New Cincy coach criticizes Enquirer, others, for not staffing Big East media day

Kelly's refusal to answer questions from the Cincy stringer is absurd. I assume that stringer was an available writer from a local paper, or at least a writer others in attendance are acquainted with, and when he got the silent treatment, every other reporter there should have stuck up for him and refused to ask Kelly any more questions. This kind of crap can work both ways.

If Kelly gets to decide who among the media deserves to be there working and who doesn't, then on a two-way street it should be okay for reporters to tell coaches which assistant should be doing the play calling from game to game.

I'm still waiting for my all-access media pass to Cincy practices and for Kelly to give me his cellphone number for use, and response, 18 hours a day, 365 a year.

 

what a blowhard....seriously what news comes out of media day....unfortunatly most media are being run by bean counters so some things have to be cut....hell,the enquirer beat guy could call kelly up in his hotel room and ask him the same questions and save the paper a grand......and a good SID would put the players that they brought to rhode island on a conference call for the local newspaper and radio stations......thats what a smart mid major would do to get exposure....sorry Mr.Kelly you need the media more than they need you.....hate to say it bud,but you aint the Buckeyes or Bob Huggins

 

This is almost my stance on this issue. With a new coach in town, the beat writer should have been there to cover it. Yes, I understand his debut was in the International Bowl, but this is going to be Brian Kelly's welcome home party. They need not only cover his debut with the team, but also what he's planning on doing in the league.

On the other hand, I agree with Kelly for making the stand because if he's arriving, there needs to be some hype about the program. We certainly know TV stations aren't making the trek, so the only way is to get there via the papers. How can he create a buzz and make an effort to get people to care if there's nobody there to cover it? Sure, the stringer was there, but a column from a stringer denotes probably 15 inches, little to no cohesion with the rest of the coverage and probably a back page.

Not saying this should have gotten front-page treatment, but if he's trying to make a name for himself and tell the world "Cincinnati football is changing and it all starts now," it's hard to start making that change when there's nobody to spread the word to.

 

Why couldn't be bitch and moan about the beat guy not being there, but still answer questions from the stringer? No need to make that poor schmuck's life hell because of a beef you have with the paper that's paying him. Being an asshole to someone just to make a point is not cool.

 

That's true, but had he not said anything, this thread wouldn't be here and people wouldn't be talking about it. The Enquirer probably wouldn't even think twice and he averts the issue.

 

In a vacuum, the paper should cover the team.

This is not a vacuum. I don't know if many of you missed Tim Sullivan's post or any of the others that actually know what drives interest in the Cincinnati area, but UC football is lower than low in terms of fan interest.

It's a different game for college football for a metro-based school that has never been a power in the sport. UC isn't Louisville or Pitt, it's more like Tulane, Buffalo or even Temple when it comes to the local pecking order.

I would venture to guess that the Bengals, Reds, UK basketball, UC basketball, Xavier basketball, preps, Ohio State football and/or basketball (which, as pointed out, they don't even staff) and probably one or two other things that have slipped my mind (Ky. Speedway racing?) are all more important to the readers than barely above MAC-level UC football.

My brother went to UC. He literally lived across the street from Nippert Stadium (at least within sight range of the lights on McMillan Avenue). I'd venture to guess he crossed that street to watch them (for free) maybe five times?

I can't knock the Enqurier for deciding not to blow money for a media day on the east coast for a program no one gives a shit about just because of a concept in a vacuum. Every market is different.

 

I understand the logic in not sending someone to Rhode Island to cover a team you can talk to any other day at home. But do they not care at all about the Big East?

My paper is as cheap as they come, but we sent two guys to the media days of the football conference we cover. Very little to none of the stuff we came back with was about the local squad. But maybe 6 stories plus the previews for our football tab were easy as hell to get down there.

For a paper of Cincy's size, I find it extremely lazy and cheap that they would not send someone to this.

 

Agreed. From my dealings with him as a beat writer in one of his former conferences, I can say I've never met a more pompous prick of a coach and this is typical Kelly. Football coaches have big egos, but this guy takes it to a new level. Hope he falls hard in Cincy (hopefully, his players won't beat someone to death there) and he winds up back at some small D. II school no one gives two shits about. He's a total douchebag.

 

No, not really. I really don't think the interest is there.

Cincinnati might do better at the gate if they were in the MAC for football. Seriously. They belong in the Big East for basketball, and there is major interest in Big East hoops, but the price UC pays is that football is playing a league above in caliber from what interest dictates and how seriously the school takes the sport.

Football is there to pass the time until basketball starts.

 

My fault, Pitt wasn't ranked then they were just getting votes.

 

I am proud to say that my paper now qualifies -- according to the infallible and invincible Starman -- as a bush-league fish-wrap.

We did not waste money on the useless tripe known as Big East Media Day at some overpriced Newport, RI, resort (big Big East fan base in Rhode Island, huh?). And last time I looked, Old State U was a Top 15 team with a Heisman Trophy candidate and we were the second largest paper in the State ... which has better things to spend a sometime dwindling budget on than a glorified football PR event in mid-July.

And judging from all the great stuff I read on-line from Big East Media Day, we missed absolutely nothing.

 

Of course media days rarely produce much real news, but once in a while they do, and if nothing else, it allows you to touch base with the other schools, so when and if something happens with them, you know where to start.

Your publisher's got plenty of money. $500 for a plane ticket and one night in the hotel won't send him into bankruptcy. Either you're covering a sport seriously, or you're not.