Donovan Going Back to Florida?

[friend of a friend]

Personally, I think Donovan would be making a huge mistake going to Orlando. But this... wow. Either you're getting bad advice or...

Or you're a moron.

 

[Mystery_Meat]

Here's what I see on espn.com right now:

Orlando has a signed contract from Donovan and is making a decision as to whether to let him out of the five-year, $27.5 million deal that he signed on Friday, multiple sources told ESPN.com on Sunday.

If the Magic do let Donovan out of the deal, they have to decide whether to enforce a financial penalty. Both sides aren't talking publicly because there are legal issues involved in such a decision.

Multiple sources said the decision now rests in the hands of the Magic. A final decision could come as early as Monday.

And there's a breaking news banner on the front.

But nothing about their breaking the story. Am I missing it, or did they pull it?

 

[steveu]

Thanks for finishing, friend... I was thinking the same thing.

 

[Write-brained]

Couple of questions because college basketball isn't my strongpoint:

So if Donovan signed the contract what can the Magic do? Obviously they'd keep any money but since it's not another NBA team, it's not like they can be compensated ... haven't there been situations in the past where they just rip up the deal?

If Donovan goes back to Florida, how exactly would it hurt his credibility? Changing his mind is a lot less of a crime than say lying (Saban) ... has it hurt the others in recent years who've changed their minds ... ie. Cremins and the guy from Winthrop now at Wich. State?

 

[Starman]

In fairness to Katz, he might have the same story. It's possible that he was working toward conformation but decided to report what he had when Goodman beat him to the punch.

**** Katz and **** ESPN. After seeing the Goodman story, I checked ESPN instantly. Nothing.

Andy has pulled this **** on me before (I don't want to out myself), but honestly, there isn't much you can do. The first time it happened, I had my editor call ESPN to complain because it is an UNETHICAL business practice. But that went nowhere.

If I were Goodman, I'd ask Fox to sue ESPN. This **** has to stop.

The TV side might have changed it, but not on ESPN.com

Billy Donovan informed the Magic and the University of Florida over the weekend that he had second thoughts about agreeing to be Orlando's head coach, but it's unclear whether the NBA team will let him go.

Orlando has a signed contract from Donovan and is making a decision as to whether to let him out of the five-year, $27.5 million deal that he signed on Friday multiple sources told ESPN.com on Sunday.

If I'm the Orlando Magic, I sue, sue, sue until the lawyers fall asleep and the digit counters on the calculators burn out.

I call up David Stern, get the legal muscle of the NBA behind me, and I go charging into court for an injunction. Billy Donovan don't coach anywhere until we get our ******* money.

 

[Armchair_QB]

The following is from the Orlando Sentinel story. It sounds like a fun way to pass the time at midnight on a Sunday:

In response to a midnight visit by the Sentinel to Donovan's house in a gated Gainesville community, UF assistant coach Larry Shyatt answered the door. Shyatt, whom Donovan said would accompany him to the Magic, said, "You guys can't talk to him now."
UF spokesman Fred Demarest declined comment on the report.

If it's a gated community it's going to have a new night security guy tomorrow. How the hell did the Sentinel get in to even knock on the door?

 

[Left_Coast]

I find it somewhat hard to believe that the contract is signed. Those things take a long time to get sorted out with numerous clauses and such. This courtship was pretty quick.

 

[CornFlakes]

I'm with spinning. I've seen Katz pull similar B.S. before. That same week, he was taking credit on ESPN.com for breaking all 23 coaching moves. He probably broke two or three of them at most.

He also will print anything one of his coaching buddies wants him to whether it is accurate or not. And he'll print it knowing it's false because said coaching buddy promises him he'll get the scoop when the decision comes down.

He wasn't able to get the scoop in said situation but he sure got several things wrong in the search. I was stunned at his lack of ethics and I'm embarrassed that he's now the president of the USBWA.

Just because a guy is on TV and billed as a basketball analyst doesn't mean he's better than ANY of you hard working college basketball beat writers. If he's ever involved with a search on your beat, you'll quickly see the shoddy one-source (everything anonymous as well) reporting.

 

[Write-brained]

The following is from the Orlando Sentinel story. It sounds like a fun way to pass the time at midnight on a Sunday:

In response to a midnight visit by the Sentinel to Donovan's house in a gated Gainesville community, UF assistant coach Larry Shyatt answered the door. Shyatt, whom Donovan said would accompany him to the Magic, said, "You guys can't talk to him now."
UF spokesman Fred Demarest declined comment on the report.

If it's a gated community it's going to have a new night security guy tomorrow. How the hell did the Sentinel get in to even knock on the door?

I've had to do that quite a few times on the news side. Just follow someone in.

 

[Moland Spring]

The best thing that ever happened -- ethically -- to ESPN.com/Andy Katz is that they now have someone to compete with them/kick their ass/call them on their BS. This is great. It carries a lot more wait when Foxsports calls ESPN to complain about being shafted on a scoop than it does when my Big City Metro thinks about calling, then gives up because ESPN is ESPN.
A side note, I love that Dave Curtis (of the Sentinel) knocked on Donovan's door at midnight. That's tremendous.

 

[Left_Coast]

And nice to see AP has just stuck with FoxSports and not included ESPN's "report."

 

[Left_Coast]

Good for Yahoo sports ... the last graf of their story:

"Foxsports.com first reported the story Sunday night."

There's classy/ethical people out there, led by Dave Morgan. They do it right.

 

[Freelance Hack]

Are we sure Donovan signed a contract with Orlando or could it be that he signed an agreement or memorandum of understanding to accept the job if both sides agree on terms?

There is a difference.

 

[Norman Stansfield]

A side note, I love that Dave Curtis (of the Sentinel) knocked on Donovan's door at midnight. That's tremendous.

That was my first thought. I know it's part of the job, but man, that can't be a fun trip.

 

[Tom Petty]

In fairness to Katz, he might have the same story. It's possible that he was working toward conformation but decided to report what he had when Goodman beat him to the punch.

**** Katz and **** ESPN. After seeing the Goodman story, I checked ESPN instantly. Nothing.

Andy has pulled this **** on me before (I don't want to out myself), but honestly, there isn't much you can do. The first time it happened, I had my editor call ESPN to complain because it is an UNETHICAL business practice. But that went nowhere.

If I were Goodman, I'd ask Fox to sue ESPN. This **** has to stop.

The TV side might have changed it, but not on ESPN.com

Billy Donovan informed the Magic and the University of Florida over the weekend that he had second thoughts about agreeing to be Orlando's head coach, but it's unclear whether the NBA team will let him go.

Orlando has a signed contract from Donovan and is making a decision as to whether to let him out of the five-year, $27.5 million deal that he signed on Friday multiple sources told ESPN.com on Sunday.

If I'm the Orlando Magic, I sue, sue, sue until the lawyers fall asleep and the digit counters on the calculators burn out.

I call up David Stern, get the legal muscle of the NBA behind me, and I go charging into court for an injunction. Billy Donovan don't coach anywhere until we get our ******* money.

damn starman, i like to think i'm a hardass, but ****, sometimes people have buyer's remorse.

if i were the magic, i'd much rather have someone working for me that wanted to work for me than having somebody who spent every moment on the job preoccupied and dreaming of gainesville.

 

[CollegeJournalist]

Personally, I think Donovan would be making a huge mistake going to Orlando. But this... wow. Either you're getting bad advice or...

I'm pretty sure he was finishing the sentence.

Or you're a moron.

Why is he a moron? He's just stating an opinion. Man, is there no thread on here that is free of name calling?

 

[CollegeJournalist]

And ESPN's reaction to this is just par for the course. It's not like ESPN isn't an ethics nightmare. They use their most recognizable subjects in advertisements, for ****'s sake.

And while the ads are often funny, they certainly aren't ethical.

 

[spinning27]

I'm with spinning. I've seen Katz pull similar B.S. before. That same week, he was taking credit on ESPN.com for breaking all 23 coaching moves. He probably broke two or three of them at most.

He also will print anything one of his coaching buddies wants him to whether it is accurate or not. And he'll print it knowing it's false because said coaching buddy promises him he'll get the scoop when the decision comes down.

He wasn't able to get the scoop in said situation but he sure got several things wrong in the search. I was stunned at his lack of ethics and I'm embarrassed that he's now the president of the USBWA.

Just because a guy is on TV and billed as a basketball analyst doesn't mean he's better than ANY of you hard working college basketball beat writers. If he's ever involved with a search on your beat, you'll quickly see the shoddy one-source (everything anonymous as well) reporting.

Everybody knows and accepts that Katz is a mouthpiece. I'm OK with that. I've made similar compromises, and most good reporters have.

But Katz should not be president of USBWA. I would love to take an poll of members and get in writing instances where Katz pulled crap like this.

Props to Curtis to go to Donovan's house. I've never been in a position where I've had to do that, but I might one day. I feel emboldened.

 

[spnited]

In fairness to Katz, he might have the same story. It's possible that he was working toward conformation but decided to report what he had when Goodman beat him to the punch.

**** Katz and **** ESPN. After seeing the Goodman story, I checked ESPN instantly. Nothing.

Andy has pulled this **** on me before (I don't want to out myself), but honestly, there isn't much you can do. The first time it happened, I had my editor call ESPN to complain because it is an UNETHICAL business practice. But that went nowhere.

If I were Goodman, I'd ask Fox to sue ESPN. This **** has to stop.

The TV side might have changed it, but not on ESPN.com

Billy Donovan informed the Magic and the University of Florida over the weekend that he had second thoughts about agreeing to be Orlando's head coach, but it's unclear whether the NBA team will let him go.

Orlando has a signed contract from Donovan and is making a decision as to whether to let him out of the five-year, $27.5 million deal that he signed on Friday multiple sources told ESPN.com on Sunday.

If I'm the Orlando Magic, I sue, sue, sue until the lawyers fall asleep and the digit counters on the calculators burn out.

I call up David Stern, get the legal muscle of the NBA behind me, and I go charging into court for an injunction. Billy Donovan don't coach anywhere until we get our ******* money.

What money starman? The Magic haven't paid him anything yet.
Sue Donovan for breach of contract? What are your damages?


As for FOX suing ESPN because "this **** has got to stop" again I ask, sue for what? What are the damages?
And who, outside of some people in the business (maybe not even a majority of people in the business) cares who broke the story?

 

[Moland Spring]

You know what I think must happen. Katz scours the internet for scoops/stories all the time on his blackberry. When he sees Goodman has something juicy, he must call up his editors and say, 'I got a big story brewing. Gonna make some more calls and get back to you.' Then, when he has the story hammered out, his editors tell ESPNews 'Hey, Andy broke this huge story, go with it.' Twenty minutes later, someone actually checks the internet and goes, 'No, Andy. You didn't break this one either. Just report it as straight news, guys.'
Doesn't that seem plausible?