Oops! - sent this to GatorNews by mistake... ==========================================================
Firestorm is right. Could Coach Meyer have handled this in a more discreet and genteel manner? Absolutely. Did Jeremy Fowler quote Deonte Thompson directly? Yes. Could Fowler have provided context from his interview that would not have been as potentially inflammatory? Yes, but since it's his job to sell papers/web hits/promote himself, he chose not to do so, but rather to highlight and headline the controversial comment. Does Meyer have the right to limit access to those entities that he feels go out of their way to portray his program in a negative light? Sure. Does he run the risk of alienating a large contingent of the media by exercising that right? Looks like it. Did Meyer do what he did to send a message to Deonte Thompson, the rest of his team, and possibly potential future recruits and their families, that he has their back if any media types may try to take advantage of them when they don't carefully articulate their thoughts? Could be. There was a coach that used to ply his trade up the road a bit from Gainesville that was a master at placating the press, and that relationship earned him and his program a free pass for far too long according to a lot of his critics. But for many years he couldn't even tell you the name of his players, even some of the stars without prompting. Urban Meyer could choose to go that route - he could tell Deonte Thompson that he's a big boy now and that he'd better learn to choose his words more carefully. Sure, we'd all like to have that coach that the press loves, his team loves, his family loves, and who wins in the big,brutal world of today's college football. Problem is, we're stuck with humans, and most humans that are strong in some areas are also not as strong (maybe even weak) in others. Given that fact, which of the two coaches described above would you like to have in charge of your favorite team's program? Personally, I like the guy that UF has in charge. Steve McKibben -- GATORS: ONE VOICE ON SATURDAY - NO VOICE ON SUNDAY! 1996 National Football Champions | 2006 National Basketball Champions 2006 National Football Champions | 2007 National Basketball Champions 2008 National Football Champions | Three Heisman Trophy winners: Steve Spurrier (1966), Danny Wuerffel (1996), Tim Tebow (2007) - Visit our website at www.gatornet.us To unsubscribe from this group, send email to gatortalk+unsubscribegooglegroups.com or reply to this email with the words "REMOVE ME" as the subject.
