Is the Times writer pulling a John Kerry?

[bulls96go]

Ah, Sheriff.

Don't really want to get into this, but I'll just say that Kevin O'Malley -- while absolutely a key player as a consultant on TV contract negotiations both for Notre Dame and the Big East -- is not involved in the decisions as to which schools Notre Dame will be playing.

What I did was talk to the person who handles football scheduling for Notre Dame, as I have on a regular basis since we first wrote about the Irish making a commitment to play Big East schools back in May 2005. And without him specifically saying "It's not going to happen," he gave every indication that USF is not part of the initial 18 games against Big East schools. If it were big news, I would have written it a week and a half ago when I talked to him. Instead, I saved it for our first weekly notes column of the fall, just because I think USF fans had high hopes and expectations of playing this game with Notre Dame when they really shouldn't have. I'm not refuting anything; I'm simply putting in an update on something both papers have written about in the past year. And again, a final decision hasn't been made. But if Notre Dame does play USF in a home-and-home, it will represent a major change from what their plans are right now.

Sheriff keeps talking about "Times writers" -- who else are you talking about besides me? And what exactly is the flipflopping? I'd rather you just go back to nonsense about where I went to school and how it's impacting my coverage ...

this guy i can respect!

[Guest]

Sheriff,

I see no reference to the Trib's report in this story:

TAMPA - Notre Dame's commitment to play 18 football games against Big East schools from 2011 to 2016 likely won't include any dates with South Florida.

"In terms of the Big East games, our interest is in getting into the New York and New England corridor," said Notre Dame senior associate athletic director John Heisler, who coordinates the Fighting Irish's football schedule.

Notre Dame already has committed to six games with Pittsburgh. The Big East games start the year after the Irish's rivalry with Boston College ends, so the remaining games likely will be in the Northeast, Heisler said.

"Our intention there was not to split them up evenly among the eight Big East teams," Heisler said.

USF's best bet for playing Notre Dame would be in the off-site games the Irish will start playing in 2009, rotating one each year among Texas, the Meadowlands in New Jersey and Florida. Heisler said he has had preliminary talks with representatives from Tampa, Orlando, Miami and Jacksonville.

USF remains a "viable option" for such a game, he said, but school officials haven't gotten to the point of matching opponents with cities. USF athletic director Doug Woolard said he would be receptive to playing Notre Dame in another city in Florida.

http://www.sptimes.com/2006/08/23/Sports/Don_t_expect_Bulls_to.shtml

There was a story about Notre Dame playing the Big East.   In his reporting, Brett McMurphy found someone who knows Notre Dame really well and asked his opinion.  O'Malley was accurately labeled as a consultant to ND, not part of their administration.

Now I am sure that Brett has or would have followed-up on this issue.  Greg did that as well -- seeking clarification of Notre Dame's intent.  (NOTE: Notre Dame, a Catholic school, has an interest in playing where there is a high percentage of Catholics - can't really blame them for that).

Greg never mentioned that he was trying to refute a story in the Trib a long, long time after the Trib reported it.  You could make this accusation if Greg's story followed Brett's story by a day or two.  But this just looks like a reporter following a story.

---

Brett & Greg both do a GREAT job.  It's hard for people to read objective coverage when the readers have such a subjective perspective on the issues.

[Kyle]

I like Greg's work because he doesnt rely on "unnamed sources" and "influential donors" for information.

[Triple B]

...

Their first agenda is to call the Tribune wrong, and then try to piece together the facts later regardless if the Tribune was right.

The key word there is "facts". One paper seems to rely on them more than the other. "Grothe passing Julmiste by" immediately comes to mind.

...

I don't remember exactly, but I think that was just the headline, which is done by Editors, not Writers.

I do understand that the editors or whoever do mess up the writer's intention sometimes so I did double check.....

Grothe Pulls Ahead In USF QB Race

By BRETT McMURPHY The Tampa Tribune

Published: Aug 19, 2006

TAMPA - Following the University of South Florida's first fall scrimmage, freshman quarterback Matt Grothe has pulled slightly ahead of senior incumbent Pat Julmiste in the battle to start the season opener.

''All I'll tell you is Matt had an absolutely outstanding day,'' USF coach Jim Leavitt said. ''Just an outstanding day.''

Grothe and Julmiste had been in a virtual dead heat, but Grothe's performance Saturday coupled with Julmiste leaving with back spasms gave the Lakeland Lake Gibson graduate the edge.

''I thought all three [Grothe, Julmiste and Grant Gregory] were excellent,'' Leavitt said.

Statistics were not provided from the 3-hour, 115-play scrimmage that was closed to the media.

''I think Matt did pretty good,'' offensive coordinator Rod Smith said. ''He didn't make many mistakes. He made a lot of throws and did some positive things.

''We've got some pretty good quarterbacks. We're getting, hopefully, some depth right now. Pat's also had a good fall. All three quarterbacks played pretty well today.''

While Grothe has a slight edge at quarterback, the battle to replace all-time leading rusher Andre Hall isn't as close.

[CyberBull]

Geesh.....be freakin thankful that we have TWO major newspapers covering our athletic teams.  

They both do a good job.

End-of-story.

[Guest Ari_Hinkelberger]

You sound like a complete moron sherrif...

The guy is giving you the word and you don't want to hear it.  Maybe the trib saw it another way, but the Times writer followed up on the story and told you "it aint happening."

Deep down the only reason you don't like the St Pete times is because of its liberal leanings.

Bush has a 34% approval rating -- get over it.

I use to read the potomac news when i was a kid.  Both papers (if you want to call it that) compared to the Times.

Way to follow up St. Pete.

Good job.

[Knight_Light]

I like Greg's work because he doesnt rely on "unnamed sources" and "influential donors" for information.

Be thankful as well that he works for the St Pete Times...as its the Times that pays USF $$$$$$$$$ to be the official newspaper of USF Athletics...which doesn't hurt in gaining access.

Since the Times can BUY sponsorship and probably access that the Tribune can not...that certainly helps.

(Public Service Announcement for those that did not know that the St Pete Times pays $$$ to USF Athletics).

KL

PS. GA is a good writer too.

[ZeroBullChip]

I admit, I only read the Times for their sports photo editor.  Who would have thunk.  Media General is evil.  Long live the times. I sound like lotsabull99

[Ricky the Bull]

I like Greg's work because he doesnt rely on "unnamed sources" and "influential donors" for information.

Be thankful as well that he works for the St Pete Times...as its the Times that pays USF $$$$$$$$$ to be the official newspaper of USF Athletics...which doesn't hurt in gaining access.

Since the Times can BUY sponsorship and probably access that the Tribune can not...that certainly helps.

(Public Service Announcement for those that did not know that the St Pete Times pays $$$ to USF Athletics).

KL

PS. GA is a good writer too.

The Times pays for advertising space, but I don't think that the money necessarily buys favoritism.  As far as I know, Greg is shown the door after 30 minutes of practice like everyone else.  The question you really need to ask is, "what WILL give a newspaper/reporter an edge"?  Accurate reporting, keeping things that are "off the record" off the record, only reporting things about student-athletes that are truly newsworthy and not sensationalism or hearsay and putting words in the mouths of players and staff that were never uttered.

[E.T.]

...  (NOTE: Notre Dame, a Catholic school, has an interest in playing where there is a high percentage of Catholics ...

So you are telling me there is a chance that USF & Notre Dang will play here in Rio ?!?!  

Trip,

Glad your memory is better than mine.  8-)