Published October 9, 2012 - 2:34pm
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The difference between Steve Spurrier and Charlie Weis can be measured in goodwill. Spurrier has lots of goodwill with South Carolina fans, so when he blackballed The State columnist Ron Morris, it was the writer who suffered. In contrast, when Kansas coach Weis attacked the student newspaper for an unflattering cartoon predicting, correctly, the Jayhawks slaughter last weekend at the hands of Kansas State, nobody took the onetime Florida offensive coordinator seriously.
Weis is on his second doomed head coaching stint on his way to oblivion. Spurrier is the elder statesman of the SEC and may well lead the Gamecocks to a conference and national championship. When you’re at the top, you basically own the local media. This rubs a lot of people the wrong way. Will Leitch, the founder of Deadspin now writing for USA Today’s “Sports on Earth” website, claimed last week that Spurrier’s treatment of Ron Morris–who apologized to Spurrier for an earlier column and lost a side gig with a local television station–amounted to a full-scale assault on the institution of journalism–even though Morris’s credentials as a “journalist” are pretty weak:
Sure, the State hasn’t fired Morris (yet), but that “apology” column last week reeks of internal pressure. The sort of pressure you’re feeling when a coach who feels more powerful than ever because his team is winning starts to bring the hammer down in a small football-crazy town. And more to the point: The type of pressure you feel when your industry is weaker than it has ever been, covering an industry that is stronger than it has ever been.
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Someone has to bankroll journalism, and as time goes by, teams and leagues are in far better financial position to do that than publishers are. So far, I haven’t seen any crossing of the streams at reputable organizations. But eventually, there will be fewer of these newspaper reporters, and thus fewer people remembering just how the separation of church and state should work. And the line will creep more and more toward “shill, or no paycheck.”
This is just a logical next step. This example is particularly brazen and ugly — a coach actually pulling weight to have a critical sportswriter fired — but that might brand it less as “an anomaly” and more as “ahead of its time.”
Leitch’s “separation of church and state” metaphor is typical of how established media members become unhinged the moment anyone calls someone out for being a troll. And there’s a pretty strong consensus that Morris is a troll–or, to put it more eloquently, a pundit who trades in controversial opinions.
By Leitch’s own definition, a “journalist” is a disinterested observer who strives to discover the truth, even if it’s unpopular. That excludes the majority of modern sports media. If anything, it’s the team- and league-funded new media that Leitch frets over that may well provide the salvation for sports journalism. While there’s a good deal of propaganda coming from such outfits, the producers of sports actually have a greater incentive to deal in impartial, fact-based reporting than traditional outside media that survive by selling ads to a fickle public.
But let’s get back to Spurrier. If there’s anything that defines the Ball Coach, it’s his frank honesty. He’s an anomaly in that sense among coaches. We’ve become so used to coaches speaking in meaningless football jargon–a function, ahem, of traditional journalists who punish any sign of original thought–that when coaches make a point of saying what they really think, it becomes a major story.
You can certainly criticize a man of Spurrier’s standing for picking a public feud with a lowly media troll. But it’s his time to waste. It clearly hasn’t distracted his team, as Saturday’s victory over Georgia proved.
More importantly, Spurrier talked about his problems with Morris openly. That’s really what seems to disturb media types like Leitch. In the post-Watergate culture, which sadly has infected sports journalism, the way you handle a problem is through anonymous leaks to favored reporters. The public has grown accustomed to anonymously sourced and unsubstantiated reports citing “sources close to the team” and the like. Transparency has always taken a back seat to the media’s manipulation of stories to make themselves look important.
It would be one thing if Spurrier worked behind-the-scenes to fire a reporter who was about to uncover some major scandal involving the Gamecocks. But Ron Morris isn’t Sara Ganim. And while Leitch may disagree, there is a difference. If you simply lump every opinion-spouting pundit in with the class of professional journalists, then “journalism” ceases to have any meaning. It’s a self-defeating argument.
There’s nothing wrong with publicly confronting a troll. Would it be such a terrible thing if a coach or team boycotted ESPN unless they fired Skip Bayless? Most consumers of sports and sports information would probably welcome such a stand.
The basic error folks like Leitch continue to make is assuming there has to be some large-scale “disinterested” group of journalists to act as an intermediary between sports teams and fans. Yet the entire history of new media, which Leitch himself pioneered, has been about eliminating such barriers. Coaches and athletes can now communicate directly with fans if they so choose. Simultaneously, independent writers can now pursue stories and scandals without having to work through the closed network of “professional” journalists–most of whom are now dedicated to reinventing themselves as multimedia celebrities a la Bayless.
And yes, with this new era comes more trolling and propaganda. Leagues and schools will publish their own splashy news portals with “everything is great” content, while the Bleacher Reports of the world will cull SEO data to create customized stories designed to inflame just about any fan.
Ultimately, Spurrier’s petty vendetta won’t usher in some new era of coach-controlled media. The successful coaches will continue to enjoy greater influence over their local coverage than the Charlie Weises–just as the successful troll like Skip Bayless will continue to grab ratings and Twitter followers while Ron Morris fades into obscurity. The larger sports media system will continue to operate normally.
What did the “troll” say to Spurrier that got him so upset?
Long story over a long period of time. You had to be there.
He published a column second guessing Spurrier for playing Connor Shaw when he was reinjured against UAB earlier this year. Spurrier has a vendetta against this guy.
why is it always the coach with the vendetta? this guy has trolled Spurrier for years and before that he trolled Lou Holtz. he even trolled the last two AD’s and Ray Tanner. youre also forgetting his comment on an XM radio show where he compared South Carolina to Penn State
moRon Morris is an idiot that Gamecock fans don’t read. He’s writes for a paper that is just a few years from going under like the rest of print media and he’ll do anything to draw attention to himself. I haven’t read his garbage for YEARS… and I couldn’t care less what happens to him.
Last year Morris accused Spurrier of “poaching” Bruce Ellington off the basketball team. This year, he basically questioned his ethics, suggesting he would rather win at any cost, even if it meant long term injury to Connor Shaw. Then, Morris decided to go on national radio and compare Spurrier to the Penn State situation, which really threw everything in high gear.
That was so uncalled for, at that point you’re comparing a man to a pedophile rapist by dropping Penn State’s name like that, which is wrong. Morris overstepped some boundaries but when he said that he pole vaulted over those boundaries.
How can you not love Spurrier? The guy is the freaking man. Saban’s the best coach in the land, but Spurrier is the best all around face of SEC football. The guy cracks me up every time he opens his mouth, has his team rolling and has earned the right to say what he wants to these dumb media guys.
MoRon stepped on his dinky by writing 2 articles about Spurrier that were not based on facts, as all good “journalists” should be held accountable for.He crossed a line where he questioned SOS’s integrity and honesty and for that Morris should be held accountable. Spurrier doesn’t lie and he doesn’t cheat, so the door that Morris opened left Spurrier vulnerable to negative recruiting from other teams. He was forced to respond in this way after MoRon compared South Carolina to the Penn State scandal, which is what Morris apologized for, not the inaccurate stories that were written previously. Let me ask you this…would you give front door service to another reporter that repeatedly wrote lies about you and your program? Mr. Oliva you need to investigate the “story “before you write about it. Just like the other 4 or 5 “journalists” that have published similar articles in the last 2 weeks.This is old news by the way.
First of all, I think you all need to look up the definition of “troll” as it applies to the internet (not journalism, wrong field). Secondly, the petulant crap pulled by Spurrier and Saban when it come to journalists shows that they think they are all-powerful and no one DARE report anything they don’t approve of beforehand. That totally goes against everything journalism stands for. One of the points Morris made that upset Spurrier so much was to make an analogy between Spurrier and Penn State. Perhaps a poor choice of comparisons given the inflammatory nature of that situation, but the analogy–in the way that he meant it–is sound. College football programs, and especially coaches, have grown so “big” that they think they can do whatever they want, whenever they want, to whomever they want. Spurrier is the epitome of this syndrome! AND, to act like the petulant child he is and punish ALL the sports journalists, which he did for a week, is ridiculous!.
i really hope you read your fair share of ron morris articles before you act like you know what you are talking about.
he has dealt with this for 3 or 4 years now and tolerated it very well. but it comes to a point where enough is enough. this wasnt just spurrier if you knew what you were talking about along with the writer of this article youd know that the president and AD both back him as well. the AD ray tanner has been a victim of Ron Morris and his spinning of facts when he was our baseball coach. and yes this may further youre arguement but again i ask you when is it enough when do you call it quits and do something about the problem? the problem being one writer ruining your reputation as a person (not a coach) while at the same time driving a local paper into obscurity.
Ron Morris said Spurrier poached Bruce Ellington from the basketball team, false. He said that he doesn’t care about the players and would play them injured just to win, also false. He said Ray Tanner over extended pitcher’s arms on the baseball team, once again false. And to put the cherry on top of it he compared Spurrier to the Penn State situation which was a little more than uncalled for, so yeah that doesn’t make you a journalist. As a journalism student at South Carolina the first thing you are taught is to question things. And the second? Back it up with a source because the public will tear you to shreds if you lie.
small scale*
The concept of a disinterested journalist makes me lol.
once again an article that danced dangerously with the real facts. Ron Morris takes information (of any kind) and reports it in a way that is completely opposite of what the issue at hand actually is. Now that was last year and i quit reading his articles and i quit clicking on links to avoid giving him credit. the most recent article questioning Spurriers decision about Connor Shaw was what killed my year and a few months hiatus from reaing his articles. i just couldnt help to read what he said and once again i realized that the guy is a joke for a journalist. to question a coach (carolinas or not) of such upstanding and honest values as coach spurrier, i found absolutely ridiculous. To imply that he would put winning before the health and safety of one of his players is down right absurd and complete and utter crap. But truly i hate it for Morris. he has single handedly drove a significant percentage of readers away from a very good paper that is struggling to stay up and it is almost sad The State hasnt done anything about it before. and im not completely sure about this but im pretty sure Ron Morris was fired from the Charlotte Observer for being incompetent. Says alot obout him right, if in fact it is true. and for those who say Spurrier just cant handle criticism let be honest he is the fastest talking quirkiest coach in the College Football and doesnt back down from anyone. im sure over the years he has taking his share of criticism. Just go read articles on him from 2002-2004 (redskins fiasco) he maned up and took it, and up until now has taken it. When Ron Morris quit criticising him as a coach and started going after his credibility and integrity as a person, thats when he stepped in and decided to do something. Every Journalist/Media will stick with their kind and stand behind them and defend them. He’s about as bad as Chris Haire of the Charleston City Paper and his article about how Spurrier should be fired over this. He even made the mistake of labeling himself as a Clemson fan which didnt make it any better for him with his readers. Of course he wants Spurrier gone, Spurrier has been taking ole Dabo and the Clemson Tigers to the woodshed every last week in November for the past 3 years. Luckily for Chris Haire his market and for that employer is on a very small scale so it doesnt cause too much of a stir. but i guess all this just proves the old saying true. You cant get to the top with out making a few enemies along the way. and the top is where Spurrier has this program going along with AD Ray Tanner and President Harris Pastides. Go Cocks.