nate Allen whining about lack of access, pimps ASU

[Justifiable Hogicide]

I'm saying that the way the Arkansas media relations department treated the Cotton Bowl staff was so disrespectful and inappropriate, that the Cotton Bowl Committee considered never inviting Arkansas back.

Quite frankly, I don't believe you.
Why don't you run that fantasy by the owner of Cowboys Stadium, the home of the Cotton Bowl and the only chance the Cotton Bowl has to become a BCS game.

[dynastyhog]

Nearly five years after the fact, fans are still ticked off about what a lousy job the sports media did in providing insightful information about the previous regime, especially since things were supposed to be more transparent then.  The perception exists (true or not) that the media grossly and intentionally misrepresented what was going on within the BAC at that time. 

Now some media members want fans to believe that Petrino and staff are severely hampering attempts to provide timely, accurate sports information about activities within the football program. People are not ready to buy into that line of thought, or rather they are comfortable with the way things are being handled, simply because some within the Arkansas media have lost all credibility.  Plus, with the plethora of information available from other informal sources, media reports just don't seem so valuable anymore---at least that's the perception.

Folks whose lifeline is working in the Arkansas sports media have their work cut out for them over the next few years.

     

Pretty much sums it up.  +1

[El Puerco]

What I'm trying to say is that's it's not just a case of indignant newspaper guys getting upset because someone asked to see credentials as you claim. In fact they don't ask for our credentials, they issue them, they know who we are.

I'm saying that the way the Arkansas media relations department treated the Cotton Bowl staff was so disrespectful and inappropriate, that the Cotton Bowl Committee considered never inviting Arkansas back. I never used a term referring to the National Socialist Workers Party.

It's not just about the media.

I'm entirely content with the amount of information available.  The dude has a program to run and players to protect. I want him much more concerned with preparing the team than with dancing like a monkey for the press. I watch the live feeds on the press conferences and, to be honest, most of the questions are just plain dumb anyway.  Furthermore, I think Petrino has had quite a taste of just how irresponsible the media can be.  I don't blame him for allowing 5 minutes and then cutting out.

It's not unheard of for athletes to have been stalked, threatened, or even stabbed.  It's unfortunate that the program can't keep track of the 4000 "reporters" (including whatever 17 year old 24/7 Sports Rival Yahoo Scout just promoted to assistant "writer") and they need to see some credentials before they let someone stick something in their player's faces....yes, even the local "celebrities." 

When I've had sideline passes, they were carefully checked and then rechecked and I had no problem with it.  There was no narcissistic injury. There was no "Do you know who I am?!?!" I got to stand 2 feet from Ryan Mallett on the sideline.  I was thankful for the access, I recognized it was on their turf and on their terms and I followed every rule.

That Knile Davis stuff.....Biggus is exactly right:  That information was going to be disseminated by the fans anyway but, guess what? 
1) Fans don't claim to be professionals.
2) The REAL professionals didn't tweet that garbage from the practice field, recognizing that could didn't equal should.
3) For the most part, Petrino kicked our asses out of practice too.

I just don't believe the Cotton Bowl baloney.  Sorry.  Just because some Johnny Punchclock told the dude that refills the coke machine that he didn't want Arkansas there any more because of some imagined injustice doesn't mean that anyone actually believes this. This sounds like garbage that some butt-hurt local guy like Nate came up with to stir the rabble into grabbing the torches and pitchforks.

[TomasPistola]

Um, this goes Waaaay beyond "Show us your ID". This is about attitude.

They talk to the media like they are children, in a demeaning tone.

In fact, the Cotton Bowl Committee actively discussed never inviting Arkansas back to the game after the way these people treated the Cotton Bowl Sports information people.

If it were as simple as showing a badge I would do that, no big deal. But it's not. In fact we've adapted a lot. We've had to.

The argument about no added information is very valid. In a way, they determine what stories we do. During the regular season, we can only do Offense on Tuesday, Defense on Wednesday , and talk to Coach Petrino on Thursday. So if in a Tuesday practice, if we even see it, a linebacker makes a great play, we can't interview anyone about it.

I do know that this is about "competitive advantage". But there's certainly no level of detail that we go into that would give another team an advantage any way. We may report that a player had a good day, but we're certainly not going to show overhead pictures of formations or anything like that. So I'm not sure what he's worried about. He shows that stuff anyway during his coach's show, and the other teams watch game film on Arkansas. We only discuss highlights.

You expect me to believe that Bobby Petrino - a guy that is practically vilified in every state outside of Arkansas, Montana and Kentucky - and his staff could be awful to some members of the Cotton bowl media/staff and that WOULDN'T leak out? Bullcrap. It is exactly the kind of crap the media thrives on. You'd better come up with something more than that if you expect anyone to buy your story.

[El Puerco]

The fans are comfortable with the way things are being handled because Petrino is putting a winner on the field.

Very true (and unlikely to change). 

However, by the same token, the fans were not at all comfortable with the way the media handled things when Nutt was belly-flopping his way to some of the most embarrassing moments in our program's history.....and our discontent amounted to precisely jack squat.

[TomasPistola]

The fans are comfortable with the way things are being handled because Petrino is putting a winner on the field.

You are right about the media having its work cut out for it over the next few years. Part of that is the media's fault; part of it is because colleges are less and less interested in being forthcoming. The media will adapt and go with the flow - for the most part. Although I applaud what the ADG did with the NCAAWT in North Little Rock. Unfortunately, not many other papers stood up to the NCAA's overly restrictive copyright policy.

The fans are satisfied because for the first time in eons we have a professional coaching staff that is focused on recruiting, coaching, and developing the program and not their legacy, female news anchors, Sonic, and pickup games of basketball.

That's why we're satisfied.

[El Puerco]

Re: Alabama vs Arkansas access

After the Arkansas game, Saban spent 22 minutes doing Q&A with the media. That was about 12 minutes longer than any postgame Q&A Petrino conducted this season.

Saban is also much more likely to rip a press guy's head off.
I also doubt he spends a significant amount of time in his coaching show drawing up and breaking his plays down for the fans.  Sometimes I think Bobby is nuts for sharing some of that stuff.  Granted, coaches like Saban know exactly what's involved on those plays.......but a dummy like Nutt didn't. He was probably taking notes!

[PonderinHog]

I kinda like gameday media access.

I was thinking about this earlier in the context of Orville Henry.

When I was growing up as a young Razorback fan in eastern Arkansas, I NEEDED Orville Henry. My family couldn't afford season tickets, so we listened on the radio when we could. I relied on OH game reports and Notepad to fill in the gaps for me.

I'm pretty sure that I saw every Razorback football game last year, either in person or on television. If I can do that, I'm not nearly as dependent on someone like Orville Henry. Never would have been. Why read about something I've already seen in person? 

Who is Orville Henry

[El Puerco]

Who is Orville Henry

Airplane inventor guy

[hoginator]

Who is Orville Henry

That popcorn guy who invented the popcorn hog...

[Jack The BN]

You expect me to believe that Bobby Petrino - a guy that is practically vilified in every state outside of Arkansas, Montana and Kentucky - and his staff could be awful to some members of the Cotton bowl media/staff and that WOULDN'T leak out? Bullcrap. It is exactly the kind of crap the media thrives on. You'd better come up with something more than that if you expect anyone to buy your story.

I didn't say Petrino has anything to do with it. He's a pretty nice guy to us actually. We all like him.

I'm just saying that people who work for him can be rude sometimes. That doesn't mean he has anything to do with it.

When people are rude to other people, those people can get upset.
If you want to think Nate Allen, or anyone else who got upset about the way the media is treated at the BAC is a big whinny baby or whatever, then go ahead, it may be all about winning and losing to you guys, but we have to go down there almost every day.

Media people make their livelihood by covering the hogs. I'm fine with the amount of access we get. I would just like a little more respect from the people I have to work with at the UofA. That's all.

[Jack The BN]

I'm entirely content with the amount of information available.  The dude has a program to run and players to protect. I want him much more concerned with preparing the team than with dancing like a monkey for the press. I watch the live feeds on the press conferences and, to be honest, most of the questions are just plain dumb anyway.  Furthermore, I think Petrino has had quite a taste of just how irresponsible the media can be.  I don't blame him for allowing 5 minutes and then cutting out.

It's not unheard of for athletes to have been stalked, threatened, or even stabbed.  It's unfortunate that the program can't keep track of the 4000 "reporters" (including whatever 17 year old 24/7 Sports Rival Yahoo Scout just promoted to assistant "writer") and they need to see some credentials before they let someone stick something in their player's faces....yes, even the local "celebrities." 

When I've had sideline passes, they were carefully checked and then rechecked and I had no problem with it.  There was no narcissistic injury. There was no "Do you know who I am?!?!" I got to stand 2 feet from Ryan Mallett on the sideline.  I was thankful for the access, I recognized it was on their turf and on their terms and I followed every rule.

That Knile Davis stuff.....Biggus is exactly right:  That information was going to be disseminated by the fans anyway but, guess what? 
1) Fans don't claim to be professionals.
2) The REAL professionals didn't tweet that garbage from the practice field, recognizing that could didn't equal should.
3) For the most part, Petrino kicked our asses out of practice too.

I just don't believe the Cotton Bowl baloney.  Sorry.  Just because some Johnny Punchclock told the dude that refills the coke machine that he didn't want Arkansas there any more because of some imagined injustice doesn't mean that anyone actually believes this. This sounds like garbage that some butt-hurt local guy like Nate came up with to stir the rabble into grabbing the torches and pitchforks.

I don't know why you keep bringing up the credentials issue. No one I know has never had a problem with that, I show them my ID and move on. Not a big deal, I don't know what media person did that. And you can't prove to me that it even happened.

If you don't want to believe the cotton bowl story, go ahead. I can't prove any of it, I admit that.

All I'm saying is this. Just because a program is associated with a brilliant mastermind coach, that doesn't mean it can do no wrong. If you think we are bad at our jobs, yes it's hard for us to do them well when our hands are tied. That's part of the frustration, we are restricted in what we can do, then people on here tell us how much we suck.

You think the questions we ask are stupid, yes, most of the time they are. We are only able to ask certain questions, and our readers are mostly people who are not hogville experts, so we have to dumb it down a little bit. Sorry if that offends your football brilliance. I wish we all knew the game as well as you do.

[Jack The BN]

Wait.  Give me the who, what, when, where, and why on this, please.

I can't prove any of it to you, no sources, no quotes. Feel free to believe it's false if you wish.

In fact, I retract the statement all together.

[Jack The BN]

Nearly five years after the fact, fans are still ticked off about what a lousy job the sports media did in providing insightful information about the previous regime, especially since things were supposed to be more transparent then.  The perception exists (true or not) that the media grossly and intentionally misrepresented what was going on within the BAC at that time. 

Now some media members want fans to believe that Petrino and staff are severely hampering attempts to provide timely, accurate sports information about activities within the football program. People are not ready to buy into that line of thought, or rather they are comfortable with the way things are being handled, simply because some within the Arkansas media have lost all credibility.  Plus, with the plethora of information available from other informal sources, media reports just don't seem so valuable anymore---at least that's the perception.

Folks whose lifeline is working in the Arkansas sports media have their work cut out for them over the next few years.

       

Very accurate, Hogville has an advantage that reporters don't, Hogville posters can pretty much spread hearsay. If someone writes and article for a newspaper, or goes on a radio show they have to back up what they say with a quote from an eyewitness, or with factual documentation. If they don't, they can face slander or Libel charges, or be fired from their job.

[PonderinHog]

Airplane inventor guy

Yeah, Wright...

That popcorn guy who invented the popcorn hog...

Reddenporker

[Hogblog]

Very accurate, Hogville has an advantage that reporters don't, Hogville posters can pretty much spread hearsay. If someone writes and article for a newspaper, or goes on a radio show they have to back up what they say with a quote from an eyewitness, or with factual documentation. If they don't, they can face slander or Libel charges, or be fired from their job.

In the case of HDN, there was no one willing to be quoted, and very little documented evidence. There was no smoking gun. There were media people that dug hard, but what they found, they could not report. Because they couldn't prove it.

Thankfully Mr. Terry filed a FOIA and busted dale's nutt.....I'm sure the media folks were suprised that some fan from Mt. Ida did their job for them......that was some hard work.....

[GoHogs#1]

I don't know why you keep bringing up the credentials issue. No one I know has never had a problem with that, I show them my ID and move on. Not a big deal, I don't know what media person did that. And you can't prove to me that it even happened.

Interesting

Very accurate, Hogville has an advantage that reporters don't, Hogville posters can pretty much spread hearsay. If someone writes and article for a newspaper, or goes on a radio show they have to back up what they say with a quote from an eyewitness, or with factual documentation. If they don't, they can face slander or Libel charges, or be fired from their job.

Very Interesting considering you wrote this

In fact, the Cotton Bowl Committee actively discussed never inviting Arkansas back to the game after the way these people treated the Cotton Bowl Sports information people.

[Biggus Piggus]

I feel sorry for Nate Allen. The guy has covered Razorback sports for almost as long as I have been alive. He has written books about the Razorbacks. If anyone has earned one-tenth the access that Orville Henry (his former boss) had, it's Nate. Not Clay, Nate. What is his reward for longevity and perseverance? A bunch of Internet punks calling him names, and being treated like a rookie by the Arkansas SID.

[El Puerco]

I don't know why you keep bringing up the credentials

It was my original complaint. I didn't like the whining about access, the entitlement/narcissism associated with having to show credentials, and the veiled threat.

That's it. It was my original point. I only commented when people tried to mitigate the crappy behavior.

[bphi11ips]

Reading between the lines, Nate is really lamenting the end of an era.  Not the Houston Nutt era, but the Broyles era and all that went with it.  Maybe the Razorbacks will be better off run as a business with a national recruiting base.  For now, Jeff Long looks invincible.

[Dustbug86]

It's the good ol' boy system finally dying off. About damn time I say. How does a guy like Randy Rainwater get the job that he has? He's not particularly bright. Not articulate. No past position providing expertise. He butchers the English language worse than some the of idiot rednecks I grew up with around Enola. I don't think there is another location in the country (outside of Mississippi) where this knucklehead would have a job in the media. All of the above applies to Nate Allen.   

[ArkansasI]

I feel sorry for Nate Allen. The guy has covered Razorback sports for almost as long as I have been alive. He has written books about the Razorbacks. If anyone has earned one-tenth the access that Orville Henry (his former boss) had, it's Nate. Not Clay, Nate. What is his reward for longevity and perseverance? A bunch of Internet punks calling him names, and being treated like a rookie by the Arkansas SID.

This... Completely.

The mob-think is maddening.  We love to pile on... to anyone we can.  Crucify Nate for being frustrated that the athletic department is making his job more difficult!  We don't like his writing style, he dresses sloppy and doesn't comb his hair.  He sucks!  Everyone sucks!

I learned something from the article about what is happening in the athletic department.  The information was apparently accurate.  Nate believes the media restrictions are in opposition to public desires, especially now that so much financial burden is being placed on the fans - that's us by the way.

I don't see what all the fuss is about - unless we are looking for someone to pile on.  "Get the pitchforks and fire up the torches..."

[El Puerco]

It's the good ol' boy system finally dying off. About damn time I say. How does a guy like Randy Rainwater get the job that he has? He's not particularly bright. Not articulate. No past position providing expertise. He butchers the English language worse than some the of idiot rednecks I grew up with around Enola. I don't think there is another location in the country (outside of Mississippi) where this knucklehead would have a job in the media. All of the above applies to Nate Allen.   

That show is absolutely terrible. No preparation. No guests. No effort.

[GoHogs#1]

Funny how this thread went the same way this thread below did back in 2009

http://www.hogville.net/yabbse/index.php?topic=292600.0

The common theme Jack The BN Nate is buthurt because he got restricted and he's still restricted today and is stlll butthurt.

[dooley]

Wait.  Give me the who, what, when, where, and why on this, please.

(Regarding the Cotton Bowl potentially not inviting us back)  I know, right?  THAT should be an article.

[Jack The BN]

Interesting

Very Interesting considering you wrote this

I am on Hogville aren't I? I admit that I can't prove it.

[Jack The BN]

It was my original complaint. I didn't like the whining about access, the entitlement/narcissism associated with having to show credentials, and the veiled threat.

That's it. It was my original point. I only commented when people tried to mitigate the crappy behavior.

So one guy got upset? Doesn't mean that we all do. You can't even prove that it happened.

[Inhogswetrust]

Exactly, people who work at the athletic department were on here within half an hour posting about it.

Someone earlier in the thread said that he didn't need the media because he can just ask his buddy on twitter. I wonder if his buddy check his facts, or backs up his reports with quotes from the parties involved

Unfortunately the "real" media in it's haste and for other reasons sometimes doesn't always check the facts out completely anymore. Those "reliable sources" or "corroboraton" are not always so reliable even when they have been in the past. When the media hides behind them is when a lot of people have a problem with it. Shouldn't the media bear some responsibility when "reliable sources" aren't reliable instead of just saying " I'm sorry but we checked our sources".   

[Hogustus Caesar]

The Houston Nutt era was over a long time ago. So was the age of traditional newspapers, and magazines covering sports...its all about twitter, facebook, espn and other digital formats (such as Hogville) for the media that will survive. Many of the team playbooks in the NFL are now on the iPad. The age of digital video is here and available on almost everyones phone. College athletics is big bu$ine$$. Teams try to get any advantage over an opponent that they can, and the PTB up on the hill know this. CBP knows what he is doing. Limiting access is part of that. If you liked the previous coaching staff then maybe folks should follow him to his new program...wait...he no longer coaches...oh well.

In my humble opinion, folks that don't want to get with "the program" are welcome to go to ASU or wherever.

Razorback athletics is going to another level. It is the upper tier of college athletics. Turn the page.

[WilsonHog]

While I understand progress and change, I'm not going to throw rocks at Nate Allen any more than I would at Jim Bailey or would have at Orville Henry. Those guys were covering the Hogs and giving us great information - because we couldn't get it any other way - before I'd ever called the Hogs for the first time.

Just because their profession is changing is no reason for me to take shots at them.

[pseudorabies]

I don't know why you keep bringing up the credentials issue. No one I know has never had a problem with that, I show them my ID and move on. Not a big deal, I don't know what media person did that. And you can't prove to me that it even happened.

If you don't want to believe the cotton bowl story, go ahead. I can't prove any of it, I admit that.

All I'm saying is this. Just because a program is associated with a brilliant mastermind coach, that doesn't mean it can do no wrong. If you think we are bad at our jobs, yes it's hard for us to do them well when our hands are tied. That's part of the frustration, we are restricted in what we can do, then people on here tell us how much we suck.

You think the questions we ask are stupid, yes, most of the time they are. We are only able to ask certain questions, and our readers are mostly people who are not hogville experts, so we have to dumb it down a little bit. Sorry if that offends your football brilliance. I wish we all knew the game as well as you do.

Most of the problems are associated with Higbee.  The guy is a prick to deal with.

And don't try to get people to believe the Cotton Bowl story even though it's been widely known in certain circles now for a long time. 

[jesterzzn]

I feel sorry for Nate Allen. The guy has covered Razorback sports for almost as long as I have been alive. He has written books about the Razorbacks. If anyone has earned one-tenth the access that Orville Henry (his former boss) had, it's Nate. Not Clay, Nate. What is his reward for longevity and perseverance? A bunch of Internet punks calling him names, and being treated like a rookie by the Arkansas SID.

Nate is seen, rightly so, as being a part of the former problem.  Orville is not.  Mostly because he saw the Nutt mess coming before he was even hired, and died before the chit hit the fan.  Maybe Orville would have done what Nate and Clay did, but Since we will never know for sure, we have to judge Nate based on what he did do.

Nate may be a great guy, but that's life.  If you are complicit in what became a giant circle jerk of sycophantic back scratching that was the BAC circa 2001-2006, then don't expect sympathy from the masses when the new sheriff cleans house, and more importantly, gets results.

Especially when it's the third or fourth time he's tried this argument.  It's been four years, Nate.  Long and Petrino's restricted access have not damaged the program, and will not damage the program.  Results have PROVEN you to be wrong.  Shut up about it already.

[TomasPistola]

Nate is seen, rightly so, as being a part of the former problem.  Orville is not.  Mostly because he saw the Nutt mess coming before he was even hired, and died before the chit hit the fan.  Maybe Orville would have done what Nate and Clay did, but Since we will never know for sure, we have to judge Nate based on what he did do.

Nate may be a great guy, but that's life.  If you are complicit in what became a giant circle jerk of sycophantic back scratching that's was the BAC circa 2001-2006, then don't expect sympathy from the masses when the new sheriff cleans house, and more importantly, gets results.

Especially when it's the third or fourth time he's tried this argument.  It's been four years, Nate.  Long and Petrino's restricted access have not damaged the program, and will not damage the program.  Results have PROVEN you to be wrong.  Shut up about it already.

Orville  could never have guessed the train wreck that would be the end of Nutt.

[jesterzzn]

He was prophetic about Nutts coaching short comings.  I agree that nobody could have predicted all the off the field crap.

[Justifiable Hogicide]

He was prophetic about Nutts coaching short comings.  I agree that nobody could have predicted all the off the field crap.

Yes, Orville Henry knew ("I am furious") the Nutt (4-7) hire was a very bad move and he went out on a limb and wrote about it.
But even he, could never have known just how deep the psychosis and pettiness ran in the twisted mind of Houston Dale Nutt.

[oldhawg]

And, one year later, Mr. Henry wrote that Nutt was the perfect man for the job at Arkansas.

Nobody can say what Mr. Henry would have written during the mess that was the final few years of Nutt's tenure. I certainly wish we would have gotten to see it.

On the other hand, since we will never know his response to all that happened from 1998 to 2008, Orville will remain as an iconic figure in the memory of most of us old timers who read and revered him as our direct connection to the Razorbacks.  I, for one, am very comfortable with that image, even though I well know that at times he was no more than Frank Broyles's mouthpiece.

I am glad we did not get to see his response(s) during that time frame.

[kaiserhog]

I feel sorry for Nate Allen. The guy has covered Razorback sports for almost as long as I have been alive. He has written books about the Razorbacks. If anyone has earned one-tenth the access that Orville Henry (his former boss) had, it's Nate. Not Clay, Nate. What is his reward for longevity and perseverance? A bunch of Internet punks calling him names, and being treated like a rookie by the Arkansas SID.

I agree.  He deserves better. 

[El Puerco]

Funny how this thread went the same way this thread below did back in 2009

http://www.hogville.net/yabbse/index.php?topic=292600.0

The common theme Jack The BN Nate is buthurt because he got restricted and he's still restricted today and is stlll butthurt.

Arguments over local sports media relevance are intense....because there is so little at stake.