FanPost

Is It Media, Or Is It ASOB?

OK, I am going to sound like the town crier here, but I am not going to let this go down without at least pointing out what I see as a wrong. Not some affrontery to our sense of who we are, but to the world as it exists today.

Glenn wrote a really good piece that analyzed another pretty decent piece about the media and their activities at the Final Four. Yes, the same Final Four that Glenn attended as a guest of some of our advertisers around here ( I make that distinction in an effort to make sure this article seems totally unbiased). His account is on the main page and Wild Weasel has another here. The truth of it all is that the media, for all it's pomp and circumstance, whistle-blowing, and self-inflated ideas of it's abilities, is just like the rest of us. Some good, some bad, some right, some wrong, some well-intended and some mean and spiteful. But all with one common link. They all have something to say. What they say is not always important, and sometimes it's not even worth reading, but they say it anyway. For crying out loud, it's exactly what I am doing right here.

In Glenn's piece he basically places himself outside the equation because he is not a "journalist" by his own description. My problem with it all is that I don't agree with his assessment. Yes, there are all kinds of ways to define what someone is, or is not. And make no mistake, this is not a criticism of Glenn or his work, quite the contrary. We discuss morals and ethics on here quite regularly. At a surface glance, this is nothing more than a "Whistle Stop" for the BBN and other Kentucky faithful. But when it is observed and analyzed closer, there is much more to it.We are what I consider to be the premier UK Sports information site, because if for no other reason, we put what is going on above other things which are secondary. We have a good sense of what is pertinent around here. Not to mention some really intelligent people who are good at what they do.

We have our quirks, much as any media outlet does. I bring the "voice of the fanatic" to life much more than is probably necessary, using less than stellar grammar and far too many words than necessary most of the time, but I am not a journalist. A2D2 protects the women's side of the equation along with BSC, without coming off as feminist fans, they bring a different view sometimes, while remaining true blue to UK and what they love about it and the people involved, but they are not journalists. Guys like FortyYearCatFan bring the stats until we can all quote chapter and verse, and the entire blog contributes in one way or another to almost every story out there, but they are not journalists. I can name 100 people who have given something to this blog that was pertinent in the last seven days, even now that the craze of the tournament is over. But we are not journalists.

My point here is this. Glenn may not be a "journalist". None of us may be. We make mistakes in grammar, we get information wrong, we are not always first in what we do, we are biased, and we support our team through thick and thin. But we also search for the truth, we allow all sides of a point to be discussed, we have standards and morals without imposing a belief system on anyone. And we do all of this in an effort to inform, analyze and even sometimes entertain UK fans as well as others. But, wait, isn't that what a news outlet does?

I don't want my UK news any other way. And I have a feeling that most of you out there don't either.