Tedford responds to Hotline headline: “Nobody lied.”
I was sitting at home Wednesday morning, plotting an item about the “fire Tedford” comments on the Hotline message board when the phone rang.
It was Tedford himself, and he wasn’t happy.
In a calm but firm voice, Tedford said that the headline of yesterday’s Hotline post “Cal Lied about Longshore’s injury: Did Tedford’s loyalty derail the season?” was inaccurate and unfair.
His beef was with the word “lied” (note: the headline was written by me).
“Nobody lied,” he said.
And then he said it again, and again — and I can understand why.
Here’s the background:
Cal described the injury to quarterback Nate Longshore as a sprained ankle — specifically a “high” sprain, the nastiest kind — because it occurred above the ankle bone.
Monday, Tedford told the Daily Cal and other publications that Longshore had more than a sprain; there was also a bone chip in the back of his ankle. (Here’s the article.)
He said he had known about the bone chip all along.
I wrote a Hotline item about the development, with the word “lied” in the headline. In the post itself, I explained the situation — that Cal did not disclose the full extent of the injury — and wondered why Tedford stuck with Longshore when he was so obviously hurting and his performance so obviously affected.
Then Tedford called me Wednesday morning. He said unequivocally that a high ankle sprain was the correct description, that the bone chip was part of the sprain — basically, that Longshore’s injury involved ligament damage and a bone chip, so that calling it a sprain was accurate (ie: all-encompassing).
He said it was a small chip and was secondary to the ligament damage.
And then he said that it was grossly unfair and inaccurate to say “Cal lied.”
OK, now a few points:
***Point one
I absolutely did not mean to insinuate that Tedford lied. Jeff Tedford is not a liar. He’s a remarkably candid coach, as I have written numerous times in the Mercury News and on the Hotline.
And that’s why the headline did not say, “Tedford lied,” it said “Cal lied” — and there’s a reason I wrote it that way. (See “Point three.”) Trust me, if I thought Tedford had lied, I would have written it.
But Tedford is Cal football, and in the absence of another name associated with “Cal”, people automatically think “Tedford.”
I should have been more clear in the post itself.
***Point two
In the third paragraph of the post, I wrote: “Maybe the headline should say: ‘Cal did not disclose the full extent of Longshore’s injury.’”
That was the point of the Hotline post — that Cal was not totally forthcoming. But not telling the whole truth and lying are two different things.
“Lied” is a huge/harsh word, especially in a headline, and Tedford did not want himself or his program associated with it. It was a bad word choice by me.
Cal did not lie. Tedford did not lie. I blew it. I should not have used the word “lied” in the headline. He was absolutely right to call me on it.
***Point three
That being said, I believe the premise of my post — that Cal did not disclose the full extent of the injury — was absolutely true.
Whether Tedford/Longshore/trainers/doctors/others were involved didn’t much matter. As it turned out …
Back in the middle of October, the Chronicle’s Rusty Simmons asked Longshore about the injury, and Simmons wrote that Longshore “said the injury is more complex than a sprained ankle but chose not to elaborate.”
In my book, “chose not to elaborate” = “did not disclose the full extent of the injury.”
Again: We’re not talking about Tedford here. That’s Longshore.
***Point four
I’ll get back to what I wrote yesterday: Plenty of teams/coaches/players don’t reveal the full extent of injuries, usually in an attempt to protect the player.
I figure that’s what Cal was doing with Longshore, and I don’t blame them a bit. It’s part of the sport.
But when you aren’t totally forthcoming and then the whole truth comes out, you’re gonna get called on it — especially when the undisclosed injury involves the quarterback whose performance contributed to Cal’s season-ending skid.
Again, to be fair: Tedford said the bone chip was part of the sprained ankle, so Cal wasn’t hiding anything. There was no “undisclosed injury” in his mind.
My sense is that while the bone chip was secondary to the ligament damage (obviously), they added, to one degree or another, to Longshore’s discomfort. That makes it part of the story, because that discomfort contributed to Cal’s collapse.
If I’m wrong on this — if Longshore would have been in the same level of pain/discomfort without the bone chips — then I’d be happy to post something on the Hotline explaining that.
***Point five
Too often this is a one-way street.
Print journalists, bloggers, TV talking heads and sports radio mouths are constantly putting coaches and athletes under the microscope, calling them out, holding them accountable — but the reverse is rarely true.
By calling me, and calling me out, Tedford held me accountable for using the word “lied” in the headline.
I appreciated that — we need more of it in our sports/media culture — and I told him so at the end of the conversation.
I fully expect him to do it again if he feels I’ve written something unfair or inaccurate. It has to be a two-way street.
***In conclusion
For the record:
Tedford: Not. A. Liar.
Me: Screwed up a headline.
Cal: Didn’t disclose the full extent of Longshore’s injury.
Hotline post on the subject: Fair game, unfair headline.
***Coming Thursday: firetedford.com? Have you people lost your minds?
Wow, Tedford reads the blog? If I were a college coach, I don’t know if I would read the endless criticism in the media, it would be kind of depressing.
Good post.
No apologies needed here John, nor will any be accepted! You did the right thing and the headline was DEAD ON! Tedford may not have lied about this, but he did lie to himself when he convinced himself Longshore gave Cal the best chance to win!
At least you didn’t use “empathetic” in this story.
So… I thought Tedford didnt pay attention to what others say, a blog no less…
but I’m glad he read this one because you definitely share the same sentiments on the Longshore/Riley situation as do many very concerned fans… so hopefully JT read that part as well.
-here’s to hoping he starts taking into consideration what his critics say (yeah critics arent coaches, but if you say JT has done nothing wrong with this situation, you need a reality check)
Everyone in the public eye reads what’s written about them. They’re human and that’s why I truly dislike all of the hysterical “fans” whose last football play occurred when they pressed X X triangle on their video game controller. Criticism is one thing. Dumb ass comments about a person’s character is another. Sometimes I wish the Internet provided a bit of accountability, just like what a lot of you expect from the subjects you skewer.
Jon,
Both you & JT are class acts. The way you recovered from your mistake is a great example of how to do it right.
We’re all human, and many of us are under a lot of time & performance pressure. We make mistakes. It’s good to see how you listened, saw the mistake, and made the correction.
An excellent post by Wilner — though I think he’s a little tough on himself. But, I like the idea that he holds himself accountable for his statements as much as he holds Tedoford accountable for his coaching. Somewhere, Mike Gundy (of OK State) should be smiling.
BUT — I don’t care if Tedford “lied”. We knew something more than a simple ankle sprain was wrong, and if Tedford knew this might make other teams try to target Nate’s legs, well, more power to him for lying to us. And Wilner doesn’t give Tedford enough credit for coming out with the truth now; JT could have covered it up until the season was long past and avoided this firestorm. But the initial lying didn’t affect anything — George Bush lying to Congress about Iraqi “WMD’s” is a problem, because Congress had to appropriate the money for a war, but Tedford lying to me or anyone else about the bone chip isn’t a problem, because no one other than Tedford had a vote as to who would play quarterback for Cal.
What matters is that JT knew his QB had a serious, painful injury that (a) would not heal on its own and, (b) from the UCLA game on, affected NL’s performance late in games. Anyone could see (and Fouts commened) that NL’s mechanics deteriorated. But, he kept that quarterback in games (a bad choice) and did not give his backup enough game time for him to be ready if the injury had more of an impact on some games than others (a really bad choice). It’s the decison, not the lie, that’s the problem.
Jon,
OK, thanks for clearing that up. Still, there are a lot of rumors and innuendo about the collateral damage this Longshore injury, the decisions surrounding it, and the impacts in its wake have created on the team. Unfortunately, nobody seems to have any scrutinized facts to back them. Tedford says he’ll address things after the season, but the fan desire for information isn’t following the coach’s timetable, and fans want more than the “company line.”
How about doing some actual reporting to find out some facts about how JT’s decisions have impacted the team, rather than simply giving your takes, apparently absent any more facts available to the masses of fans making posts on various Cal sites on the Internet? Aren’t there some people “close to the program” that can provide some “less company line” type information than the Head Coach will give? a Head Coach can’t begrudge a reporter for doing their job to find out information anymore than a reporter can begrudge the coach for doing his to keep a lid on it, right?
Has the team become divided? Has Tedford lost the team’s trust? Did some members of the team stop playing their hearts out as a result of the losses? What is up with DeSean Jackson not playing? All the fans can do is make guesses. It would seem reporters could bring more facts to light than fans throwing out baseless speculation. Or is this an incorrect assumption?
Once again I make this appeal to the fans. Tedford is the best thing that has happened to their football program. It is equal to what Pete Carroll has done at USC. The fans must recognize that before Tedford they were the laughingstock of college football, a perennial late night joke on every sports channel. It takes many many years to build an elite program. Not to give Tedford more time (at least 3-6 more years) is short sighted. He is feared by the all DCs in the Pac 10. Have patience and support your coach. You don’t deserve someone as smart and as committed as this one.
Tedford lie and that’s the true. Come on, everyone can see that Tedford is not well. The dude is sick to keep playing Longshore.
Jon, I think you handled this well, although I have found that in some instances your titles are rather sensational: ‘Cal collapse’ (after losing to OSU & UCLA), ‘Cal doomed next year’ and now this one. I have also found that in your posts you do actually tone down the rhetoric, provide good arguments and sometimes even question the title of the post. But I am certain many people read mostly the title and form an instant opinion of what the article contains.
Also, ‘lied’ is a very strong word and one must have strong facts to support it.
At any rate, it was obvious to any observer that Longshore’s discomfort was increasing as the game progressed. E.g. in the Stanford game, Longshore did very well in the first half and then once again could not perform well in teh second. This happened again and again, and Tedford should have at the very least put in Riley at some point towards the end of the games. I think that is a legitimate point to make.
Morencsarecoming,
I am with you, I think Tedford is a great coach, and absolutely the best thing to happen to Cal football in decades. But he has at least shown some questionable traits, one of which is to be very reluctant to make changes when things don’t work out - even only to test the waters. I am talking about him sticking with Ayoob or an injured Longshore. When he finally did make the change and put in Levy for a couple of games, it worked out great. Same with Riley, who played well in the OSU game except of course for the last second brain freeze.
Typical Wilner. Throws up the inflammatory headline (”HE LIED! HE LIED!”) just to draw viewers to his blog, then backtracks, claiming that that’s not what he meant. As he wrote in his original post, the headline should have read ‘Cal did not disclose the full extent of Longshore’s injury.’ And since the writer himself admitted this IN THE VERY POST WITH THE INFLAMMATORY HEADLINE, it confirms that Wilner’s desperate for attention.
Jon,
Bravo to the way you’re clarifying and setting the record straight!
As a long time Bears fan, Tedford is a great coach and is the best thing that happen to Cal in a long time, those of us who suffered to the lean year with Gilbertson and Holmoe should understand that! But one criticism I’ve of Tedford is that he is a little too stubborn and slow to make changes at time. In order to take Cal and his coaching abilities to the next level, he will need to do that in the coming years. Look at the Gators in 2006 where Urban Meyers effectively used Lead a Senior and a very talented and untested Tebow in different situation to lead their team to a national title, my question is why could Tedford do the same thing with Longshore and Riley at Cal this year? This is the creativities and adaptabilities that I’m talking about that separate good coach from a GREAT COACH!!!
GO BEARS!!!!
Jon,
I think it’s cool to see you stand up and say “lied” was the wrong choice of words. And your writing and analysis is solid, so you don’t need sensational headlines to drive traffic to your blog posts.
In all the hubbub about diction, what I really wish is that Jeff Tedford would have called to discuss your earlier blog entries re: Nate L, Kevin R, and foundation-laying for ‘08. You’ve been the most vocal of the local media guys in asking the question that still has not been given a satisfactory answer: why hitch the Cal wagon to an injured pony week in and week out? (An injured pony who has also been a fourth quarter interception machine, I might add.)
Again, I appreciate your mea culpa, but please keep fighting the good fight and asking the questions that most of the other local media guys don’t seem to want to ask.
John: GREAT post. Thank you. Lied is a harsh word. Your post (this post) demonstrates your commitment to accurate reporting. And, who said that Tedford and Longshore had to disclose everything?
Either way — my 5 points:
1. Rough Season. Better luck next year.
2. Injuries suck…but part of the program.
3. Tedford is a great coach and an honorable person.
4. Nate just wants to play….good for him.
5. The tree sitters really have to go….
Coincidentally, a very similiar situation to Cal’s happened at USC this year. As we all know, the Trojans were poised to march straight to the BCS title along a very smooth road. Unfortunately the juggernaut stubbed its toe on John Booty’s finger, which got broken/fractured/chipped—I honestly didn’t see the X-rays. Coach Carroll immediately benched Booty where he sat and sat while USC lost and lost, and the BCS title fluttered off downwind. Booty returned to the field only when he was completely healed and ready to play and was embraced by the team who may have been mindful that when it was their turn for an injury they would be treated the same way. They started winning again and are now in the Rose Bowl. Meanwhile, high school athletes and their parents are sitting at home and maybe thinking,” Pete Carroll is a winner but winning isn’t the most important thing for him, taking care of the players is first. I don’t want my son to be a piece of meat thrown into a dogfight and come back home damaged after being sacrificed on the altar of winning.” Remember Booty was benched over a finger and not a leg. I wish Coach Carroll the best of luck and hope he wins the Rose Bowl because he deserves it.
The writer of this colomn has pursued this issue all season long with integrity and fairness and the same sense of wonder we’ve all felt at seeing the Bears fall out of the sky as though full of buckshot. It’s the opinion of this small voice that the “College Hotline” has some of the finest sports writing in the country.
You people are so stupid who support Tedford so blindly. You never ask questions, never ask why he never put Riley in. You just accept that he is some God. You are wrong. What a bunch of worthless followers. Follow him right off this proverbial 6-7 cliff while you are at it! Cal doesn’t need or want fake worthless fans like you! And take that worthless Longshore with you!
If I had to chose between Longshore playing QB next year and having Tedford, or another QB playing but without Tedford, I would gladly get a new coach in a minute. Look how much Jim Harbaugh (jack ass that he is) has already done for Stanfurd! STUPID CAL FANS!
Cal better watch out.
With LSU Miles gone and others….Tedford could be the man they are looking for @ U of M.
If that happens we Bear Fans will be back on the bottom for year to come, along with a Historic occupany questionable Stadium.
How bout them apples.
so jon. serious question. why no questions from reporters to tedford about the riley/longshore issue? are you the only bay area reporter willing to risk access to cal?
If we win the bowl and things improve next year, I don’t think anyone will really care about the 2007 QB controversy. At this point, the future is more important–retaining players like DeSean and bringing back the morale of all players.
In response to Fire Tedford-Get new QB!:
You clearly are a “new” Cal fan and haven’t been around when they SUCKED. We are not Michigan — Tedford leaves, we sink. You think you’re so smart with your righteous attitude — man, you’re clueless.
I hope in your business, you’re perfect cause your attitude is terrible.
Tedford’s the best coach Cal will ever get. Riley may have been ok against Oregon State, but on the road, agianst UCLA and Arizona state, against SC…not so sure there. The defensive line and receivers weren’t all that great, either.
Perhaps Cal was never that good from the get-go? They were over-rated by the media, not by Tedford. Perhaps they don’t yet have the depth yet to sustain a performance like Tennessee’s over the course of a season. And if the judge rules against the new facility construction…the lousy season was just the tip of the iceberg…recruiting isn’t going to get any better any time soon.
Tedford didn’t lie, but playing Longshore over Riley brings everything else about his coaching acumen into question.
Tedford has largely been given a pass, both this year and in 2005, for colossal mistakes a two year old could have fixed. I applaud Mr. Wilner for having the courage to bring some of that to light. And if you get banned from Cal again, who gives a f’ck. Never sacrifice your principles for people like Tedford, never!
It is disheartening to see so many Cal fans lament how we used to be so bad, so anything Tedford can throw on the field now is OK. Karl Dorell took his team to bowls all five years, yet he was given his walking papers because he could never get over the hump.
I am really beginning to believe Tedford is incapable of leading Cal to the Promised Land. He lacks the ability to make tough decisions. He lacks the motivational skills to get his players to perform. He lacks the management skills to in capsule himself with good assistants.
Jeff Tedford is too stubborn and selfish. He turned his back on this team when he irrationally continued to play a hurt and severally challenged Nate Longshore. He did the same thing in 2005. Fan outcry that year reached a fevered pitch and he finally decided to pull Ayoob and replace him with Levy. The results were two consecutive wins.
Coach Tedford had a problem with Levy, one that was never fully disclosed though always discussed, amongst players and other staff members, as well as the fan base at large. Now there are rumblings that Tedford has serious problems with Riley, though none are related to athletic ability. Kyle Reed had a problem with Tedford, and my God was he smart to get the hell out of here! If I were Riley I would transfer as soon as possible! I would also encourage Brock Mansion to transfer as soon as possible!
Jeff Tedfurd has already stated Longshore is the starter for the bowl game. I refuse to follow this pathetic tyrant any longer!
It is clear that Jeff Tedford is the best coach Cal has had in the last 50 years, and given the realities of modern college football, probably the best in the school’s history. Further, he speaks as honestly and directly as ANY major college coach.
The hundreds of hours he’s spent reviewing tape this season and evaluating each position on the offense lead him to stick with Longshore, and it is absurd to think that he doesn’t own that decision.
JT is a class act, a top coach, and has taken Cal farther overall than anyone thought possible during his tenure (including this season’s 6-6 record). All this with the worst facilities in the Pac 10.
It would be far more productive to send your critical email and make your phone calls to the city of berkeley to stop this rediculous attempt to block the facilities upgrade construction.
To CaliRox and you other football genuises (including you, Jon): You seem to have forgotten that a coach plays those *he* has assessed are best for the team. His reputation depends on his judgment, his alone. I say if Tedford wants to play NL (for whatever reason), more power to him. Hell, if he wants to play Helen Keller at qb all season, that’s his decision.
I find it amusing that CaliRox points out JT as stubborn, and then in the same para tells us JT played Levy in place of Ayoob because of “fan outcry.” Sure wish I could solve all my arguments by supporting both
sides!
Dear JW and the rest of you Tedford critics. The following are my observations on the fortunes of the Bears this year (which I previously posted on BearTalk). I think that all of you “experts” and critics don’t have a clue regarding the requirements of team or organizational leadership, excellence, and success or the nature of competition, and I am disgusted by the response of a lot of you fair-weather fans who claim to be Bear supporters but don’t have a clue as to what support is. I think that neither Longshore nor Coach Tedford’s alleged errors were the reason for the meltdown, but that it was due to a series of unfortunate circumstances (including Longshore’s injury) that continued to multiply and get worse as the Bears high expectations were thwarted and their disappointment, angst, and media-and-fan criticism snowballed. I think that Tedford’s comments at the beginning of the meltdown were the most accurate, which essentially were his observations regarding the difficulty of winning games at this level of competition. Some analysts have accuarately oberserved that as the turnover battle goes, so go the Bears. And I believe that this is also true regarding all games between competitive teams. Many turnovers are unfortunate events that cannot be explained by the effort of the athlete or the quality of the coaching. Also, the absence of injured players or the diminished performance of players with chronic, minor injuries can have a dramatic influence on the outcome. Even with all of their problems, any of the Bears’ defeats could have been a victory had one or two plays gone the other way. (E.g., I thought that the Bears played a great game against USC and that the USC game was, overall, a great college football game to witness, notwithstanding its disappointing outcome for Cal fans.) Aside from second guessing an occasional individual play call, I believe that Coach Tedford made only three mistakes that require rectification in future seasons. One. Selecting an individual player for a Heisman candidate is both presumptious and contrary to the team nature of football. It is, at best, a distraction and it inherently detracts from team cohesion. Two. Abandoning his pronouncement near the beginning of meltdown that he need not abandon his tried-and-true coaching methods that have brought such incredible success to Bears’ football. Some of the Bears’ problems toward the end of the meltdown seemed to me the result of the coaches’ and the players’ attempt to respond to the (mostly unwarranted) criticism of the media and fans when the Bears unforgivably lost some games (to worthy opponents). Three. The apparent attempt by the coaching staff during the Washington game to shake the team up, which was somewhat of an affront to Coach Tedford’s wonderful style of analysis, professionalism,and excellence by example that has been the hallmark of his prior leadership. I hope that Coach Tedford stays forever as the leader of Cal football and that Cal students, fans, and alums return to enjoyment of fair competition and the joy of victory (and concommitant agony of defeat) as the true focus of athletic competition rather than listening to the strident demands of some who call for winning at any cost while denouncing any fall from perfection.
This exchange demonstrates how adults can solve misunderstandings and disagreements. Kudos to you and Coach Tedford.
Perhaps you could be the moderator of the Bear Insider discussion board. Those people are not as reasonable.
Tuscon Bill, I couldn’t get through your way too long post. Have you ever heard of “paragraphs”? After the fisrt several sentences my eyes glazed over.
This sentence is a new paragraph. There is white space between this paragraph and the previous one. And between this and the next one.
I’m sure you have something worthwhile to say. You’ll hold more readers (like me for instance) if you break your piece up a little.
Sorry for the rant, but I’m just feeling frustrated.
I have more respect for JT now and JW as well. Nothing like a honest straight-ahead conversation as opposed to the screaming and whining done by other D1 coach, Mack Brown, Les Miles, the guy from Oakie State, etc.
Cal definitely picked the right guy to head the football program. He seems to be cut from the same cloth as Steve Gladstone and Jack Clark.
JW took it on the chin without complaining, way to go. Nice to know there’s some honesty left around here.
Larry: Sorry for not putting spaces between each sentence or two.
Please cut me some slack because I’m getting old, don’t blog much, and had a strong desire to get my thoughts off my chest about the astonishing attitude regarding Coach Tedford that many of the bloggers manifest.
I love the Bears and Cal football, and I am grateful to Coach Tedford for the wonderful things that he has accomplished with the program and the young men that he has coached. (E.g., if the whiners can recall the impact that Tedford had on Kyle Boller and the rest team during his first year coaching the Bears, perhaps they can somehow summon up the will to support him and the team during a disappointing season.)
I hope that everybody gets over their disappointment and returns to backing the team and the coach (and that those who think that a championship season every year is their new birthright consider that the same man who they applauded as a genius when he delighted them by coaching the Bears to vitory has excercised his talent and energy to the same degree on the days when his team was defeated).
The honeymoon is definitely over between Tedford & Cal. Tedford & Longshore took the Bears one game away from the PAC 10 cellar. By the way the cellar dewelling Washington Huskies ripped Cal head-to-head. So Tedford & Longshore really led Cal to the worse team in the PAC 10. After Holmoe Bear fans were ready to give Coach T. sainthood. He is the worse play caller & game time coach I’ve ever seen. (except for former SJSU coach, Fitz Hill) Cal fans are easy to please-give them a 500 year & their happy. So I’m sure Tedford is safe for awhile.
Jeff Tedford is the best coach Cal has had in my lifetime, and I graduated in 1975. Statements like, “He is the worse play caller & game time coach I’ve ever seen” are just silly.
If you are ready to abandon ship already, you haven’t been a Cal football fan for long.
Wow, why are people so critical of Tedford? He’s obviously not perfect, but he’s still a great coach, nobody that watched Cal through the entire Holmoe era would jump ship after one poor season.
Before criticizing Tedford take into account the fact that he’s working with the worst football facilities in the Pac-10 at a school that is near the bottom of the Pac-10 in it’s appeal to athletes, what he’s done at Cal in his tenure is phenomenal and you should be happy that he hasn’t left for one of the countless number of better coaching destinations there are in the country…
Hey Brian, during the Holmoe era and before we were paying the coaches peanuts! All of you seem to forget this fact! For the money we have sunk into Tedford and his staff we should be getting a much better return. I would argue that for the money we have spent on Tedford we could get an offensive genius. Oh wait, we were already supposed to have one…
Pugster,
Losing 6 of their last 7 games after being ranked & #2 in the country is not silly! It’s pathetic! You are such a fan that you are blinded from Tedford’s inept play calling (not getting the ball to the big playmakers) and his game time decisions (vs Oregon State as only one example). His decision to play Longshore all year even though he was killing the offense is inexcusable for a so-called top coach. Anyway as I said earlier loyal Cal fans seem to accept their inferior product quite well. With Harbaugh at Stanford & Tedford at Cal the Bear’s success in future Big Games look pretty dismal. Good luck to you & the best coach you’ve ever seen.
Jon, I have to say I lost some respect for you. You were not willing to stand behind your claims. You say that Tedford is Cal football but then you say only Cal football did not disclose the full extent of Longshore’s injury. Just because Tedford thinks the bone chip is part of a high ankle sprain does not mean you have to.
I don’t know why you think a coach or program to disclose an injury. For two reasons, it makes sense not to. One is to protect the athlete and the second is to not tip off the competition. Why would you want to point out to your competitors where your “Achilles’ heal” is?
You are making this nuanced argument that Cal did not disclose fully, Tedford is not a liar, and you messed up. Are you in the business to comment objectively on Cal Football or to win Tedford’s approval?
Did you question Tedford’s definition of a “high ankle sprain” or simply accept it? As a journalist, I would think your instinct should be to question it rather than concede you were wrong.
I personally think you have been overly critical of Cal and Tedford the last few weeks but, at least, I thought you were doing your job. Now, I am not sure about that.
Jef Tedford is the best coach Cal has had since Pappy. Give him some slack.
I feel he needs to hire a top notch Offensive Coordinator and return to the Head Coach position. He does not seem able to run the game and call the plays from the sideline. I also agree he should be bringing Riley up a lot faster than he has demostrated.
As a true and long time Cal Fan, class of ‘55, I have watched almost all games played for the last 50 years. What Tedfor has done for CAL is outstanding. If we will give him the facilities, he will bring in the material and CAL will rise to the top.
Remember, as Joe Kapp stated, “The Bear will not die!”
Shel Onstead
Omission of salient details on a player’s injury, when those details are known, is a misrepresentation of facts. Look that up in the dictionary, it’s called lying.
EXAMPLE- A One Act Analogy of the Nate Longshore Saga
“Hey honey where you been?”
Reasonable curiosity and concern on the part of Cal fans worldwide.
“Oh, had a beer with some guys at work before I headed home”
Partial statement of fact by the team PR machine, indicating the obvious (from the husband’s breath or the video from the Oregon/Cal game where Nate goes down)
“Ok, well, dinner will be ready soon”
Great to have you back, we’ve got a big game against OSU and we’re #2 in the country, one LSU slip up and the top spot is ALL OURS!
“Oh, I think I’ll pass, had a nibble at the bar, I’m not very hungry”
Had a bucket of chicken wings and a face full of !@_#(! during my lapdance, ALONG with the multiple BEERS I had out with the fellas. Or in Tedford-speak, there was a small bone chip in Nate’s ankle since at least September 29.
Don’t apologize for calling out the team on their needless, CYA job on Nate’s ankle. Tedford did contribute to the misrepresentation of facts, or at the very least had MULTIPLE opportunities to elaborate, correct and inform, and didn’t. He just stuck through the season with his lapdance guilt and hangover, that ended up sending the Bears to bed REAL HUNGRY and REAL EARLY (in hindsight, our season was over before October got under way).
Wilner, I know you need access to Coach to float your career as it relates to Cal athletics, but journalism is protected in this country BECAUSE it seeks truth, not because it apologizes when asking for it or pointing out the absence of it.
This is the United States of America, the University of California at Berkeley, the mecca of free speech, and your retraction stinks like the trap-clapping of Bud Selig or worse, the East German Swim Team Coach circa 1972.
Neither you or Tedford do the football program any favors. Either be diligent in reporting the facts and calling out liars, or step aside and let someone willing to do it actually write your paper’s articles on Cal football. The fans, the paying fans, the heartbroken fans, deserve better than this dog and pony show.
GO BEARS!
Dear Sir,
I think that you got a little emotionally involved when you implied that there was dishonesty about Longshore’s condition. While it may be disappointing to see Cal loose many games it is also important to consider that it could have been the right call to continue playing Longshore. I think that in terms of knowing the Cal Offense Longshore is the most experienced quarterback on the Cal team. While I think that Riley has a bright future ahead of him, I don’t think that he is ready to come in and take over from Longshore.
I also do not think that it is fair to pin all of the mishaps that occurred in the fourth quarter on Longshore. Football is a team game. Interceptions can be caused from missed blocks, tipped balls, receivers dropping balls and routs being incorrectly run.
I think that it is important to rally the team to win the Armed Forces Bowl and get Cal a sixth winning season. Please remember that before Tedford came to Cal we could not even dream of our sixth winning season.
Go Bears.