The AP's voting policies: inconsistent?

[tapintoamerica]

A few years ago, the AP withdrew from the process that selects the BCS national championship participants. Its rationale was that journalists don't make news; they report it. Fine. I agree.
Yet the organization apparently still votes on individual players awards such as the NFL Defensive Rookie of the Year citation. This became relevant when Brian Cushing won the award and failed steroid tests. Some are calling for the award to be rescinded. According to this Peter King Twitter post,


http://twitter.com/SI_PeterKing/status/13733098908

it appears that such a decision would come from AP HQ.

This begs the question: If the AP withdrew from helping select the college FB champion, why does it remain a player in selecting individual awards? The very existence of the Cushing award discussion is news. Another issue is clauses in many player contracts calling for bonuses for awards won. Don't these things constitute journalists making news?

Curious to hear others' thoughts. ...

 

[zebracoy]

Naming the players on an all-America team is akin to recognizing players on an all-state or all-county team. There's no harm in the recognition.

If your newspaper is choosing who's playing in the state championship game - that's an issue.

 

[SF_Express]

The problem with "recognizing," zebra, is that sometimes there's big money bonuses involved in those pro league awards. I would say AP is being inconsistent, at best.

 

[spnited]

Are they going to rescind Shawn Merriman's defensive player of the year award from the season when he sat out the first four games after testing positive for steroids?

The NFL's drug policy is an absolute joke. I'd bet 90% of all linemen and LBs are juicing.

 

[BB Bobcat]

AP writers are not allowed to vote for baseball's annual awards (MVP, CY, etc.)

 

[CR19]

There is a difference between voting for national championship participants and individual awards. I can understand the logic behind it, but I still don't agree with the Associated Press' actions. When the AP pulled out of the BCS, they shouldn't have continued voting for individual awards. If you claim that you can't become involved in one story, you can't turn around and openly vote in another event. It's an oxymoron.

 

[spnited]

AP writers are not allowed to vote for baseball's annual awards (MVP, CY, etc.)

But the AP picks its own player of the year, manager of the year, etc. Just as Cushing was the AP Defensive ROY, not chosen by the the fb writers assn.

 

[deskslave]

The problem with "recognizing," zebra, is that sometimes there's big money bonuses involved in those pro league awards. I would say AP is being inconsistent, at best.

Doesn't the AP have a policy that anyone with a contractual bonus for winning one of its awards is automatically ineligible? Or am I thinking of another organization?

 

[Guybehindtheguy]

The AP awards are chosen by various types of media, beat writers from papers, national writersn etc. The AP simply compiles the votes. The AP itself, writers, editorsn etc., do not participate in the voting.

 

[joe king]

Not inconsistent in the least. The awards you are referring to are the AP's awards, not league-sanctioned awards. AP actually does name a college football national champion -- the No. 1 team in the final AP poll. What it won't do is the work for any other organization or be involved in picking the teams that participate in any league's or organization's championship playoff.

 

[MonsterLobster]

I'm against journalists voting on anything because it can be time consuming for me to keep up with an entire state's prep teams for the polls and I dread the complaints each time I have to pick an all-area team.

 

[zebracoy]

The problem with "recognizing," zebra, is that sometimes there's big money bonuses involved in those pro league awards. I would say AP is being inconsistent, at best.

I would say naming a person as the best at what he or she does is not the same as choosing which teams will play in a game. There's a bit of a difference there. In one scenario, you're bestowing an accolade. In another, you're organizing an outcome.

 

[HanSenSE]

AP will release who its voters are when the first poll of the year is issued in college football and basketball. It's generally a couple of senior writers in the area covered by each AP bureau (For example, in Northern California it's Ray Ratto of the SF Chronicle and Jon Wilner of the SJ Mercury-News in football). I've seen similar list when they issue the All-Pro teams ... again, beat writers from throughout the country, not AP staffers. AP even encourages its poll voters to share their ballot via blogs or columns ... which is certainly more than can be said for the coaches' poll!

 

[Double Down]

Are they going to rescind Shawn Merriman's defensive player of the year award from the season when he sat out the first four games after testing positive for steroids?

Spnited make Jason Taylor, who actually won the award that year, sad.

 

[Armchair_QB]

I've always thought it was hilarious that the leadership of one of the largest newsgathering organizations on the planet was unaware that its poll was being used to determine who played in the national championship game for about five years.

 

[CR19]

Not only does the AP hand out awards; they also apparently take them back.
http://deadspin.com/5535741/associated-press-to-punish-brian-cushing-for-making-its-voters-look-bad?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+deadspin%2Ffull+%28Deadspin%29&utm_content=Google+Feedfetcher

 

[tapintoamerica]

Very slippery slope here.
If the award is rescinded, does Cushing have to give back the bonus money that came with it?

 

[CR19]

Very slippery slope here.
If the award is rescinded, does Cushing have to give back the bonus money that came with it?

Based on what I'm reading, it appears that the AP is throwing out the original results and is holding a second round of voting. Still, I'm not sure how they could collect Cushing's bonus money without facing a big legal fight.

 

[Guybehindtheguy]

You know the best way to make sure re-voting doesn't become more prevalent: have the folks who voted for Cushing before vote for him again. That would send a message, but one that probbly gets too close to the truth. I think most fans and some - not all -- sports writers could care less if an athlete uses their body as a lab for science experiments. Let's just get it out there and we can stop with the charade of being ticked off when someone is caught doping.

 

[Smasher_Sloan]

Love it when AP gets high and mighty about ethical issues.

Try these two on for size:

*Suburban beat writer breaks the story that the local team is about to sign an important player to a long contract extension. AP takes his story, slaps "The AP has learned..." on it and passes it off as original work. The weak explanation? AP guy says he was working the story independently at the same time. Except the GM and agent swear they never got a call from AP guy.

*Local pitcher is working on a no-hitter. AP is stringing the game. Sixth inning, AP staffer shows up in the press box, ready to "cover" the no-hitter even though he hasn't seen the first six innings. Essentially he'll take the stringer's story and put his byline on it. Why? Because AP wants to show they staffed a big event, even though that's a fraud.