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Little exchange between Staples, Litke

Discussion in 'Journalism topics only' started by SF_Express, Apr 3, 2012.

  1. Moderator1

    Moderator1 Moderator Staff Member

    I got your back SF
     
  2. Alma

    Alma Well-Known Member

    What interesting is that there's actually a deeper argument behind the sniping. It's not about two guys battling over an outlet on deadline (which I've seen) and holding that against each other for five years.

    Staples, and several other national writers, have essentially decided that writers who decry Kentucky and John Calipari are ignoring the larger implications of how college athletes are used by the NCAA and member schools, and thus are less interested in "honesty" than the handful of said national writers. Staples retweeted a Jason Lisk column that more or less ripped Litke for being blind to what's "really happening" in college athletics, and what's always been happening. Litke responded by saying Staples mailed in a feature about Anthony Davis, intimating that he didn't want to touch what Litke sees as the real issue at hand.

    The argument is about, thus, what the real issue is. Is it that Kentucky wins a national title with one-year mercenaries, one of whom hugs Worldwide Wes and a Nike exec on the floor of the national championship, or is the real issue that Calipari is a better man than some think for unashamedly leading these kids to the riches they deserve that's denied them by college athletics?

    It's a rather interesting debate, if you ask me. And it's not about who's a "good guy." Boy, that argument gets old. It's two different worldviews clashing, the clash lubricated by the medium of Twitter, which makes it easier to share one's emotions at a distance.
     
  3. Ace

    Ace Well-Known Member

    Good thoughts, Alma.

    I actually think Cal has to be less "corrupt" in recruiting these types of players. They know folks like the Nike dude have their back, all they have to do is pretend to go to school for about five months and not flash a lot of cash from agents, and they are good to go to the NBA.

    What is amazing about Kentucky is that these players seem to be willing to make an effort in class in keep their egos in check on the court. That's pretty impressive.
     
  4. Ace

    Ace Well-Known Member

    And FWIW, Litke seems like a pretty good guy.

    Strikes me as someone who could be a little chesty -- a la Gregg Doyel -- if given the chance.
     
  5. SF_Express

    SF_Express Active Member

    Interesting turn in this discussion, certainly.
     
  6. Tom Petty

    Tom Petty New Member

    doyyyel? damn, ace, i hope litke doesn't challenge you to a bare-knuckles fight after that statement.
     
  7. CarlSpackler

    CarlSpackler Active Member

    The best part of the Final Four for me was seeing Doyel sitting by himself at the post-game buffet at the hotel on Monday night.
     
  8. imjustagirl

    imjustagirl Active Member

    He hates people.
     
  9. Versatile

    Versatile Active Member

    Alma, if this were the argument between Tommy Craggs and Charles Robinson, I'd agree with you. There are three sides clearly divided on the duties of the news media in college sports reporting: One side wants to cover the games, one side wants to cover the scandals and the last wants to cover the hypocrisy. Each has valid points and each is represented by respected members of the media.

    But did you read Litke's column? It was purely lazy. It was line after line of scoffs.

    What's worse is the scoffs made no point. The closest thing to a true point of view Litke has is that the NBA age limit "inadvertently made a mockery of the college game." Of course, that could be a real column. But he never really touches on it again, instead preferring to denigrate Kentucky by saying its players are pros, then contradicting that by saying Anthony Davis would get destroyed inside in the NBA and Michael Kidd-Gilchrist "turned 18 just last September and he’s not ready to play against real pros, either." Which is it?

    It's just a bad column. Staples isn't the kind of guy to throw bombs at anyone who disagrees with him. Lisk probably is. But that was a terrible column that couldn't be bothered by logic or completeness. It demonized to demonize, in the laziest of fashions. Gregg Doyel may be similarly confrontational, but he'd never write a column like that.
     
  10. Moderator1

    Moderator1 Moderator Staff Member

    Might have been by choice. Had I been there, I would have sat with him. Or asked to, he may have had a reason for wanting to be alone. I've sat with Gregg at media meals a time or two. Don't agree with everything he writes or his "style" or "persona" or whatever you want to call it. But Gregg is a good guy.
     
  11. dixiehack

    dixiehack Well-Known Member

    Wonder if Litke knows selling books back is an NCAA violation?
     
  12. imjustagirl

    imjustagirl Active Member

    Wait, I just reread this. Did someone refer to Litke as confrontational? I haven't read his copy in a couple years, but it used to be an office game to find a single opinion in his "columns."
     
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