In defense of Greg...

[Joe]

Some people just haven't wamed up to the fact that we are a big time program now, and stories like this will happen.

I could care less that is was reported, oh well. I could also care less if it weren't reported.

However, USF and Moffit have used the whole family man, 5f miles each way, etc story for the last 2 years on all broadcasts of USF football. The SID more than likely used that story as a cornerstone of the players that represent this program. Now, the WIFE of that player came forward, no her brother, not her mom, not their neighbor, but the wife.

I guarentee the only people pissed off that this ran are the Bulls fans  that grew to love Ben and feel burned that this might have some truth to it (although their is ALWAYS another side) As soon as the divorce was filed someone would have figured it out and wrote about it.

It sucks, but it's big time football. We're no longer a speck on the ass that is D-IA.

Ask Miami how many times they've gotten **** like this. Ask Mike Gundy why he hd a rant a few months ago...Get used to it, it won't be the last time.

[Guest]

As an example, Leavitt went through a long divorce, you never read about it in either paper. Why, Leavitt chose not to make his family public. They respected it, and you saw nothing for years until he remarried.

Are divorce proceedings Public Record?

Yes. Anything filed with the Clerk of the Courts as part of a legal proceeding is public record.  They may redact some things, such as Social Security Numbers, Bank Account Numbers, and other information -- however, the substantive arguments for the divorce are generally part of the public record and subject to Florida's "Sunshine Laws."

[exbull]

This story really bothers me because Greg and most of you have no clue of what has been going on for the last year.  Contrary to what has been said Ben is a great guy and father.  As anyone who has been married knows it is hard there are many trials and tribulations.  There is a lot of stuff his wife did that she is not saying that many of you would be shocked to know.  Stuff that would upset anyone.  

So times things just don't work out, but for her to say he was not supporting them is crazy.  College football players get a stipend the second week of the semester.  So to say he didn't provide financially the last month is crazy.  Where is he supposed to get the money from?  He gave all the money he could in early September.  That money has to last until December.  Football players are not allowed to work during the season.  That fact has not changed in a long time.  So if she was not getting financial support this December I am will to bet she did not get it the last 4 years.  

In the story I also read he was not taking care of his children.  Greg you need to do a little more research because I know she told him on numerous occasions that she was not going to let him see the kids ever again.

Remember two sides to every story.

[DELdaBull]

Greg needs no defense.  His outstanding work speaks for itself.

[DELdaBull]

At the very least, these are possibly credible accusations of the academic integrity of our program. Alone that is newsworthy.

And that should have been the only part of the story. Their personal issues should not have been put into the public eye like that.

You really couldn't do a story on the accusations without everything else coming to light ...

I understand that it may be difficult, but there didn't have to be all the details in there. I mean that is their business and not ours.

She put it out there.  Greg just wrote it.  He also asked Ben for a comment which he said please talk to my attorney.

[IncrediBULL]

I cant imagine the job of a sports journalist is to simply write about positive stories of their assigned team, we all know negative news is what is reported everyday on the news channels and papers and negativity or gossip is what sells, his goal & the times goal for their paper is to sell and increase subscribers.

I'm not saying that's the job...I'm saying if Greg or any other reporter went to El Paso - they would have had enough negative to last a month.  As I posted in another thread, I would find some reporting on the defensive failures more interesting than whether or not Ben Moffitt had his wedding ring on after a football game.

If the SPT believes gossip sells on a sports page, they may be right.  I think sports enthusiasts don't find it as interesting as sports themselves.  It's kind of weird to me that so much time would be spent exposing Moffitt as the anti-Moffitt.  But maybe I'm older and not so interested in what mistakes young people make.  Another person's errors, pain or sorrow should not be entertainment for the rest of us.

Bulliever,  Usually you are spot on and are fair.  I don't think your criticism of Greg is warranted here.  I had enough Journalism classes to have a different perspective.

If a Bucs player gets a DUI, it ends up in the sports section and one of the writers who cover the Bucs woudl report on it.   Anyway you slice it, since Moffitt was used in the media repeatedly by USF and by Moffit (trust me he liked the press since he wants to get noticed for teh NFL) then it became very public info.  Heck, I feel I knew more about his personal situation than any other player on the team.   So, when it turns out some of that has changed, and when there is a hint of academic misconduct (even by one player, but one who is already front page news) then I would expect it to be in the paper.  Greg's job is not just to write rosey stories about the Bulls.   He needs to be objective and handle both the good and the bad stories maintaining as neutral of a position as possible.  To be honest, I think he almost is too rosey with his stories on USF - we don't get to hear enough of the dirt.  

I worked for a large local company for over a decade.  As we rose from small to large, the paper never covered us.  ONce we got larger, then we started to get more and more stories and larger coverage with all papers.  How can you not once you are employing 1000's of employees.  But you can bet, as soon as there was some bad news, and there were many occaisions of bad news over the years, it hit the paper as well, in the business section, by the same writers who had given us good press previously.  

Their job is to write stories which are relevent, current, and newsworthy, that will help them sell papers (and more importantly get advertisers).   This is news, look at the 10 pages of threads already on Moffit on the other post.  

Consider if someone was a lawyer. Everyone deserves fair representation.  So a lawyer sometimes has to take cases where they may not entirely believe their client, or where they have to defend a scumbag.  It goes with the territory.  Civil attorneys could represent either side, depending on who hires them. Why, it is their job.

Greg did his job.  Greg is a friend to USF and has done a fantastic job in the past (as has Brett).   My bottom line opinion, let him do his job and don't criticize him for writing a newsworthy, and potentially truthful account by the spouse of a USF player.

[Greg Auman]

Hey everyone. Probably not going to say much on this issue, but don't want you guys to think I'm avoiding the issue entirely. First, I've already killed off about 20 comments off the blog for being inappropriate or impersonating someone else, so don't think I haven't been busy with that.

Yes, a great deal of thought went into whether to write the story or not. I understand completely the wide range of reactions from this story, and just want you guys to know this wasn't something that was done without a lot of thought and discussion going back to November as to whether it merited being in the paper. There were a lot of details left out of the story in respect to the Moffitts' privacy, believe me. I respect that some of you don't think the story should have been published, and I think there are different levels of understanding as to what my role is in covering USF as a beat writer.

If any of you want to deal with me directly, you're welcome to e-mail me at auman@sptimes.com.

[Paisa el Toro]

I understand why a lot of folks on here are angry about this story. However, Greg is a journalist and is just reporting a story. Greg didn't cause the substance of the story to happen that was something that Ben and Shauna created. At this point, we don't know all the facts. All we know is that a petition for divorce has been filed in a County Clerk's office and that Shauna has made allegations about a public figure to local newspapers. It's difficult being objective about this since I love USF so much, but Greg is just reporting what seems to be the beginnings of what is going to turn out to be an ongoing personal saga that is going to play itself out in the media.

[DELdaBull]

Hey everyone. Probably not going to say much on this issue, but don't want you guys to think I'm avoiding the issue entirely. First, I've already killed off about 20 comments off the blog for being inappropriate or impersonating someone else, so don't think I haven't been busy with that.

Yes, a great deal of thought went into whether to write the story or not. I understand completely the wide range of reactions from this story, and just want you guys to know this wasn't something that was done without a lot of thought and discussion going back to November as to whether it merited being in the paper. There were a lot of details left out of the story in respect to the Moffitts' privacy, believe me. I respect that some of you don't think the story should have been published, and I think there are different levels of understanding as to what my role is in covering USF as a beat writer.

If any of you want to deal with me directly, you're welcome to e-mail me at auman@sptimes.com.

And that is why GA is awesome!

[crambone]

+1