AP dumps voter ... and it isn't Whitlock

AP just moved this ...

A voter for The Associated Press college football poll was removed from the poll board Wednesday because he mistakenly thought Oklahoma had lost to Texas Tech and voted the Sooners lower in this week's rankings.
Jim Kleinpeter of The Times-Picayune of New Orleans said he tried to find the score of the Oklahoma game, but was unable to do so.
He said he was in the press box at the Alabama-LSU game "and I was asking about different teams, thinking about the poll the next day. ... I thought somebody told me that Oklahoma was losing to Texas Tech at some point. And I asked after the LSU game was over, "Did Oklahoma win?' Somebody said Oklahoma lost," Kleinpeter said.
The Sooners rallied from a 14-point deficit to beat Texas Tech 34-24.
Because he believed the Sooners (8-2, 5-1) had lost, Kleinpeter said he dropped Oklahoma from 15th to 24th on his ballot.
The Sooners actually moved up one spot, from No. 17 to No. 16, in the current poll.
"It was my fault. I probably had other avenues I could have gone to get the score, but I usually rely on the morning paper here in Baton Rouge. And for some reason, they didn't have the score. I looked all through it," he said.
"It's as simple as that. It was a mistake," he said. "I usually never have a problem with accuracy. It's the most important thing for me."
AP sports editor Terry Taylor said: "We understand mistakes can happen, but we thought this one could have been prevented. The heart of the matter here is the credibility of the poll."

 

I'm not 100 percent, but I think he also thought Auburn beat Georgia and kept them at No. 8.

 

What credibility? The poll doesn't matter anymore, does it?

 

Couldn't he have just gone online and looked? How long would that have taken?

 

In a press box, that seems like a very viable option.

 

I'm going to go out on a limb and assume they have wireless in that press box and that he had a laptop, working for that big of a paper, so there is no excuse.
If you don't feel like doing something as basic as looking up the scores then you should turn down the opportunity to vote in the poll.

 

I will say that this guy's reasons for the errors are pretty weak.

 

He also said he relied on the morning paper in Baton Rouge for scores.

So it sounds like this wasn't just a pressbox issue. He could have looked up the score at home (unless he didn't have Internet there). And if he doesn't have the Internet at home, make a trip to the office if you have to.

 

Ridiculous.

Internet options include: Pressbox on your own laptop. Pressbox on someone else's laptop. Office computer. Home computer.

Options once logged onto the internet include: Any fucking sports/news site which lists "Scoreboard" as a link.

Other options: Radio. Sportscenter. Sporting News Radio. FSN.

This is an inexecusable mistake with appopriate "punishment."

 

How about the option of asking someone at your paper the score when you call to confirm your story made it through or if there were any questions on your story?

 

Which is a hell of a thing for the guy from the New Orleans paper to admit. I know you want to check the competition, but to use it for your primary news source?

 

The votes are sent in by email, I believe. So he had to be hooked up to the internet to send in the vote. No excuse whatsoever.

Terry Taylor did the right thing.

It's gotta be embarassing in the pressbox for Kleinpeter this week.