Feinstein, others chastized for Duke LAX opinions

[SockPuppet]

Duke grad John Feinstein gets lit up in this report about Duke LAX team:

http://durhamwonderland.blogspot.com/2007/06/john-feinstein-and-unbearable-lightness.html

 

[slappy4428]

He should be. Everyone of us who jumped to conclusions in print or on the air should be chastised... We deserve it; some more than others

 

[SportsDude]

That's a fantastic Web site. Really had the whole Duke case figured out way before the national media had a clue.

 

[Dan Rydell]

Feinstein was great about 15 years ago, and now he's just some large fat blowhard on the perimeter of the sports scene.

I used to like the guy. But his past five books have sucked, and now you suck, John Feinstein.

Welcome to the world of fame. I guess you lose the magic touch pretty quick.

 

[WaylonJennings]

You really thought his Baltimore Ravens book sucked?

I have to disagree vehemently - I thought it was a really fascinating, rare look inside the NFL. Obviously he's got a certain formula - introduce character, spend 3-4 pages on his hard scrabble road to where he is now, then move back to one of his main characters (Billick, etc.) before moving onto the next hard-knock life NFL (or PGA Tour or Patriot League or ATP) hopeful.

But it's always a good read, particularly that one.

 

[Ben_Hecht]

Yes, there was some interesting stuff in the Ravens' book.

But JF's become a master of the serious book-pad, and that book was a good/bad example of it.

 

[Del_B_Vista]

Feinstein doesn't really back off his position even now, from what I've heard. He points out some report from a few years before the incident that said there were problems brewing. I don't want to try to summarize his opinion any further though, so I don't attribute something incorrectly.

IMO, Feinstein's diploma plays a big part in his take on this issue. He's really invested in his school, and I'm not saying that's a bad thing, and he's got super-strong opinions on the Duke athletic department. He's got a hard-on for getting the AD fired, and that colors much of his opinion.

 

[Sam Mills 51]

IMO, Feinstein's diploma plays a big part in his take on this issue. He's really invested in his school, and I'm not saying that's a bad thing, and he's got super-strong opinions on the Duke athletic department. He's got a hard-on for getting the AD fired, and that colors much of his opinion.

I won't defend Feinstein's take on the lacrosse case, but I will defend his criticism of Joe Alleva.

Alleva has been a disaster at Duke. In his first 12 months, he dumped both the football coach (who actually took them to a bowl, the only one they've earned since Steve Spurrier went to greener pastures) and the baseball coach, claiming he wasn't keeping a .500 coach.

It's pretty obvious to see that football hasn't done spit. Steve Traylor's successor as baseball coach ended up recruiting kids who were roiding up. Not helping the fact is the baseball program is in worse shape than it was under Traylor.

Oh yeah ... Alleva's son was on the baseball team. He was charged with driving while impaired his senior year at Duke. Alleva's son them compounded that idiocy with doing the same while driving a boat on a lake in the Triangle last year. That accident resulted in Joe Alleva needed 42 stitches to close up a gash in his head. Link is below ... :

http://sports.espn.go.com/ncaa/news/story?id=2501915

And then there's the lacrosse fiasco. Guilty or no, the whole affair got unnecessarily messy. He then made painfully little effort to keep Gail Goestenkors. Time will tell if Joanne P. McCallie can work the same formula in Durham that worked well in East Lansing. If so, then Alleva will have actually gotten one right.

While some may view as cheap to take a swipe at Alleva with his preferred pick, his actions have done little to convince me that Feinstein's entirely wrong on that front.

 

[shotglass]

Sam, whether Feinstein is right or wrong in his criticism of Alleva, his conflict of interest remains troubling. He wanted his buddy to get the job.

 

[SockPuppet]

If Feinstein's views/opinions on the Duke LAX case were colored by his opinions of Alleva, then that's wrong. Feinstein through the LAX team under the bus before there was any real evidence. It was classic knee jerking. And now that the truth has come out, JF has not manned up and admitted he was wrong.

 

[Moderator1]

If Feinstein's views/opinions on the Duke LAX case were colored by his opinions of Alleva, then that's wrong. Feinstein through the LAX team under the bus before there was any real evidence. It was classic knee jerking. And now that the truth has come out, JF has not manned up and admitted he was wrong.

I'm threw with this

 

[SockPuppet]

Awwww, jeezzzz. Damn, please fix the typo. Old age and a lack of concentration ... it sucks.