Spurrier gets Sportswriter banned ....

[Edisto_Tiger]

What a whining little bitch. Can't believe "The State" would bow to this douchenozzle. I take that back. It's not his fault, it's the paper's fault. They should just close their doors. What a fucking shame.


KEN BURGER Sign of the Apocalypse » KEN BURGER

If reports from the blogosphere are true, The State newspaper in Columbia has further reduced its once-proud reputation to the dust bin of journalism by buckling to the bidding of a football coach.

Granted, University of South Carolina football coach Steve Spurrier has lifted the Gamecock program to soaring heights of expectation since his arrival on the USC campus, but it has come with a cost to life as we used to know it.

A media blogger reported earlier this week that The State, once the largest circulation newspaper in the Palmetto State, has banned its premiere sports columnist Ron Morris from writing about South Carolina football, allegedly because he wrote negative articles that the head coach did not like.


Indeed, in recent years, Spurrier and Morris have had public spats and in 2012 the coach refused to speak at press conferences if the local columnist was present. The squabble has intensified since, to the point where the newspaper’s publisher reportedly ordered Morris not to write about or speak on TV or radio about Spurrier’s program.

Morris, who has been writing for the paper for almost two decades, has recently been covering Clemson, USC’s in-state rival.

To make things worse, the Columbia paper also hired a local “superfan” to write for its sports section, a former blogger who Spurrier endorsed in hopes of getting positive coverage.

In the eyes of many loyal Gamecock fans, this is a major coup for their cause. Anybody who disagrees or confronts a popular coach is the enemy and therefore deserving of this kind of banishment.

But to those of us who care about quality sports journalism, this is the ultimate sign of the apocalypse.

I offer this perspective from two directions:

(1) I was a sports writer for the Columbia newspapers in the 1970s when its controversial sports columnist, Herman Helms, received death threats because he wrote disapprovingly about coaches Paul Dietzel and Frank McGuire. Despite heavy and intense pressure from local fans and power brokers to get rid of Helms, the then-family-owned newspaper stood its ground and backed its columnist, who was right.

(2) As a sports columnist for The Post and Courier newspaper in Charleston for more than 20 years, I know the kind of childish tantrums coaches can throw when they don’t like the tone of the coverage from someone in the media. I’ve had my share of coaches and athletic directors who didn’t want to talk to me for whatever reason, but they got over it.

So, here’s what I think about this:

The continuous downsizing of The State’s once-award-winning coverage across the board in the last decade has been a demoralizing reality for those of us who once plied our trade there. In short, the paper has become a shadow of its former self.

This kowtowing to a football coach is just the latest in a slow slide to mediocrity that has been the newspaper’s fate under out-of-state ownership and decreasing revenue.

But there’s enough blame on both sides to go around. As a sports columnist, as I said, I’ve had my differences with coaches, but never let petty disagreements get in the way of doing my job. Eventually, we would sit down behind the bleachers and settle things so we both can move on.

This spat between Ron Morris and Spurrier goes back a long way. Morris covered Spurrier at Duke and Florida before they both wound up in Columbia. While it appears on the surface to be professional, it’s also personal.

Bottom line, it never should have come to this. But, then again, it’s Gamecock Football, so I’m not surprised it did.

Sad.

- See more at: KEN BURGERSign of the Apocalypse » KEN BURGER

 

[ktg8trgrl]

Welcome to the world of Steve Spurrier... Don't you KNOW who he is??

 

[Edisto_Tiger]

Welcome to the world of Steve Spurrier... Don't you KNOW who he is??

 

[4down20]

 

[Edisto_Tiger]

lol

 

[yourTEAMreallySUCKS]

Just because I'm a gamecock doesn't mean I have to like spurrier. Guys a fucktard......

 

[24seven]

Morris is nothing but a shit stirring turd. He generates his readership by being as shocking as possible. I guess to put it in SportsHoopla terms, he's just a fucking troll (though a good one, as he gets what he wants, which is a bunch of angry responses).

Thus, this statement by Burger is not applicable in this situation:
"But to those of us who care about quality sports journalism, this is the ultimate sign of the apocalypse."

As a sports columnist in Columbia myself I do the same thing sometimes, though at least I usually troll the opponents or rivals by saying shit like "UGA vs. Clemson was like a high school game" or something. But still, even that is only occasional. Morris does it to the local fans full time as his schtick. It's old and tired, and so SpurrierDown banned him. Big deal.

 

[Edisto_Tiger]

Just because I'm a gamecock doesn't mean I have to like spurrier. Guys a fucktard......

Damn it!! I suck at this trolling thing.

 

[yourTEAMreallySUCKS]

Damn it!! I suck at this trolling thing.

I'm in the minority. I'm tired of being a coaching retirement home. Wish we would get a coach of our own instead of being an experiment/project for big name coaches. I hated spurrier at Florida and I hate him now. No coach talks more shit than him, and it just shows how much of a douchebag he is by being able to dish it out, but not being able to take it.....

 

[Golden Spur]

Ron Morris Again Allowed To Cover Steve Spurrier And South Carolina

 

[Golden Spur]

247 is dead on -> Morris has been over the top trying to stir up drama. He's a troll.

 

[Rolltide94]

247 is dead on -> Morris has been over the top trying to stir up drama. He's a troll.

 

[Edisto_Tiger]

I'll have to read some of his articles. To be honest with ya, I have never read anything he has written.

 

[MarkOU]

Don't blame spurrier. Blame the AD and and university president.

, in recent years, Spurrier and Morris have had public spats and in 2012 the coach refused to speak at press conferences if the local columnist was present

If Spurrier dictates when to talk to the media, then only his bosses are to blame. Who runs the show?

 

[Edisto_Tiger]

Don't blame spurrier. Blame the AD and and university president.



If Spurrier dictates when to talk to the media, then only his bosses are to blame. Who runs the show?

The Ole Ball Sack does.

 

[HawkeyesRuleURFace]

Who cares...the sec cheats

 

[Yu Lee - A Nova Lover]

That's HOT ! ! !