Bear Bryant is a bully and a monster. – Fun with History

We live in an outrage world. Twitter has only allowed us a bigger microphone to scream such outrage. Mob mentality at it’s best and it’s worst.

Rutgers Head Coach, Mike Rice got busted. Rice got busted on video for going well beyond what should be reasonable for any collegiate coach on any level at any sport.

The Video is tough to watch, especially with the horrific slurs Rice rains upon his players.

It got me thinking…..How would other tough coaches do under the same scrutiny of today’s social media. Legendary college football coach, Bear Bryant is regarded as one of the best the sport has ever seen.

Bear Bryant also used to deny his players water breaks in 100+ degree temperature, many players dropped out of practice out of illness and disgust. 75+ players showed up for camp, only around 30 “survived”. Had that happened in today’s world of social media outrage….would Bear have been fired? Yes…..Yes he would have.

I’ve used Gregg Doyle as an example. Gregg is paid to be the outrage for CBS. He does it well, and I used his article on Mike Rice to illustrate my question is why are we so much more outraged now in society.

Below is Gregg’s blog on Mike Rice. 90%+ of it is his words but I’ve switched Mike Rice with Bear Bryant. When you read this, think about if Bryant was still coaching and the news of his Junction Boys camp came out today…..would this article still work.

Bear Bryant should never coach young men again.

He can, however, coach grown men. By all means, Bear Bryant should go to the NFL. He should fall forward and end up on an NFL coaching staff — where the players he shoves and berates, the players who he refuses to serve water in 100 degree temperature, have more size and clout than he does.

Because one of them would punch Bear Bryant out. And after that, Bear Bryant would be fired.

It would be a win-win for everyone. Everyone but Bear Bryant, but he’s a bully so the hell with Bear Bryant. That’s a guy that needs to lose, and lose big, and then keep on losing until he shows up at the door of every player he has ever bullied, at Texas A&M and before — and you know this started before — and apologize personally for the psychological warfare he put them through.

Yo, Bear? This isn’t war. It’s football. And you’re not a coach.

You’re a bully.

Thing is, “bully” sounds like a weak word. The word has been around so long, and used to describe fourth-graders and other children so young, that it doesn’t look as bad as it is.

And being a bully is a bad, bad thing. There are worse things, of course, but those things tend to be criminal. What a fourth-grader does on the playground to smaller kids, what Bear Bryant did at Texas A&M to players under his control, isn’t criminal. But it’s terrible nonetheless.

Something like this happens, and I lose it on Twitter. I make a few comments about Bear Bryant, making it clear exactly how awful a human being I think he is, and people start coming back at me like I’ve gone too far. Ease up on the testosterone, one reader told me. Settle down, said another. I’ve been asked, “What happened to you as a kid?”

Nothing happened to me as a kid. I’d tell you if that wasn’t the truth. But I do have two sons of my own, and they’ve not always been treated great by other, bigger kids — or by a teacher, on one occasion — and it makes me furious. Irrationally so.

You don’t have to be a parent to appreciate the dangers of bullying, but it sure does crystallize things if you are one. Kids who are bullied suffer in school, or drop out. They suffer in life … or drop out. Kids who are bullied commit suicide. It happens every day.

So when someone like Bear Bryant is exposed as a bully as plainly as that book the Junction Boys released exposed him, I’m going to freak out and not feel badly about it. And not just freak out on Bear Bryant, but on the athletics director who had an inkling this season about the monster lurking within his football program but didn’t fire him.

So now I’m wondering why the Texas A&M AD has a job.

And every minute that passes and Bear Bryant hasn’t been fired, I’m wondering why the president at Texas A&M has a job. How badly does an employee have to behave at Texas A&M — how awful does he have to mistreat a student – to lose his job?

That’s not a school my kids will go to. Not if that president tolerates an AD who tolerates Bear Bryant

As for Bear Bryant, I’d like for him to take his violent tendencies to a place where he can actually use them. Walk into a boxing gym. Put on gloves. Step in the ring and spar.

No, wait, I see the flaw in that logic. Step into the ring and spar, and you don’t have the untouchable power Bear Bryant had at Texas A&M. See, in a boxing ring the other guy can hit back.

And Bear Bryant strikes me as far too big of a coward to agree to that.

Social Media & Sports Talk Results

Yesterday I put together a quick survey to crowdsource how to best use social media for sports talk radio show hosts. The exercise was meant to be completely self-serving as I wanted to use the data to fine tune how I use social media for my show. It led to many of my fellow sports talk radio friends reaching out for the results.

I’ve put together the results below with a small amount of analysis.

Q1 Thoughts:

With over 400+ people checking in, I was a little surprised that local sports talk dominated so heavily. We are spoiled and want customized sports talk crafted around our teams. Of the 12% that checks in with syndication, I would imagine that 75% that crowd is Mike and Mike with ESPN. Rome hasn’t moved the needle with CBS with his launch, and not many other national shows have the appeal as they did 5 years ago. Sports talk fans want it live and they want it local.

Q2:

Q2 Thoughts:

The future is here. I figured that normal old fashioned radio dials would rule the roost here, but I’m shocked that the online/App listening is already in such high demand. I do believe the number is a little high as this survey was done via Twitter/Facebook, so I would imagine the tech savvy crowd helped inflate the number from the norm. Regardless, the future of radio is here. App based listening will change the game. It will make the horrific monopoly of Arbitron ratings a thing of the past, and will show that content is slowing gaining on distribution. 7 years ago, you had to be on a major syndication signal to be heard….but now if you have good content, people can find you. {Rant on how Arbitron is killing itself and radio to follow in summary}

Q3

Q3 Thoughts:

What a idiotic question this was. I’m a dumb ass for including this, please move on.

Q4

Q4 Thoughts:

A pretty dumb way to word the question, but what I gather from this is that there are a lot of lurkers on your Twitter feed than you realize. In sports talk radio, we know that a VERY small % of listeners actually have stones to call-in. When I first started radio 10 years ago, I judged if people were listening by if people were calling….again, idiotic. People are listening to your show, and “listening” to your Twitter feed. 23% are lurkers, and 47% will only respond if it’s a thought provoking statement.

Q5:

Q5 Thoughts:

3 questions in a row that I wish I worded differently, but very key point from this info. You can’t be a one trick pony on Twitter. Yes, it’s great to present yourself with only sports facts, but you are leaving your chance to make a mark with the follower by getting off course every once in a while. I’ve got more feedback from live tweeting a 13 year old’s club volleyball tournament (no comment) and drunk family Monopoly as I did on my thoughts after a major win/loss of any sporting event. Open up the doors a little bit. Sports in the foundation why people listen/follow, but they remember you more for the fringe stories/thoughts than they do your sports takes. Anyone can do “box score” radio. It’s the one’s that mix in their personal life both on-air and on Twitter that truly develop connection with fans.

Q6:

Q6 Thoughts:

VERY shocked at this result. Social media has allowed us break one of the unwritten rules in media, we are now allowed to take pictures of events under the guise of “painting the picture”. You see if all the time, the media humblebrag of taking the cliched picture of the field before the game, the food spread in the press box, stars in the crowd….etc. The crazy thing….people like it. 68% want us to take them along for the ride. Only 3% find it as bragging. Paint the scene for those who can’t be there, as long as you don’t make it about you. Self deprecating comments with photos are a pretty good way to keep yourself in check from the dbag factor.

Q7:

Q7 Thoughts:

Well Crap….I’ve been doing it all wrong. I’m intrigued by these results as I thought people would want to know right before the topic/guests comes on-air as a reminder. People want a 30+ minute heads up on a big topic/guest. Obviously this is good info as we continue to “tease” upcoming guests to play to dumb PPM game. I’ve got a new rule on my show that I only will do the interview if the guest will promote their appearance via Twitter. When you ask guests to do that most will, as it’s a way to brag about doing a interview without really bragging.

Q8:

Q8 Thoughts:

Rather than list the 230+ accounts I got recommended, there were comments attached that kept coming up.

1. Wide range of topics: People want a follow that is not just sports, but everything in life
2. Humorous – Twitter is home to the unsigned comedians of snark, but also makes fans for life
3. Interactive – Not shocking, but RTing followers, reading tweets on-air makes fans feel a part of the show
4. Facts – Snark is great, but to mix in hard sports opinions helps balance the fun.
5. Live Tweeting: Not just sports, but big events. “Oscars/TV Shows/Life Events”

Q9:

Q9 Thoughts:

Another stupid question by me which lead to many replying “Why the hell would I follow someone that is annoying?” Yup…..point taken. The usual suspects showed up here: Bayless, Stephen A, Rovell….etc. Basically if you have a boat load of Twitter followers, people hate you. A few comments on why others showed up:

1. Overtweeters – Especially when it comes to off sports topics. Followers can handle clogging up time line if it’s about a major sporting event and it’s not play-by-play. But to comment on every piece of news in the world, knock it off
2. Too mainstream: People want to see an edge. Don’t be a machine, show some emotion
3. Too cool – People hate the cool kids table tweeters. They see you only RT or replying to your cool media friends
4. Negative: Occasional constructive criticism is welcomed, to be downer 90% of the time hurts you

Q10:

Q10 Thoughts:

My takeaway here is that if they follow you on Twitter, they are tuning in. Twitter is sports talk radio 24/7. It allows you to talk to the masses even when your show in not on. I recently talked to a league source who told me that social media is becoming more important teams rather than TV/Radio appearances. Teams are finding that if there are both internal and external audiences to reach. Yes, a TV interview might reach a large “external” number of viewers, but the tweet from a respected host not only goes to a large “external” group and can grow much quicker virally, but the “internal” audience is the most important. Chances are other media “thought leaders” are following you and if they see your analysis, they are more apt to think that way.

Final thoughts:

I wish I would have mapped out the questions a little better, but it gave me few thoughts on how to best use Twitter as a host. Considering that in major market, a comment you say on air might reach 5,000-15,000 people at a given time…..when on Twitter, a tweet could reach 100,000+ people in a span of seconds with the right about of RTing from others.

We are moving to a point where content is king. With app based listening improving each day with smart phones, the future is not with radio dials, but rather online/app listening which can be driven from anywhere. The radio ratings system devised by Arbitron is killing it’s own livelihood. In major markets, there are sometimes only 20 of the ratings “PPM Meters” in play for sports talk radio. 20 people decide on if cities of millions listen to the product. Advertisers are growing keen to the fact of the rigged ratings game, and are focusing on people with more “social media reach” than ever before.

Many big stations have to have a sports talk “Matrix”. Which is a sheet that tells you what the 20 people like to hear. It’s killing sports talk radio across the country. Social media is a way to take back personality in sports talk.

Thanks for taking the time to read. I welcome any feedback @PeterBurnsRadio.

PB