defendant in several litigation cases from celebrities they libeled; I can still recall the late Johnny Carson referring to those who had fabricated stories about him in the Enquirer as "creeps" following the monologue on one of his shows back then. If the Sentinel thinks they're immune from such prosecution should they step way over the line, they're sadly mistaken. Media credentials don't offer such immunity to ANY journalist.
It's my opinion that it's time for somebody from the UAA staff, either the SID or somebody entrusted with media relations, to arrange a meeting with the Sentinel sports editor and discuss these issues. Our football program deserves to be as free as possible from all these sundry distractions, especially those arising from the media that can be detrimental with potentially adverse results. If things get to the point that our team's performance and morale suffer as a result, then it ceases to be amusing anymore. These kids and Coach Meyer have put all their heart into this program, and they don't deserve to be constantly forced to deal with all this media nonsense. It needs to come to a screeching halt right now.
ENOUGH IS ENOUGH.
That being said though, I still have a bone to pick with the Sentinel - and I intend to exercise my right to do just that. Despite the shape of the current world we live in tainted by political correctness and lack of accountability for one's actions, protocol demands an apology in such circumstances, but in my book one cannot retract the written or spoken word - had Fowler refrained from spinning the story to his own satisfaction all this would never have taken place - but with the Sentinel's penchant for inciting controversy with a purpose it came as no surprise to me. Even more ridiculous was Mike Bianchi's juvenile tirade where he labeled Meyer as being "cuckoo for cocoa puffs" in having called Fowler out.
Befor anybody starts waving a copy of the Constitution in front of my face and gets up on their soapbox about freedom of speech and the press, let me reiterate once more that those same freedoms don't encompass misrepresentation of facts OR slanderous behavior. If the media is guilty of such, by no means should any one of them be considered exculpable. In the real world, we hold other professions such as medicine and law at a high level of trust, and because of that physicians and attorneys purchase professional liability coverage in the event a wrongful act is committed. Those in the insurance industry must purchase errors and omissions coverage for those same reasons. I guarantee you, if journalists were required to do the same they'd likely conduct themselves in a more prudent manner. If you've come to the conclusion that I show no mercy towards the media, you guessed correctly.
Florida football's issues with the Sentinel are nothing new; back in the dubious 1979 season of 0-10-1, there was one incident involving former reporter Larry Guest, who has long since retired. That same year first-year coach Charley Pell met with members of the media, Guest among them, to discuss a pre-season injury to starting quarterback Tim Groves. Pell had disclosed the scope of Groves' injuries to those assembled on condition that those details were to remain confidential and off-the-record. With the exception of one reporter, Pell's request was honored - and wouldn't you know the stinker would turn out to be Guest, who printed a story in the Sentinel the following day in wanton disregard of Pell's request, only to be met with scorn from his media colleagues and the ire of Pell, who felt betrayed. To this day the Sentinel has acted like an antagonist towards the Florida program, only now the leading players are the crass Bianchi, the smug Fowler, and the obnoxious, instigating Andrea Adelson, who also has trouble understanding what the word confidential means based on her article published last week.
Late this past winter, ESPN obtained a recording of the 911 call Shelley Meyer made in dispatching paramedics to their home to rush Urban to Shands Hospital in an emergency following the SEC Championship game last December - and wouldn't you know, none other than the Sentinel acted as the "source."
Perhaps it's time to educate the Sentinel editorial staff about the pitfalls of questionable journalistic practices - if any of them remember their history, there was once a Hollywood gossip magazine called, oddly enough, "Confidential" back in the 1950's that was finally brought down in a case involving falsification of facts that nearly injured somebody's reputation, and in the 1980's the tabloid National Enquirer was the defendant in several litigation cases from celebrities they libeled; I can still recall the late Johnny Carson referring to those who had fabricated stories about him in the Enquirer as "creeps" following the monologue on one of his shows back then. If the Sentinel thinks they're immune from such prosecution should they step way over the line, they're sadly mistaken. Media credentials don't offer such immunity to ANY journalist.
It's my opinion that it's time for somebody from the UAA staff, either the SID or somebody entrusted with media relations, to arrange a meeting with the Sentinel sports editor and discuss these issues. Our football program deserves to be as free as possible from all these sundry distractions, especially those arising from the media that can be detrimental with potentially adverse results. If things get to the point that our team's performance and morale suffer as a result, then it ceases to be amusing anymore. These kids and Coach Meyer have put all their heart into this program, and they don't deserve to be constantly forced to deal with all this media nonsense. It needs to come to a screeching halt right now.
ENOUGH IS ENOUGH.
