Not exactly a whole lot going on this morning, but here you go:
- Corch Meyers’ new media guidelines.
- Georgia Tech lies and cheats. But you knew that already.
- Steve Spurrier attempts to parse Alshon Jeffery’s relaxed attitude about class attendance.
- And Connor Shaw is no Stephen Garcia, either.
- If Mike Leach’s attorneys want answers, they’re gonna cost ’em.
- Today marks the first spring scrimmage between the hedges.
Get The Picture 
I’d like to hear comment as to where the real center of gravity is on the Deonte Thompson thing. There are journalists who regularly read and comment here, chime in.
Do I have the facts right:
Jeremy Fowler published a direct quote from Deonte Thompson that said Jon Brantley is a ‘real quarterback’ and therefore implied that Tim Tebow wasn’t. The quote also revealed Thompson’s unhappiness at not being a target more. Urban Meyer took offense at Fowler publishing that quote because it (i) slighted Tebow, or (ii) made Thompson look selfish, or both?
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This is about Urban Meyer, not Thompson. He has been under intense criticism for not changing Tebow’s throwing motion to make him a better QB. The Thompson “real quarterback” comment (re: Brantley) feeds into that. (S)CUM was pissed off about that. He did manage to make it look like he was protecting a player, though, which does play well with recruits. Like always, (S)CUM steps in sh!t but comes out smelling like a rose. He gets away with this stuff because the media lets him. If the Sentinel had an ounce of guts someone in the Sports Department ought to do a story that says the above, but they will not because they are all too chicken.
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P.S. The net effect, whether intended or otherwise, is to cow the media into thinking twice before writing something negative about FLA football. “Will I be banned from practice and from getting interviews?” “Will Corch embarrass me in front of all the other writers?” “Will he (OMYGOD) hit meeeee?”
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Not a journalist, but good column on this whole thing. Also this reporter, Fowler, tried to contact Coach Meyer’s daughter direct about his health issues, which may be the basis for his anger.
http://foxsportsflorida.com/pages/landing/?blockID=204289&feedID=3722
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Not a Meyer supporter in any way, but any anger toward press initiated c9ntact for quotes/photos with other family members is totally justified. Calling this reporter out for being a sleaze bag about talking to his daughter gets my support 100%; whining about a 20 year old athlete making a dumb comment and having to live with the consequences of his words/actions is something a big-time college coach should be able to handle.
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I wonder if Meyer pointed at Fowler with his daughter because he knows what happens to little girls with deadbeat dads?
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HB,
I don’t know if I qualify, but after reading about this in several places the center of gravity you are looking for probably exists only in the Mind of Urban Meyer.
Some reports say Thompson was “upset” about his comment being either “taken out of context” or “misunderstood”.
I’d say the view on that depends, to at least some extent, on the color of your shirt.
FWIW: The most interesting thing about the whole magilla to me is that Fowler calls Meyer “Urban” which, to me, indicates a level of comfort with Meyer I certainly never had, even with my old high school coach who I had known for many, many years when I was writing sports.
I never got close enough to any coach to call he or she anything but “Coach”.
Frankly, I find the whole thing very strange, indeed.
Again, we can easily speculate on the center of gravity, but only Urban really knows, and he may not know either.
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It was not taken out of context. The full interview of what the kid said was recorded. He said it in the context of saying he’ll have a bigger year this year because Brantley will not take off and run, but will only be looking to throw. That’s exactly what the article conveyed.
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Mind of Urban Meyer Update:
So, after reading the piece sent by Mr. Charles Gator, I have to conclude Meyer’s outburst, which was actually pretty tame compared to some I have seen, was coldly calculated to publicly heckle Fowler who had contacted “Urban’s” daughter about “Urban’s” health issues.
That reasonably sane folks are still talking about this nearly a week later indicates “Urban” needs some PR counseling….course we already knew that.
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Follow up and clarification:
Putting aside Fowler’s contact with Meyer’s daughter about the quasi-retirement: did Fowler cross any lines, any unwritten rules, courtesies or restraint conventions, or violate any professional standards, by posting the quote?
If Deonte Thompson cannot produce a full quote, I think his claim of being taken out of context is bull.
If posting the quote is by reasonable standards fair or even just fair game, Meyer is way out of line.
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HB,
To me this is a very difficult area…it is interesting none of the reporters taking the quote asked Thompson for a clarification, they just assumed what he meant because they liked the click value.
Posting the quote is acceptable these days, but reporters also have a responsibility to clarity to follow up on a quote like this, which every reporter present knew was going to be inflammatory.
Not following up with Thompson on what he meant indicates, in my view, Fowler was wrong to use the quote. A good reporter would certainly ask a 50 year old politician for some clarity…why not a college kid?
I think your question about Thompson not being able to produce a full quote is probably off base…there are very few college age kids who understand, let alone think about, the permutations of every word they say…is it not the reporter’s job to understand this?
Not following the comment for clarity makes Fowler either sloppy, lazy or out for the clicks.
Oh MY GOD!!!!!
Could this mean THEMINDOFURBANMEYER was…gulp….right in jacking him up?
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Mr. Jones
I don’t think coach was correct in confronting the writer in this venue. It should have been in private and one on one. Then what ever happened is always ones’ word against the other. I think there’s probably a lot more to this that will not come out.
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Mr. Gator,
Well, sure, none of this would have happened had the dressing down been in private.
And don’t you think Meyer knew this?
And fwiw, the video I have seen several times, shows me a “confrontation” that is extremely mild. Meyer seems completely in control of himself, which indicates to me he set out to embarrass Fowler in particular.
I don’t doubt there is more to it.
BTW you have any idea what the “deadbeat dad” comment above refers to?
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Not that anyone asked for it, but her’s my take on this whole thing:
1. Deonte told a group of reporters that, among other things, “things are gonna get better”…..”with Tim you never know”……Brantley he’s, ya know, a real quarterback” which, along the rest of the quote basically says Tebow was great but he made it hard on his receivers to know what to do. Any WR would rather a “real” quarterback because that makes it easier for the receiver to excel. And Fowler said in his piece that he thought he meant more pro-style, end of story.
2. In reality, Deonte complimented a teammate while maybe also slighting a soon-to-be NFL player. If AJ likes catching passes from Murray better than Stafford, do you think CMR is going to try to beat up whatever writer happpens to quote him on that? No matter what, Meyer handled this wrong.
3. There was no follow up because, as you can see in the video of his quote, Deonte is already walking away as he finishes up with the “real quarterback” part.
4. Some people are all upset about Fowler having contacted Meyer’s daughter. One of you even said its ok to quote a 20 year old college athlete but you can’t contact someone’s family. Guess what? Nicki Meyer is a 20 year old college athlete!!! And her quote about getting her daddy back made everyone all warm and fuzzy until Urban decided he no longer cared about his family, or that he cared more about his hypothetical family at UF than his real family, and un-retired.
Bottom line is, no matter who you cheer for or how you feel about the parties involved, Urban handled it the wrong way. Not that it will cost him anything because to a lot of the players and Florida fans he was “just keeping it real” and he “punked out” the reporter. Give me a break!
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BTW I think David Hale will have some comments on this when he returns from hiatus.
As for me, I think Deonte screwed up, but Fowler didn’t do anything wrong in publishing his comments. Sure, it was to get clicks or reads, but journalists don’t write stories for no one to read them.
Meyer has a right to protect his players, but I think Corch was a true-to-form-a$$hat in the way he handled it (at least he is consistent).
And I totally agree with SQRD’s comment that Corch made his daughter a desirable interview/soundbite when he used her affections to justify his fake retirement.
If Corch wants to blow up on anyone it should be Deonte.
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I’m probably spending too much time on this, but that video fascinates me.
From the video and the quotes here I conclude that (i) Fowler posted the quote, excited because it would generate clicks, out of haste, inexperience, and/or or sloppiness, and (ii) Meyer went out of his way to call him out on in public. I wonder, a little, whether Meyer was calculating to show he is protecting his players, or just bullying for the juvenile fun of it.
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Correctomundo, Mr Spradlin.
Several players are quoted in the Jacksonville paper today praising Corch. “Coach has our bck. That’s what you want to see out of our coaches. We trust our coaches and they trust us and that’s what we want to see.”
Then this from the d-cordinator:
“Urban’s a real passionate guy about his players, as we all are, so yeah, I think it’s real positive from that standpoint. Everybody sees it, everybody gets it.”
Corch doesn’t care how he is percieved by anyone except 18 year old kids he is recruiting and Bull Gator donors – bh of whom are eating this up.
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And this is where we come back around to:
Corch: The same smug, self superior phony we all know and love. Whaddya bet he had a spin meeting with his assistants before he punked Fowler.
Dog in Fla.’s bit below is spot on.
One last thought Corch: Please comment for us on whether you think Deonte Thompson’s comments will have any effect on Florida’s ability to recruit quarterbacks in coming years? Corch? Corch??
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I believe the whole Nikki interview thing is BS. Fowler says he’s never had a run in before with Urban. They’ve always treated each other with respect. Why would he get his panties in a wad over this to actually threaten this guy to his face, but not do anything about him trying to contact his daughter? That makes no sense and makes Urban look even loonier than he already does. The blog article was about this kid thinking he’ll have a bigger year because Brantley is a more conventional QB who will throw the ball on a throwing down. The writer himself says the kid might have meant that Brantley is just more of a pocket passer. The article in no way slams Thompson or Tebow. In fact, outside of rival blogs like this one, no one was really making a big fuss over it at all until Urban did his stupid stuff. Now everyone knows. The kid was embarrassed about what he said. The blame should’ve been laid at his feet and he should’ve come back the next day and said what he really meant to say. But no, Urban acted like the horse’s arse he is and now it’s huge news. Great job coach. Way to protect your player.
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“Lying and cheating”? C’mon, Bluto, you can do better than that. A rare fact-free post from the Senator. Oh well.
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loosen up Johnson, this is a common saying UGA fans say about Tech and it’s always funny when it proves to be true.
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which, basically, is all the time. Hopefully, PJ won’t take his namesake’s advice and try to punch the Senator in the face. Though I’m sure such a stinging retort as the one above will leave the poor Senator chastized to the point of tears.
or not.
If Tech people will quit lying about what examplary citizens their players are, and quit cheating like they were proved to do for YEARS under the Skipper’s regime, we’ll quit noting same. Deal?
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oops. “exemplary”
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Leach policy: Anybody who bugs the coach gets a night in the box!
Kidding aside, I think Leach eventually wins his case. Meyer’s a puss – pick on somebody who’s not scared to fight back.
Weather’s fine for football – even if it’s just a scrimmage! Too bad fans can’t watch.
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“Corch Meyers’ new media guidelines.”
And if you order now, you get this free DVD, “The Corch Who Stares at Goats”
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Man, I bet Blutarksy is loving basketball right now. The tourney is going to give us the worst Final 4 in history.
The Final 4 could literally be Mich St/Tn/Baylor/Butler and West Virginia. Nobody will watch, and nobody will give a damn who wins.
None of those is a championship team and nobody will remember who won except the fans of the school that wins.
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Five teams in the final four will definitely be something new even if it’s not the worst final four ever.
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