-
Hi Guest, want to participate in the discussions, keep track of read/unread posts access private forums and more? Create your free account and increase the benefits of your eGriz.com experience today!
Poor kaimin paper
- Thread starter UofMGrizFan
- Start date
MrTitleist said:
It isn't all funded by the U students, but athletics aren't supported by state funding. A large part is paid by U students, and when you are paying someones salary, don't you want a little transparency and accountability? I think Bobby has done a great job while he has been here, but he is immature, and needs to realize he isn't above reproach. Maybe its an O'day thing. Either way, they need to grow up and act professionally. Not get in some stupid pissing match with a journalism student. He should lead by example....he obviously didn't in this case.
hlnagriz said:
Isn't athletics funded by our season tickets and concessions? Of the athletics $12 million dollar budget, I'm betting our season tickets for football and basketball are paying a good portion of the bills. Student athletic fee is only $30-50, my season tickets are 4 times that. Either way, I'm glad Hauck isn't talking to the Kaimin. He doesn't owe them anything, and his refusal to comment on the suspensions and punishments of players isn't anything uncommon, he gave the same answer every other coach gives to the papers, and that is, "they've been suspended for violating team rules." I've never heard a coach go into any kind of detail beyond that. With that, this looks like a pretty obvious attempt by the Kaimin to make a story out of nothing because the news scene at UM is dead.. no political groups on campus dancing in the presidents office, nothing big is happening.. so they need a story, so why not create your own and blow it up into a huge controversy.. it worked!
swgriz24 said:
My season ticket ($194) x 18,000 season ticket holders is a lot more than student fees!
mcg said:
In the first article I read I believe those were his exact words.. not sure whether I saw it in the Kaimin or Missoulian or some other news media, but I'm pretty sure that's exactly what was said.. the Kaimin incident where he worked the f-bomb in was a separate article.. which led to this whole mess.
Tailbone
Well-known member
OK, we've heard from two folks from the journalism school - one the current editor, another a former editor of the Kaimin.
The current editor improperly used the idiomatic expression "take the bad with the good", stating instead that we must "take the good with the bad", which in the context used was somewhat nonsensical.
The former sports editor, swgriz24, makes statements such as this:
Annual football revenues are approx 4 million dollars (3.8 - 4.2 million)
student fees (30x14000) = 420,000
No amount of spin makes 420,000 dollars "a hell of a lot more than your precious season tickets".
Statements such as this are illuminating, as it demonstrates not only an inability to perform simple arithmetic (bad for a college student), but worse (for a journalist), a willingness to make statements based on emotion rather than fact.
The journalism school is an embarrassment.
The current editor improperly used the idiomatic expression "take the bad with the good", stating instead that we must "take the good with the bad", which in the context used was somewhat nonsensical.
The former sports editor, swgriz24, makes statements such as this:
swgriz24 said:
Annual football revenues are approx 4 million dollars (3.8 - 4.2 million)
student fees (30x14000) = 420,000
No amount of spin makes 420,000 dollars "a hell of a lot more than your precious season tickets".
Statements such as this are illuminating, as it demonstrates not only an inability to perform simple arithmetic (bad for a college student), but worse (for a journalist), a willingness to make statements based on emotion rather than fact.
The journalism school is an embarrassment.
The Titleist/TAilbone numbers do not include the GSA mandated contributions for what, the center five sections on each side?
I'm in a "cheap" GSA section -- we pay $625 for a pair of tickets ($388 for tix, $225 for GSA, and $12 for tix processing). I read somewhere that there are about 850 seats per section. That means my section provides about $531,000 to the athletic dept for Tix, Schollies and tix processing fees.
-0-
As for the 4,000 free-distribution game-day Kaimins, that's a penetration rate of about 16 percent. Assume "household" numbers of 2 persons per household, it's 32 percent penetration -- and paid circulation papers need to be at 50-60 percent do be doing the job. A free, specialty publication for a targeted demographics should be doing a whole lot better than 4,000 circ. I would bet that the targeted advertisers are paying an out-of-this world cost per thousand for their gifts to the Kaimin.
I'm in a "cheap" GSA section -- we pay $625 for a pair of tickets ($388 for tix, $225 for GSA, and $12 for tix processing). I read somewhere that there are about 850 seats per section. That means my section provides about $531,000 to the athletic dept for Tix, Schollies and tix processing fees.
-0-
As for the 4,000 free-distribution game-day Kaimins, that's a penetration rate of about 16 percent. Assume "household" numbers of 2 persons per household, it's 32 percent penetration -- and paid circulation papers need to be at 50-60 percent do be doing the job. A free, specialty publication for a targeted demographics should be doing a whole lot better than 4,000 circ. I would bet that the targeted advertisers are paying an out-of-this world cost per thousand for their gifts to the Kaimin.
I hesitate to even get involved in this thread because everyone has an emotionally charged opinion that isn't going to change. Somehow it has turned in to a "you're with the team or you're not" which is a bit ridiculous. A couple of non-truths are getting stretched and stated as fact that I can't let go by.
1)The athletic fee is $46.00 per semester, $92.00 per year. Obviously, more money comes from season tickets then the student athletic fee. However, it is optional for season ticket holders to spend that money, the students do not have a choice. The highest amount of non-optional financial support for the athletic department comes from the student population, as very little general fund (state taxpayer) money ends up in the athletic department. Yes, students get free tickets, but not all 14,000 of them. The athletic departments gets thousands of dollars from students every year that have zero interest in sports and never attend a game. Because of this, the athletic department should be accountable to the student body. I am not saying in this situation per se, but in general.
2)The football program is not more important than the University. One could exist without the other, but not the other way around. It seems like some on this board hold the football team above all else and feel that everyone should acknowledge their greatness. It seems like there is a double standard though. People get upset when someone on this board says "we" when talking about the team success and are quick to point out that it is the gifted athletes who did it, not the other Grizzly students who don't play sports. That is a perfectly fine sentiment, but it is hypocritical to then say that the student news paper shouldn't be publishing articles that put the football team in a poor light because they are attacking their own institution. If we put the football team on a pedestal and make it clear that they are distinguished from the rest of the student body, then the student paper is not out of line to question them if they see fit. We obviously don't have to agree with their method or story (and many here don't
) but anyone that is mad at the Kaimin simply because they published a negative article about the Griz is letting their Griz fandom skew their objectionality on the issue.
3) The statement that the Kaimin did not try and get both sides of the story is plain wrong. They got a lead on a story because two players missed the first game of this season. They did absolutely give both Coach Hauck and the student's father a chance to talk about the issue. The father deferred to the coach, and Hauck refused to answer. That is certainly his prerogative, but the Kaimin did try and get the other side of the story. The standard for printing articles is giving the sides the opportunity to talk, not whether they decide to. If the facts as stated in the Kaimin were really off base, O'Day would have said so. They would not stand by and let their players be slandered. They commented that Coach Hacuk took care of the situation, if the facts of the incident were wrong it certainly would have been pointed out by O'Day in the Missoulian article. They are upset the story came out, but when the players missed the game, it did become relevant, even if the incident happened six months before. If all media followed the standard implied by some of us on this board, no investigative journalism would ever be printed. Nixon didn't talk about Watergate, he certainly didn't want that to come out...you get the idea.
4)A student fee supports the Kaimin, thus they are responsible to the student body as well. I do not believe that any state tax dollars directly supports it, though I could be wrong. The student body turned down a fee increase for the Kaimin a few years back, if the students are upset they have ways to take action.
5)I generally am not a big Kaimin news fan. They sensationalize stories for the wow factor from time to time, or play up one side of a two sided issue. All the stories about interim housing in the dorms was particularly one sided last fall. It is unusual for me to defend their work, and I think that they would be better off writing Griz articles with information from other sources than doing a Cal Poly cover. I don't necessarily agree with every part of their coverage of this incident, but I will continue to support their right to cover it.
6)Coach Hauck could have prevented this whole thing with one sentence. "The two players violated team rules, we have dealt with it internally and they were suspended for the the first game of the season." By saying simply "They are unavailable leads any reporter worth his name to ask why..." I do think that the thought that his relationship/treatment of the media has and will continue to hurt some of his job prospects. Pro coaches can get away with coach speak a lot easier than college coaches. You need to be more a fundraiser and public relations guy with a bit of charisma to handle the fund raising and face of the program responsibilities at big time college football schools. I think that his cold relationship with the media and perceived arrogance towards anyone who questions him will at least be part of the discussion at the bigger programs.
7)The argument that the Missoulian hasn't picked this story up because they know that Griz football pays their bills and the Kaimin doesn't have to worry about paying its bills doesn't support the Missoulian, it actually implies that when it comes to Grizzly Athletics, the Kaimin can be more objective because they don't have to worry about their funding disappearing. If the Missoulian is afraid of being cut off from the program, they have to be careful not to piss off the coach. That could very easily mean not asking the tough questions every time.
8) I wish this would stop happening so we could all support the large majority of great young men that play football.
9)I think that the anger on this subject on this board is not matched in the Griz population as a whole. I would bet there are more Kaimin supporters out there than many of us realize. I also think a lot more people just don't care. And some think it is embarrassing for all parties involved.
10)I hope the Griz win today! Go Griz
1)The athletic fee is $46.00 per semester, $92.00 per year. Obviously, more money comes from season tickets then the student athletic fee. However, it is optional for season ticket holders to spend that money, the students do not have a choice. The highest amount of non-optional financial support for the athletic department comes from the student population, as very little general fund (state taxpayer) money ends up in the athletic department. Yes, students get free tickets, but not all 14,000 of them. The athletic departments gets thousands of dollars from students every year that have zero interest in sports and never attend a game. Because of this, the athletic department should be accountable to the student body. I am not saying in this situation per se, but in general.
2)The football program is not more important than the University. One could exist without the other, but not the other way around. It seems like some on this board hold the football team above all else and feel that everyone should acknowledge their greatness. It seems like there is a double standard though. People get upset when someone on this board says "we" when talking about the team success and are quick to point out that it is the gifted athletes who did it, not the other Grizzly students who don't play sports. That is a perfectly fine sentiment, but it is hypocritical to then say that the student news paper shouldn't be publishing articles that put the football team in a poor light because they are attacking their own institution. If we put the football team on a pedestal and make it clear that they are distinguished from the rest of the student body, then the student paper is not out of line to question them if they see fit. We obviously don't have to agree with their method or story (and many here don't
) but anyone that is mad at the Kaimin simply because they published a negative article about the Griz is letting their Griz fandom skew their objectionality on the issue. 3) The statement that the Kaimin did not try and get both sides of the story is plain wrong. They got a lead on a story because two players missed the first game of this season. They did absolutely give both Coach Hauck and the student's father a chance to talk about the issue. The father deferred to the coach, and Hauck refused to answer. That is certainly his prerogative, but the Kaimin did try and get the other side of the story. The standard for printing articles is giving the sides the opportunity to talk, not whether they decide to. If the facts as stated in the Kaimin were really off base, O'Day would have said so. They would not stand by and let their players be slandered. They commented that Coach Hacuk took care of the situation, if the facts of the incident were wrong it certainly would have been pointed out by O'Day in the Missoulian article. They are upset the story came out, but when the players missed the game, it did become relevant, even if the incident happened six months before. If all media followed the standard implied by some of us on this board, no investigative journalism would ever be printed. Nixon didn't talk about Watergate, he certainly didn't want that to come out...you get the idea.
4)A student fee supports the Kaimin, thus they are responsible to the student body as well. I do not believe that any state tax dollars directly supports it, though I could be wrong. The student body turned down a fee increase for the Kaimin a few years back, if the students are upset they have ways to take action.
5)I generally am not a big Kaimin news fan. They sensationalize stories for the wow factor from time to time, or play up one side of a two sided issue. All the stories about interim housing in the dorms was particularly one sided last fall. It is unusual for me to defend their work, and I think that they would be better off writing Griz articles with information from other sources than doing a Cal Poly cover. I don't necessarily agree with every part of their coverage of this incident, but I will continue to support their right to cover it.
6)Coach Hauck could have prevented this whole thing with one sentence. "The two players violated team rules, we have dealt with it internally and they were suspended for the the first game of the season." By saying simply "They are unavailable leads any reporter worth his name to ask why..." I do think that the thought that his relationship/treatment of the media has and will continue to hurt some of his job prospects. Pro coaches can get away with coach speak a lot easier than college coaches. You need to be more a fundraiser and public relations guy with a bit of charisma to handle the fund raising and face of the program responsibilities at big time college football schools. I think that his cold relationship with the media and perceived arrogance towards anyone who questions him will at least be part of the discussion at the bigger programs.
7)The argument that the Missoulian hasn't picked this story up because they know that Griz football pays their bills and the Kaimin doesn't have to worry about paying its bills doesn't support the Missoulian, it actually implies that when it comes to Grizzly Athletics, the Kaimin can be more objective because they don't have to worry about their funding disappearing. If the Missoulian is afraid of being cut off from the program, they have to be careful not to piss off the coach. That could very easily mean not asking the tough questions every time.
8) I wish this would stop happening so we could all support the large majority of great young men that play football.
9)I think that the anger on this subject on this board is not matched in the Griz population as a whole. I would bet there are more Kaimin supporters out there than many of us realize. I also think a lot more people just don't care. And some think it is embarrassing for all parties involved.
10)I hope the Griz win today! Go Griz
Team Kaimin
New member
First off, I will state that I am an alumni of the fine University of Montana journalism school and I also worked at the Kaimin for four years. Some of you know me, some of you have read my work and, in the past few weeks, some of you have likely reused some of the comments you used on me when I was at the Kaimin.
In all honesty, it appears that this issue has boiled down to the fact that both sides need to grow up a little bit.
I will start with Bobby.
As I've followed this story over the past few weeks, I haven't really been that disappointed in how UM's fine football coach has handled all of this because, really, it isn't a surprise. I've had some pleasant exchanges with Bobby in the past and I've also had some unpleasant ones. I do wonder, however, how Bobby will handle a bigger gig where the journalists aren't students and they don't take "no" for an answer. If an Urban Meyer or a Charlie Weis had dropped the F-bomb at a press conference, it would have been the lead story on Sportscenter as well as every sports talk show on the cable dial. At UM, Bobby's behavior becomes a hot topic on a popular message board. At a big school, it would be national news.
It's easy to sit here and applaud Bobby's cold shoulder to the Kaimin but I can guess who isn't happy about it: Jim O'Day and every other coach in that athletic department.
It's true, the University of Montana football team does not need the Kaimin. With or without the press, it is going to sell out games and bring in a lot of money, fanfare and national attention. The same can not be said about Griz soccer. Or Griz volleyball. Or any of the Griz spring sports. You can also argue that the Griz basketball teams fall into this boat too. Those sports need the local media coverage to generate interest and promote their product and a rift between the media and the athletic department is not going to help.
I also think that if you injected the football players with truth serum, at least 75% of them would admit to being a bit frustrated with this whole ordeal. Do you know who loves the GameDay Kaimin and the weekly profiles on the sports page? The football players who are being featured. In my four years at the Kaimin, I easily had more athletes ask to be in the paper than I had athletes who declined a chance to appear in print. People like being written about. They like seeing their name in print, they like having something their parents can brag about back home and they like being able to turn to that cute girl in their morning English class and say "Hey, turn to page 11." Football players have egos. And those egos like to be fed.
I can also guarantee that most of the football players are tired of a few bad apples making their entire program look spoiled. My last year at the Kaimin was J.D. Quinn's first and I wrote a column about how I thought it was a bad idea to bring him into the program. The first person to compliment me on the article wasn't a Griz-hating econ major, it was a football player. I just don't believe that the football team is one bonded unit because a lot of those guys are just as tired of the Griz making headlines for the wrong reasons as I am.
Over the past few weeks, I've read many posts lamenting the fact that the Kaimin even wrote about these recent incidents. I'm going to echo what many have said, the people on the football team aren't normal students. They're campus celebrities and representatives of the university. Yes, some of you are right, the Kaimin is probably not going to write about Joe Sophomore's DUI last weekend but the Kaimin also isn't going to put Joe Sophomore's name in the newspaper for getting good grades nor is Joe Sophomore going to get a glowing feature in the newspaper for, essentially, doing his job. Why? Because nobody cares are Joe Sophomore. Everybody cares about Joe Athlete.
The Kaimin is not out to get Bobby Hauck or any of the athletes. Once again, 99% of the Kaimin sports page is filled with positive messages about the Griz athletic program. Heck, in 2007, a well-done feature on Bobby Hauck was one of three finalists for the Society of Professional Journalist's college sports writing award.
However, if an athlete decides to go out and pound a fellow student at a weekend frat party, it's the Kaimin's job to report on it. Any respectable news organization would.
But instead of crediting the Kaimin for doing its job, it's a lot easier to slam it and the students that work there. It's easier to say that it's a rag newspaper although every year the University of Montana, fueled by Kaimin staffers, places high in national competitions (and they play against the big schools). It's really easy to say that the Kaimin fabricates stories and then back that accusation up with zero facts, a process that I find to be somewhat ironic. It's easy to slam the journalism school professors who don't have any say in the Kaimin's decision-making and it's easy to paint the Kaiminites as athlete-haters. Last time I checked, it's not the Kaiminites who have been involved in an alarming amount of violent crime arrests over the past three years. But, yea, I guess I can see how they can be considered the bad guys.
Now, of course, I'm biased. I love the Kaimin, it helped me get to where I am today and I will always defend it.
That being said, while I applauded the initial work done by the Kaimin on this subject, I don't really agree with the decision they made this week.
There are a lot of ways to give a giant middle finger to a program that is playing hardball and the Kaimin chose the wrong way. It's homecoming and if the football team isn't talking, there are many other angles to pursue. A story about the band, cheerleaders, fans, Monte or even the parade would have been appropriate. But, tomorrow, the Kaimin will run the risk of angering many alums who are in town for the weekend and have not read up on the Kaimin-Bobby feud. There is a chance that the advertisers will also not be pleased which isn't a good thing since GDK is a special publication that, at least when i was there, was already not financially worth the hassle.
These past few weeks have provided a crash course in the game of journalism and I hope that these guys are taking notes. The involved Kaiminites have probably learned more in the past month than they will in any classroom this semester.
Happy homecoming.
Danny Davis, Class of 2007
In all honesty, it appears that this issue has boiled down to the fact that both sides need to grow up a little bit.
I will start with Bobby.
As I've followed this story over the past few weeks, I haven't really been that disappointed in how UM's fine football coach has handled all of this because, really, it isn't a surprise. I've had some pleasant exchanges with Bobby in the past and I've also had some unpleasant ones. I do wonder, however, how Bobby will handle a bigger gig where the journalists aren't students and they don't take "no" for an answer. If an Urban Meyer or a Charlie Weis had dropped the F-bomb at a press conference, it would have been the lead story on Sportscenter as well as every sports talk show on the cable dial. At UM, Bobby's behavior becomes a hot topic on a popular message board. At a big school, it would be national news.
It's easy to sit here and applaud Bobby's cold shoulder to the Kaimin but I can guess who isn't happy about it: Jim O'Day and every other coach in that athletic department.
It's true, the University of Montana football team does not need the Kaimin. With or without the press, it is going to sell out games and bring in a lot of money, fanfare and national attention. The same can not be said about Griz soccer. Or Griz volleyball. Or any of the Griz spring sports. You can also argue that the Griz basketball teams fall into this boat too. Those sports need the local media coverage to generate interest and promote their product and a rift between the media and the athletic department is not going to help.
I also think that if you injected the football players with truth serum, at least 75% of them would admit to being a bit frustrated with this whole ordeal. Do you know who loves the GameDay Kaimin and the weekly profiles on the sports page? The football players who are being featured. In my four years at the Kaimin, I easily had more athletes ask to be in the paper than I had athletes who declined a chance to appear in print. People like being written about. They like seeing their name in print, they like having something their parents can brag about back home and they like being able to turn to that cute girl in their morning English class and say "Hey, turn to page 11." Football players have egos. And those egos like to be fed.
I can also guarantee that most of the football players are tired of a few bad apples making their entire program look spoiled. My last year at the Kaimin was J.D. Quinn's first and I wrote a column about how I thought it was a bad idea to bring him into the program. The first person to compliment me on the article wasn't a Griz-hating econ major, it was a football player. I just don't believe that the football team is one bonded unit because a lot of those guys are just as tired of the Griz making headlines for the wrong reasons as I am.
Over the past few weeks, I've read many posts lamenting the fact that the Kaimin even wrote about these recent incidents. I'm going to echo what many have said, the people on the football team aren't normal students. They're campus celebrities and representatives of the university. Yes, some of you are right, the Kaimin is probably not going to write about Joe Sophomore's DUI last weekend but the Kaimin also isn't going to put Joe Sophomore's name in the newspaper for getting good grades nor is Joe Sophomore going to get a glowing feature in the newspaper for, essentially, doing his job. Why? Because nobody cares are Joe Sophomore. Everybody cares about Joe Athlete.
The Kaimin is not out to get Bobby Hauck or any of the athletes. Once again, 99% of the Kaimin sports page is filled with positive messages about the Griz athletic program. Heck, in 2007, a well-done feature on Bobby Hauck was one of three finalists for the Society of Professional Journalist's college sports writing award.
However, if an athlete decides to go out and pound a fellow student at a weekend frat party, it's the Kaimin's job to report on it. Any respectable news organization would.
But instead of crediting the Kaimin for doing its job, it's a lot easier to slam it and the students that work there. It's easier to say that it's a rag newspaper although every year the University of Montana, fueled by Kaimin staffers, places high in national competitions (and they play against the big schools). It's really easy to say that the Kaimin fabricates stories and then back that accusation up with zero facts, a process that I find to be somewhat ironic. It's easy to slam the journalism school professors who don't have any say in the Kaimin's decision-making and it's easy to paint the Kaiminites as athlete-haters. Last time I checked, it's not the Kaiminites who have been involved in an alarming amount of violent crime arrests over the past three years. But, yea, I guess I can see how they can be considered the bad guys.
Now, of course, I'm biased. I love the Kaimin, it helped me get to where I am today and I will always defend it.
That being said, while I applauded the initial work done by the Kaimin on this subject, I don't really agree with the decision they made this week.
There are a lot of ways to give a giant middle finger to a program that is playing hardball and the Kaimin chose the wrong way. It's homecoming and if the football team isn't talking, there are many other angles to pursue. A story about the band, cheerleaders, fans, Monte or even the parade would have been appropriate. But, tomorrow, the Kaimin will run the risk of angering many alums who are in town for the weekend and have not read up on the Kaimin-Bobby feud. There is a chance that the advertisers will also not be pleased which isn't a good thing since GDK is a special publication that, at least when i was there, was already not financially worth the hassle.
These past few weeks have provided a crash course in the game of journalism and I hope that these guys are taking notes. The involved Kaiminites have probably learned more in the past month than they will in any classroom this semester.
Happy homecoming.
Danny Davis, Class of 2007
grzz said:I hesitate to even get involved in this thread because everyone has an emotionally charged opinion that isn't going to change. Somehow it has turned in to a "you're with the team or you're not" which is a bit ridiculous. A couple of non-truths are getting stretched and stated as fact that I can't let go by.
1)The athletic fee is $46.00 per semester, $92.00 per year. Obviously, more money comes from season tickets then the student athletic fee. However, it is optional for season ticket holders to spend that money, the students do not have a choice. The highest amount of non-optional financial support for the athletic department comes from the student population, as very little general fund (state taxpayer) money ends up in the athletic department. Yes, students get free tickets, but not all 14,000 of them. The athletic departments gets thousands of dollars from students every year that have zero interest in sports and never attend a game. Because of this, the athletic department should be accountable to the student body. I am not saying in this situation per se, but in general.
2)The football program is not more important than the University. One could exist without the other, but not the other way around. It seems like some on this board hold the football team above all else and feel that everyone should acknowledge their greatness. It seems like there is a double standard though. People get upset when someone on this board says "we" when talking about the team success and are quick to point out that it is the gifted athletes who did it, not the other Grizzly students who don't play sports. That is a perfectly fine sentiment, but it is hypocritical to then say that the student news paper shouldn't be publishing articles that put the football team in a poor light because they are attacking their own institution. If we put the football team on a pedestal and make it clear that they are distinguished from the rest of the student body, then the student paper is not out of line to question them if they see fit. We obviously don't have to agree with their method or story (and many here don't
3) The statement that the Kaimin did not try and get both sides of the story is plain wrong. They got a lead on a story because two players missed the first game of this season. They did absolutely give both Coach Hauck and the student's father a chance to talk about the issue. The father deferred to the coach, and Hauck refused to answer. That is certainly his prerogative, but the Kaimin did try and get the other side of the story. The standard for printing articles is giving the sides the opportunity to talk, not whether they decide to. If the facts as stated in the Kaimin were really off base, O'Day would have said so. They would not stand by and let their players be slandered. They commented that Coach Hacuk took care of the situation, if the facts of the incident were wrong it certainly would have been pointed out by O'Day in the Missoulian article. They are upset the story came out, but when the players missed the game, it did become relevant, even if the incident happened six months before. If all media followed the standard implied by some of us on this board, no investigative journalism would ever be printed. Nixon didn't talk about Watergate, he certainly didn't want that to come out...you get the idea.
4)A student fee supports the Kaimin, thus they are responsible to the student body as well. I do not believe that any state tax dollars directly supports it, though I could be wrong. The student body turned down a fee increase for the Kaimin a few years back, if the students are upset they have ways to take action.
5)I generally am not a big Kaimin news fan. They sensationalize stories for the wow factor from time to time, or play up one side of a two sided issue. All the stories about interim housing in the dorms was particularly one sided last fall. It is unusual for me to defend their work, and I think that they would be better off writing Griz articles with information from other sources than doing a Cal Poly cover. I don't necessarily agree with every part of their coverage of this incident, but I will continue to support their right to cover it.
6)Coach Hauck could have prevented this whole thing with one sentence. "The two players violated team rules, we have dealt with it internally and they were suspended for the the first game of the season." By saying simply "They are unavailable leads any reporter worth his name to ask why..." I do think that the thought that his relationship/treatment of the media has and will continue to hurt some of his job prospects. Pro coaches can get away with coach speak a lot easier than college coaches. You need to be more a fundraiser and public relations guy with a bit of charisma to handle the fund raising and face of the program responsibilities at big time college football schools. I think that his cold relationship with the media and perceived arrogance towards anyone who questions him will at least be part of the discussion at the bigger programs.
7)The argument that the Missoulian hasn't picked this story up because they know that Griz football pays their bills and the Kaimin doesn't have to worry about paying its bills doesn't support the Missoulian, it actually implies that when it comes to Grizzly Athletics, the Kaimin can be more objective because they don't have to worry about their funding disappearing. If the Missoulian is afraid of being cut off from the program, they have to be careful not to piss off the coach. That could very easily mean not asking the tough questions every time.
8) I wish this would stop happening so we could all support the large majority of great young men that play football.
9)I think that the anger on this subject on this board is not matched in the Griz population as a whole. I would bet there are more Kaimin supporters out there than many of us realize. I also think a lot more people just don't care. And some think it is embarrassing for all parties involved.
10)I hope the Griz win today! Go Griz
This is a great commentary on this issue, and I agree with all of it. Particularly appropo is point #6, which states that Hauck could have nipped this whole issue in the bud by facing the question head-on, and not being his typical self. Place the blame where it belongs, squarely with our head coach.
Team Kaimin said:
Danny, you make some great points, especially about the grey cloud which is hovering during Homecoming weekend. It is so sad that this issue is even in the forefront. Yet, it is an indictment on the root of these problems. That is, Hauck always seems to have a few players who embarrass the the team. It happens every year. And Hauck's methods of dealing with it compounds the issue, and creates a negative energy surrounding the program. It is almost an "us-against-the-world' mentality that Hauck has fostered. Damn shame. GO GRIZ!
Evizzerate
Well-known member
I think the student rag has an obligation to hold the general student body accountable.
How about a story on that hippy kid down the dorm hall selling pot he purchases with his TAXPAYER supplied Pell Grant money? You know it happens, you can probably investigate it fairly easily but you are either too lazy , too stupid or more likely you are just a part of the coverup of the rampant drug abuse amongst the general population at the University.
How about a story on that hippy kid down the dorm hall selling pot he purchases with his TAXPAYER supplied Pell Grant money? You know it happens, you can probably investigate it fairly easily but you are either too lazy , too stupid or more likely you are just a part of the coverup of the rampant drug abuse amongst the general population at the University.
Vidav
Well-known member
I just don't understand why they reported it when they did if the incident happened months earlier AND everyone involved seemed happy with how things ended up being handled. That is what, to me, makes it seem like an attack rather than just reporting the news. It was over and done and no one involved was upset, so why bring it back up?
