Like I said earlier, there is nothing to be gained from pIss/ng on the payroll clerk, the cafeteria lady, the press, or...in my case...Paula.
It was done and it's not going to be fun or short. A. Leon Polhill, Gator "I was gratified to be able to answer promptly, and I did. I said I didn't know." - Mark Twain ________________________________ From: John Vega <zebu...@gate.net> To: GatorNews <gatorn...@googlegroups.com> Sent: Fri, March 26, 2010 10:42:07 AM Subject: [gatornews] Meyer, media and the truth all tangled up at UF David Moulton: Meyer, media and the truth all tangled up at UF By DAVID MOULTON Thursday, March 25, 2010 The truth is not easy to find in sports. Because many times there is more than one truth. There are two truths with Florida Gators sports these days. First, Gators teams are often entertaining and enjoyable. The Swamp is a special experience. Many players are engaging off the field and exciting on it. Tim Tebow was the best, most special college athlete I’ve been around as a professional. The men’s basketball teams that won back-to-back titles played the game so unselfishly that comparisons to the Knicks championship teams of the early ’70s were appropriate. The athletic department, from top-to-bottom, may be the best in all of college sports. Athletic director Jeremy Foley and his staff have done an incredible job. They deserve the highest praise. Yet at the same time, dealing with the Florida athletic department is having to work around and through the most difficult people in all of sports. Covering the Gators, unless you deliver pure propaganda, is one of the least desirable things you can do in this business. So when Gators wide receiver Deonte Thompson, in explaining the difference between quarterbacks Tebow and John Brantley, described Brantley as “a real quarterback,” the world of both truths collided. Thompson meant no disrespect to Tebow. The reporter (the Orlando Sentinel’s Jeremy Fowler) did nothing wrong. He asked a question, wrote down the answer and used it in an article on the paper’s Web site. What football coach Urban Meyer wanted Fowler to do was realize the firestorm that would be created in Gator Nation when that quote made the Internet. Meyer then wanted the reporter to cut the sophomore wide receiver some slack. Essentially disregard the quote or have the reporter say to Thompson, “Do you really want me to print that you just said that Tebow is not a real quarterback?” Thompson used “a real quarterback” when he probably meant to say “traditional quarterback” or “dropback passer.” Could the reporter have bailed out Thompson? Sure. Does he have to? No way. It’s not the reporter’s job to protect Florida athletes from themselves. So Meyer snaps. He verbally confronts the reporter, threatening to cut off access for Fowler and the Sentinel. Meyer then says to Fowler, “If that was my son, we’d be going at it right now.” Good to see Urban has his stress under control. Wasn’t he taking a leave of absence? Instead of talking to the reporter on the side — not unlike the way a coach would work an official to get a call later in the game — the Gators immediately cut off all interaction between the media and the team. The bullying gets cranked up even more. And it’s only March. This could be a fun year. Don’t be shocked if in the post-Tebow world of covering the Gators, the media seem more negative. Florida fans will insist it is a newfound media bias. Everyone else will scream, “Finally, they are doing their jobs.” In reality, the media will largely be printing the truth. It’s just that for the first five years of Meyer’s regime, the truth was however it was seen by Meyer. Now the truth may be how it is seen by the media. And the Gators may not be able to handle that truth. David Moulton is a freelance writer. He is co-host of “Miller and Moulton in the Afternoon.” The show airs weekdays 2 to 7 p.m. on WWCN/AM 770 ESPN. His column appears Sunday, Wednesday and Friday. -- 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 gatornews+unsubscribegooglegroups.com or reply to this email with the words "REMOVE ME" as the subject. -- 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.
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