USAT seriously wrongs Segui

The lede item on 1C's "Sportsline," big hede: "Segui admits HGH use."

"Segui revealed Sunday that he used HGH during his 15-year career ... Grimsley identified him as using illegal performance-enhancing drugs. ... Segui said Grimsley approached him and asked how HGH might accelarate recovery from elbow surgery."

No mention of physicians or prescriptions.

A six-line item, third item overall, on 8C's "Sports on TV" column, led by the U.S. Open

"Segui said he's taken HGH ... Segui said it was prescribed and perfectly legal."

It's totally inexcusable -- irresponsible, even -- to omit that last bit of info from the front page item. I'd be pissed if I was Segui. I'm pissed anyway, because that kind of ish reflects badly on the profession. How the L does 1C leave out his claim that he had a prescription for HGH? Un-effin-believable.

Rant over.

 

Elvis had a prescription for most of the dozens and dozens of drugs he took, too. Also had a shiny badge from the president. So you can have a prescription for something, but that doesn't necessarily make it right.

 

regardless, you MUST mention his claim.

 

Agreed. The prescription should have been noted with the front-page item.

 

You should drop a dime to Romenesko. Seriously.

 

I think so, too. This was horrendously handled.

 

The story itself was a bit strange. It was bylined Bob Nightengale, and it appeared to have some different quotes from the AP story, but sort of, not really? And if it did, it seemed that a "Segui told USA Today in a telephone interview" added to the end of the first of such quotes would have been appropriate, to indicate that they had indeed spoken to him separately from the initial story.

I don't know. Maybe it lost something in the editing.