AJC > Sports > Blog > Archives > 2007 > December > 30
Sunday, December 30, 2007
McFadden report was unfair
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
New Orleans-Just one man’s opinion on a Sunday morning:
1. The McFadden report was unfair: It is my profession and I love it, but sometimes I wonder if some of the media that covers college football has lost its mind. The latest example is a report from an Arkansas television station that Darren McFadden had received a car from an agent, Mike Conley, Sr., and that his eligibility might be in question for Tuesday’s Cotton Bowl.
The report was out there for an entire news cycle before the TV station finally backed off the story and apologized when some facts came to light. One of those facts is that Mike Conley, Sr., is not a registered NFL agent. He does represent NBA players, including his son, Mike Conley, Jr.
Here’s the problem. In the 24 hours that story was out there and continuously scrolled across the bottom of the screen at ESPN, a lot of people changed their minds about Darren McFadden, who is a good kid. Now they think he’s just another greedy athlete who couldn’t wait for 30 days to cash in and didn’t care how it would hurt his teammates. And many of those people won’t even read the retraction or the apology.
This is not like reporting that Coach A and going to School B and getting it wrong. It’s bad and it shouldn’t happen, but the damage is minimal.
This is a kid’s life and reputation. Unless you’ve got the paperwork in your hand that ties the agent and the athlete together, or an eyewitness to the transaction who is willing to go on the record, you just don’t go with that story.
2. It’s been quite a year for Sly: When Mississippi State was dominated 45-0 in its first game with LSU, it was hard for Bulldog fans to be optimistic about the future. But not long after that I talked to coach Sylvester Croom and he said: “Believe it or not, Tony, I saw some things in that game that encouraged me.” After beating Central Florida in the Liberty Bowl, Mississippi State finished 8-5 with wins over Auburn, Kentucky, Alabama and Ole Miss. No coach in the country did a better job than Sly Croom this season.
3. Let’s hear it for the Zooker: In October of 2004, Ron Zook hit rock bottom in his coaching career when he was dismissed as the head coach at Florida. Zook took a lot of shots from a lot of people who said that he wasn’t cut out to be a head coach. On Saturday Ron Zook, who is taking Illinois to the Rose Bowl , was named the Liberty Mutual National coach of the year. Not bad, Zooker. Not bad at all.
4. I want what Joe Pa is having: First of all, I just want to get to 81. And if I get there, I want to have just half the energy of Penn State’s Joe Paterno. Yeah, he’s cranky and he gives us guys in the media a hard time. But Paterno is still a heckuva a football coach. After beating Texas A&M in the Alamo Bowl he has climbed to within one win of Florida State’s Bobby Bowden (373), who will face Kentucky on Monday without 36 of his players. Paterno’s program suddenly looks to be in pretty good shape while Bowden’s is struggling. Because of it, this will be one of the most interesting story lines of 2008.
5. Let’s wait and see on Neuheisel: UCLA is taking something of a risk in hiring Rick Neuheisel, the former Bruin quarterback. Rather than go into the old news blow by blow, let’s just say that as a young coach Rick had a reputation for being very aggressive and stretching the binders on the rule book as far as they would go. But I also hear some humility and maturity has set in. UCLA needs some energy to compete in that town with Pete Carroll and Southern Cal. But Neuheisel and his bosses have to know that a lot of people, including the NCAA enforcement staff, are watching him. When it comes to following the rules, he has no margin for error. And at the first sign of trouble, he will not get the benefit of the doubt.
