I waited to write this column. If the name above doesn’t register with you, there should be no compulsion to read on. Except, there’s an underlying issue that goes beyond college football coaching (which is Kiffin’s profession) that will emerge in the paragraphs to follow.
Three, maybe four weeks ago, Kiffin’s name was repeatedly in the headlines. Because he was so short-term famous, I waited to write about him until his moment in the news evaporated.
During his two-week (more or less) stay in the limelight, the sports news media, and the media at large to a lesser extent, wrote and reported story after story after story about him. Not news. Speculation.
Where’s he gonna go? Which schools are trying to hire his services. For backdrop, at the time, Kiffin was the head football coach at the University of Mississippi, and had a great record. He was sought after.
The speculation was the story. His name, based on sources who could say whatever they wanted, associated him with various college football coaching openings. “He’s going here. No, he’s going to this other school.” No one really knew, but the talking heads all wanted to speculate.
Beyond trying to predict where he’d go, there was the underlying prognosticating on why he would go to one university or another. “What’s the best fit? Who needs him the most? Who’s willing to pay the multiple millions of dollars to reel him in?”
Will it be Florida? Oh, we need to do that story. How about Penn State? Someone better put together that article.
What do the players think? Oh boy, that’s another angle. Let’s interview them.
All the pre-hire stories are based on who has the inside scoop. Who appears to have the most accurate information on which to base an opinion?
Over the course of his hiring (by Louisiana State University – LSU), there were easily 25 stories that came up on my news feed, probably more. And the pre-hiring stories were not the end of it.
No, then we had to read after his hiring about how LSU reeled him in, why he made that choice, what that meant to his former players at Mississippi. Who cares?
Who the heck is Lane Kiffin? Why is he so important?
The onslaught is indicative of how the media currently seem to define news. They decide what to report on. As news consumers, we react to that. We can ignore these types of stories (something I typically do) or you have to roll with what they put out. In the grand scheme of things, Lane Kiffin is not important. He was made important by the media for a couple of weeks.
This is big time sports. This is about money, exposure, publicity, speculation. Who cares?
This is our culture today. You can escape though. Ignore the stories is the best step. Beyond that, I suggest shoveling snow. Read a book. Go fishing. Mow the grass. Rake some leaves. Chop wood. Plant a tree. You’ll feel better not just because those are productive activities, but also because you are engaged in an activity rather than being led around by air-brushed talking heads pontificating and trying to show just how important their voice is.
Three, maybe four weeks ago, Kiffin’s name was repeatedly in the headlines. Because he was so short-term famous, I waited to write about him until his moment in the news evaporated.
During his two-week (more or less) stay in the limelight, the sports news media, and the media at large to a lesser extent, wrote and reported story after story after story about him. Not news. Speculation.
Where’s he gonna go? Which schools are trying to hire his services. For backdrop, at the time, Kiffin was the head football coach at the University of Mississippi, and had a great record. He was sought after.
The speculation was the story. His name, based on sources who could say whatever they wanted, associated him with various college football coaching openings. “He’s going here. No, he’s going to this other school.” No one really knew, but the talking heads all wanted to speculate.
Beyond trying to predict where he’d go, there was the underlying prognosticating on why he would go to one university or another. “What’s the best fit? Who needs him the most? Who’s willing to pay the multiple millions of dollars to reel him in?”
Will it be Florida? Oh, we need to do that story. How about Penn State? Someone better put together that article.
What do the players think? Oh boy, that’s another angle. Let’s interview them.
All the pre-hire stories are based on who has the inside scoop. Who appears to have the most accurate information on which to base an opinion?
Over the course of his hiring (by Louisiana State University – LSU), there were easily 25 stories that came up on my news feed, probably more. And the pre-hiring stories were not the end of it.
No, then we had to read after his hiring about how LSU reeled him in, why he made that choice, what that meant to his former players at Mississippi. Who cares?
Who the heck is Lane Kiffin? Why is he so important?
The onslaught is indicative of how the media currently seem to define news. They decide what to report on. As news consumers, we react to that. We can ignore these types of stories (something I typically do) or you have to roll with what they put out. In the grand scheme of things, Lane Kiffin is not important. He was made important by the media for a couple of weeks.
This is big time sports. This is about money, exposure, publicity, speculation. Who cares?
This is our culture today. You can escape though. Ignore the stories is the best step. Beyond that, I suggest shoveling snow. Read a book. Go fishing. Mow the grass. Rake some leaves. Chop wood. Plant a tree. You’ll feel better not just because those are productive activities, but also because you are engaged in an activity rather than being led around by air-brushed talking heads pontificating and trying to show just how important their voice is.
