Whoops! Are we back? Possibly. Sorry for the lack of updates, but some real life issues benched me for the remainder of Billy: Year One.
When the season’s over, I suppose its time to pick up the old battles. This weeks entertainment: Jerry “Master Blaster” Tipton vs. “Mad” Marc Maggard! Remember no deals can be broken!
This is battle numero 57 (approximately) in the Tipton is Trying to Hurt UK Fan Wars. This time, Jerry interviewed the parents of our new recruits Vinny Zollo and Michael Avery. In follow-up interviews conducted by Kentucky Ink’s Marc Maggard, the parents admit feeling uncomfortable with some of Tipton’s questions, which Marc labels in the shows’ notes that Tipton exposes his anti-UK feelings.
The ire of the Wildcat Nation was awoken, which prompted Lexington Herald-Leader Editor Linda Austin to blog about an investigation into Tipton’s interviews. Tru at A Sea of Blue wrote up what he thought of the whole deal, which caused Marc to post his displeasure in the Kentucky Ink forums on Tru’s thoughts. (Remember, Tru has called Tipton a “Negative Ninny” in the past.)
Editor Austin reviewed Tipton’s notes and a recording of his call with Mr. Howard Avery (Michael’s father), and stated that Tipton asked professional and worthy questions in those interviews. But what about the “Bigger Ass” statement that was allegedly said? In her interview with Maggard, Zollo’s mother (Robin Curry) either quoted or paraphrased — its not clear in the interview — an example of Tipton’s negative questioning:
Your son is leaving one school because his coach is an ass, but he going to play for Gillispie, who is a bigger ass, how are you going to deal with that?
Linda Austin addressed that question in her blog post:
After Mrs. Curry mentioned her concerns about the methods of her son’s high school coach, Jerry asked her about Coach Gillispie’s widely reported “tough love” style of coaching.
Where’s the ass! The Wildcat Nation DEMANDS TO KNOW!!! Maybe Editor Austin was not privy to the ass. She writes, “I went through Jerry’s notes of his conversation with Robyn Curry, mother of recruit Vinny Zollo, question by question.” Which means Jerry didn’t provide or/and didn’t have a recording of his interview with Mrs. Curry.
Honestly, I don’t blame Mrs. Curry or Mr. Avery for feeling uncomfortable with some of Jerry’s questions; their sons are just 15! I would want to protect my young son from the pressures exerted by the media and a rabid fanbase such as ours. “Look at Little Fake Gimel, you’re SHOOTING THE BALL WRONG! GO BREAK YOUR NOSE LIKE YOUR DADDY!”
But I honestly don’t think anything a reporter or interviewer asks should be concerned about the comfort level of the interviewee. If we get into making rules what can and cannot be asked, we are not living in a Free Speech society — and I’m sure some people feel like we’re already there. I don’t subscribe to the “Sports Journalism should be turned into Entertainment Journalism” that some folks seem to be pushing. I believe strongly that there should be serious journalism coverage of sports programs, and there should be pro-program writing, fan writing, and a place to put up pictures of athletes doing dumb things in public.
I do not put much faith in Austin’s investigation. Austin was unable to access the full transcript of Tipton’s call with Mrs. Curry, and she cannot give us any assurance that Tipton’s questioning was proper. And to be quite honest, comparing a college coach to a high-school coach as a “Bigger Ass” crosses a line of journalistic objectivity, regardless of context. However, as mentioned above, I am not for sure if Mrs. Curry quoted Tipton calling Gillispie a “Bigger Ass”, or if she paraphrased his question and added the language. Without clarification, we have no proof that Tipton crossed the line.
Outside of the “Bigger Ass”, Mrs. Curry and Mr. Avery did not mention anything that I felt was inappropriate questions for a parent of a 15-year-old child who verbally committed to UK. In the Kentucky Ink forums, Maggard points to Tipton’s previous negative writing and several off-the-record comments he has from other persons. I agree that Tipton has been caught in Negative Ninny mode once too often in the past. Because of that, he will forever be labeled by many in the Big Blue Nation as “the UK Beat Reporter who dislikes UK/Gillispie/winning basketball/etc.”
But I cannot blindly accept Maggard’s claim of more “off-the-record” information as the catalyst that Tipton has somehow turned into “UK Enemy #1″. I don’t see what Jerry Tipton could write or say that would adversely affect a student’s decision to attend UK. Maggard is clearly the expert in recruiting, but he has not claimed that Tipton’s writing has swayed a recruit away from choosing Kentucky. So I’m not for sure how Tipton is an enemy of anything.
Also, Maggard is wanting us to believe him and his “off-the-record” sources. I deeply respect what Maggard does at Kentucky Ink — and a little envious, since he focuses the majority of his life on Kentucky Basketball and gets paid for it. I admit that he has more inside information than I do. (At least until I install the wireless web cam inside the men’s practice gym. Pay no attention to the man behind the padding!)
However, until his information can be confirmed and on-record, its value holds nothing for me. I took Seth Davis to task for publishing an anonymous rumor about Patrick Patterson considering leaving for the NBA. In this day and age of Internet rumormongering and one-off anonymous reporting, I refuse to believe any off-the-record comment until it is on-record.
And until Tipton does something on-record that betrays his supposed disloyalty, there is no chance of any fan petition or advertiser boycott will work. But hopefully this issue provided the Herald-Leader with discussion on what stories involving new recruits — especially those as young as Zollo and Avery — should entail.
More may be revealed by Mad Marc in the future. Will it be enough to conquer Master Blaster? And why are we worried about the supposed bias of Jerry Tipton instead of celebrating our early recruiting victories? Are we all getting so sick of the “Gillispie spotted in my kid’s preschool” jokes that we must resort to watching this battle in the Thunderdome?
Update May 12th:If Marc is “Mad”, then I’m just plain dumb. I accidentally misspelled his last name as “Maggart”, which was not intentional nor meant as any disrespect. All the misspelling seem to be corrected now. Sorry, Marc!
