Once again yesterday, as the questions meandered to different areas, Rick Pitino offered his two-cents on the Courier Journal, and apparently doesn't think the institution is worth even that. He said he's been upset with the CJ for a long time now and has not read it for years. It is only because he likes Rick Bozich, Eric Crawford, and C.L. Brown personally that he even speaks to that outlet.
Now, trying to find logic in that statement will bend your mind into a pretzel. If Pitino hasn't read it in years, how is he so informed as to still be upset today? And if he likes Bozich, Crawford, and Brown so much, the guys that actually cover the Cards, then, um, what exactly is it that irks him so? The Family Circus?
This is just the latest example in the bizarre feud between UofL and the CJ. The list goes thusly...
* August 27, 2009 - Coach Pitino calls a hasty news conference to berate all the local media for its coverage of the Karen Sypher scandal, fuming at the indignity of discussing such matters "on the day Ted Kennedy died". It did not go over well, and Pitino was roundly mocked by several national outlets.
* January 13, 2012 - Pitino dresses down UofL beat reporter C.L. Brown at a press conference, going on a six minute rant on how Brown's article entitled "Practices not the problem" on the slate of injuries the Cardinals were suffering would hurt UofL's recruiting efforts. He admitted, however, that he never actually read the article and reportedly apologized to Brown later.
* April 7-12, 2012 - Reports surface that local media outlets, TV and print, would be banned from attending Spring practice because the football staff was upset over the lack of coverage dedicated to its team during the March Madness tournament run. It was a headscratching move, and Strong quickly backtracked in the pre-Spring Game press conference declaring "the media ban is over".
And then there was yesterday, with more vague shots about the quality of the Courier, this time hidden underneath some passive-aggressive good humor. Look, I want to have "my guys" back. I really do. If you peruse the archives you'll see that my affection for Charlie Strong borders on the uncomfortable, and I have nothing but respect for Rick Pitino's coaching prowess.
But for the life of me I can't contrive a reason to go to bat for either coach in the above situations. None make sense to me. There seems to be a disconnect at a very basic level, and that is recognizing what a newspaper is and what columnists and reporters actually do.
The Courier Journal isn't a fan site, its purpose is not to make lives easier in the UofL athletic department. So even if the CJ had been harsh in coverage in the past, it would be within its right. But that hasn't been the case either!
I think the Courier has been extremely even handed, even kind in its coverage, particularly during the Karen Sypher scandal when a more aggressive media market would have frenzied like piranhas. For all of Pitino's purported love of New York and the East coast lifestyle, he should know he wouldn't have lasted a week with such a scandalous firestorm in the Big Apple.
I think one of the reasons each coach isn't concerned with making some misguided attacks is because he knows a large contingent of UofL fans will support him no matter what. There is a sizable number of fans that will never forgive the CJ for its duel coverage of both the Cards and Cats and no one ever went broke by blaming the media boogeyman.
It is pointless to speculate on that age old question, whether the ratio of UofL to UK fans within Jefferson County breaks down to 70-30, 60-40, or even 50-50. Frankly it doesn't matter much to me so long as the coverage is even and fair, which I think, by and large, it is in the Courier Journal. Eric Crawford recently crunched the numbers on his blog to prove that any claim of bias is unfounded.
Plus, it's so trendy to bash the print media these days, it gets tiring to continuously hear people pile on. I'll always have a fondness for the CJ, and even if some areas of coverage have ebbed in the recent past, I believe it has always delivered top notch sports commentary.
I came of age reading Pat Forde's columns, pouring over his pieces and talking about them with my buddies was one of the first aspects of my adolescence that made me feel "adult". Like I've said before, I believe Jerry Brewer's work during the Final Four run in 2005 was some of the best sports writing I ever encountered the way it captured the zeitgeist. Eric Crawford has carried the torch admirably, and Rick Bozich, even when I disagree with him, always provides food for thought.
So I wish a memo would be circulated around the UofL Athletic Department to cool it on the public criticisms of the CJ. Or if they can't help themselves, at least to articulate their positions better, because right now these rants and jabs just leave me confused. Perhaps an editorial could clear the air. Does the CJ still offer those?
But for the life of me I can't contrive a reason to go to bat for either coach in the above situations. None make sense to me. There seems to be a disconnect at a very basic level, and that is recognizing what a newspaper is and what columnists and reporters actually do.
The Courier Journal isn't a fan site, its purpose is not to make lives easier in the UofL athletic department. So even if the CJ had been harsh in coverage in the past, it would be within its right. But that hasn't been the case either!
I think the Courier has been extremely even handed, even kind in its coverage, particularly during the Karen Sypher scandal when a more aggressive media market would have frenzied like piranhas. For all of Pitino's purported love of New York and the East coast lifestyle, he should know he wouldn't have lasted a week with such a scandalous firestorm in the Big Apple.
I think one of the reasons each coach isn't concerned with making some misguided attacks is because he knows a large contingent of UofL fans will support him no matter what. There is a sizable number of fans that will never forgive the CJ for its duel coverage of both the Cards and Cats and no one ever went broke by blaming the media boogeyman.
It is pointless to speculate on that age old question, whether the ratio of UofL to UK fans within Jefferson County breaks down to 70-30, 60-40, or even 50-50. Frankly it doesn't matter much to me so long as the coverage is even and fair, which I think, by and large, it is in the Courier Journal. Eric Crawford recently crunched the numbers on his blog to prove that any claim of bias is unfounded.
Plus, it's so trendy to bash the print media these days, it gets tiring to continuously hear people pile on. I'll always have a fondness for the CJ, and even if some areas of coverage have ebbed in the recent past, I believe it has always delivered top notch sports commentary.
I came of age reading Pat Forde's columns, pouring over his pieces and talking about them with my buddies was one of the first aspects of my adolescence that made me feel "adult". Like I've said before, I believe Jerry Brewer's work during the Final Four run in 2005 was some of the best sports writing I ever encountered the way it captured the zeitgeist. Eric Crawford has carried the torch admirably, and Rick Bozich, even when I disagree with him, always provides food for thought.
So I wish a memo would be circulated around the UofL Athletic Department to cool it on the public criticisms of the CJ. Or if they can't help themselves, at least to articulate their positions better, because right now these rants and jabs just leave me confused. Perhaps an editorial could clear the air. Does the CJ still offer those?
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