Another smear against Alabama Crimson Tide coach Nick Saban was proven false. Deepsouth Sports posted a fabrication from an Ole Miss message board which was picked up by national blogs including Sports By Brooks and the Wiz of Odds. The blog was the topic of conversation on talk radio’s Paul Finebaum Show. There was a very good post and discussion earlier this week at Roll Bama Roll about the rumor launched on an Ole Miss blog.
Now thanks to traditional reporting, we know it never happened.
“Man… what you saw on that blog wasn’t even true,” Massie told Ian Rapoport of the Birmingham News. (Read the report at the Rap Sheet.) The biggest repudiation of the entire lie? Massie said he never told Saban he was going to Ole Miss.
As former Reagan administration labor secretary Ray Donovan asked after being acquitted of corruption charges, “Where do I go to get my reputation back?” Where does Nick Saban go to repair his reputation from all the lies formulated on the Internet?
There is a cottage industry in smears against the Alabama Crimson Tide coach. It would be a 60-hour per week job to correct every lie told about Saban. When I read NY Times editor Bill Keller said, “”Saving the New York Times now ranks with saving Darfur as a high-minded cause,” I was prepared to laugh. But Deepsouth Sports just proved how important traditional media with traditional standards are to our way of life.
How do the blogs respond to the lie?
The Wiz makes note of it in a daily Reporter’s Notebook piece. It doesn’t rate a correction of equal size tp the original smear.
Nothing so far on Sports By Brooks.
DeepSouth Sports continues the lie. Here is how the blogger defends his story: “According to Ian Rapaport, Bobby denies it…Kinda. He admits he’s read the post, but he doesn’t go into detail about what is true or false. He does admit talking to Saban the night before signing day (like it says above), and he does admit that he never told Saban he was going to Ole Miss (like it says above). He just says ‘my words got switched around,’ so take that for what it’s worth.
“Sounds to me like someone at Ole Miss asked Massie to kindly “shut up” and put this in the past. I’m thinking young Bobby just learned a valuable lesson in fan/media relations.”
DeepSouth Sports needs reading comprehension skills. Massie said the blog wasn’t true. In other words, the blog is wrong, and to defend it is to perpetuate a lie making the blogger a liar. (I don’t like to use that word because most of the time people make honest mistakes, but the sophistry used in defense of the story reflects poorly on every Internet site.) Massie said he talked with Saban during the day before national signing day, but NEVER told Saban he was going to Ole Miss. Massie repudiated every line of your story.
You sir, are a liar. You sir, are everything wrong with the Internet. You sir, are a disgrace.
Maybe saving traditional media is more important than anyone thought. If it weren’t for the traditional reporter working for a traditional outlet, all we would know about this story are the lies told by blogs. And that would be sad for everyone. Sad for Nick Saban because of the wound to his reputation. And sad to the nation because the people deserve to read the truth.
24 thoughts on “Massie denies rumor about Saban”
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Does Neil McCready have anything to do with that blog? Just wondering. He’s always been out to get the U of A and is still upset at being fired from his job in Mobile.
McCready works for the Rivals Ole Miss site, I believe anyway. And this rumor apparently generated from the Scout Ole Miss site.
From there the message board rumor was spread by blogs.
Blogs from all the inferior jealous CFB fans, no doubt. But that what happens when you start heading up the mountain, if it isn’t them, they want to knock you down no matter what lies they have to make up. I bet FL St. and Miami fans really hate FL about now, what do their message boards look like?
I dont think Neal would have intentionally lied,And Saban doesnt have to worry about getting his REP back. It would take more than this to Tarnish his reputation. MUCH MORE…
WPB!!!
Neal does intentionally lie, and that is one reason he lost his job. It was so obvious that he had an agenda to smear Alabama in every way, even when it meant spreading a lie or two. When sponsors started pulling money from the station because of it, he was done. It is a free country, so he can say what he wants. But ultimately people have the right to call him out on what he says also, which is why he lost his job. Good riddance.
His article about how Saban wouldn’t come to Alabama, how Alabama was done, looked foolish in trying to get a top tier coach and should just settle for a lot less really made him look pretty ignorant.
“You sir, are a liar. You sir, are everything wrong with the Internet. You sir, are a disgrace.”
You sir, are a boring, irrelevant douchebag.
I wish I had a dollar for every time I’ve heard that!
I’m one of those old types that wants evidence and not just shit off a message board. I guess that makes me boring—at least I’m not a sophist.
Your defense of the Massie story is a joke of circular logic. You and the people on talk radio assert Massie wouldn’t have said what he said to Rapoport without being coached; therefore, he was coached.
What a load of BS. We have a choice of believing Massie or someone off an Ole Miss message board who didn’t even post a story you could link to. Forgive me for believing the highest and best source of information. Here’s a clue—it isn’t you.
Whats a sophist ?
A person who reasons with clever, but false arguments. Like the circular logic used by some to “prove” Massie was coached by Ole Miss on what to say to put out the controversy.
I have my source…Ian has his. One Bobby was thought to be off-the-record (when it clearly was not), and one was known to be on the record.
Which Bobby Massie is gonna tell the truth?
Believe what you want to believe, Tider, but nothing said on this issue makes me a liar.
Talk about “circular logic.”
You gonna try and sue me for slander too! Genius.
It’s posts like this that make Alabama the laughing stock of the SEC. Everybody hates y’all. You are bunch of whiny pathetic rednecks.
How dare you question anything Alabama, Erik!!! Don’t you know that anything Nick Saban says is the gospel to 70% of the people living in Alabama? Surely you heard that the Alabama Board of Education is waiting to hear Saban’s views on evolution so that they know what to teach in the schools.
You better hope Nicky doesn’t say that you don’t exist, or you’ll disappear just like Marty McFly in Back to the Future.
“Man… what you saw on that blog wasn’t even true,” Massie said.
Massie called you a liar. That’s good enough for me.
Your source is from a message board. LOL!
Ian’s source is the horse’s mouth.
I’ll put my trust in what is the truth, not some innuendo culled from message board BS. And if it isn’t message board crap, where is the writer’s story? If you can’t present a story under the reporter’s name then it is BS.
Besides, your argument is that your “source” tricked a college kid. Do you think a recruit knows the difference between on and off-the-record? SO, at the minimum, your version of events leads us to the conclusion that your “source” was unethical in revealing what a kid thought was a private conversation. That doesn’t instill confidence—it just shows what trash hang around your program in that they would exploit a kid like that. And that is IF we believe your version of events.
As for slander? Where the hell did that come from? Published material is libel. Since I ran a newspaper and later a magazine (spent about a decade in publishing), I think I know how frivolous lawsuits like that can be. But, you are one of the reasons first amendment freedoms online are under assault. Next time you publish something, don’t copy and paste crap off a message board and pass it off as fact. It makes all blogs look bad.
However, your sophistry is clear. Everyone knows you are a liar as you continue to embrace a story that the alleged “source” denies. He called it “untrue.”
Untrue is another way of calling it a lie.
I learned a new word today. “Sophist”. Lets see if I can use it in a sentence. Bama fans are a bunch of sophists. Shane is a master sophist. Cap you were engaging in “sophistry” when you took Shanes side on that deal.
One other thing to consider.
You contend your story is correct. If your story is correct, Massie lied to Rapoport because both stories can’t be true since Massie said your blog was “untrue.” We use the law of contradiction here since a thing can’t be both true and untrue at the same time, when two exclusionary claims are made, then one must be false.
Therefore, if Massie lied to Rapoport, your story is based on a liar.
If Massie is a liar, how could we believe your report since it would be based on a tale told by a liar?
LOL Ballplay.
Wow, Tider…Was “sophistry” the word of the day-of-the-day on your desk calendar? You’ve used it about 5 times now. Good for you!!!
In other news…you’re ignorant. You hear what a Tider wants to hear. You see only what you want to see. It’s a disease that has spread unchecked through the Alabama fanbase and it’s damn pathetic.
I confirmed the first hand account of what Bobby Massie said with the source via email. He claimed it is “100% accurate.” That’s good enough for me.
Like the almighty Paul Finebaum said, “Nothing in Ian’s blog proves anything to be false.”
Just because Ian’s report makes you feel warm and special in your pants doesn’t make it gospel.
Holy shit you’re dumb. The fact that you can publish a website is damn amazing.
“Massie called you a liar. That’s good enough for me.”
Did he call me a liar…Or maybe was it the person who wrote that blurb???
Get your shit together.
I bet you still think OJ was innocent too. Congratulations on your life.
Well if Paul Finebaum said it!
Massie was quoted by a professional journalist as saying the blog was “untrue.”
Now, do I believe Massie or you?
Hmm, tough choice. I’m going with Massie.
The law of contradiction holds, Ian’s quote where Massie says you are “untrue” stands in contrast to your report based on something someone unidentified told you happened.
Yawns. The real world believes real sources, not Internet message board BS. Show me a bylined story quoting Massie saying what you assert, and I’ll reconsider my analysis. Until then, you are just spewing hot air.
You’re right…I made it all up out of thin air. April Fools. LOLz!
Look, I don’t believe you made it up.
The source of the information isn’t very reliable. Why do I say that? It isn’t a bylined story produced by a professional journalist on the Ole Miss site. It was said in what a chat or message board discussion—the “journalist” didn’t think enough of it to put his name on the story, so he took the cheap way out and spread it on the Internet. That is unethical. Just as unethical as spreading something a recruit might have told him because he doesn’t know the difference between on and off the record. To be honest, I don’t consider anyone a journalist that works on the fan sites at Rivals or Scout—they are psuedo-journalists that are little better than bloggers or talk radio hosts.
I believe that you believe the source. I think your source is shakier than you think.
The biggest question is whether the source embellished what Massie said—or if Massie ever said it—or if your source’s account is accurate.
Do we believe a “journalist” that won’t even put his name on the story? Do we believe a story quoting Massie produced by a professional journalist?
Is that a hard choice to make? Honestly. Putting hyperbole aside for a moment.
Isn’t my position clear and reasonable?
I’m forced to say either Massie is a liar, in which case even if your source is true, we can’t believe your story because Massie is a profligate liar.
Or, we believe Massie is truthful and told the truth to Rapoport, in which case your source is wrong.
WOW I missed a good discussion and a word for the day! BUt I hear ya CAP your a hard man to battle logistically Sir! KUDOS!!!! AND Erik way to hang in there Buddy,Sounds like MASSIE said what he said and had to back up and PUNT BAMA PUNT(had 2) whether it was a KID running his yap drunk or just being a BIG MAN IDIOT! I kinda beleive he said it, buuuuuttt I Dont beleive its true!
WAR POLYTECH BABY!!!
Oh yea BB I think anyone other than Tracey Turner thats PRO AUburn… Well let me start over NEal was ANTI BAMA and Turner is JUST PRO AUburn(which is why he is successful but back to the point ANTI BAMA in Mobile will get you fired from a Wal Mart Sir. I am from Mobile and kinda understand what your saying but
Seth Harp really FU$$$$ up WNSP and TOOOOMMMY PRAYTOR SUCKED TOO!!
This Erik guy is some tool… he posts stuff to slam Bama over getting a recruit that Bama was after. A Bama blog retaliates and calls him a liar…
Look Erik, most of us don’t care what Massie said or didn’t say. He didn’t sign with Bama, but we are still very pleased with our recruiting class. I do believe it was a much better haul than Ole Miss had. I wouldn’t want to trade. But if you guys are feeling really happy you snagged one away from ol’ Nick, then good for you. But putting these kids in the middle of your blog war is just wrong.
Brando…..Way to play it cool. Your right, be happy with the #1 class. Kiids dont need to be drug through the mud.