LOUISVILLE, Ky. (AP) – A reporter was ejected from an NCAA baseball tournament game for submitting live Internet updates during play.
Brian Bennett, a writer for The (Louisville, Ky.) Courier-Journal, was approached Sunday by an NCAA representative in the bottom of the fifth inning and told that blogging from an NCAA championship event is against NCAA policies.
Bennett had done live blogging during Louisville’s super regional games against Oklahoma State in the previous two games of the three-game series. The representative revoked Bennett’s credential Sunday and asked him to leave the game.
“It’s clearly a First Amendment issue,” said Bennie Ivory, the newspaper’s executive editor. “This is part of the evolution of how we present the news to our readers. It’s what we did during the Orange Bowl. It’s what we did during the NCAA basketball tournament. It’s what we do.”
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Why? I posted this to show that the NCAA doesn’t restrict their asinine decisions to the “Student Athletes”. This is a joke, I hope the L’ville paper takes action.
Give credit to the newspaper for fighting it and possibly taking legal action. This is a case of the NCAA not having anything better to do. A reporter submits an account of what transpired at 4:12 pm and his credentials are revoked?
I think the trick would be to word it correctly. “Unverified reports from several unnamed sources claim that a home run was hit in the bottom of the third. Official confirmation from the NCAA is pending.”
Sometimes freedom of speech can go a lil far though … CSTV and ESPN pay top dollar (presumably) to broadcast these events, and rightly so they want the audience focused on their coverage. If the rule is in place beforehand, and he knew about it, there is no free speech limitation in my mind. He knew the rules but broke them on purpose. I see the point of the rule, I dont’ think it’s as assinine as you might think.
Why was this guy blogging, was he doing it out of the kindness of his heart (as Jim was on NNN)? No, he was blogging for the paper, which is, essentially, a money-making opportunity (though on the face it might be free to view the blog, they clearly want you to buy their paper and visit them online where they make money off ads).
The NCAA is trying to stop it. At the moment, there’s selective enforcement. What Utter did was outside the bounds of what’s allowed by the letter of the conditions printed on the credential, but, as a friend of mine in the business said yesterday, “they should just be glad somebody is covering college freaking baseball.”
Give credit to the newspaper for fighting it and possibly taking legal action. This is a case of the NCAA not having anything better to do. A reporter submits an account of what transpired at 4:12 pm and his credentials are revoked?
I think the trick would be to word it correctly. "Unverified reports from several unnamed sources claim that a home run was hit in the bottom of the third. Official confirmation from the NCAA is pending."
[QUOTE=Brick Tamland, Weather;242808]
Why was this guy blogging, was he doing it out of the kindness of his heart (as Jim was on NNN)? [/QUOTE]
Jim was being kind, sure. Blogging on scene, etc., is fine, just not gametracker-type stuff. \
As I recall, during the A-10 tournament, Metro gave me some good feedback that play-by-play or in-game updates, because they were available elsewhere, were not what he wanted. He wanted to know what it’s like to be there.
I suppose, pending a ruling to the contrary, we won’t be doing what Jim did going forward. That’s a loss for the Observer, and a loss for you guys as fans as I know many of you appreciated what Jim did because it combined the play-by-play with the pro-Niners atmosphere you get on this site.
Mike, theres gotta be a way around it. Its not like you guys are promoting your paper, you guys are just doing what anyone else would do at a game with a laptop.
Mike, theres gotta be a way around it. Its not like you guys are promoting your paper, you guys are just doing what anyone else would do at a game with a laptop.
I suppose, pending a ruling to the contrary, we won't be doing what Jim did going forward. That's a loss for the Observer, and a loss for you guys as fans as I know many of you appreciated what Jim did because it combined the play-by-play with the pro-Niners atmosphere you get on this site.
DANG!!! I KNEW this was going to happen.
Stupid NCAA…
[QUOTE=Brick Tamland, Weather;242808]Sometimes freedom of speech can go a lil far though … CSTV and ESPN pay top dollar (presumably) to broadcast these events, and rightly so they want the audience focused on their coverage. If the rule is in place beforehand, and he knew about it, there is no free speech limitation in my mind. He knew the rules but broke them on purpose. I see the point of the rule, I dont’ think it’s as assinine as you might think.
Why was this guy blogging, was he doing it out of the kindness of his heart (as Jim was on NNN)? No, he was blogging for the paper, which is, essentially, a money-making opportunity (though on the face it might be free to view the blog, they clearly want you to buy their paper and visit them online where they make money off ads).[/QUOTE]
I agree Brick. This guy had been told not to. In Utter’s case, he was not taking away from other money making opportunities as video and audio were free for our games. I don’t know about this L’ville game.
[QUOTE=Mike_Persinger;242809][B]“they should just be glad somebody is covering college freaking baseball.”[/B][/QUOTE]
QFT!
[QUOTE=Mike_Persinger;242814]I suppose, pending a ruling to the contrary, we won’t be doing what Jim did going forward. That’s a loss for the Observer, and a loss for you guys as fans as I know many of you appreciated what Jim did because it combined the play-by-play with the pro-Niners atmosphere you get on this site.[/QUOTE]
:sad: :ticked: We really appreciated what Jim did… Of course this is just the NCAA trying to shut down the Niners again in another area… :black helicopters:
[QUOTE=austinniner;242820]…and post in the shout box…[/QUOTE]
Language in the College World Series credential confirmation says we can’t – even includes “blogs and message boards” in the legal mumbo jumbo.
NCAA can’t control coaches cheating like crazy, but it can keep us from updating you from the pressbox.
[QUOTE=Mike_Persinger;242823]Language in the College World Series credential confirmation says we can’t – even includes “blogs and message boards” in the legal mumbo jumbo.[/QUOTE]
Then, I’ll have Jim text me updates and I will post it as a fan.
[QUOTE=Mike_Persinger;242823]NCAA can’t control coaches cheating like crazy, but it can keep us from updating you from the pressbox.[/QUOTE]
:lmao: I think they hit a sore spot.
After reviewing Jim’s credential application and policies, and his actual credential for the game, we were OK because we weren’t notified. I’m sure they’ll close that little loophole next time.
UMass sports reporter Matt Vautour of the Springfield Republican was blogging during the Minutewomen’s run in both the A-10 and NCAA softball tournaments. When it comes to micromanagement, the NCAA has few peers! :rolleyes:
[QUOTE=Mike_Persinger;242829]After reviewing Jim’s credential application and policies, and his actual credential for the game, we were OK because we weren’t notified. I’m sure they’ll close that little loophole next time.[/QUOTE]
Well, if they threaten to close that loophole, you tell them that I’ve got a loophole for them I plan to close… :fastgun:
:black helicopters: