Kravitz vs. dungy

http://www.indystar.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080122/COLUMNISTS01/801220376/1034/COLUMNISTS01

Kravitz, naturally, got blasted by the Star's readers.
So Indy's editor offers up a defense of columnists in general. Lots of blah, blah, blah.

So here's what I'm wondering, was what Kravitz really wanting to say that Dungy, super dad and Super Bowl winning coach, is a fraud. All that talk about what it takes to be the bestest parent ever, such a great parent, wrote a book and everything, and such a great dad that his oldest son killed himself.

Is that what Kravitz means by hypocrite? Is that what he means by uncomfortable?

 

It took some nuts to call out a guy like Dungy for anything other than an ugly sweater or a bad play call.

Some of the reader comments made me sick. I have an NFL beat, too, and when I criticize the home team, I get sh*t for it, no matter what. Team could go 0-16, I say they suck, and Joe Fan says they were 16 plays away from undefeated.

 

These coaches are barely home anyway during the season.

If the family like Tampa more, I don't get the criticism.

Hypocrite? Perhaps for his being a football coach with all the preaching he does.... but not for his family living in Tampa sted Indy.

 

What's going to happen, is his son going to commit suicide again?

 

Kravitz is right on the mark. People make decisions in life, and if you hold yourself up as some kind of family man, you should act like one.

 

I think it's pretty measured, although I may have gone at it slightly differently.

See, Dungy's put himself out there as a Christian leader, and this was an opportunity for him to be transparent in explaining why, as a Christian, arrangements like this can work according the tenets of his faith. But he played the privacy card, the "trust me, I know what I'm doing" card, which seems to put him in that Bill Bennett category of morality that says "because I'm rich and I have an important job, the sincerity of my faith can bend a little to fit my position in the world." Just as Bennett didn't think he had a gambling problem because he could afford to lose a lot of money, Dungy has a personal benefactor to cart his family around.

Dungy's weakness is that he's a nice man, and sometimes he's a little too quick to assauge his bosses.

 

These are columns that make readers roll their eyes and say the media will do anything possible to find a negative angle. (And I'm a big Kravitz fan.)

Granted, I dont know the lengths Dungy has gone to trumpet sound parenting, but I do know that "good parenting" doesn't have a set definition. What works in the Kravitz family may not work in the Dungy family.

Kravitz is fine to say he's uncomfortable with the situation, but he really doesn't have much more to say than that. I kept waiting for a gotcha! line that never came. Instead all I got was a feeling. Dungy pretty much told Kravitz 'Trust me, this is the right decision for our family.' So I'm kinda uncomfortable with Kravitz suggesting that he knows what's better for the Dungy family.

My guess is Kravitz wrestled with this. He had the idea in place before the press conference. He didnt get the answers he wanted/needed, but he still talked himself into writing the piece. For one of the few times, he didnt pull it off.

 

A lot of these columns were written when Michael Jordan came back with the Wizards also.

 

silentbob,

To be honest, Dungy's type of Christianity promotes accountability and transparency, not "it's my business" and "trust me, I know what I'm doing."

 

Accountability and transparency to his FAMILY, not Bob Kravitz. There's no reason Dungy needs to tell journalists the reasons for deciding to live apart from his family next football season--it's a personal family decision that has nothing whatsoever to do with how he's coaching the Colts. Whether its marital difficulties, problems with his child, or whatever, this one falls under the "none of our fucking business" category.

 

Not all columns come together as great essays that are easy to read and easy to write. A lesser writer might have not tackled the subject.

Kravitz's said he was uncomfortable and that discomfort showed in the writing. To me that is what made it a good column.

Kravitz wrote what I'm sure a lot of people were thinking, especially people who are fans of the Colts but don't necessarily drink the Dungy Kool-Aid. And when anyone does things that appear to disagree with their outspoken, extreme stances, he should expect to be viewed critically.

DISCLAIMER: I used to work at the Indy Star.