Matthew Stevens is GONE!!!!!!!

[TheRef]

Matthew Stevens
@matthewcstevens
Unfortunately, I was terminated from The Commercial Dispatch. I accept this as a consequence for my comments & I?ll always be remorseful.

11:47am ? 9 Jun 2014 ? TweetDeck

[TexasDawg]

About damn time

[whosyourdawgy]

@matthewcstevens: Unfortunately, I was terminated from The Commercial Dispatch. I accept this as a consequence for my comments & I?ll always be remorseful.

[CadaverDawg]

Hate seeing someone get fired, but you can't go around being a pompous ass, making the comments about ULL, and disrespecting the team you beat write for, and expect there to never be a consequence. Hate it for him

[TheRef]

Well with Matty gone, will Hadad get an axe in some shape, way, form, or fashion?

[BeardoMSU]

This is the same guy who talks so much shit about us on the podcast, right?

[thedawg]

Hate seeing someone get fired, but you can't go around being a pompous ass and disrespecting the team you beat write for, and expect there to never be a consequence. Hate it for him
Totally agree... I never root for someone losing their opportunity to make a living but on the other hand you can only be a dick for so long... hopefully he will learn and grow from this whole experience (I mean the whole Dispatch experience including the way he has dealt with Mississippi State as well)

[Political Hack]

Amazing that ULaLa can get a guy canned in Columbus, MS but State can't.

[RattStevens]

What did this Matt Stevens person do that was so bad?

[Tbonewannabe]

I wonder if he would have approached his job differently if he was in Birmingham writing about Bama? If he took the same approach he would have lost his job and had his house burned down after about a month.

[TheRef]

Interesting thought from John Pitts.

John L. Pitts
@JohnLPitts
You can have a "teachable moment" or you can have a "firing offense," but I'm damned if I can see how one thing can be both.

12:15pm ? 9 Jun 2014 ? Twitter Web Client

[Pioneer Dawg]

Hate that someone was fired even if it was Stevens. PC bullshit.

[thf24]

Ironic that after two(?) whole years of shitty, immature coverage of us, it was a single instance of applying the same to a different team that got him.

[Johnson85]

Interesting thought from John Pitts.

John L. Pitts
@JohnLPitts
You can have a "teachable moment" or you can have a "firing offense," but I'm damned if I can see how one thing can be both.

12:15pm ? 9 Jun 2014 ? Twitter Web Client

??? I don't get this. Seems like a firing offense will often give rise to a teachable moment.

[notsofarawaydawg]

This reflects directly on HD6 and his attitude toward Mississippi State athletics. Another big pompous ass that needs to get shit canned and lose all his sponsors.

[Johnson85]

Hate that someone was fired even if it was Stevens. PC bullshit.

Was it PC bullshit or lack of professionalism?

I do think beat writers are now put in an almost impossible situation. I think there is less and less of a market for straight news writers, sports or otherwise. People want opinion and analysis and really entertainment mixed in with their news. Or at the very least, even if there is a spot for straight-up news, papers are not in a financial position to support both a straight news guy and an opinion/entertainer guy, so the same guy has to be both. In an ideal world, a beat writer should get canned for mocking an entire fan base while an opinion guy, who is at equal parts entertainer, should get more leeway. It gets complicated when your beat writer is also expected to provide entertainment.

Stevens has probably been flirting with crossing the line for a while; it is sort of ridiculous that the final straw was comments about an out of state fanbase. But I doubt he would have gotten canned for this one incident if he was consistently professional in his coverage of MSU.

[smootness]

??? I don't get this. Seems like a firing offense will often give rise to a teachable moment.

Yeah, I don't get it, either.

[smootness]

Hate that someone was fired even if it was Stevens. PC bullshit.

He got fired from his job because he did his job poorly. Obviously that didn't cause him to lose his job earlier, but it is ultimately what did it.

It isn't PC anything. A newspaper writer questioned whether Cajuns are people and basically went on a tirade he meant to be funny bashing an entire culture of people. That is doing a poor job as a newspaper writer.

[FFF]

This reflects directly on HD6 and his attitude toward Mississippi State athletics. Another big pompous ass that needs to get shit canned and lose all his sponsors.

As far as I know, BSR is not officially affiliated with the university, much like 6pack or ED. The commercial dispatch is a newspaper that demands more professionalism than BSR. I know most people hate HD, though..

[preachermatt83]

good riddance!

[TheRef]

As far as I know, BSR is not officially affiliated with the university, much like 6pack or ED. The commercial dispatch is a newspaper that demands more professionalism than BSR. I know most people hate HD, though..

Maybe so. But as a media professional, which by being GM of BSR and have a radio show on it makes him, you should know what is right and wrong to say on the radio. His comment of saying that people in South LA are sub-human is a firing offense, IMO. You can't do that as a media member and not expect you to lose a job over it. Just my $0.02

[Matty Dispatch]

I HATE YOU PEOPLE!!!!

[FFF]

Maybe so. But as a media professional, which by being GM of BSR and have a radio show on it makes him, you should know what is right and wrong to say on the radio. His comment of saying that people in South LA are sub-human is a firing offense, IMO. You can't do that as a media member and not expect you to lose a job over it. Just my $0.02

Yea, I agree with you there. That comment was over the top, no matter what setting. Hell, you wouldn't even see a comment like that here or 6pack (I never have in my years reading there or here).

[Todd4State]

I HATE YOU PEOPLE!!!!

What do you mean by "you people"?

[maroonmania]

I'm personally just glad he's not covering MSU anymore. Would have liked to have seen him just move on because I don't wish ill will on him personally but it would be nice to get someone to cover MSU who is not a full time negative nellie.

[BulldogBear]

I wonder if he would have approached his job differently if he was in Birmingham writing about Bama? If he took the same approach he would have lost his job and had his house burned down after about a month.

And his trees. Don't forget his trees***

[dickiedawg]

I really hate it if he was fired solely for the comments he made about Lafayette. Now if he'd been warned about some other crap, so be it.
That said, I will shed no tears for the loss of Matt Stephens from the MSU media corps.

[codeDawg]

He got fired from his job because he did his job poorly. Obviously that didn't cause him to lose his job earlier, but it is ultimately what did it.

It isn't PC anything. A newspaper writer questioned whether Cajuns are people and basically went on a tirade he meant to be funny bashing an entire culture of people. That is doing a poor job as a newspaper writer.

I guarantee nobody was happier about his tirade than his boss who finally had something concrete to base his firing off of. It's hard to fire somebody for being generally shitty. This just made it easier for the CL to dump him.

[MarketingBully01]

I really hate it if he was fired solely for the comments he made about Lafayette. Now if he'd been warned about some other crap, so be it.
That said, I will shed no tears for the loss of Matt Stephens from the MSU media corps.

It wasn't for these comments alone. He probably has been privatley suspended/reprimanded before for his comments on MSU. This was just the tipping point to get him fired. That is what I think happened. Surely, with so many Dog fans complaining about him the Commercial Dispatch was finally fed up with this. Columbus is much different then Jackson or even Tupelo with covering MSU considering it's only 24 miles from Starkville.

[Goat Holder]

It wasn't for these comments alone. He probably has been privatley suspended/reprimanded before for his comments on MSU. This was just the tipping point to get him fired. That is what I think happened. Surely, with so many Dog fans complaining about him the Commercial Dispatch was finally fed up with this. Columbus is much different then Jackson or even Tupelo with covering MSU considering it's only 24 miles from Starkville.

^^^ THIS ^^^

Cajun-Gate was simply the last straw.

[Coach34]

HD6 is simply a pizza-maker doing a radio show. He doesnt know any better. When you have a pizza maker hosting a radio show about something other than making pizza- you are bound to have problems

[hacker]

You can tell he's an asshole by the fact that he's still giving a half-assed apology. "I will be remorseful." Oh, shut the **** up dude.

[CadaverDawg]

HD6 is simply a pizza-maker doing a radio show. He doesnt know any better. When you have a pizza maker hosting a radio show about something other than making pizza- you are bound to have problems

Haha I laughed

[War Machine Dawg]

Good riddance. I vote we make this an official ED Board Holiday.

[BulldogBear]

I HATE YOU PEOPLE!!!!

We never doubted it.

[Political Hack]

What do you mean by "you people"?

hahaha.

[BogeyGolfer]

HD6 is simply a pizza-maker doing a radio show. He doesnt know any better. When you have a pizza maker hosting a radio show about something other than making pizza- you are bound to have problems

I don't know HD6 personally, but I do believe he is a true state fan. I never read Stevens so I can't comment, but how much can a Columbus beat writer really hurt us? I will say I used to enjoy 34 and HD6 pissing matches, they were entertaining.

[smootness]

I also like that he 'accepted' being fired, as though he had an option to decline.

'Hey, Matt, whadda ya think about being fired?'
'I wouldn't accept that.'
'Well, you're fired.'
'I accept.'

[TexasDawg]

Good riddance. I vote we make this an official ED Board Holiday.

Great idea, I second

[Todd4State]

Here's the thing that Stevens never got. He was a beat writer. All he is supposed to do is report whatever MSU puts out- injuries, quotes from the coaches, etc.

He wasn't supposed to interject his opinion and he was very confrontational for a reporter with MSU fans. I think he kind of looked down on us because we're from Mississippi is kind of the impression that I got. I've seen him call MSU fans delusional, and I saw him bragging on twitter about being right about MSU not hosting.

He's also not supposed to try to dig for some earth-shattering scandal story about MSU, and we have had beat writers do that in the past as well.

[BulldogDX55]

HD6 is simply a pizza-maker doing a radio show. He doesnt know any better. When you have a pizza maker hosting a radio show about something other than making pizza- you are bound to have problems

Where does he make pizza?

[ScoobaDawg]

Where does he make pizza?

He no longer does.

[maroonmania]

I don't know HD6 personally, but I do believe he is a true state fan. I never read Stevens so I can't comment, but how much can a Columbus beat writer really hurt us? I will say I used to enjoy 34 and HD6 pissing matches, they were entertaining.

Yea, I don't really understand the animosity here toward Hadad. I agree he definitely is a true MSU fan and he's entertaining on BSR. The fact that he and C34 don't care for each other doesn't impact me. Now he did bring Stevens back to do a BSR show which some didn't like but it wasn't that big a deal to me. At least he had Coleman on the show with him to balance him out and there was some good discussion there.

[drunkernhelldawg]

Here's the thing that Stevens never got. He was a beat writer. All he is supposed to do is report whatever MSU puts out- injuries, quotes from the coaches, etc.

He wasn't supposed to interject his opinion and he was very confrontational for a reporter with MSU fans. I think he kind of looked down on us because we're from Mississippi is kind of the impression that I got. I've seen him call MSU fans delusional, and I saw him bragging on twitter about being right about MSU not hosting.

He's also not supposed to try to dig for some earth-shattering scandal story about MSU, and we have had beat writers do that in the past as well.

This is goofy. Just forget journalism and read the press releases. Information control sucks.

[Johnson85]

I think he kind of looked down on us because we're from Mississippi is kind of the impression that I got.

These type of people crack me up. I can at least get why some a-hole from New York living in New York would trash Mississippi. But I'll never understand transplants in Mississippi trashing Mississippi. People that do that are basically advertising that (1) they suck at life so much that they can't arrange to live somewhere they think doesn't suck and (2) they're basically inferior to pretty much everybody else in Mississippi who either has managed to end up somewhere they like or at the very lease has the excuse that they are stuck in Mississippi because they were born here.

[drunkernhelldawg]

These type of people crack me up. I can at least get why some a-hole from New York living in New York would trash Mississippi. But I'll never understand transplants in Mississippi trashing Mississippi. People that do that are basically advertising that (1) they suck at life so much that they can't arrange to live somewhere they think doesn't suck and (2) they're basically inferior to pretty much everybody else in Mississippi who either has managed to end up somewhere they like or at the very lease has the excuse that they are stuck in Mississippi because they were born here.

That's my excuse, but I fear it's wearing thin.

[bluelightstar]

This is goofy. Just forget journalism and read the press releases. Information control sucks.

Glad I'm not the only one who doesn't understand why people expect that from beat writers. You want positive fluff - read Bob Carskadon. I expect different things from different people.

As far as Stevens being fired over saying "Cajun should be taught as a second language" and "I don't like Lafayette," suffice it to say that the Thought Police are marching swiftly ahead.

[Todd4State]

This is goofy. Just forget journalism and read the press releases. Information control sucks.

You're not getting the same thing he didn't get- he's a BEAT writer. Not a journalist.

But hey- I guess we're OK with "journalists" putting out stuff to hurt MSU because it's all about the scoop right? We're probably the only sports organization that actually allows that. You're just not used to it since you are a State fan and it has been allowed for your lifetime.

If Stevens was a beat writer for the Cardinals- his ass would have been gone a LONG time ago.

[bluelightstar]

I just can't find it in me to be happy that someone lost their livelihood. If he had just moved on or been reassigned, it'd be one thing -- but I hate to see someone fired for something like that. Especially when he doesn't have a golden parachute (a la Don Sterling) to hit the ground with.

[Todd4State]

Glad I'm not the only one who doesn't understand why people expect that from beat writers. You want positive fluff - read Bob Carskadon. I expect different things from different people.

As far as Stevens being fired over saying "Cajun should be taught as a second language" and "I don't like Lafayette," suffice it to say that the Thought Police are marching swiftly ahead.

A beat writer is supposed to report FACTS that are given to him from the University. It's not to spin it positively or negatively one way or the other. His job is to say "John Cohen said Trevor Fitts will start today". And no matter how much Stevens tried to make it out to be- it's also not to be "objective" when it comes to opinions- which is why he would come across so negatively from time to time.

He wasn't fired for saying Cajun should be taught as a second language or because he didn't like Lafayette. He was fired for agreeing with Hadad that they are somewhere between apes and humans and then bashing their town saying that there wasn't a good place to live within a 90 minute drive of the city. Oh- and saying that if Obama wanted to cut Louisiana off from America, we would all be better off.

[Todd4State]

I just can't find it in me to be happy that someone lost their livelihood. If he had just moved on or been reassigned, it'd be one thing -- but I hate to see someone fired for something like that. Especially when he doesn't have a golden parachute (a la Don Sterling) to hit the ground with.

I'm not happy, but he did it to himself. My first ever podcast was with him and Bob Carskadon, so I don't have an intense hatred of the guy. But in the end, you can't say what he did and not expect reprecutions.

I'm sure he will learn a lesson from it, and honestly in my opinion he didn't seem very happy covering us anyway. So, this might end up being a blessing for him.

[Todd4State]

Yea, I don't really understand the animosity here toward Hadad. I agree he definitely is a true MSU fan and he's entertaining on BSR. The fact that he and C34 don't care for each other doesn't impact me. Now he did bring Stevens back to do a BSR show which some didn't like but it wasn't that big a deal to me. At least he had Coleman on the show with him to balance him out and there was some good discussion there.

The problem was they thought that they were still on sixpack when they were doing BSR.

[Pioneer Dawg]

I agree with bluelightstar

[Political Hack]

I just can't find it in me to be happy that someone lost their livelihood. If he had just moved on or been reassigned, it'd be one thing -- but I hate to see someone fired for something like that. Especially when he doesn't have a golden parachute (a la Don Sterling) to hit the ground with.

the guy made incredibly demeaning comments about an entire culture. People have been fired, and rightfully so, for much less. I agree it sucks to see anyone lose their job, but there's only 1 person he can blame for this one... maybe two if you count HD6.

[Barking 13]

Maybe he can get a job in Oxford... he'll fit right in..

[The Croom Diaries]

I just can't find it in me to be happy that someone lost their livelihood.

People lose their jobs all the time. If your customers don't like what you're doing, you lose your job.

It's not like he had a family to support. He's a 30 year old single male.

[War Machine Dawg]

You're not getting the same thing he didn't get- he's a BEAT writer. Not a journalist.

But hey- I guess we're OK with "journalists" putting out stuff to hurt MSU because it's all about the scoop right? We're probably the only sports organization that actually allows that. You're just not used to it since you are a State fan and it has been allowed for your lifetime.

If Stevens was a beat writer for the Cardinals- his ass would have been gone a LONG time ago.


A beat writer is supposed to report FACTS that are given to him from the University. It's not to spin it positively or negatively one way or the other. His job is to say "John Cohen said Trevor Fitts will start today". And no matter how much Stevens tried to make it out to be- it's also not to be "objective" when it comes to opinions- which is why he would come across so negatively from time to time.

He wasn't fired for saying Cajun should be taught as a second language or because he didn't like Lafayette. He was fired for agreeing with Hadad that they are somewhere between apes and humans and then bashing their town saying that there wasn't a good place to live within a 90 minute drive of the city. Oh- and saying that if Obama wanted to cut Louisiana off from America, we would all be better off.

This. Exactly. We have no nuts at MSU when it comes to the media. Do you think Bama, Auburn, LSU, UGA, FL, Texas, Oklahoma, Oregon, any NBA team, any NFL team, any MLB team, etc. would let a beat writer get away with the bullshit that guys like Stevens and others before him have? If so, you're incredibly naive. Stevens was an unprofessional asshole. If it makes me an asshole for not feeling remorse that he's gone, then I'll be an asshole.