Ya think

Posted on: June 11, 2012 at 16:16:55 CT

Zaiger has earned my dislike.

As a MU fan we don't expect, or want, our media to cover up stuff like they do in Lawrence. If someone is dirty we want them caught.

As an example, the Boone County jail released the Ricky Clemmons jail house tapes almost ten years ago (which ultimately didn't lead to any findings of NCAA violations). A few suggested the jail house should have just sat on those tapes. Not me, and I hope most MU fans. If a government employee has any knowledge of any alleged NCAA violations, I expect them to provide the evidence to the NCAA, no debate period. In Lawrence, they actively cover up crap like that. I question why the tapes were released to the media, but I fully support turning them over to the NCAA. In Lawernce those tapes would have been burned.

I have no problem with an article that states a guy who has been arrested for drugs (or anything else) was loosely associated with MU sports through a donor.

Given the non-time urgent subject matter, I would have expected a better article from the Tribune.

The guy got eight or nine complementary tickets over four years. That is about 2 games a year. A well written artilce would have noted wether the donor (Jay Lindner) accompanied him to the games. That would imply that Linder was the primary receipent and the other guy was just tagging along.

A well written artilce would have provided some persepctive on what percentage of total comped tickets the arrested guy received. For example saying he got eight out of 4,000 tickets that were comped over four years provides some perspective that he really was associated with the program in a very minor way.

I would also have liked to see which two players provided the tickets with some quotes from those players. There was no urgency to put this story out today. If it took a couple of weeks to round up the quotes, why not wait.

Steve Walinick is the MU basketball beat writer for the tribune. Dave Matter is the football beat writer. I would rate Dave as a 9.0 on a scale of 1 to 10. Steve is about a 3 and 1/2.

Steve just isn't very productive - he doesn't put out much content. He doesn't seem to have any real inside information. I question whether he has put the time in needed to develop solid relationships with the coaches and players.

We have had two excellent seasons in the past five years. Mike Andersen's elite 8 run and this year's team which was highly ranked before a very disappointing final game. Steve slept through the first half of both of those seasons. A lot of people did. But the point is he hasn't demonstrated any real insight into MU basketball. He doesn't seem to catch on any faster than the average guy - despite his supposed superior access to the program.

Lately the new Star beat writer has been running circles around him, expecially on recruiting.

So basically, Steve is just a guy going through the motions. Guys like him are a dime a dozen (as compared to someone like Dave Matter who really is outstanding).

Edited by Knucklehead at 16:41:44 on 06/11/12