NY Times story on UK beatwriter Jerry Tipton

At SEC media days a zillion years ago I remember a young writer asking one of the SEC PR guys which coach was Rick Stansbury. The guy (ironically, probably Peevy...) said, "He's the one standing next to Jerry Tipton."

That just really struck me as being funny at the time.

 

As I'm sure Tipton is well aware, vitriolic criticism, including death threats, for a beat reporter means that everyone is reading his or her stuff every day. Casual drop-ins don't go ballistic about stories

 

We all know what kind of mail beat writers receive. Readers of The New York Times were probably enlightened. It's not as if they are immersed in it like we are. I have no problem with this being a story, especially with tonight's game setting the table.

I enjoyed all of my interaction with Jerry, and his presence in a press box one day in Lexington led to one of my favorite (and quite undeserved) compliments of my beat career, so there's that.

 

You don't think the NY Times knows reporters get hate mail and death threats?

 

I do. Why do you ask?

 

It would be interesting to compare hate mail that college writers get to that which writers who cover professional teams get.

It's funny, I remember a well-known college writer who would probably be the first to admit that he is a complete homer for the team he covers was complaining about the hate mail that he gets.

 

I once received a package with stale cheese and dog shit in it. My usual shift started in the afternoon, so I wasn't in yet, but by mid-morning, with the mail still piled up on a counter top up front, the receptionist called the managing editor.

"Could you come get the mail?" she asked. "It stinks."

 

I once got a call from someone who said, "You better watch yourself. I know where you live." and he listed my apartment number and then said, "You usually leave around 10, but you come back around 2. Then you go back out around 4 and then don't get back til really late."

That scared the shit out of me.

 

Not related to sports writers and disgruntled readers, but my best friend in college had an ex-girlfriend who was stalking him. One day, he came home to find the piano exit from "Layla" had been left as a message on his answering machine (a la the scene in "Goodfellas" where they find all the dead bodies).

Scared the hell out of him. It wasn't until years later he found it was another friend of ours who had left the message, specifically trying to freak him out.

 

That's even spookier considering who wrote that piano section -- and the horrific way in which he killed his mother.

 

Because I think you are incorrect.

I wanted to make sure it wasn't sarcastic, because I missed one of those last week.

 

Your question was: You don't think the NY Times knows reporters get hate mail and death threats?

My answer was: I do.

I do think The NY Times knows reporters get hate mail and death threats.