Newspaper Tells Columnist He Can't Write About Sakerlina Anymore (THURSDAY UPDATE: He Can Again)

((HT: Jim Romenesko))

It's a safe play that none of the television stations in Columbia, South Carolina will go into any depth in this story...

On two separate occasions over the last two seasons, the Old Ball Coach has told the assembled media that he won't be answering questions from them- just because... and anything that Spurrier says in his press conferences, currently, has no value other than taking up oxygen...

But the "because" is, according to Romenesko, that The State columnist Ron Morris was negative (in 2011)
Spurrier ranted about it...
((HT: Student Gamecock Television))


And that Morris was suspected of planting questions with fellow reporters so THEY could ask Spurrier questions that he had after an incident in 2012 where Spurrier was criticized by Morris for starting Connor Shaw against UAB...

Six days later, Morris was on Bill King's show on SiriusXM College Sports Nation...


Here was OBC's response with Todd Ellis...


He won't have to worry about it anymore...

Morris has been told by his newspaper that he is not to write any more stories on USC...

From Romenesko:

The State publisher Henry Haitz III wasn’t a Morris fan, though; he wanted his columnist fired, I’m told. Executive editor Mark Lett talked him out of it, though, according to sources. There were no legitimate grounds for dismissal, the publisher was told.

Lett “has basically protected Ron’s job,” says one of Morris’s friends. “He’s had the guts to stand up to the publisher” when Haitz wanted Morris pink-slipped. “This is not a Mark Lett problem; if anything he’s been a protector.”

Morris kept his job, but he was told he could no longer attend Spurrier’s press conferences. He was also ordered by the publisher to write an apology column. That ran last Sept. 26.

The HQ can't say that we're shocked about a high-profile, heavy-handed coach like Spurrier being the pit boss in a college town being able to wield his vocal sword in a manner like this...

But, it also says a lot about the business as it currently exists...
Big business means you have to protect your relationships, and if that means that you divert a long-time, well-respected columnist for the sake of driving content...

Then, so be it...
And "The State" has put its line in the sand...

THURSDAY UPDATE: Unless Haitz backs off entirely...

Deadspin got a holt of an internal memo that backs off the policy- for now... at least in name...

Below is part of a memo written by executive editor Mark Lett today

Please know this today: Ron Morris and other columnists at The State are free to pursue topics and stories as guided by their curiosity, their news judgment, their obligation to readers and our standards for quality journalism. No subject or individual is off limits for examination.

Relationships can be difficult between news makers and journalists, especially those who write analysis, commentary and opinion. You all understand why. Around here, much has been said and written about Spurrier and Ron — in blogs, on the web, on talk shows and in other publications. . As with any relationship, it sometimes helps to step back and allow conditions to cool. In recent months, we asked Ron to draw upon his considerable sports knowledge and experience to produce highly readable, relevant columns and enterprise features.The work has been outstanding and has given sports fans much to enjoy and to think about. During this time, we asked Ron to focus first on coverage other than the USC football program.

Moving forward, all topics — including USC football — are in play. As always, this is a newspaper committed to accuracy, fairness and holding accountable the news makers and institutions that serve our community and our state.

Steve Spurrier vs. Local Columnist: He really believes this is heat?

Whiny Bitch

We didn't really touch on this story last week, and maybe we should have. It appears that the man with the thinnest skin in College Football has made an issue over a critical columnist in his local paper.

South Carolina coach Steve Spurrier thinks that The State (Columbia, SC) columnist Ron Morris has some sort of ax to grind with him. The latest reason: Spurrier taking umbrage with Morris critiquing some of Spurrier's decisions.

And Spurrier blew a gasket.

He's accused Morris of slandering him. He's accused him of having an ax to grind. He's accused Morris of trying to run him out of town. And he's blamed Morris for making him cancel a press conference before the Kentucky game two weeks ago.

(Note--This isn't the first time Spurrier took his ball and went home because of Morris's presence)

And Morris, who is perfectly in his rights to be critical of the coach, did something kind of stupid last week. In an attempt to explain what was happening, he compared Spurrier's power in Columbia to the Penn State scandal.

Bad move.

Anyone who has ever dealt with Spurrier knows how thin his skin is. He's the life of the party when his team wins and plays well. But he's also the "Guy who can laugh at others but not himself".

And he's using all of this to make stupid threats. Spurrier has gone on record, telling a local radio station that the University president and the publisher of the paper have talked and this will be taken care of. Spurrier has gone on to whine that "If Morris stays, I might have to just head to the beach". He also said that he wouldn't have taken the job if he knew he had to deal with Morris.

OKAY....ENOUGH!!!

We kind of summarized the alleged "Feud" here because it just gets stupider the more you read about it. Really, Spurrier is pissed because one columnist questions him? Boy he wouldn't last long in Atlanta, Baton Rouge, Tuscaloosa, Knoxville or any other SEC outpost.

The problem is he has so much "Power" that everyone in Columbia is on his side. And he's wrong. It's not the Newspaper's job...or the public's job to agree with everything he says. Spurrier is taking advantage of the fact he's winning right now. And the Ass-Clowns in Columbia are ready to burn Morris at the stake because of it.

These days, it's a popular game to blame the media for everything that's wrong. From political candidates who say that the media is conspiring against them if they aren't winning, to poor-defenseless football coaches who think that nobody dare question them.

And the public buys into it. The fan base doesn't seem to care if their "Hero" does wrong. Heck, the hero doesn't even have to tell the truth anymore. The public wants their hero to be able to do whatever they want until they do something wrong. And then and only then do they want it to be reported on. All the "Fans" want is this: "We won!" "How great and perfect are we?"

If Spurrier had his way, the headline would be something like this:

"Spurrier Calls Perfect Game, Gamecocks Win 88-0"

Dateline: Columbia, SC

South Carolina head coach Steve Spurrier, the greatest coach in football history called every play perfectly, leading his team to an 88-0 win over Georgia Saturday.

Carolina looked like they could score and did score every time they had the ball and held the Georgia defense to 3 and out on every series.

Said Spurrier, "We're getting better, but we still have some work to do to be perfect"

Georgia had only 3 yards rushing and 3 yards passing during the game.

Spurrier as he is wont to do, praised his offense as well. "We were great today" We did everything well" "I'm proud of our kids".

Faithful Gamecock fans stayed and cheered throughout the whole game, something Spurrier couldn't have been more happy about.

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Possible Real Game story:

"Georgia Holds off Carolina 28-26"

The Georgia Bulldogs held off a mistake prone South Carolina Gamecock team that committed 10 turnovers. 

Said Bulldog coach Mark Richt: "We were fortunate they had trouble executing plays. And when we had the ball, they had trouble stopping us"

The Bulldogs ran up 527 yards of total offense against a Gamecock defense that had trouble stopping the run.

Richt: "We could have scored more if we held on to the ball"

South Carolina coach Steve Spurrier stormed out of his press conference when a writer, not from Columbia, asked about his teams poor performance. Said Spurrier: "Why do you have such an ax to grind against us?" "Our kids played horribly, but you can't ask me about that."

By the end of the game, which was closer than it should have been, the Williams-Brice crowd had thinned to only a handful of supporters, eager to see if the home team could come back.
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Which version sounds more likely here? If Spurrier were to be believed, Carolina fans would only hear about version 1--no matter what happened.

So think about it Gamecock fan. Do you really want the Sugar-Coated "Ain't we great" version every day, all the time? Or do you want the truth? Do you want someone to say, "Hey what happened? Why didn't we do this?"

We aren't saying Morris is perfect, but this is all about the premise and not anything else.

For you Steven Orr Spurrier: