[NU Sports] The view from Madison

Mon Nov 23 14:05:11 CST 2009

I don't recall how much of this was publicized on this listserv, but
O'Donnell has a beef with some members of the NU athletic department (not NU
as a whole).  He wrote relatively well-liked articles until Nov. 12 (
http://www.suntimes.com/sports/colleges/1880140,CST-SPT-nu12.article), since
when he's taken a decidedly negative tone towards Northwestern as much as
possible.  He's also been rumored to have been trolling on the NU message
boards as well.

It's clear that he is inserting bias into virtually every piece and the only
conceivable solution at this point is to take him off the beat, which I hope
they do in short order (probably not until after the bowl, though).  Casual
fans who don't know the backstory will likely be put off or confused by the
nonsense that doesn't belong in the coverage.

In the meantime one can always go to the Trib (where Greenstein, an NU alum,
writes), Daily Herald, or one of the many online sites that covers NU.

Jonathan

On Mon, Nov 23, 2009 at 1:49 PM, Beamsley, Jeff
<Jeff.Beamsley at covisint.com>wrote:

> These days there appears to be economic advantage to be the guy that
> stirs the pot and calls people names.
>
> O'Donnell may have some legitimate beef about some past injustice and
> has decided to take it out on NU now.  My neighbor still holds a grudge
> against UoM because they rejected his daughter and give us the stink eye
> when we put out our NU and UoM flags (oldest son graduated from UoM).
>
> More likely he has just found a role that gets him more publicity than
> he previously was getting, so being a smart guy, he's running with it.
>
> Jeff
>
>
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> From: nwu-sports-bounces at tssi.com [mailto:nwu-sports-bounces at tssi.com]
> On Behalf Of cherron604 at aol.com
> Sent: Monday, November 23, 2009 2:41 PM
> To: rstetson at capps-assoc.com; nwu-sports at tssi.com
> Subject: Re: [NU Sports] The view from Madison
>
>
> I wonder, sometimes, whether the praise some opponents give us (about
> being 'smart') isn't a protective mechanism for them (i.e. NU beat us
> because they're 'smart', not because they're more talented or better
> prepared).
>
> On a different front, Jim O'Donnell's sniping before and after the game
> has shown, I think, that he cannot cover the beat and remain objective.
> Whoever the dispute is with - the University, the Athletic Department or
> the team, the Sun-Times needs to do something (like let Herb Gould work
> on his tan while JO sits and simmers in Chicago).
>
> Saturday:
>
> " The Badgers (8-2, 5-2) forage into Evanston meaning business. The
> Wildcats prance toward a Grade-C bowl clinging to their annual
> mitigations about ''character guys'' and ''building a foundation.''
>
> Sunday:
>
> "The 32,150 who showed up at Ryan Field on Saturday -- the majority of
> whom wore Wisconsin red -- enabled the Wildcats to complete their
> seven-game home schedule with an announced average attendance of just
> more than 24,000 per game. That translates to approximately 52 percent
> capacity at Ryan Field. Maybe they will bring friends to the
> Northwestern bowl game."
>
> Monday:
>
> "Though Fitzgerald and athletic director Jim Phillips now must convince
> more prestigious bowl committees that Northwestern ''travels well,'' the
> staff could have done the school a huge favor Saturday if it had
> promptly released information to all significant media bolstering their
> case.
> Instead, Fitzgerald delivered a snappy diatribe, and prospective bowls
> were left looking at a school and a program that barely averaged 50
> percent capacity -- approximately 24,000 per game -- for seven home
> games this season.
> Perhaps Phillips and Fitzgerald will correct the departmental oversight
> with a de facto bowl economic-impact summary at the coach's noon news
> conference today."
>
> Though the third one almost sounds like staff-bashing rather than
> Cat-bashing...It would be nice to know his exact motives.
>
> Chuck Herron   Tech '85
>
>
>
>
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Roy Lamberton <rstetson at capps-assoc.com>
> To: cherron604 at aol.com; nwu-sports at tssi.com
> Sent: Mon, Nov 23, 2009 12:49 pm
> Subject: RE: [NU Sports] The view from Madison
>
>
> Well, shame on their defensive guys for not changing the signals
> regularly.
> aybe they can't
> ount on their players being smart enough to learn new signals each week?
> I would think the coverages would have the same names, but turning them
> on and ff would require  signal change - of course maybe the Cats also
> watched enough film to know hich coverage Wiscy as in or changing to
> when they did it.
> Anyway, I get tired of players whining about another coach appearing to
> read heir minds. They ere giving away their coverages, our guys were
> well schooled in what those overages were, and e took advantage of that.
> They had video of our defense, and should have been ble to read them
> lso, but they didn't.
> rsl
> ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
> oy S. Lamberton - Senior Associate & Unix Guru.
> omputer Applications & Support Associates
> ------------------- Also ---------------------- ommissioner Delaware
> American Legion Baseball etired Senior Chief Cryptologic Technician [R]
> orthwestern University - Speech 1974 - hi Phi: Pi 1974, KD 1968 ublisher
> Emeritus: Purple Reign (Fox Sports) =========  Go Cats -  Beat 'em All
> =========== o...
>    How's that "hope" and "Change"
>    Working for ya?
> Don't re-elect nobody, not even yo mama!
> ===============================================
> -----Original Message-----
> rom: nwu-sports-bounces at tssi.com [mailto:nwu-sports-bounces at tssi.com] On
> Behalf f herron604 at aol.com
> ent: Monday, November 23, 2009 12:25 PM
> o: nwu-sports at tssi.com
> ubject: [NU Sports] The view from Madison
>
> ttp://host.madison.com/sports/college/football/article_5750772e-d719-11d
> e-93d9-001cc4c002e0.htm<http://host.madison.com/sports/college/football/article_5750772e-d719-11d%0Ae-93d9-001cc4c002e0.htm>
>
> The Hank/Inside info angle is very interesting, equally interesting is
> the omplete respect they ave for the intelligence of our guys - they go
> out of their way to emphasize t.
> Chuck Herron   Tech '85
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