A Bruce Feldman tweet on CPJ

[OldJacketFan]

My theory is that CPJ is trying to sabotage recruiting with a month to go before NSD, so either he gets fired now and cashes in for $10.MM or he gets fired after next season and gets around $7.5MM , it is a sour-puss scorched earth mentality.

For example, when Neuheisel knew he was going to get fired at UCLA, he wouldn't pull Huntley's RS and hurt the program after he was gone and he kept working hard recruiting studs, which is why UCLA has won 9 games last yr. and 10-games this yr.

If CPJ sabotages Recruiting then the next HC will be more likely to fail and therefore make his tenure at GT look even better, CPJ seems to be the kinda guy that won't go quietly.

These are theories of course, after all WHY leak that out to a CFB-writer 1-month before NSD?

What an absolute crock. Speculation without foundation.

 

[jwsavhGT]

I have been following all this stuff for 24 hours and I have to say that it has been very frustrating to see Tech fans go after 1) the coach 2) the players 3)each other. I not only follow GT Swarm but also Twitter and it can be like a GT game - a roller coaster of emotions. There have been a lot of comments and remarks made back and forth with people making sweeping statements and people getting all feisty. I even fell victim to my emotions by taking offense at a comment on Twitter where someone said that "most Tech fans" what CPJ to leave. I let that person know quick-like he could not claim to speak for "most Tech fans" unless he could back that up. My point to this post is that I have seen this coach argument play-out for 35 years - all the way back to Pepper Rogers. The powers-that-be did not like him so he was gone; then there was Bill Curry and he was gone; then there was Bobby Ross and he was gone, etc, etc, etc. There seems to be no coach that can satisfy the Tech fan-base and the most vocal seem to not be satisfied with any coaching style. I therefore will risk my neck by pointing out the obvious - if you think you can do better than PLEASE apply for the job.

 

[awbuzz]

What an absolute crock. Speculation without foundation.

That is more polite than some of us are/wer thinking.

 

[Jerry the Jacket]

This is not unique to Georgia Tech. Even Alabama fans want to fire Nick Saban after last night. I think a lot of this has to do with the proliferation of social media which feeds the appetite for immediate gratification especially among the younger generation. It's just the current culture. At the end of the day most of this amounts to very little. It is mostly a lot of fury signifying nothing. Most of it is really not even worth commenting on but like most we want our voice heard.

Go Jackets!

 

[TechPhi97]

What would possibly motivate a credible sports journalist like Bruce Feldman to post a completely bogus rumor? It's not like the guy needs publicity. And if it's publicity he wanted, then making stuff up that will easily be refuted just makes him look non-credible. The last thing a journalist wants is to appear to be non-credible. Given all that, I think there is something legitimate to the original rumor.

The next thing we can infer is that Johnson wanted this information to be made public. If he had told someone this in confidence, then that person would be destroying his relationship with Johnson by leaking it to the press. Not logical or credible.

So, the question now becomes, why would Johnson want this rumor to make it out to the public? Maybe he's hoping the firestorm will cause the fanbase to pressure the school to give him his buyout, so everyone can just move on. I do not put much weight on the subsequent denial by Johnson. That denial had to be done to maintain an air of uncertainty around the situation. If he had not refuted it, then it would have taken on the weight of fact.

I expect this story to evolve rapidly over the coming days. Should be interesting.

Good gracious, you have to make 3 leaps of faith to get to your theory. Starting with the first - what would motivate a "credible sports journalist" to post a "completely bogus rumor". My understanding is that when you're doing any kind of actual journalism you get information about something and then you try to make contact with other people to verify your information. So, Feldman could have contacted coach Johnson, or the AA, for comment before tweeting what he heard. I have no doubt that someone sent rumor to him, but it could've been the janitor at the AA that thought he overheard something. Or someone with an axe to grind that is changing jobs. Or a player that heard a rumor in the locker room (because when something like Vad transferring happens it kicks up a bunch of other rumors). At issue is how he handled it, which was to "report" it using Twitter rather than actually do some real reporting work and try and track it down.

There are many documented examples of reporters taking short cuts to get the scoop. How is it so hard to believe that Feldman took one unverified rumor and published it without checking its validity?

 

[Techster]

The Hill doesn't pay him... the GTAA plus radio/TV pay CPJ... GTAA would be on the hook for all of it though if he's fired.

That's exactly right, Awbuzz. That's also why it's funny when people say CPJ is safe because of his APR scores and graduation record for players because he gets a higher bonus for it.

I guarantee GT fans that the GTAA would gladly take a lower grad rate and APR score if it meant 2-3 more wins a season and a few more thousand butts at BDS every game. The academic support staff in place will still be there should CPJ leave, and they're the ones that does the heavy lifting that benefits CPJ's APR and graduation record.

 

[Tech First]

Billyho55: I am glad for O'Leary's success at UCF, but hope we never bring him back to Tech.

I agree.

 

[Atomic Jacket]

Good gracious, you have to make 3 leaps of faith to get to your theory. Starting with the first - what would motivate a "credible sports journalist" to post a "completely bogus rumor". My understanding is that when you're doing any kind of actual journalism you get information about something and then you try to make contact with other people to verify your information. So, Feldman could have contacted coach Johnson, or the AA, for comment before tweeting what he heard. I have no doubt that someone sent rumor to him, but it could've been the janitor at the AA that thought he overheard something. Or someone with an axe to grind that is changing jobs. Or a player that heard a rumor in the locker room (because when something like Vad transferring happens it kicks up a bunch of other rumors). At issue is how he handled it, which was to "report" it using Twitter rather than actually do some real reporting work and try and track it down.

There are many documented examples of reporters taking short cuts to get the scoop. How is it so hard to believe that Feldman took one unverified rumor and published it without checking its validity?

I find it hard to believe Feldman would report this information based on a rumor from a janitor. As a journalist, Feldman's most important asset is his credibility. If he reports something blatantly untrue, he has damaged himself severely and gained what? Momentary attention, which he does not need, being an already well-known sports journalist. What you propose is theoretically possible, but too improbable for me to take seriously.

 

[TechPhi97]

I find it hard to believe Feldman would report this information based on a rumor from a janitor. As a journalist, Feldman's most important asset is his credibility. If he reports something blatantly untrue, he has damaged himself severely and gained what? Momentary attention, which he does not need, being an already well-known sports journalist. What you propose is theoretically possible, but too improbable for me to take seriously.

Seriously? I'm using the Janitor analogy in jest, as something to show that there are 100 people that could contact him with the rumor. Hell, maybe he gets rumors emailed to him all the time. I would argue that some journalists feel that their most important asset is being first, or being having the best scoop. Most journalists seek to verify things from multiple sources to ensure what they are reporting is true; Feldman used his platform to say he heard this rumor from a single source ("a source" is in his tweet).

A completely rational person in a completely rational frame of mind probably would've called the AA or Johnson to ask what was going on, and probably would've put that in his tweet; "Rumor is CPJ wants a buyout; AA and Johnson deny reports." Instead he just slung it out there to his Twitter followers. I can't believe that you think lax reporting by an established journalist is too improbable to believe.

 

[Atomic Jacket]

Seriously? I'm using the Janitor analogy in jest, as something to show that there are 100 people that could contact him with the rumor. Hell, maybe he gets rumors emailed to him all the time. I would argue that some journalists feel that their most important asset is being first, or being having the best scoop. Most journalists seek to verify things from multiple sources to ensure what they are reporting is true; Feldman used his platform to say he heard this rumor from a single source ("a source" is in his tweet).

A completely rational person in a completely rational frame of mind probably would've called the AA or Johnson to ask what was going on, and probably would've put that in his tweet; "Rumor is CPJ wants a buyout; AA and Johnson deny reports." Instead he just slung it out there to his Twitter followers. I can't believe that you think lax reporting by an established journalist is too improbable to believe.

What I find improbable is that an established journalist would risk his credibility by reporting information that had absolutely no basis in reality. I think we can safely infer there is some truth in the original rumor, although there may be more to the story that could come out later.

 

[gtg936g]

It is never as true or false as it seems....

 

[dressedcheeseside]

What an absolute crock. Speculation without foundation.

I agree completely. I'm trying so hard to stick the the rules of the board, but finding it harder and harder each day. I hope the mods try to return this board to the same modicum of decorum that existed before the membership exploded.

 

[OldJacketFan]

I agree completely. I'm trying so hard to stick the the rules of the board, but finding it harder and harder each day. I hope the mods try to return this board to the same modicum of decorum that existed before the membership exploded.

Absolutely

 

[Eric]

I agree completely. I'm trying so hard to stick the the rules of the board, but finding it harder and harder each day. I hope the mods try to return this board to the same modicum of decorum that existed before the membership exploded.

If there is something you see that you feel is a problem, hit the report button. We will take it from there.

 

[Bigb]

If there is something you see that you feel is a problem, hit the report button. We will take it from there.

Just seems that once the other board imploded, there's been a large influx of negativity here.

 

[56JacketDE]

Just curious what "negativity" is? If we don't follow the straight and narrow and be a cheerleader because we have a different opinion, are we negative?

 

[ATL1]

Just curious what "negativity" is? If we don't follow the straight and narrow and be a cheerleader because we have a different opinion, are we negative?

Man you don't know the half.

 

[OldJacketFan]

Just curious what "negativity" is? If we don't follow the straight and narrow and be a cheerleader because we have a different opinion, are we negative?

Not at all from what I've seen and read here. The are differences of opinion all the time and, for the most part, folks are respectful about it. What gets most of us is throwing out crap for the sake of throwing out crap.

 

[kg01]

Just curious what "negativity" is? If we don't follow the straight and narrow and be a cheerleader because we have a different opinion, are we negative?

Theres been an increase in personal attacks for sure. Nothing wrong with pointing out failings of the current staff, but folks chiming in with unfounded rumors and speculative psychoanalysis are what I think folks are complaining about.

 

[33jacket]

I believed yesterday this report was erroneous and bad journalism by reporting something either too quick or too hersay.

Today i believe the report by feldman was reported too quick but has some validity to it, despite what guys like Garrett tweeted.

Obviously we will never know for sure unless paul does get bought out. But today my opinion has now changed from yesterday. I am certain paul is unhappy here with how the school operates vs what they told him during hiring. And i am certain people have discussed buyout. I am not certain paul has requested to be bought out.