re: Jon Sokoloff's revenge on Kiffin! "Did you sign your extension?" IN PERSON

Lane’s interview with Finebaum a few weeks ago was very awkward. I liked him calling out Finebaum about the USC airport incident. It’ll always be interesting as long as Lane’s in the SEC.

Maybe you two should just private message each other.

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MSNBC has a lot of things, but balls aren't on the list.

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Well….the chics do

As you can tell by my posting handle I used to be a sports writer.

I can assure you with metaphysical certitude that Sokoloff had a source that told him what he reported, and was credible enough to where he went with it. (Based on his breaking the Cohen to Auburn story, I’ve always believed it was Cohen himself.)

I can tell you with metaphysical certitude that no journalist who wants to stay employed is going to put his neck or his arse or even his career on the line by making something up or pulling something off Twitter in a situation like this.

Every one of these questions was absolutely relevant and on topic, and I guarantee a whole bunch of people in Oxford and Auburn would like to ask them.

The reason Lane had a snit and wouldn’t answer them is that big-time college coaches in particular act, dealing with pro coaches is a whole lot different, are control freaks and dictators and masters of their realm and don’t like to be questioned like that, especially in public.

I know some of y’all like coaches to be like that and especially like for them to pound on the eeeeevilll media. So be it.

But when I was covering sports, and I covered college and pro sports at the highest level, you think I was asking them questions for myself? I was about to go out on the ledge but I’ll just say there were an awful lot of coaches I’ve dealt with who were awful human beings (in fairness there were some, like Bebes Stallings, who were among the finest people who ever drew breath) that I wouldn’t lower myself to associate with if I hadn’t had to. But the bottom line is I asked the questions for readers.

His answers aren't very convincing. I think he's covering his arse.

Sokoloff should follow him to Auburn.

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Or Faux News which is so notoriously bad at reporting that it has to register as an “entertainment channel”.

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This is the place were we all point and laugh at you for believing a satire site and twitter memes were actual facts. Now let's see if you're willing to admit you're not terribly bright.

I'm sure snopes hated to do it, but even they pointed out your claim is a lie

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I can tell you with metaphysical certitude that no journalist who wants to stay employed is going to put his neck or his arse or even his career on the line by making something up or pulling something off Twitter in a situation like this.

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I don't necessarily think sportswriters do this, but I wholeheartedly believe that journalists in other fields (politics) routinely state their opinion as fact by writing "sources said" in front of it. In other words, their sources are themselves.

I believe stories are written claiming to have anonymous sources when no anonymous source actually exists.

I have worked as an editor as well as a writer. I can’t speak for anyone else, but if one of my people quoted an anonymous source, I had to know who it was before we used it. And it’s something that I rarely if ever permitted, only when absolutely necessary. But you’d be stunned at the kind of people who like to talk to us if not as a primary source but on background. Keeping one’s mouth shut isn’t human nature.

I do believe in clearly labeling something that is opinion as opinion. The problem is that some folks overlook the label and assume that everything is presented as straight news. There’s a place for opinion, especially in sports. A sport’s columnist’s job, online or print, is to stir fans up and get them talking (and reading).