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JONES: Have you heard the news? |
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Tuesday, 20 November 2007 |
 A younger member of the news staff was practically sprinting through the Courier building late Friday afternoon, absolutely giddy and more than anxious to share the news he was hearing with anyone in earshot.
“The British are coming! The British are coming!”
Different message, town crier.
“Houston Nutt is leaving! Houston Nutt is leaving!”
Ah, yes, that rumor again. On the eve of the Razorbacks’ game in Little Rock, no less.
The rumors of Nutt’s impending departure were as rampant as I’ve heard them. The difference this time is that the rumors appeared to hold more credibility. A couple of sports journalists whom I respect were quoting sources who were confirming that Nutt’s 10th season as head football coach of the Hogs will be his last.
The Little Rock television stations were all over the rumors on their Web sites. But when I read that Clay Henry was essentially substantiating the rumors, I paid more attention. Henry is publisher of Hawgs Illustrated magazine and the son of the late Orville Henry, for years the information source for Arkansas football as sports editor of the Arkansas Gazette. I knew Clay Henry would not quote sources unless he was convinced that his information was authentic.
I didn’t initially put much stock in the rumors because so many rumors about Nutt have circulated so many times, it becomes difficult to take them seriously. A magnified version of the boy who cried wolf.
What interested me more was the fervor and passion with which some people were greeting the news that the embattled Nutt would be leaving the job he loves in the state he loves. The young staff member’s reaction was the textbook example. Matt Burks couldn’t find enough people fast enough to spread the news. He didn’t exhibit that much excitement months ago when his child was born.
That’s how polarizing the Nutt issue has become. I would venture to say that it’s an issue that inspires more passion, from people on both sides, that we truly realize. The whole mess has become nasty, sad and tiresome.
It’s gotten to the point that people like me, who truly have mixed emotions about the issue, want something to happen one way or the other. If Nutt leaves, he leaves. If he stays, he stays. Just do something.
If we are to believe the rumors and unnamed sources, Nutt will be leaving and it will be his decision. He has five years remaining on his contract, but we all know that these days major college programs don’t blink an eye at the thought of buying out a coach’s contract.
I was at the office Friday evening and thinking about how we might handle the rumor circus, if at all. I fielded several telephone calls from readers wanting to know if there was any truth to the rumors. I told each caller the same thing: “I don’t have a clue.”
I called The Associated Press bureau in Little Rock to see if they planned to file a story. Tom Parsons, who has been with the bureau for years, said emphatically, “No! We don’t do stories about rumors.”
He had a point, of course; everything we were hearing was nothing more than rumor and speculation.
The Razorbacks had arrived in Little Rock on Friday afternoon and a reporter with one of the TV stations asked Nutt if there was any truth to the swirling rumors. Nutt downplayed the rumors and said he has no plans to leave. That’s exactly what you’d expect him to say so I didn’t put any stock in that brief interview.
I still didn’t think we needed to ignore the rumors. They were too strong. I wanted to talk to Ricky Duke, our sports editor, after he returned from the football playoff game at Bauxite.
He must’ve been thinking similar thoughts; he called me before I had a chance to call him. We agreed that the issue didn’t need to be ignored, but neither did it need to be blown out of proportion. We agreed that something needed to be written but that we needed to tell readers from the outset that everything circulating was speculation and rumor and none of it had been substantiated.
We’re in a business where we hear rumors almost daily. I wouldn’t say we become immune to them, but we certainly greet them with skepticism.
By the same token, we learn to recognize when a rumor might actually be worth something. I believe these latest Nutt rumors are worth something because, as I said earlier, I have respect for a few of the sports journalists who are speaking with conviction.
We shall see.
Incidentally, bear in mind that this column had to be written on Saturday. This is a volatile issue that can change literally by the hour. The entire Nutt drama may have taken a dramatic turn by the time you read this column. The Razorbacks will have played and the media will have interrogated Nutt and the media will have looked under every rock in Arkansas in search of credible sources.
In the meantime, be prepared to endure a steady diet of this stuff.
Whit Jones is editor of the Courier. His column appears periodically.
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