Tuscaloosa News: Cecil Hurt had UA booster co-sign loan

I've only met Walsh in passing. I've known Cecil for more than half of my 52 years on this planet.

 

This is what I can't figure out.
This biz doesn't pay great, but a sports editor can't manage a $4,000 loan without a co-signer? That's just weird.

 

How can anyone argue that? Who even considers doing something like this? It's beyond comprehension.

 

It doesn't take more than a quick glance at SEC Guy's past posts to see the angle he's coming from on this. You calling someone else a homer is pretty damn rich!

 

Still waiting for your big scoop on this...

 

I resemble that remark...

 

First of all, who are these people paying reporters in the South ... and where might I contact them?

Second, I don't know Cecil personally. I've watched him work up close and I've always admired the job he does. He kicks ass on that beat, no denying that. At the same time, I think even Cecil would tell you that he's somewhat of a homer. He has to be. I'm not saying he's covering up stories or making excuses for screwups, but he does make sure that the UA people aren't pissed when they open the T-News in the morning. And I commend him on being able to walk the fine line his job requires.

The one thing that no one has brought up is that this co-sign situation happened before Keller's name was in anything. At the time all of this happened, he was just a wealthy dude who gave some money to UA athletics. The only issue to me is that the editors weren't informed when Keller became a major player. But hell, that was, what, three years later? Maybe he just didn't think much of it.

 

I second that.

And does it seem a little unseamly to be casting about reasons why Cecil might have to get a co-signer for a $4K loan? Who's fuckin' business is that?

The point is that he needed financial help and probably went to the wrong guy (as it turns out) to get it.

 

But Cecil has never covered 6 Super Bowls, 5 Stanley Cup Finals and 21 NBA championships in the same season.

 

There are some damn fine journalists on the Alabama beat. Many of them have better resumes than a lot of you shit-flinging jackasses.

It would be one thing if you pompous jackasses were just kidding, but you're not. You're seriously stereotyping. Some of the best college football beat guys in America cover SEC football ... and yes, there are some big, big homers. But they're everywhere. I've seen homers in the Big 10, Pac 10 and Big 12, too. They just don't have southern accents.

We get it. You don't like the South. But don't act like you're just joking.

THIS IS AN ISSUE WITH COLLEGE FOOTBALL WRITERS EVERYWHERE! EVERYWHERE! IT IS NOT JUST AN ISSUE IN THE SOUTH!

I'm not surprised by this news. Disappointed, but not surprised.

Signed,
SEC beat writer who does not cover Alabama

 

I can't believe how sidetracked this thread is.

There's only one issue here: Did Cecil write about a guy who co-signed a loan for him?

If he did - positive, negative, before-the-crime, after-the-crime, whatever -- he crossed the kind of line that you don't get to cross. Ever. Period. There's no debate here. There's no "Poynter police," it's a black and white issue.

Would anyone, for instance, think it's OK for a cops reporter to have a loan co-signed by a big PBA booster that the cops reporter writes about? Or for the guy covering Hillary Clinton's campaign to have a loan co-signed by a big Clinton donor? Of course not.

I hope.

 

I know of a columnist in this conference who gets 15-20 free tickets to every home football game from the athletic director.

How do I know this? The columnist routinely brags about it.