Broncos football coach Jay Boyle gave The Daily Journal an ultimatum following the Hermantown game, the second game of the season.
Continue to publish the names of football players who are ineligible, and the coaches and players will no longer talk to the paper, he said.
Kevin Grover, assistant to the superintendent, echoed that sentiment before the Ashland game last Friday. Grover didn’t give the paper an ultimatum, but informed us of the displeasure within the coaching and administrative ranks about publishing names of ineligible athletes.
The Daily Journal respects any and all coaching/administrative policies — especially under this sports editor — but reminds the masses that this is not a yearbook.
Boyle and Grover aren’t the first, and they won’t be the last to disapprove about the newspaper’s policy of publishing the names of ineligible athletes. And we are well aware this is a hot-button issue.
That said, the bottom line is reporting this is newsworthy. High School and college athletics in the Borderland area is a big deal. People talk about it. People pay to watch it. People even drive over purple and gold paint in the Menards parking lot.
Occasionally these athletes are performing in front of hundreds and sometimes thousands of people. If they, meaning a varsity athlete, miss a game for whatever reason, these same people — along the athletes involved — deserve the truth to be reported, whether it’s for an injury, or for a Minnesota State High School League violation or even for a vacation.
And not reported in a vague way.
If Joe Quarterback is out with a rib injury and Jerry Cornerback failed keyboarding and Mike Linebacker got busted drinking beer at a party, then how is it fair for Joe Quarterback to be looped in the same group of “so and so athletes that missed this game?” Many believe this is how it should be reported, if at all.
We disagree.
Missing varsity players — who are usually on the sidelines in plain sight for everybody — affect a team’s performance, and that’s why we report them.
The Daily Journal will never turn a high school athlete into Bill Buckner and bury them for making a game-deciding error, for missing a game-winning free throw or for being suspended, but we will try and consistently report it in a fair and just way. College athletes are held at a higher standard in terms of performance, but will still be reported on for any action deemed newsworthy.
Just last week, immediately following the horn in the fourth quarter of the Ashland game, a Broncos fan asked me if I had heard about Tim Myles quitting. What? I immediately pointed out Myles getting in line to shake hands with the opponent and squelched a bad rumor. Myles, a senior captain, was in street clothes on the sidelines and missed the game with a back injury and is expected back tonight against Eveleth-Gilbert. The fan — and Myles, especially if the rumor was getting around — deserved to be told the truth.
That’s the job of a newspaper.
Finally, these athletes choose to play sports, and because of the popularity and impact in the community, each varsity athlete is in a position to be held accountable for their actions. Sports is covered five, six and sometimes seven days a week in the Borderland area, and each event or feature is met with a passion to give the readers the entire story.
The positives in local sports coverage heavily outweigh the negatives. If Boyle stands by his newly-created policy, and if fellow coaches create their own, The Daily Journal will continue to respect that decision.
But we won’t stop attempting to do our jobs.
We boast about being a community newspaper and above all, the community deserves the truth.
