Red Smith, one of the greatest sports writers of all time, was among those who called the sports section the toy department of the newspaper business — a harmless diversion tucked behind stories about crime and politics and serious issues. But in Smith’s day — or for many of his days — professional athletes were often paid little enough that they took blue collar jobs in the off-season to help pay their mortgages or buy their children’s shoes. Now, of course, it’s common for an athlete to make more than many small businesses. Once upon a time, Babe Ruth had to justify his making $5,000 more than the president of the United States. (“I had a better year than he did,” the Bambino said.) Last season, Alex Rodriguez’s compensation eclipsed the president’s before A-Rod was three games into the season.
Even among amateurs, the stakes are pretty high. Nearly every college athletics department spends more money than it makes — even including the fees students are required to pay.
Yet athletes often get free educations and lots of perquisites, and coaches pull down millions of dollars. And journalists — college and professional — spend hours and hours writing and talking and debating what goes on collegiate athletic fields. The Cavaliers’ most recent loss to Virginia Tech’s football team has spawned one story, two columns and a whole bunch of online comments and tweets through The Cavalier Daily alone.
Fritz Metzinger’s game day story (“Virginia loses season-ending heartbreaker to Tech,” Nov. 24) began a theme that’s run through most, if not all of what followed. Metzinger wrote: “Controversial time-management from Coach Mike London in the buildup to [Hokie kicker Cody] Journell’s game-winner overshadowed a mostly stout defensive performance for the Cavaliers … With the Hokies (6-6, 4-4 ACC) facing third and seven at the Virginia 10 with slightly more than a minute remaining following a costly interception by Cavalier junior quarterback Michael Rocco, London elected against using either of his team’s two remaining timeouts. As a result, Virginia Tech was able to run the clock down to 0:04 for Journell’s attempt — at which point London called both timeouts in an apparent effort to ‘ice’ the kicker.”
In his column two days later, (“An avoidable collapse,” Nov. 26) Metzinger wrote of the “Virginia coaching staff’s collective brain fart” and declared, “the failure to preserve time for a final Virginia drive robbed the team of a chance for its first Commonwealth Cup since ‘The Cat in the Hat’ topped the box office — no, really — and giftwrapped a bowl bid for a hated rival whose helmet features a turkey that resembles a villain in a straight-to-DVD Disney movie.
“London’s refusal to start dispensing Virginia’s timeouts when the Hokies faced a third and seven with just more than a minute remaining was more inexcusably inane than the standard Metta World Peace quote.”
Ashley Robertson, in a game day column, (“I believe in Coach London,” Nov. 24) wrote, “London’s timeout use — or lack thereof — was admittedly an indefensible, inexplicable decision. During the game’s waning seconds, I futilely screamed at the television for a whistle. We may not have beaten Virginia Tech with an extra 45 seconds, but the team deserved an opportunity to try.
“Worse, the botched decision follows a series of boneheaded mistakes this year: a crippling quarterback controversy, 12-men-on-the-field-gate, even the failed fake field goal against Tech earlier that game. Such critical errors raise red flags about London’s ability to manage games successfully.” Then she threw in a caveat: “But that doesn’t mean London can’t be a successful — or even a great — college football coach at Virginia.” London was the ACC’s coach of the year in 2011, after all.
It’s good to see differing views among The Cavalier Daily’s columnists. It shows that people are actually thinking, instead of engaging in groupthink. It’s good to see the spirited discussions those columns generated. But one thing about the columns and the game story and — unless I missed something — the tweets is disturbing. The man at their collective focal point wasn’t there.
There was no quote from London about late game time management or any other problem the writers found with this season’s football team. Robertson included an old quote: “Earlier this season London told his fans, ‘Hang with us. Don’t leave. Hang with us. We’ll be fine. We’ll be all right. We need your support. I’ll coach the guys harder; I’ll coach the guys better. We’ll be representatives of this University.’” That was it. How a coach and a team represents a university really does involve more than wins and losses. Ask supporters of Penn State, one of the teams the Cavaliers defeated this year, about that. But that’s a philosophical issue. The main journalistic issue with this coverage is that if a man is going to be pilloried in print, that man ought to have a chance to defend himself.
Tim Thornton is the ombudsman for The Cavalier Daily. He can be reached at ombud@cavalierdaily.com.
Read More
IYER: Sports stadiums should sport more benefit to Virginia residents
By Arjun Iyer | YesterdayPast stadiums in other states show that Virginia has the potential to succeed at such a construction project, provided that proper measures are undertaken.
KURTZWEIL: True financial aid must be transparent
By Paul Kurtzweil | 5 days agoThe implications and revelations of the lawsuit should inspire greater transparency at the University in order to ensure that financial aid is properly and equitably distributed.
SULLIVAN: Ramp up physical accessibility on Grounds
By Scarlett Sullivan | April 27, 2024The University must take responsibility for the inaccessibility of Grounds and work to promote accessibility for all students despite misguided laws.
