Stansbury Lets Sidney Talk On TV; Local Press Ticked
February 21st, 2011 11:43 AM║ Posted By: John Pennington ║ Permalink
║ Schools: Mississippi State
Tags: Following State, Joe Dean, MSU, Raven Johnson
Rick Stansbury should know better. In his 13th season as an SEC head coach, Mississippi State’s top Dog should know that playing favorites with the media will only tick off those in the media who aren’t treated as favorites.
Following State’s win over Ole Miss on Saturday, Stansbury allowed Renardo Sidney to speak on television with Joe Dean, Jr.
So?
Stansbury has not allowed the local press in the state of Mississippi to speak with the controversial big man. And his decision made for “a tense scene for a few moments as several reporters — including David Brandt of The Associate Press and Rick Cleveland of The Jackson Clarion-Ledger — demanded to know why Sidney… was made available for the TV interview.”
After the game, an MSU spokesperson told the press room: “You’re not going to get Sidney. He’s not going to come in here. You’re all going to try to get it back to Hawaii. We have to protect him.”
It seems the folks in Starkville have done nothing but protect Sidney. Some have suggested the player’s lack of accountability has led to many of his much-discussed attitude issues.
Examples:
Sidney insulted MSU fans and re-tweeted comments critical of his coach on Twitter… yet he was “protected” while Raven Johnson was suspended.
Sidney was caught by television cameras fighting with teammate Elgin Bailey in Hawaii… yet he was “protected” while Bailey felt the need to transfer.
Perhaps MSU should — at some point — let the player speak for himself. Who knows, being accountable for his actions now might someday actually help him as an adult, though it’s doubtful anyone surrounding Sidney cares as much about Sidney the adult as they do Sidney the basketball player.
Either way, Stansbury stepped in it by granting the SEC Network (meaning: ESPN) access to Sidney. Sure ESPN pays a huge chunk of money to the league and the network probably promised not to bring up Sidney’s past off-court issues. But Stansbury is not a popular man in the state of Mississippi these days. The last thing he needs to do is make enemies with the people who cover his team on a daily basis. Because those local writers and reporters have a helluva lot more influence on public opinion than Joe Dean, Jr. does.
"Sidney insulted MSU fans and re-tweeted comments critical of his coach on Twitter… yet he was “protected” while Raven Johnson was suspended."
Saying that Johnson was suspended for something he said on Twitter while Sidney was not punished for re-tweeting it is over-simplifying what really happened. Johnson had not been going to class or to team meetings. Why should Sidney be suspended for a teammate not going to class and team meetings?
"Stansbury is not a popular man in the state of Mississippi these days."
That's what he gets for beating Mississippi's "flagship" university five times in a row.
Totally agree... I believe the ENTIRE media got it wrong regarding a retweet...
HOW many times have people tweeted... "I didn't say that, I was just retweeting what someone else said"...
Retweeting what someone tweeted is not saying it, or even agreeing with it... Renardo Sidney added a comment to what Ravern said and it wasn't half as toxic as what Ravern tweeted...
Many of the newspaper sites in Mississippi have writers covering State that are Ole Miss homers or writers that just have an apathy to State. David Brandt, Rusty Hampton, the Clarion Ledger, and the Northeast Mississippi Daily Journal are all examples. Renardo is a high profile underclassman that sometimes talks before he thinks. Many programs limit media access to these younger guys. RS is doing the right thing.
TwistDawg...
Not sure how we're wrong. One, it's a fact that Rick Stansbury is less popular now than at any point in his tenure. Doesn't mean he'll be fired, but we didn't say he'd be fired. Two, it's never smart for a coach to tick off the local writers that cover his team. That's just common sense. If you're in trouble, you want writers to help explain things for you. You don't want them piling on.
Thanks for reading,
John
MrSEC, the issue between the Sidneys and the CL writers goes back to the young man's Jr. & Sr. High days in Jackson....so it is very doubtful that anyone associated with the CL would ever "help explain things" for Coach or 'Sid'. Common sense tells me that that particular group of media mavens is way short on integrity when it comes to all things related to MSU and they are getting shorter by the day when it comes to subscriptions...
You are wrong, mr sec. Rick will be alright and MSU will be alright. Alumni and fans aren't too concerned with the local media's whining. Look at the responses to Rick's column.
Don't think you will find many MSU folks concerned about David Brandt, Marcello ?, or Rick Cleveland. The coverage MSU gets from the "Clarion Liar" has always left much to be desired...and Coach RS will still coaching at MSU next year.
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[...] Mr. SEC writes on how Mississippi State has protected Sidney. [...]