Bubba story posted

[MRasor0200]

blogs.ohio.com/rasorExcuse the lack of refinement in the story presentation. You can pick up a hard copy of the Buchtelite tomorrow morning on campus or visit our site: www.buchtelite.com.

[Zipsrifle]

If Bubba's Dad is friends with the OU coach, and was friends before Bubba went to Akron, I don't see this as a big deal. At most it would be for the coach to attend one of those classes. I'd imagine they have been friends for sometime so I don't see this as much of anything.

[bobcatt]

pretty interesting story. Good read. Doesn't look like Dials and Bubba will be going to each other's weddings, that's for sure.

[Quickzips]

Aww, but I thought I heard Bubba already asked Nick to be his best man.

[zipper]

Dials appears to have credibility. He had no reason to not like Bubba but clearly Bubba had it in for him. The kid was averaging 18 minutes this season but didn't trust the coach? Un-freaking-real. The more I read the happier I am that he's gone.

[Quickzips]

I'm sorry to say it Rasor but this story leaves me incredibly disappointed. I was really looking forward to seeing something more than just the "his dads friends with an assistant" line that we've seen the last week or so. You know, something to shut the Bobcat fans up and really get them worried. Instead we got just another example of why the Buchtelite is widly regarded across campus as a second rate attempt at journalism.

[UADavid]

You can pick up a hard copy of the Buchtelite tomorrow morning on campus or visit our site: www.buchtelite.com.

I can't find it here. What's up with the site? Can only find Dec. 8 and older.

[MACReport]

If you want to hear Dambrot's words directly on this subject, we touched briefly on it our show, "The MAC Report." You can access a replay of the show at hour homepage MAC Report Online by clicking on the MAC Report link near the upper left hand portion of the homepage. The interview with Dambrot is in the second half-hour.

[bhugh24]

http://www.sportingnews.com/member/blog/weblog.php?w=877 Here is the story from the Athens Messenger on the subject. Some good quotes from Dambrot. Basically says there is no beef with Oshea or Ohio University.This seems like pretty much a dead issue.

[UAZips]

The story was a big letdown, I was hoping for more than a bunch of If's.

[MRasor0200]

Second rate attempt at journalism, huh?

[Dan Kadar]

First, thanks all for reading Mike's story. I apologize for the site not being up. We're working on it right now. It should be up later today. The worst thing about being a student journalist is having classes get in the way of your work. Unfortunately, that is the case with the Web site.Now, in regard to Mike's story. I've been lucky enough to work with and for several excellent journalists in my budding journalism career, and this story is as good as anything I've been involved with. While I'm certainly biased, Mike's coverage is superior to the other coverage this topic has received.Reading it yesterday, was I aware it left some ifs? Absolutely. The only problem is you can't answer those ifs at this time because there has been no ruling by either Ohio, UA or the NCAA. Real "second rate" journalism would falsely answer those ifs with speculation. That is something the Buchtelite does not do in it's news reporting. You can say what you will (and frankly I'm glad you do), but in this story, only the facts were reported and both sides were given an opportunity to talk. Maybe you all are disappointed because you already knew everything that is happening. Oh well. Not everyone does and hopefully they do now. That said, you all should be commended for being such incredibly dedicated Zips fans. Your knowledge and pursuit of it should be recognized.My hope for the story is that it offered some insight into what Keith Dambrot, Bubba Walther and some of the UA players had to say and also talk to the university about what issue(s) could arise because of the situation. Do I think the story succeeded? Certainly. Will we pursue any further developments on the situation? Of course.Some of you that have a problem with the story, let us know what those problems are. Instead of just nailing at us, please, offer your suggestions. Remember, we're all young, growing journalists. We're here to appease our readers, not ourselves. So if there is ever something you want us to look into for a story, or have a news tip, let us know.Again, thanks for reading. Though some of you may not have liked the story (but come on, weren't some of those quotes great?), we all certainly appreciate you reading it.

[Quickzips]

Mike and Dan,The comment I made was in no way a shot directley at you but more a shot at the Buchtelite in general. I will be the first to admit that it has gotten much better since my first year here. However, there is much room for improvement. I'm not really sure whether or not you guys have a good grip as to how that paper is viewed by students around this campus. Go out to the dining hall, or the student union, or the law school student lounge one day. Find a bunch of strangers and just start talking to them about the paper. A fair number of them are probably going to have no clue what you are talking about. A little bigger number are going to think it is a joke, mainly due to the ridiculous advice columns (you know the ones where some student looking to have a good laugh writes in to one of your staffers about how her boyfriend wants her to partake in some bizarre sex ritual and then your staffer has to write back with the traditional, "well, whatever feels right for you" garb). Then there is the weekly geek beat column that just screams of second rate newspaper. And please don't get me in to the idiotic cartoon about the guy talking to some squirel. Whoever came up with that idea should be banned from the Buchtelite staff for life and shot on the spot if he/she ever returns.Now I will give you guys credit. Since I've started here the ridiculous crime blot that took up like 1/4 of the first section has disappeared. The op.eds. have gotten much better. Personal biases in the regular news stories have been minimized, and the sports section is much improved. That said, there is still a long way that you guys have to go in order to give this paper a decent reputation.As for the column, the only thing that putting out unsubstantiated rumors and exagerating the facts in lead ins to the story on the internet (claiming that these are Smith/Weber style allegations) does is reflect badly upon this university and your paper. You guys need to do better than that, praticularly when leaking information to the public.Just my thoughts though. Take them for whatever you'd like.

[Captain Kangaroo]

I personally found it very interesting. I thought it was great to get such candid quotes from Dials and Dambrot. The fact that Dambrot went down to Cinci to speak to Bubba this past summer regarding the situation...and that Bubba somehow twisted that into distrust...is bizarre. How bad would Bubba have been pissed if he was on the team 4 years ago....and Bryan Hipsher was getting minutes ahead of him instead of a solid guy like Dials?

[a-zip]

Dan/RasorI dont want to speak for everyone but I was expecting there to be more based on the

a major NCAA violation -- one of Troy Smith, Chris Webber proportions

..........that's all. You sure had me on pins and needles.The story itself is interesting from the standpoint of how the players and coaches view Walther. I also believe Walther's comments/quotes show he is disruptive to a team and immature. I would have characterized this this as more of a Terrell Owens situation, not Chris Webber/Troy Smith. I dont see this as a big deal.BTW- I enjoy your blog very much

[hixenbaugh]

The story certainly left some questions unanswered. Those questions, however, were not mine to answer. I by no means am in a position to conduct an investigation as to whether Bubba or Townsend spoke directly about college basketball. I tried to get that information, but neither of them would talk about it. Anything beyond that would have been speculation and "second-hand journalism." Contrary to what some have said, the Buchtelite is not the National Enquirer, and I don't make up facts or twist stories.The athletic department told me they would be deciding whether or not to pursue and official NCAA investigation (Bubba and Townsend have to talk to them if they ask) in the coming week. If they do then questions can be answered. If not, the issue is over.Also, for those who have already dismissed it, Dambrot may have said things were cool between OU and Akron and Bubba. However, you need to realize, Dambrot is no fool. He's not going to go head hunting for Bubba or Ohio - if he wants action he'll clearly leave it to the athletic department. Dambrot knows how to handle the media and a controversy, trust me.I'm sure Mack Rhodes had a copy of the Buchtelite on his desk this morning.

[HeHateMiami]

The story was good . . . what everyone is complaining about is the lead-in that promissed a violation of Webber/Troy Smith proportions. Exxagerations like that in trying to build buzz for your story are irresponsible, and the reason that you're getting so much backlash about journalistic integrity now, IMHO.

[hixenbaugh]

i appologize, though, I said nothing of the sort.However, if the university follows through, then Mike Rasor's thoughts on the potential implications of my story will be true.The point is we broke the information. Did you hear any alligations from within the athletic department in any other publications? We made it public, and now the university must act on it in one way or the other.Stay calm. The story isn't over yet.

[InTheZone]

i appologize, though, I said nothing of the sort.However, if the university follows through, then Mike Rasor's thoughts on the potential implications of my story will be true.The point is we broke the information. Did you hear any alligations from within the athletic department in any other publications? We made it public, and now the university must act on it in one way or the other.Stay calm. The story isn't over yet.

Agreed. Good story and nice job digging all that up. I think what hurt the story was that any hint that it was going to appear was given at all. If you guys had just dropped this story outta nowhere today it would've been like dropping an A-bomb.

[HeHateMiami]

The point is we broke the information. Did you hear any alligations from within the athletic department in any other publications? We made it public, and now the university must act on it in one way or the other.Stay calm. The story isn't over yet.

Actually, it sounds like the story is over based on what Dambrot has said in recent days, I would guess that this will not be pursued. Also, I can appreciate that you weren't the person making the sensationalist claims, but there's a large difference between a major and secondary violation of NCAA guidelines. Not to mention the fact that to normal fans there's a huge difference between Webber accepting thousands upon thousands of dollars from a booster and Townsend and Mr. Walther having a prior relationship of public record. To insinuate that these things were on the same level before any information was avalible, was again irresponsible journalism by Mr. Rasor.

[bhugh24]

Agreed with HeHate about Mr. Rasor's hype of the story.The story is good in terms of quotes and information, but the significance of it is being blown out of proportion. Personally the story from the Athens Messenger, I thought was better writing, more descriptive in its story telling. I also thought the qoutes from Dambrot after the OU game were better than the quotes in the Buchtilite story, but I guess the report wasn't at the game or didn't have time to include them in the story. But admittingly, that paper isn't a student paper, and there peice was a little different approach.I don't know if there really is much left to the story. Seems unlikely that UA will pursue, and even if they do, hard for the NCAA to prove there was improper contact if just interviewing the participants. They could try to get phone records and such, but seems like a lot of work, for ultimately what would be a very minor violation, especially between individuals that are essentialy in the same family (Towsend is like another son or relative to the Townsends) and have regular contact with each other.

[WolfLedges]

As they say on radio, long time listener(viewer), first time caller(poster). This topic compelled me to finally post. I too was expecting a story of Chris Webber/Troy Smith proportions. Mr. Rasor's "journalistic" style is that of a gossip columnist, versus a true journalist/columnist. Think Roger Brown versus Terry Pluto.I am not knocking the paper and like the posters above, I found the article interesting. But I think the Buchtilite and Mr. Hixenbaugh were done a disservice and will have to buckle down to regain some credibility.

[fear the brown roo]

hell, with all the hype i was expecting ohio u to be getting the death sentence from the NCAA stealing bubba away from us in some back alley agreement. i still liked the story though and thought all involved talked as candidly as they could. good story, bad hype.