Laura Keeley's Interview of Brown, Tomlinson, and Cut

[Faison1]

http://www.newsobserver.com/2014/08/...onization.html

Is it possible the Duke players are happy with their environment and their future? Is it possible they see value in the degree they earn? If those possibilities are true, why does that make them void of "independent thought"? Considering the constant drumbeat from ESPN and other media sources on what is essentially a money-grab, I would propose that these two student-athletes are the ones who possess "independent thought".

I'm not sure what Laura's trying to say, but it seems she lost respect for our guys because they didn't fall in line.

Frankly, I couldn't be more proud.

[Scorp4me]

I'm so glad to find your post Faison1. I came to the forum hoping to find a discussion on the article. Both players responded as they should, as kids playing a sport in college. They responded exactly how I would have responded. Heck, they even seem to understand that the changes being sought will probably ruin college sports as we know it. I loved the answers, truth be told most players probably felt this way. As with so many things in this world though a minority is shouting loudest and the courts are making the changes. This world is falling apart and this is just another symptom. Ughh, I'll get off my soap box now. Cut it an employee and probably responded how he had to, but kudos to Brown and Tomlinson for responding how they felt!

[Duvall]

I'm so glad to find your post Faison1. I came to the forum hoping to find a discussion on the article. Both players responded as they should, as kids playing a sport in college. They responded exactly how I would have responded. Heck, they even seem to understand that the changes being sought will probably ruin college sports as we know it. I loved the answers, truth be told most players probably felt this way. As with so many things in this world though a minority is shouting loudest and the courts are making the changes.

That is, of course, what courts are for.

[throatybeard]

I'm perplexed by the need of many members of this board to diss Laura Keeley, given that she's been one of our best media advocates. It makes my head spin, honestly.

I thin the sorriest display I've ever seen on this board was the negative avalanche that fell on her during the 2013 bowl selection process. And I've seen a lot of sorry displays, given that I've been hanging around here what is getting to be dangerously close to two decades (or approximately the life of the site). That Peach Bowl circus alone made me a fan of hers for life.

[Faison1]

I'm perplexed by the need of many members of this board to diss Laura Keeley, given that she's been one of our best media advocates. It makes my head spin, honestly.

I thin the sorriest display I've ever seen on this board was the negative avalanche that fell on her during the 2013 bowl selection process. And I've seen a lot of sorry displays, given that I've been hanging around here what is getting to be dangerously close to two decades (or approximately the life of the site). That Peach Bowl circus alone made me a fan of hers for life.

I looked over my post again, and that of Scorp4me's as well, and I still don't feel like it's an avalanche of disrespect for Laura. I'm normally a fan of hers, but this opinion piece is not one of her better efforts.

In her article, Laura decides that our guys must have been brainwashed by their coach, otherwise there's no way any player could be happy with their current situation and lack of cash. Every year, we hear of Duke Football Players who actually appreciate the education they receive. Yet, Laura insinuates that our guys are only saying what their coach wants to hear.

Coming from a world where I still have student loans, and paid out of pocket for food and housing while attending school, I would have gladly played a sport so I didn't have to deal with future loans and loss of assets/income.

[mo.st.dukie]

Public perception of college athletes is that ALL of them are like the UNC athletes, they ALL want an easy out and they ALL get an easy out. The reality is that there are hundreds if not thousands of student athletes who actually value that education and do the necessary work to earn that degree.

[duke09hms]

Yeah that was a poor article by Keeley. Really like the way our guys responded. Don't know why she was trying to insinuate that simply because they hold contrasting opinions to her it MUST have been because Cut told them what to say. Disrespectful to our students-athletes. I would expect football players at Stanford to say similar things as well.

[sagegrouse]

I may have misread the article, but I don't think Laura Keeley asked the questions. She clearly edited the transcript to include the questions she was interested in covering.

Here is her commentary:

Now is it just me, or are the Duke players’ responses—Tomlinson’s especially—nearly identical to Cutcliffe’s? I wonder if any Duke University academic will read this and be a little disappointed that the players don’t appear to be independent thinkers on this topic, which is pretty relevant to their daily lives. But this isn’t the first example ( or the second) where I’ve seen players don’t appear to be too interested in the business of sports, or at least not interested to the degree that the media is.

What does this all mean? Are most players really not all that interested in trying to collect more compensation, or have we just stumbled upon a few exceptions to the norm? It’s notable, I think, that the most active players surrounding the O’Bannon lawsuit for compensation for use of a player’s image and likeness are former players—people that have left the pampered college bubble and realized, hey!, this money thing doesn’t just fall off trees! Maybe all these ridiculous Taj Mahal facilities colleges are building coddling players into not caring about bigger picture problems—why am I worried about extra money when I have unlimited food and a smoothie bar at my disposal?

Who knows, perhaps I’m way off base. But we’re talking about big business here, hundreds of millions of dollars, and athletes at Duke, at least, don’t seem to be overly interested in who gets what slice of the pie.

One problem is her second sentence of para. 1, which is kinda mean, esp. given the following sentence.

The other is her getaway statement, which is a bit dopey.

I would guess that most current athletes would view the O'Bannon ruling, in the words of Reverend Ike, as "Pie in the sky bye and bye when you die," rather than something affecting their own life as a student and an athlete. And besides, as many athletes might think, "There is practice this afternoon. The first game is only a short time away. I've got a couple of tough courses this coming semester. And my knee hurts."

[Reilly]

I thought Kelby and Laken's responses were fine, and thoughtful and not indicative of parroting a company line. They seem very appreciative of what they have -- a nice mindset to take through life. I thought Laura's concern was a bit misplaced and the piece overall seemed to be a reach (and I generally like her writing, and follow her on Twitter). I recall one intemperate comment about her work and the bowl selection -- not an avalanche, moreso a small snowball -- with others raising legit questions and seeking an explanation as to how/why she reported what she did, then.

[devilirium]

Pluses with Laura--aggressive coverage, approaches stories creatively ( the idea for unionization was good), proficient writer most of the time, good sense of humor when it doesn't tread into snarkiness.

Minuses--" dopey" throwaway lines of thinking, takes some unnecessary shots at kids like Jabari, Kelby, and Laken on twitter( references the Cleveland workout performance which he flatly denied--she tweeted " when will Jabari learn that he needs to get in shape?), falls victim to the ESPN snarky approach

Maybe, she's trying to keep it " real" ( Im not a Duke homer). I think some more reflection on her part was needed here. Class, football, community, etc. are on these kinds minds. There is also a hesitancy to answer in bolder terms--coaches, teammates see these interviews, and I would imagine some frank discussion on this subject would be divisive for the team heading into the season.

[Scorp4me]

For the record, I glossed over Laura's comments and didn't really think much about them. My thoughts and comments were much more focused on the players responses than anything. As for Laura I'm a fan, she gave Duke credit and effort before it was cool.

I'll pass on the comment about what the courts are "for" because I don't want to derail the thread. I do think we can both agree the courts are not "for" listening to he who screams loudest, but I'm not sure they know that lol.

[throatybeard]

I looked over my post again, and that of Scorp4me's as well, and I still don't feel like it's an avalanche of disrespect for Laura. I'm normally a fan of hers, but this opinion piece is not one of her better efforts.

In her article, Laura decides that our guys must have been brainwashed by their coach, otherwise there's no way any player could be happy with their current situation and lack of cash. Every year, we hear of Duke Football Players who actually appreciate the education they receive. Yet, Laura insinuates that our guys are only saying what their coach wants to hear.

Coming from a world where I still have student loans, and paid out of pocket for food and housing while attending school, I would have gladly played a sport so I didn't have to deal with future loans and loss of assets/income.

To be clear, I thought y'all's posts here were only mildly negative.

I stand by my assertion, however, that the avalanche of unjustifiable hatred towards her during 2013 bowl selection season was the worst thing I've ever seen on this board.

[OldPhiKap]

Laura was positive on Duke long before many were -- including on this board.

She is not a Duke cheerleader, she is a reporter and (opinion) columnist. Like or dislike what you want on the merits.

I personally don't have a problem with the article, but that's just me. Maybe the kids at Duke are happy with their situation. Shock.

[Scorp4me]

To be clear, I thought y'all's posts here were only mildly negative.

I stand by my assertion, however, that the avalanche of unjustifiable hatred towards her during 2013 bowl selection season was the worst thing I've ever seen on this board.

Let me reiterate that I glossed over Laura's comments and didn't even think about what she said. To be honest it was the comment at the bottom of the DBR page linked to the article that got me to thinking, so I went into the article interested in their responses not the reporters comments. I read what she said...but I don't think I digested it. So at worst there was no negativity on my part due to lack of attention lol.

As for the bowl selection negativity, I only remember her saying we were going somewhere else when everyone thought we were going to the Peach Bowl. I think I have that right. Beyond saying you're wrong, I can't imagine why anyone would have thrown negativity her way for that??? And while I was as interested as anyone and reading everything I could on it, I don't really remember what happened or what was said. Perhaps I wasn't looking here at the time. Perhaps it's simply best left in the past.

[gep]

I may have misread the article, but I don't think Laura Keeley asked the questions. She clearly edited the transcript to include the questions she was interested in covering.

Here is her commentary:

*************
Now is it just me, or are the Duke players’ responses—Tomlinson’s especially—nearly identical to Cutcliffe’s? I wonder if any Duke University academic will read this and be a little disappointed that the players don’t appear to be independent thinkers on this topic, which is pretty relevant to their daily lives. But this isn’t the first example ( or the second) where I’ve seen players don’t appear to be too interested in the business of sports, or at least not interested to the degree that the media is.
*************

Read more here: http://www.newsobserver.com/2014/08/...#storylink=cpy

One problem is her second sentence of para. 1, which is kinda mean, esp. given the following sentence.

The other is her getaway statement, which is a bit dopey.

I would guess that most current athletes would view the O'Bannon ruling, in the words of Reverend Ike, as "Pie in the sky bye and bye when you die," rather than something affecting their own life as a student and an athlete. And besides, as many athletes might think, "There is practice this afternoon. The first game is only a short time away. I've got a couple of tough courses this coming semester. And my knee hurts."

I haven't had any problems with reading Laura Keeley. But I think you're a bit generous in her comments (bolded/underlined).

I think that was a slap in the face of the Duke football players. Where does she get any info that Duke footbal players are not "independent thinkers"? Just because it's very close to what Coach Cut said doesn't mean they are not "independent thinkers". Doesn't it occur to her that, just maybe, the Duke football players have their *own* opinions that mirror their coaches. After all, that's why they came to Duke and believe in Coach Cut. They actually share the same values... oh now novel

[ice-9]

I agree with all the naysayers on this thread.

You can't accuse someone of not being an independent thinker just because he or she doesn't agree with you.

That's just...not cool. Especially since it's coming from a mature, adult journalist, directed at young, college students.

[devilirium]

^ Agree, it only takes a few assertions like that to mar future opportunities to do some similar interview setups like. I think Cut and his players would be disinclined to be as forthcoming as they have with her. I know that I would be less apt to do it if I was described as a lemming/ non independent thinker. It's interesting to note that Cut was fairly mum when asked about the O Bannon trial--he put up the privacy fence more or less when asked that question. Maybe it's unrelated to the unionization article but it seems awfully soon to be coincidence.

[Henderson]

Laura was positive on Duke long before many were -- including on this board.

She is not a Duke cheerleader, she is a reporter and (opinion) columnist. Like or dislike what you want on the merits.

I personally don't have a problem with the article, but that's just me. Maybe the kids at Duke are happy with their situation. Shock.

I couldn't agree more and couldn't have said it better. Laura Keeley is still quite young, and she seems to me to be getting better and learning from youthful journalistic mistakes. I can't come down on her too hard, even though it often happens that multiple "independent thinkers" come to the same conclusions based on the same set of facts.

[DukeHLM'13]

I'll try to not just parrot what other have already said, but I also really liked how Kelby and Tomlinson were responding to the questions because you could tell that they were thinking about more than just getting paid. Both were clearly grateful for what they are already receiving (scholarships, stipends, housing, food, etc) under the current system and Tomlinson had a really good point about the potential negative repercussions of college athletes unionizing.

If anything, I would think that comments like this from the players would show that they are thinking much more freely many others who can't seem to be bothered to look past the possibility of getting paid.

[Jarhead]

To sum it up -- I think that the players are on the right path, and Laura is about the best beat reporter the N&O has had covering Duke.