[FONT=Arial, Helvetica, San Serif]COMMENTARY: Saban's strict media policy could pose big problem
[/FONT]
By Tom Ensey
Montgomery Advertiser
[FONT=Arial, Helvetica, San Serif]
Parade, halt. Time for a little rain.
The Saban administration at Alabama seems to be moving along with spring, spark and alacrity. He's got a staff, he's recruiting, he looks like he's about to drop in his tracks after an NFL season and now this, but that's good. Tired and persevering is a good look for a coach. He's a hard worker.
I've already seen several versions of photo-shopped pictures of Saban walking on water. The fans are as stoked as the day they met the plane.
Good show. Roll Tide and all that.
Um, but. I can see trouble brewing. Something that could escalate into a real joy-buster.
Saban seems to have a downright peculiar attitude concerning the media. He's 55 years old, has been coaching all his adult life and really seems to think he can tell reporters when and what to report about his program.
In a news conference last week in Tuscaloosa, he was scolding everyone for reporting news about his prospective staff.
He hadn't had time to do his "due diligence" on prospective employees.
"Due diligence" is a phrase he's fond of using to explain why reporters shouldn't do their jobs. And yet, due diligence or no, there the news was, breaking out in the papers and on the Internet and the radio and all. It just wasn't time, it just wasn't right that information be made public -- despite the fact that it was accurate.
The media caused him so much trouble in Miami, he said, as he wrestled with the decision whether or not to come to Alabama. The cart was before the horse, and it wasn't time, it wasn't right to report the things they reported.
Oh, please.
Saban's problems with the media in Miami started well before last December. And Saban's problems in December stemmed not so much from the media as from standing up in a room full of them and lying.
Words of wisdom: Never cuss a cop; never bump an official; never lie to a reporter. All will make bad things worse.
Saban has declared team members and assistant coaches off-limits for interviews. Only he may speak on behalf of the program.
This has never happened in the state of Alabama. And the state of Alabama is a really bad place to attempt the implementation of such a policy.
Here is why: The press corps that covers Alabama football is more dogged than any other, anywhere. It is under more pressure than any other, anywhere.
Alabama's football program is the biggest story in the state, day in and day out. The fans who make paying a coach $4 million a year possible can't get enough information. They want to know everything, up to and including how the second-team right offensive tackle is coming with his footwork problems.
For better or worse -- the media, those grubby, unshorn schmucks driving late-model Hondas -- are the program's only link to its fans.
Furthermore, Alabama football beat writers get fired if they don't break news. Nick Saban is the highest-paid state employee, ever. Those ink-stained, camera-toting drudges making 1/1000th of his salary are the ones who will hold him accountable to the public.
You don't tell a wolfpack that it will feed at your convenience, at a time of your choosing, and that you will put equal portions in all their bowls, and they will be good dogs.
Yeah. This could be a problem.
[/FONT]
[/FONT]
By Tom Ensey
Montgomery Advertiser
[FONT=Arial, Helvetica, San Serif]
Parade, halt. Time for a little rain.
The Saban administration at Alabama seems to be moving along with spring, spark and alacrity. He's got a staff, he's recruiting, he looks like he's about to drop in his tracks after an NFL season and now this, but that's good. Tired and persevering is a good look for a coach. He's a hard worker.
I've already seen several versions of photo-shopped pictures of Saban walking on water. The fans are as stoked as the day they met the plane.
Good show. Roll Tide and all that.
Um, but. I can see trouble brewing. Something that could escalate into a real joy-buster.
Saban seems to have a downright peculiar attitude concerning the media. He's 55 years old, has been coaching all his adult life and really seems to think he can tell reporters when and what to report about his program.
In a news conference last week in Tuscaloosa, he was scolding everyone for reporting news about his prospective staff.
He hadn't had time to do his "due diligence" on prospective employees.
"Due diligence" is a phrase he's fond of using to explain why reporters shouldn't do their jobs. And yet, due diligence or no, there the news was, breaking out in the papers and on the Internet and the radio and all. It just wasn't time, it just wasn't right that information be made public -- despite the fact that it was accurate.
The media caused him so much trouble in Miami, he said, as he wrestled with the decision whether or not to come to Alabama. The cart was before the horse, and it wasn't time, it wasn't right to report the things they reported.
Oh, please.
Saban's problems with the media in Miami started well before last December. And Saban's problems in December stemmed not so much from the media as from standing up in a room full of them and lying.
Words of wisdom: Never cuss a cop; never bump an official; never lie to a reporter. All will make bad things worse.
Saban has declared team members and assistant coaches off-limits for interviews. Only he may speak on behalf of the program.
This has never happened in the state of Alabama. And the state of Alabama is a really bad place to attempt the implementation of such a policy.
Here is why: The press corps that covers Alabama football is more dogged than any other, anywhere. It is under more pressure than any other, anywhere.
Alabama's football program is the biggest story in the state, day in and day out. The fans who make paying a coach $4 million a year possible can't get enough information. They want to know everything, up to and including how the second-team right offensive tackle is coming with his footwork problems.
For better or worse -- the media, those grubby, unshorn schmucks driving late-model Hondas -- are the program's only link to its fans.
Furthermore, Alabama football beat writers get fired if they don't break news. Nick Saban is the highest-paid state employee, ever. Those ink-stained, camera-toting drudges making 1/1000th of his salary are the ones who will hold him accountable to the public.
You don't tell a wolfpack that it will feed at your convenience, at a time of your choosing, and that you will put equal portions in all their bowls, and they will be good dogs.
Yeah. This could be a problem.
[/FONT]
