[yvonne]

This blog post didn't seem significant to me until I read:

Of course, this process often creates a bit of tension when the player draws a "Who?" while representing a program with a guy who's on preseason All-America teams.

See if you can guess which leading Voldemort Trophy candidate won't be attending media day.

http://espn.go.com/blog/pac12/post/_/id/...day-lineup

[yvonne]

This blog post didn't seem significant to me until I read:

Of course, this process often creates a bit of tension when the player draws a "Who?" while representing a program with a guy who's on preseason All-America teams.

See if you can guess which leading Voldemort Trophy candidate won't be attending media day.

http://espn.go.com/blog/pac12/post/_/id/...day-lineup

[Spiny_Norman]

David Paulson from Oregon?  Who is that?  Oh, wait - I know him as Dave.  That's why I did not recognize his name at first.

Perhaps this belongs in separate thread, but I thought this was an appropriate place to link to Andy Staples' excellent guide to Cheating in College Athletics (Your guide to smarter NCAA rule-breaking):

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2011/wr...index.html

[Spiny_Norman]

David Paulson from Oregon?  Who is that?  Oh, wait - I know him as Dave.  That's why I did not recognize his name at first.

Perhaps this belongs in separate thread, but I thought this was an appropriate place to link to Andy Staples' excellent guide to Cheating in College Athletics (Your guide to smarter NCAA rule-breaking):

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2011/wr...index.html

[unclechuck]

Another perspective from a well regarded professional journalist that might help temper some of the smugness here:

http://msn.foxsports.com/collegefootball...rat-070611

A bit more help: David Paulson is a a senior, a returning all Pac10 selection @ his position of tight end, and an elected team leader. LaMichael James showed class and dignity, and even a sense of humor @ the Voldemort and Doak Walker trophy presentations this past winter. He's had plenty of press opportunities in 2011.

His not being @ media day seems like a no brainer for folks interested in Pac12 football, though media sluts hustling desperately for their Woodward/Bernstein moment (Canzano, Schroeder) will be disappointed in a missed opportunity to hijack media day to their own purposes.

[unclechuck]

Another perspective from a well regarded professional journalist that might help temper some of the smugness here:

http://msn.foxsports.com/collegefootball...rat-070611

A bit more help: David Paulson is a a senior, a returning all Pac10 selection @ his position of tight end, and an elected team leader. LaMichael James showed class and dignity, and even a sense of humor @ the Voldemort and Doak Walker trophy presentations this past winter. He's had plenty of press opportunities in 2011.

His not being @ media day seems like a no brainer for folks interested in Pac12 football, though media sluts hustling desperately for their Woodward/Bernstein moment (Canzano, Schroeder) will be disappointed in a missed opportunity to hijack media day to their own purposes.

[97fan]

Whitlock is a talented columnist, and he obviously has strong opinions about the NCAA (which I generally agree with). But he doesn't let the facts get in the way of a preconceived storyline, which is why he served up a boatload of softball questions when he had the chance to interview Lyles. At that point he saw Lyles as the fall guy, beset by powerful forces, and portrayed him sympathetically. Now that Lyles has told a different story - exposing a self-interested side of himself that should have obvious to Whitlock from the start - Whitlock feels betrayed. And so he lashes out at the guy.

Also, I'm not sure why he's going after the Yahoo! reporters. They're just in it for the glory, he suggests, and couldn't care less about LaMichael James or Lache Seastrunk. And sure, on some level there's something to that. But journalism is supposed to be about truth-telling, and the Yahoo! guys get that. Based on the audio of his interview with Lyles, I'm not sure that Whitlock sees truth-telling as his role.

[97fan]

Whitlock is a talented columnist, and he obviously has strong opinions about the NCAA (which I generally agree with). But he doesn't let the facts get in the way of a preconceived storyline, which is why he served up a boatload of softball questions when he had the chance to interview Lyles. At that point he saw Lyles as the fall guy, beset by powerful forces, and portrayed him sympathetically. Now that Lyles has told a different story - exposing a self-interested side of himself that should have obvious to Whitlock from the start - Whitlock feels betrayed. And so he lashes out at the guy.

Also, I'm not sure why he's going after the Yahoo! reporters. They're just in it for the glory, he suggests, and couldn't care less about LaMichael James or Lache Seastrunk. And sure, on some level there's something to that. But journalism is supposed to be about truth-telling, and the Yahoo! guys get that. Based on the audio of his interview with Lyles, I'm not sure that Whitlock sees truth-telling as his role.