New FWAA president is mad as heck

The school I cover (FCS) does this, but it's more as a courtesy to the athlete so he kind of has an idea of the line of questioning that he's going to get coming in. So I'll say, I want to talk to so-and-so because I'm doing a feature on blah blah, and that usually suffices. I've never had the SID turn down a request or anything.

 

I'm all for what Ron is saying. It has gotten absolutely ridiculous in some places.

What I am not seeing is the ammunition with which the FWAA plans to attack. What bargaining chips do they have if a coach is just going to say, "I don't give a damn what you think; these are my rules"?

Spell out what your power base is, and I'll think a lot more of your chances of getting what you want accomplished.

 

I think things have gotten so bad that complaints must be very carefully worded. It isn't just that we have to be selective in the battles we wage; we must be diplomatic when we wage them. Demands for respect don't work anymore. In fact, they're counterproductive.
Most of the games are on TV, but that's not the only issue. Thanks to the Internet, schools have their own media outlets they can use to deliver info to their fans. They just don't need us very much anymore.

 

To be fair, the number of journalists seeking access to a coach or a player in the last 15 years has probably multiplied 10 times while there still is just one coach and the same number of players and still only 24 hours a day.
While the number of journalists who are seeking access to a public official in the last 15 years has probably declined 50 percent or more (and there are probably a few more public officials since then).

 

Hail to the Chief. This is a good thing you are doing.

 

I can't believe the username "ThePrez" wasn't already taken.

 

I'd like to see FOIA requests at some schools handled more reasonably. I've dealt with some crap, but the Bama guys have horror stories about simple shit taking months just because ... well ... they're Bama, and he's Saban, and that's that.

 

That's a flaw in many state laws. If your open-records law doesn't give a firm time limit and only says something vague (like the requests must be fulfilled in a "timely" manner), you can bet the government will interpret "timely" to be as long as they want it to be.

 

I can't believe he took it. Ron's a good guy, but the title is a bit pretentious. What was he last year, TheVicePrez? Next year, will he take up the handle ThePastPrez?

I know, I know. Just having a little fun. I'm sure Ron is, too.

And I agree with his agenda, though I also agree with those who doubt much can be done.

 

I was one of the people who emailed Ron. Here's a way to put the lack of access into perspective: Based on the number of national championships won, two of the most successful programs in college football in the last 25 years have been Miami and Florida State (seven titles). Those two schools also have been among the best in terms of media access, to the players, to assistants and to the head coach. Therefore, the correlation of being restrictive to the media and winning does not exist. Miami and FSU (and Virginia Tech, I suppose) have proven that you can throw open access to your program and still kick everyone's ass.

And there are also side benefits: it's pretty clear, I think, that Bobby Bowden has gotten a pass on a lot of stuff because he's been buddy-buddy with the media over the years.

Here's another part I find surprising: since coaches are notorious copy-cats, ready to pounce on something that has worked somewhere else (how many spread offenses are you seeing?), why hasn't a coach thought to himself: "Gee, maybe I should just let the players and assistants get interviewed whenever the media wants, and I might win like FSU and Miami."

 

USC, too.

 

Yes, next year I will become the PastPrez and the WayPast Prez. Seriously, I appreciate the response and E-mails. The more horror stories I hear, the more material I'll have as examples in conversations and meetings with several BCS commissioners.
And Hondo, you're correct about coaches being copycats. I'm already seeing the Saban effect in the SEC.