You will not find a more instructive example of today’s Insider Economy than this Tweet from ESPN’s Pete Thamel:
Now Jedd Fisch had been asked about Landen Hatchett’s availability. Repeatedly. Not just in the week leading up to the USC game, but in the two months before that.
He has been asked about the timeline for Hatchett’s return from wrist surgery for almost a year now.
Thamel’s report on Saturday was more specific than Fisch had ever been, and to understand why, you need to know a little about the role Thamel plays in today’s sports-media world.
He is an insider. Not as prominent as Adam Schefter or Ian Rapoport, who cover the NFL, though not as bad a writer as Shams Charania, who covers the NBA for ESPN.
But then again, writing isn’t the primary value that an insider provides their employer.
It’s information. Or more accurately, the visibility that comes from providing information before anyone else has it.
How do you get information as a reporter?
Well, depends on the situation. In a hard news environment, information can come from all sorts of places: public records, court documents, whistleblower reports, or interviews.
I suppose the same is technically true for sports, but usually a scoop comes from a pre-existing relationship. A coach, an agent, or a team executive tells a reporter a tidbit of information.
Why would a coach, agent, or team executive do this?
It could be the thrill of letting someone in on a secret, or perhaps it’s done out of affinity or even respect for the way this reporter does their job. But I’m a cynical bastard, so I tend to think it’s a little more self-serving than that.
I think sources tend to share information with an implicit, totally unspoken understanding that this will gain them credibility with the reporter they’re giving it to. It’s not a “Get Out of Jail Free” card. It doesn’t eclipse the possibility of future criticism. But it does create a clear path to a media member with a platform who will (anonymously) air your perspective on a given matter. Perhaps they’ll even conclude a Tweet on a player’s status by pointing out just how young a coach’s team is.
Did you know that of the 22 players Washington is starting, 14 are either freshmen or sophomores?
Do I know for a fact that Fisch funneled that information to Thamel? No, I do not. Just like I don’t know that Fisch told Thamel WR Christian Moss would be out two or three months, that Washington would be missing four offensive starters against UCLA last season, or that Demond Williams might be in line to start the regular-season finale against Oregon back in 2024.
What I can tell you is that Thamel has consistently updated the status of Washington players on game day during Fisch’s three seasons as coach.
I don’t think there’s any quid pro quo in this. I don’t think Fisch asked Thamel to point out how many young players were on the field for Washington this year. He doesn’t have to. Thamel knows he’s getting a bit of preferential treatment here, and the least he can do is make sure Fisch is portrayed in the most favorable light.
This is, all things considered, a fairly harmless arrangement.
I also happen to think it’s lousy.
Some of that is because I’m biased. I’ve been a local reporter who covers a team every day, and I’ve been (largely) fortunate that I’ve never had a coach or team I covered who routinely gave a specific insider information they didn’t give to local reporters.
I also think it’s telling when a coach does this. It shows they’re looking beyond the local market.
Or perhaps I’m overthinking this, and Fisch realized that none of the local reporters would qualify Hatchett’s continued absence by pointing out the number of freshmen and sophomores who would be on the field.
🤬 He’s a maaaaaaaaaad man
On Saturday, Colorado State experienced a unique mid-game coaching adjustment.
The team’s defensive coordinator, Tyson Summers, who was calling the defense when the game began, left the field in the first half and did not return.
This got me to thinking about the television show that the Seahawks coach used to tape after games with one of the local TV stations.
It’s not as random as it sounds.
See, Jim Mora is the head coach at Colorado State. In his one year as Seahawks coach, he was part of a post-game show, and one thing we all know about Mora at this point is that he’s … ummmmm … expressive with his anger.
Jim L. Mora is on the right (i.e., the one with the vein bulging in his neck).
Over the past two weeks, he has visibly expressed disappointment in the speed with which Colorado State has made its substitutions on defense.
On Sept. 26, the Rams defense was lining up for a red-zone play against Texas-San Antonio. Players were still shuttling in and out, the defensive line wasn’t set, and the Rams had to burn a timeout. Mora conveyed his disappointment to Summers.
When something similar occurred on Saturday against Oregon State, Mora enunciated his frustration in an even clearer fashion. I’m not an expert at reading lips, but I believe he said, “How the flip does that happen for the second flipping week in a row!” I’ll be honest, though. I’m not sure he said, “flip.”
At some point after this, Summers walked off the field and did not return.
Mora was asked about the chain of events in his post-game press conference.
“Tyson was relieved of his play-calling duties,” Mora said. “He left the field, and he is no longer with this football program.”
Mora was asked, “That’s a permanent?”
“That’s a permanent,” Mora said.
Mora was then asked if he anticipated Summers leaving the field during the game.
“That wasn’t anything that I would ever consider,” Mora said. “I just relieved him of his duties as a playcaller. He made the decision on his own to leave the field, and he is no longer with the program.”
It’s certainly not the first time Mora was at odds with his defensive coordinator in the middle of a game. In 2014, when Mora was in charge of UCLA, he had an extended argument with Jeff Ulbrich, his defensive coordinator at the time. At one point, Ulbrich gave Mora the play-call sheet, the implication being that the head coach should call the defense, before Mora went over to Ulbrich and tried to calm the situation.
At this point, I don’t think there’s much mystery about Mora. He’s extremely intense, very emotional, and prone to getting very angry.
It’s a volatile combination as we saw in his one season as Seahawks head coach.
Back then, his contract included a provision to appear on a coach’s show that aired on KING-5 after each game.
When the team played on the road, they would tape this appearance after the coach finished his press conference and before heading to the airport for the flight back.
Sometimes, after a loss, Mora’s anger would be too evident in his answers. This would require segments to be re-shot.
It was, as I understand it, excruciating for everyone involved.
Mora was fired after the 2009 season, and when Pete Carroll was hired to replace him, a post-game television show was no longer part of the gig.