Wessler:Impatience for BU Fans honed to razor edge...

[Da Coach]

...
Now to you posters and readers here, do you really think that Coach Les is offended by these attacks on him through an article? I think Coach himself is willing to just ignore such criticisms, so why can't we as fans do the same?
Let's stop being offended by these little remarks, which we know come from the same source - this is journalism and free speech - it's the nature of the game. Just stop reading it if you're offended.

I stopped reading KW and the PJ Star over a year ago after his infamous hit piece column posted the day of the Bradley-Drake game in the 2011 MVC tournament-

https://www.bradleyfans.com/vb/showthread.php?t=17953

I would be happy if everyone else just ignored him. But since it was brought up on this message board (not by me, BTW) it is fair game for criticism.
And why shouldn't any editorial writer's opinions and statements be open to criticism? Kirk Wessler is entitled to his opinions, but unlike most people who don't try to repeatedly cram them down the throats of others, when he or any editoralist publishes them in a newspaper they should be and will be fair game for intelligent and civil criticism.

[SFP]

I hope kw and DR write nothing but positive articles about the Braves and hopefully their successes, but in so doing kw stops the references to Coach Les who was a credit to the University as a player, an alumni and as a coach.

I hope so as well! KW did give a little dig in there and it just shows his pettiness. The dig absolutely added zero to the conversation but stirring up the fan base. It's funny though that the JL topic stirs up as much emotion as does the topic on Obama Care.

[BU Bill]

I stopped reading KW and the PJ Star over a year ago after his infamous hit piece column posted the day of the Bradley-Drake game in the 2011 MVC tournament-

https://www.bradleyfans.com/vb/showthread.php?t=17953

I would be happy if everyone else just ignored him. But since it was brought up on this message board (not by me, BTW) it is fair game for criticism.
And why shouldn't any editorial writer's opinions and statements be open to criticism? Kirk Wessler is entitled to his opinions, but unlike most people who don't try to repeatedly cram them down the throats of others, when he or any editoralist publishes them in a newspaper they should be and will be fair game for intelligent and civil criticism.

Bingo. There are fewer people who read these kinds of editorial pieces than ever, and I am surprised anyone still does. There was once a time when the common fan had little or no access to information about their favorite sports teams, so most of their own knowledge and their own opinions were based mostly on the viewpoints and opinions expressed by columnists in their favorite newspapers.
But thanks goodness for technology, Bill Gates, and Al Gore (or whoever else invented the internet). And thank goodness for BradleyBraves.com and the creators of Bradleyfans.com. There is 100 times more facts, breaking news, and inside information and insight into Bradley available to fans than would ever be learned from reading the local rag.
So now all that's left for newspapers is to stir the pot, and even that has gotten real old.

[LittleBrave]

I would be happy if everyone else just ignored him. But since it was brought up on this message board (not by me, BTW) it is fair game for criticism.
And why shouldn't any editorial writer's opinions and statements be open to criticism?

You're right DC - if he (KW) can be open to criticize, others should be able to openly criticize as well.
I just think, as has been mentioned, some people should stop beating a dead horse and focus on the main concepts of what people say instead of nick-picking about how someone offended or attacked someone else. And if they don't like the person who said something they don't like, we continue to hear about it over and over, which diverts from the central points of a message or article.

But I realize we're in the midst of sports-talk, so criticism is prevalent. At least it gives me another reason to post!

[bradleybraves1]

For the record...if I was newspaper critic....I would have preferred that he left out the one line in the whole article about reference to JL... because it didn't seem necessary...

I can definitely agree with this lefty. I thought this was a good article that might have been bullet-proof if this line was left out. They teach writers and journalism students to get your point across in an efficient manner and to delete words or phrases that are unnecessary or don't add to the story... THIS seems to fit that criteria.

[Da Coach]

Bingo. There are fewer people who read these kinds of editorial pieces than ever, and I am surprised anyone still does. There was once a time when the common fan had little or no access to information about their favorite sports teams, so most of their own knowledge and their own opinions were based mostly on the viewpoints and opinions expressed by columnists in their favorite newspapers.
But thanks goodness for technology, Bill Gates, and Al Gore (or whoever else invented the internet). And thank goodness for BradleyBraves.com and the creators of Bradleyfans.com. There is 100 times more facts, breaking news, and inside information and insight into Bradley available to fans than would ever be learned from reading the local rag.
So now all that's left for newspapers is to stir the pot, and even that has gotten real old.

Bill, I agree with you on this. I can recall my dad rarely formed an opinion about things until he read Mike Royko's column in the Chicago newspaper. The same trend was usually true with his opinions about the Chicago sports teams. Opinion columns, as they were known back then, were an important feature of newspapers to help readers understand and develop their own slant on stories. But then newspapers were just about the only source of news on anything back then. That is what has changed the most. Today, very few people get their news from newspapers.

[lefty]

Bingo. There are fewer people who read these kinds of editorial pieces than ever, and I am surprised anyone still does. There was once a time when the common fan had little or no access to information about their favorite sports teams, .

The common fan still only reads the paper....it's only us "uncommon" fans on the message boards.

Only people on a message board would think a thing about the reference to JL in this particular case........it's only a big deal on the this board not out in the "real world"

[Buesch N Chips]

He pointed out very well the problems with getting the best players to come to BU. We're a small school, not in a major market (although we have one to the north in Chicago and to the south in St. Louis) and, as such, players aren't looking at BU as a potential power.

Things he would have never said if JL was still the coach.....

[Old Coach]

The common fan still only reads the paper....it's only us "uncommon" fans on the message boards.

Only people on a message board would think a thing about the reference to JL in this particular case........it's only a big deal on the this board not out in the "real world"

Good points. Of the however many people who read the column on Sunday, only 10 or 12 were honked off enough about it to post something on this message board.

[FlyingSpaghettiMonster]

The common fan still only reads the paper....it's only us "uncommon" fans on the message boards.

Only people on a message board would think a thing about the reference to JL in this particular case........it's only a big deal on the this board not out in the "real world"

I didn't even notice a shot a JL when I read the article. I certainly haven't read all of KW's articles over the years, but what does his (real or not) anti-JL bias stem from? Does anyone actually know or is it speculation?

[Chico]

Good points. Of the however many people who read the column on Sunday, only 10 or 12 were honked off enough about it to post something on this message board.

Isn't that what this board is for. kw knew it would honk off fans of the program that's why he had to get in his jab at someone who has been gone for over a year. Funny how some posters say only a few were honked off but they also keep posting away. The only reason I commented on kw's article was because any time Jim Les's name is brought up certain posters say get over it. Then the sports editor of the local paper has to keep it alive.

[kds]

Good points. Of the however many people who read the column on Sunday, only 10 or 12 were honked off enough about it to post something on this message board.

Make that 11 or 13.

[Old Coach]

Isn't that what this board is for. kw knew it would honk off fans of the program that's why he had to get in his jab at someone who has been gone for over a year. Funny how some posters say only a few were honked off but they also keep posting away. The only reason I commented on kw's article was because any time Jim Les's name is brought up certain posters say get over it. Then the sports editor of the local paper has to keep it alive.

I for one think that you have the right to be as mad as you want for as long as you want about whatever it is you choose to be mad about.

[shaunguth]

And was given garbage time instead of being redshirted, taking away a year of eligibility.

I'm glad you mentioned this because it seems to be one thing that continually gets overlooked. If he wasn't good enough to play, then why would you play him a total of 52 minutes? I guess those 52 minutes are what decided he wasn't good enough to play anymore?

[shaunguth]

Let's stop being offended by these little remarks, which we know come from the same source - this is journalism and free speech - it's the nature of the game. Just stop reading it if you're offended.

Other than the word "journalism", you could just as easily be talking about this message board!