MeanGreenMommyness

Who do you think failed as parents worse? The parents of Michael and Marcus Vick or the parents of Joel and Tobe Nwigwe?

We are the real losers when Vito is trying to report the truth and Dodge does inappropriate things to hide the truth or prevent Vito from reporting it. UNT fans deserve the truth. That is all. I am aware that many people knew about this issue before Vito reported it, that almost makes my point. A lot of rumors or misinformation was floating around. The truth got out only when Vito went to extraordinary means to report it. I contend that Vito would not have gone to extraordinary means to report this story and it would never have become A NATIONAL HEADLINE if Vito had a good relationship with the UNT athletic department to protect. Did you really tell me to "Grow up!"? Really?

The rift began because Dodge doesn't understand the real media. He thinks he should be able to control Vito like he could control the high school puff piece writers he dealt with at Southlake Carroll. Stories would be breaking at UNT and Vito, whose income depends on his ability to be the first to report them, would try to get information from Dodge and Dodge would outright lie, refuse to comment or send Vito on a wild goose chase on purpose to get him off the scent. Frustrated by this, Vito would have to go to other sources (many of whom Dodge ordered not to talk to Vito) or do Lois Lane-type journalism like going through trash cans or sneaking into unlocked offices to get the information us as fans want him to write about. This pissed Dodge off even more and he further attempted to cut off Vito and the conflict continues. The real losers are us UNT fans, who are denied authentic news about our beloved athletic program.

As you know, following up on a Freedom of Information request is a lot of work. Vito is really the only person uniquely positioned (because he is getting paid for it) to follow through on a FOI on this subject. In my opinion, if Vito had decided to not to pursue this story then this issue would have been something that was whispered about among people close to the program but it would not have been brought to light. No other journalistic entity would have pursued the story. I guess the NT Daily could have, but even Dodge and RV are probably smart enough to get around releasing information to them.

Brett Vito is home right now making room in his trophy case for a major award from the Associated Press Sports Editors. Vito won't thank Todd Dodge or Rick Villarreal when he accepts the award for breaking the story of 15 UNT football players who failed drug tests. But he should, because it was the incompetance and uncooperative nature of Dodge and RV that made this story possible. Since the day he was hired, Dodge went out of his way to make an enemy out of the only full-time journalist assigned to UNT athletics. Dodge did not return phone calls, he blocked access to the program and went out of his way to leak stories to rival papers to make Vito look bad. Dodge, RV and co. even had closed-door meetings with Belo sports editors where they demanded that Vito either be fired or removed from the UNT beat. The embarrassing story about the failed drug tests should never have been made public. And it wouldn't have been made public if Dodge could have played nice with Vito. Stories like this were known but not reported on during the Dickey regime because Dickey would play ball with the local media. Dickey returned calls, he gave access to the program, he would answer questions off-the-record. Dickey made the day-to-day life of the local media easier, so the local media did not go out of its way to make him look bad. The local media did this because they had a good working relationship to protect (of course, some stories like arrests, etc could not be stifled). Vito had no such relationship with Dodge. Since Dodge was only giving Vito the bare minimum access and cooperation. Vito had nothing to lose by using the Freedom of Information Act to break this story. He can't ruin a relationship that sucks anyway. Congratulations Brett Vito. You broke one heck of a story and made the people who have been trying to destroy you look incompetent in the process.

Dodge's decision shows that he does not understand public relations as we are now the laughing stock of the college world (not just the college football world.). North Texas is no longer the music school or the commuter school, but is now the pothead school. I've had people at my work asking me today if Josh Howard played college basketball at UNT. That Dodge tested his players for drugs in a way that left the results vulnerable to the media is idiotic. I can understand taking a stand against drug use, Dodge just should not have done it in a way that is embarrassing to all alumni of UNT.

I didn't see anyone pinning this disaster on Vizza, only questioning why he refused to stand up and be accountable to the press and thus the fans and supporters of this program, even when things are not good. As far as Dibrell, check out the Denton County Sheriff's Department website (this is public information that everyone on this board is entitled to). I wouldn't want Vizza "hitting" anything with Dibrell. As far as I'm concerned, the fewer players we have on the team with police records the better. As far as Vizza and how you claim he should have gone to Nevada... well if my aunt had balls she'd be my uncle. Vizza chose to come to UNT. He is here and needs to make the best of it. He has been given a lot of responsibility on this team and if he walks away, that would be weak and pathetic. Anyone can walk away when things are tough. It takes character and strength to hold on and turn things around. I hope Vizza falls into the latter category.

Does anyone know if they have anything like gomeangreen.com at TX State? I need some info on a player that isn't on the online roster there.

Michael Irvin hosts a radio show on ESPN 103.3. Why the heck would he want to be a wide receiver coach at UNT?

Or use it to breach what few personal issues he hasn't covered already.

I would say, judging from some of his previous posts, you might not be too far off there.

Well, this major announcement wasn't as disappointing. If you missed it, they pretty much rehashed what they said before they went on break, except this was a much kinder, gentler Hardline. The announcement that Mike Rhyner read verbatim said Greggo "resigned," then went on to say that the Hardline has won a bunch of awards and is located in Dallas, TX. Not really a high point in press releases. But then they started talking about how Greggo was important to the history of the show, and how they wished they could have talked about it more while it was going on. They talked about their chemistry and said that they actually DO enjoy doing the show, and that they understood that this was a shocking change to the P1s and that they hope everyone will stay with them as the struggle to regain their footing. It was a total turnaround from the statement they made before dry dock which was just kind of beligerent and defensive. I was happy with it. I guess now I'll have to turn my attention to the Clemens/McNamee scandal.

Yeah, I think Mike is a cash cow for the station. I bet Kevin Scott is joining the show. I've been reading those Unfair Park bits for months, but they don't really say what direction The Ticket is going in. I used to love listening to The Hardline but now it's just so anemic. I keep expecting them to just give up mid show.

You didn't scare me away, I was just waiting for more Ticket gossip. Anyone?

Blurgh. No.

Even though he's totally out of it all of the time and doesn't really add anything, I would LOVE it if he came back just for the awkward factor. That's what I miss about Followill/Ortegal covering the Mavs. I love awkward tension. Sorry, I am really engrossed in this Ticket drama. My NYE resolution was to obstain from gossiping about the other PTA moms, so this is all I have now.

I wish someone OTHER than the Hardline would take about Greggo...they get too defensive and crabby. I want the straight dope. No pun intended. I think they've mentioned how many times he relapsed when they said he wasn't coming back. Mike said something like "Everyone wants us to give him a second chance but this is more like a fourth or fifth chance." I heard that they were purposefully inflating the importance of both this morning and this afternoon's announcement to keep people from checking out what is new on ESPN radio, namely the Michael Irvin show.

What a letdown! I was sure it was going to be something about the Hardline. ps. Is there a "Pepper Theft" or did he just mispronounce his co-workers MUCH self-promoted band?