Lane Kiffin Pre-Press Conference Drama

Tennessee thinks quite highly of itself it seems.
Lane Kiffin is a snake.
If they don't want you there, then go out and run your cameras elsewhere to get the real story instead of the 30-second soundbite Kiffin wants to force feed you.

 

The most hilarious part, I think, is when the one guy from the gallery pipes in with something along the lines of "here's the problem -- we can't make him be man enough to admit why he's leaving!"

And I think he later says, "It is the same thing when Kevin O'Neill left, he's a snake ..."

No bias there, no UT blinders there.

Does the guy who said that cover a game with a notepad and a big orange foam finger?

 

Actually, it is pretty spot-on analysis. And where is O'Neill now? Hmmm.

 

It is the TV fellow's job to deliver to the viewer what Kiffin had to say, not question if the coach is "man enough."
Just as it is the same fellow's job to report on the happenings on Kevin O'Neill, not call him a "snake."
Present the story, let the viewer decide.
When you make statements such as the one(s) he did, it shows a glaring bias.

 

It's not the reporter's job to play stenographer to the rich and famous.

 

I too wondered who that guy was. If he has an editor or news director, he had to get a tongue lashing when that video broke. Now, if he was a blogger or some such? No rules. But I thought his brief rants provided some good comedy in that room.

 

these weren't the school's rules - they were kiffin's rules. he was willing to give the media something most coaches don't when they bolt. and kiffin was going to give more than the 45 seconds he did had the tv guy not wasted 30 minutes.

 

Good point. The SID probably wishes he'd told Lane "You're on your own for this one, pal. You can use the room, but I'm not negotiating shit for you."

 

That's what I think this all boils down to. The TV guy never understood that Kiffin had no obligation to talk. Whatever applies in standard conferences didn't here because Kiffin was no longer an employee of the university. He had to abide by nothing.

 

Really there is no one in sports who has to talk to the media. Ever. Even where there are rules, often the penalty or fine for breaking them is inconsequential to the coach/athlete.

You dan make your objections known, but in the end you've got to take what they give you.

Reason No. 246 why being a sports journalist is sometimes demeaning.

 

After taking some time to think this one over...

What the producer did is bullshit. Period.

I did not realize that the only way to report and fill news on a television broadcast was to have press conference video. Essentially here's what the producer is saying:

"I want video of this because our station is too lazy to figure out how to report on this situation without video of it."

Kiffin was going to give reporters additional information to share with the public. This guy screwed everybody.

And Kiffin was no longer a public employee. He owed nobody there anything.

 

And the newbie nails it. Good job. This pretty much hits the nail on the head.