Urban Meyer hates reporters.

I know a lot of people who have covered Florida and it would not surprise me for a second if Fowler gets death threats as a result.

 

Someone needs to whisper in Meyer's ear that Florida football will never be as good again as it was with Teblow.

Any decent SID should have told Meyer to brush off the story because this just gives it more legs.

 

You need to meet Florida's SID. He is widely considered to be the toughest to deal with in the country and for the most part, hates reporters.

 

But he still should know how to let a story fade away. Hate or no hate.

 

Everyone has an opinion, but no one here actually knows what happened.

Deonte Thompson does a group interview with about 8 people. Talks about his disappointing season, how he needs to step up next year, how he's the oldest guy now, blah blah blah. Someone asks him about the difference between Brantley and Tebow. He says Tebow is always running, you never know when he's going to throw you the ball, but Brantley is all about timing, rhythm, you know, "like a real quarterback."

Interview continues for 5 more minutes. No one asks Deonte to clarify what he meant by a "real quarterback." Deonte also mentions that he considers Tebow a "living legend."

Practice ends, reporters go home. Fowler immediately writes a blog post about Deonte. Flat-out writes, "I'm not sure if Deonte meant to rip Tebow here, but it sure seems like a rip-job" and highlights the "real QB" quote without mentioning the other stuff.

Mike Bianchi reads the blog and writes, "Why is Deonte Thompson throwing Tebow under the bus?" Skip Bayless reads Bianchi, Jim Rome hears Skip Bayless, and the thing balloons into a national story where Deonte Thompson comes off as a total clown.

UF calls Fowler to complain. Fowler edits his blog post. Deletes the stuff about the quote being a "rip job" and softens his writing. Now there is no recorded evidence of the original blog post. The story up online now is NOT what was originally written.

Fowler, who has a history of pissing off athletes and coaches for blogging their quotes with big splashy headlines and not asking follow-ups or clarifying their statements, gets chewed out for 15 minutes at practice yesterday by the Florida SID. The SID then calls everyone over, says he's not singling anyone out, it's not anyone's fault, but they're cutting off player and coach media access for the day. Everyone talks it out with the SID, but Fowler stands quietly in the back, knowing full well that he and his newspaper are the reason we are not allowed to interview anyone.

At the end of practice, Urban walks over to a group of 20 reporters. It looked like he was going to give a surprise interview. Instead he gets in Fowler's face and says "don't mess with my players," etc etc etc.

The fanbois love Urban for sticking up for his player. The media calls Urban a punk and a bully.

But you tell me -- is it ethical for Fowler to change what his blog midstream, soften his stance and pretend like what he originally wrote never happened?

 

Yes. It's completely ethical. People do it on the web all the time. Is he supposed to carry a sign that says he edited his website?

Did the SIDs talk to the player and suggest he not say things that could be misinterpreted?

 

Thanks, Deonte.

If what you write is true, then that's questionable. Whenever we edit details of a story, we put a note saying what was originally reported. I realize a blog is a different beast, but I do think there needs to be some sort of acknowledgement.

 

In the end this will help both parties.

Meyer defends his player. Recruits love that just like they did with that fuck at Oklahoma State.

Fowler, who in my opinion, is the best reporter on that beat, gets his name out there and follows in the shoes of Schad, Darlington and the other kid who went to TSN.

But the next few weeks will be hell for Fowler.

 

But going by Kid Presentable's scenario, the details don't appear to have changed. Only how the quote was presented.

All of this whining and yelling and threatening over a quote from a kid where he may have indicated that the incoming quarterback is better than the outgoing quarterback is just another reason why people think Florida's SIDs, coaches and fans are such assholes.

 

KP's version sounds completely plausible; perhaps he softened when he realized how big it'd blow up.

That does not change the fact that Urban Meyer has been a gigantic punk since his first day at Bowling Green. He's a great coach, but a humongous jerk. Those who've known him since he got his start could call his resignation flip-flop from the first breaking news alert over Christmas.

 

From that quote and the other things this receiver said, I don't see anything wrong written to what I am linking to right now on the website. This kid did not like the ball always going to a few receivers. He wants his chance to shine.

I am also assuming the quotes were not spliced together and convey the thoughts of the player.

I can also see why college coaches don't like writers in the locker room.

 

Even if what Kid Presentable writes is true, I don't find anything unethical in what Jeremy did, and Meyer's reaction is way over the line. Calling him a "bad guy"? Saying he'd "go after you" if it were his kid? KP, do you defend that?