This is What I Hate About the Media....

[ShotgunDawg]

I'm all for the media holding coaches accountable.... so long as they do it for every coach.

http://i.imgur.com/7mpIdCb.jpg

To add: Saban just finished in the main media room & never received a single question about the Monroe arrest of Cam Robinson & the other dude.

Why does the media have to be crappy?

[Tbonewannabe]

I beat Freeze doesn't get a single question about the guy on his team that had his schollie revoked by Penn St for sexual assault of a minor.

[ShotgunDawg]

http://i.imgur.com/ribpjmq.jpg

[parabrave]

http://i.imgur.com/ribpjmq.jpg

I am gaining a new respect for Booger Mac. He has been by far the most fair of anyone at this event. They need to pair him with Spurrier for a 30 minute segment. That would become SECTV most watched show.

[Reason2succeed]

We need to do something about our media relations. This has gotten out of hand. I remember us being the red headed step child back in 98 but dang it seems like we are the villains of the SEC. What did we do to deserve this? Finebaum acted like Simmons beat up his sister.

Meanwhile Saban gets no questions on his players with criminal records, Freeze had sex offenders on the roster, Tennessee is Baylor part 2 with a better cover up, every defended Auburn during sCam gate, Georigia is known for winning the Fuller Cup year after year for off the field incidents, and on and on and on.

[whatever]

We need to do something about our media relations. This has gotten out of hand. I remember us being the red headed step child back in 98 but dang it seems like we are the villains of the SEC. What did we do to deserve this? Finebaum acted like Simmons beat up his sister.

Meanwhile Saban gets no questions on his players with criminal records, Freeze had sex offenders on the roster, Tennessee is Baylor part 2 with a better cover up, every defended Auburn during sCam gate, Georigia is known for winning the Fuller Cup year after year for off the field incidents, and on and on and on.

Agreed, Mullen and Stricklin didn't look nearly as well prepared as they should've been for the Simmons questions, and that Stricklin interview was awful for us.

I've got respect for Mike Nemeth and some others in that department, but we've got to step it up there. Have to have our guys use prepared answers for any question that might come their way and somehow get us a relationship with the media where we're not the only ones being peppered with the toughest possible questions. Media Relations guys all the time tell the media beforehand what their guys won't answer and what they don't want asked.

Maybe need to go with some professional outside firm for PR help, not sure if we do that or not.

[ShotgunDawg]

Agreed, Mullen and Stricklin didn't look nearly as well prepared as they should've been for the Simmons questions, and that Stricklin interview was awful for us.

I've got respect for Mike Nemeth and some others in that department, but we've got to step it up there. Have to have our guys use prepared answers for any question that might come their way and somehow get us a relationship with the media where we're not the only ones being peppered with the toughest possible questions. Media Relations guys all the time tell the media beforehand what their guys won't answer and what they don't want asked.

Maybe need to go with some professional outside firm for PR help, not sure if we do that or not.

I'm glad you brought this up.

We can argue about the fairness & merits of the conversation, but I'm extremely disappointed in the apparent lack of preparation that our athletic department put towards preparing Mullen & Stricklin for the Simmons question. It just seems as though our athletic department & football leadership doesn't have awareness about things. At times they lack awareness on the field & other times they lack awareness of how media sees things from the outside.

There were posters on this board that were far more prepared to answer the Simmons questions than Mullen or Stricklin were & I think that's a problem. Scott & Dan need to step up & gain some awareness. It just makes us look bad

[LockeDawg]

Perhaps the media knows Saban will be prepared to verbally burn their ass if they ask him about Bo Davis or the stolen weapon guys? The media knows who they can dick around with and who they can't - our guys were ill prepared and it showed.

[msujan]

I'm all for the media holding coaches accountable.... so long as they do it for every coach.

http://i.imgur.com/7mpIdCb.jpg

To add: Saban just finished in the main media room & never received a single question about the Monroe arrest of Cam Robinson & the other dude.

Why does the media have to be crappy?

Let's face it: none of the media want to get on Saban's list. They don't want to be blackballed when AL is making news. No one is afraid of Mullen, thus his type of questions.

[ShotgunDawg]

Another thing about the media:

They let Brett Bielema's likability fool them every year. The media truly loves Brett Bielema, but, in doing so, they end up treating him like the coach of an elite program. Arkansas sucks. They are a below average team in this conference & will likely finish last this year, but Bielema gets Saban like treatment.

It's odd

[DogStuckAtUM]

Mike Nemeth hasn't worked in media relations in 3 years.

Mullen did ok considering the circumstances until Kyle Tucker asked the hypothetical about his wife or daughter in that situation. It was a lose-lose no matter his response.

And if Bill Martin went to Pat Forde, Dennis Dodd, etc., and told them Mullen doesn't want to be asked about Simmons, he'd get eviscerated.

[JoseBrown]

I saw it mentioned twice on Twitter by those in the room that there were many reporters with their hands up not called on. I just wonder if they knew who Saban wanted called on to ask questions.

[DawgInMemphis]

Finebaum (I think) went after Saban on Robinson. Heard audio of it on my lunch break today.

[maroonmania]

Just get the season here so this media circus crap will end. The media seems to want to be the story during media days much moreso than any worthwhile information on the SEC football programs.

[JoseBrown]

Yea, Finebalm* and Dori asked him about Robinson. Saban basically said all the facts aren't out, there was no indictment brought, open carry laws in LA( no mention of stolen firearm open carry***), 4 people in car only the 2 football players arrested and he doesn't care what people ask end of conversation... That's basically what he said while getting pretty pissed at Finebalm*

[TUSK]

I'm all for the media holding coaches accountable.... so long as they do it for every coach.

http://i.imgur.com/7mpIdCb.jpg

To add: Saban just finished in the main media room & never received a single question about the Monroe arrest of Cam Robinson & the other dude.

Why does the media have to be crappy?

yep, Paaaawl let MDL slide, didn't he?***

[WPS]

Another thing about the media:

They let Brett Bielema's likability fool them every year. The media truly loves Brett Bielema, but, in doing so, they end up treating him like the coach of an elite program. Arkansas sucks. They are a below average team in this conference & will likely finish last this year, but Bielema gets Saban like treatment.

It's odd

I mean they picked us 5th in the west this year and we finished 3rd last year so I don't think it's that great.

I would call us an average team in the SEC. In the last decade we've won the west and played in a BCS bowl with three 10-win seasons but also have had some pretty bad years with four different head coaches during that time. I don't really think there is a program like Vandy or Kentucky in the west which is who I would consider below average.

[Taog Redloh]

All we can do is change ourselves. I think you can control the media somewhat, and we suck at this. We try too hard to please them. We need to give them a good dose of Belichek. And it would have helped to not bungle the Simmons situation so badly. Suspend indefinitely, pending outcome of court case. Move on.

And the 'Respect women' banner in the locker room? That crap makes me want to renounce my fandom.

[Lumpy Chucklelips]

I see two sides to Mullen in regards to how he handles the media. The one who gets mad and shuts things down if he doesn't like a question from the local media on MSU property and the one who goes to an event like this who cowers down to an outside reporter who he doesn't feel as comfortable standing his ground with. Saban obviously doesn't have this problem.

And before you blast me for saying something negative about our coach...I love Mullen to death, but sometimes his actions in handling people remind me of some of the managers I've managed during my career. They are direct and forceful to those they feel a superiority to because they know this particular person will back down and take whatever it is they're coming at them with, whereas to those that might stand their ground and not just take what's coming to them, they regress in their directness and even their tone of voice due to not being comfortable with the situation.

Picture Mullen when he was in MSU's interview room with local reporters that time they asked about an injury to a certain player compared to his body language and tone of voice the other day. Two totally different people.

I know a lot of people have said 17 what everybody else thinks, but we don't get the benefit of the doubt when things are going great for us, we sure as hell don't need to make things worse when we have the ability not to. We were totally unprepared for what came our way the other day. Going back to the meetings in destin...we should have never released the info on Simmons during that time. If nothing else, simply say his situation has been researched and evaluated and he has been cleared to enroll in school and that the situation is still being looked at on a football level and any decisions regarding suspensions are ongoing. And then don't willingly walk into an ambush of reporters. No other school would have handled that the way we did.

I'm going to give Mullen and Striclin the benefit of the doubt this time because they haven't been in that situation before, but if they ever get in another such as this, I'm going to be very curious as to how they handle it. Surely they have learned some lessons from this.