OT: Coalition to Fire Brian Koontz - We Have Jackets

[zls44]

Pete Thamel.

At least he doesn't put a UMass logo in his Twitter pic or handle. Have some freaking decorum.

 

[Husky25]

I think it is important to note that this particular writer was the same individual who penned the story regarding Ashiru's and his father story and was (rightfully, IMO) called out by his "colleagues" at Diaco's press conference and in print last month.

Editor's Note: Colleagues is in quotations because those who called him out are of a higher caliber. Colleagues in profession only.

 

[aceboon]

I think it is important to note that this particular writer was the same individual who penned the story regarding Ashiru's and his father story and was (rightfully, IMO) called out by his "colleagues" at Diaco's press conference and in print last month.

Editor's Note: Colleagues is in quotations because those who called him out are of a higher caliber. Colleagues in profession only.

what did other writers say? I read the initial story but missed the follow up.

 

[Gurleyman]

I think we are being too hard on the kid. Student writers are still learning the ropes, and I imagine the regular student columnist was home for break, so this was sort of like the "boom goes the dynamite" kid trying to fill in on TV. I'd hate to think all of my college writing might end up getting picked apart on a messageboard. This Koonz kid admittedly has a ways to go, but hopefully he'll learn how to produce an interesting column by the time he graduates. There's no way in the world anybody would actually pay him to write a sports column that spends a few incoherent paragraphs talking about a lemon in a garbage truck, nor would something as sophomoric as trying to attribute larger meaning to celebrating a halftime buzzer beater ever get past a professional editor, so he'll have to get a lot better.

But look at it like Kemba or Bazz - they had to improve a lot too to make it to the pros. This is no different.

 

[uconnbill]

We should just boycott anything he writes as the hits give him and his newspaper credence it doesn't deserve.

 

[Husky25]

what did other writers say? I read the initial story but missed the follow up.

The writers gave Diaco the opportunity to basically call the guy a hack. (The first one I saw of it was William Paxton's (CTnow) twitter feed and Jeff Jacobs had this to say in a follow-up column.

That doesn't mean a coach can be allowed to browbeat or, in Diaco's words, emasculate an athlete. I don't have any evidence he did so. In speaking with UConn football beat writer Desmond Conner, who has talked to a number of people, he doesn't either. What I do know is Ashiru arrived at UConn with some level of fanfare and has turned out to be an OK player, nothing more, nothing less. Among linebackers, Marquise Vann has 96 tackles, including seven for losses in 11 games. Graham Stewart has 83, 10.5 TFL in 11 games. Ashiru had 47 tackles in nine games, including 3.5 TFL.

Koonz confirmed it was Tayo Ashiru who contacted him after reading a column he wrote after the loss to Cincinnati. He had not reached out to him. Should Koonz have reached out to UConn after Ashiru's father contacted him with those accusations, perhaps gotten the response Diaco gave Tuesday and shortened the life of this story? One could argue that way. Yet Koonz also was the one who asked Diaco last week directly about Ashiru and got mostly happy talk. On Tuesday, Diaco said he hadn't wanted to degrade any student and that is why he didn't say much initially. Understandable.

 

[CallMeBruce]

The writers gave Diaco the opportunity to basically call the guy a hack. (The first one I saw of it was William Paxton's (CTnow) twitter feed and Jeff Jacobs had this to say in a follow-up column.

That doesn't mean a coach can be allowed to browbeat or, in Diaco's words, emasculate an athlete. I don't have any evidence he did so. In speaking with UConn football beat writer Desmond Conner, who has talked to a number of people, he doesn't either. What I do know is Ashiru arrived at UConn with some level of fanfare and has turned out to be an OK player, nothing more, nothing less. Among linebackers, Marquise Vann has 96 tackles, including seven for losses in 11 games. Graham Stewart has 83, 10.5 TFL in 11 games. Ashiru had 47 tackles in nine games, including 3.5 TFL.

Koonz confirmed it was Tayo Ashiru who contacted him after reading a column he wrote after the loss to Cincinnati. He had not reached out to him. Should Koonz have reached out to UConn after Ashiru's father contacted him with those accusations, perhaps gotten the response Diaco gave Tuesday and shortened the life of this story? One could argue that way. Yet Koonz also was the one who asked Diaco last week directly about Ashiru and got mostly happy talk. On Tuesday, Diaco said he hadn't wanted to degrade any student and that is why he didn't say much initially. Understandable.

This isn't accurate. He didn't ask Diaco about the quotes from Ashiru's father. He just asked him generally about Ashiru's decision to transfer. It was a sneaky, underhanded move to allow him to write the hit piece without a rebuttal from Diaco while pretending he'd tried to get a quote from him on the subject. Koonz is a dirtbag who doesn't belong in journalism because he has no interest in the truth.

 

[Pudge]

I think we are being too hard on the kid. Student writers are still learning the ropes, and I imagine the regular student columnist was home for break, so this was sort of like the "boom goes the dynamite" kid trying to fill in on TV. I'd hate to think all of my college writing might end up getting picked apart on a messageboard. This Koonz kid admittedly has a ways to go, but hopefully he'll learn how to produce an interesting column by the time he graduates. There's no way in the world anybody would actually pay him to write a sports column that spends a few incoherent paragraphs talking about a lemon in a garbage truck, nor would something as sophomoric as trying to attribute larger meaning to celebrating a halftime buzzer beater ever get past a professional editor, so he'll have to get a lot better.

But look at it like Kemba or Bazz - they had to improve a lot too to make it to the pros. This is no different.

kid?

Brian Koonz has kids that are near 20. That means he is probably near 50. He tormented ... on the very fringe of the Horde at the DANBURY PAPER ... back in the 1996-2002 timeframe. So ... I can't tell you he was unemployed for 12 years; but, I haven't seen his name til recently. This "admittedly has a ways to go" ... can be read a different way. Wave your Orange ... maybe Oneonta or Cortland needs a sportswriter. A CT paper for Fairfield County has options.

 

[aceboon]

kid?

Brian Koonz has kids that are near 20. That means he is probably near 50. He tormented ... on the very fringe of the Horde at the DANBURY PAPER ... back in the 1996-2002 timeframe. So ... I can't tell you he was unemployed for 12 years; but, I haven't seen his name til recently. This "admittedly has a ways to go" ... can be read a different way. Wave your Orange ... maybe Oneonta or Cortland needs a sportswriter. A CT paper for Fairfield County has options.

I thought it was a pretty obvious joke...

 

[Husky25]

This isn't accurate. He didn't ask Diaco about the quotes from Ashiru's father. He just asked him generally about Ashiru's decision to transfer. It was a sneaky, underhanded move to allow him to write the hit piece without a rebuttal from Diaco while pretending he'd tried to get a quote from him on the subject. Koonz is a dirtbag who doesn't belong in journalism because he has no interest in the truth.

What's not accurate? I copied and pasted directly from Jacobs' column and provided a link attribute it.

My words are that the writers at the PC gave Diaco a chance to call the "story's" author a hack, which he did without using those exact words.

 

[CallMeBruce]

What's not accurate? I copied and pasted directly from Jacobs' column and provided a link attribute it.

My words are that the writers at the PC gave Diaco a chance to call the "story's" author a hack, which he did without using those exact words.

Maybe I misunderstood what you were saying. My point is that Diaco never had an opportunity to address the accusations from Ashiru's father before the story was printed because Koonz didn't ask him about them. He asked him, on a general level, about the Ashiru transfer, and Diaco chose to be diplomatic, so Koonz printed up a hatchet piece and ran with it, which is terribly unprofessional, and if I were UConn, I'd deny his paper access until they provide a different writer.

 

[Husky25]

Maybe I misunderstood what you were saying. My point is that Diaco never had an opportunity to address the accusations from Ashiru's father before the story was printed because Koonz didn't ask him about them. He asked him, on a general level, about the Ashiru transfer, and Diaco chose to be diplomatic, so Koonz printed up a hatchet piece and ran with it, which is terribly unprofessional, and if I were UConn, I'd deny his paper access until they provide a different writer.

Correct. We are on the same page.

 

[UConn Dan]

Maybe I misunderstood what you were saying. My point is that Diaco never had an opportunity to address the accusations from Ashiru's father before the story was printed because Koonz didn't ask him about them. He asked him, on a general level, about the Ashiru transfer, and Diaco chose to be diplomatic, so Koonz printed up a hatchet piece and ran with it, which is terribly unprofessional, and if I were UConn, I'd deny his paper access until they provide a different writer.

Reading comprehension. Look it up.

 

[CallMeBruce]

Reading comprehension. Look it up.

Thanks for the input.

 

[UChusky916]

The guy is probably butt-hurt he has to cover UConn basketball and their 4 championships when his alma mater can barely make it out of the second round. Interesting exchange with another fan here regarding his Columbia comments. He refuses to accept that Columbia is actually a quality team and claimed that UConn and UK both overlooked them. Just shows how stubborn and ignorant he is.

 

[aceboon]

ah so I see KO's salary is going to be a constant sticking point with him

 

[pj]

He doesn't tell us the score of the game until the 5th paragraph.
Where did this clown go to journalism school?

Clickbaiting University.

 

[OkaForPrez]

When Duffy first tweeted out Koonz was the new CT coverage for Hearst, I asked him to take the Cuse logo out of his icon and I'd give him a follow. He told me thanks but no thanks. I dismissed it at the time but with this garbage attempt to turn up the heat on Ollie following what looked like a turning point game for us its pretty clear this guy is a total DB.

@temery should spike the links to the Greenwich Times until they send this guy home.

 

[Fishy]

When Duffy first tweeted out Koonz was the new CT coverage for Hearst, I asked him to take the Cuse logo out of his icon and I'd give him a follow. He told me thanks but no thanks. I dismissed it at the time but with this garbage attempt to turn up the heat on Ollie following what looked like a turning point game for us its pretty clear this guy is a total DB.

@temery should spike the links to the Greenwich Times until they send this guy home.

You need a hobby.

I had never heard of the Greenwich Times before today - I don't think we've ever had a link to it posted previously.

I'm sure you would need a Sherpa and a map to find a copy, so why on earth are you trying to aggravate yourself by hunting it down online?

 

[azescobar]

Let's leave him be and read actual beat writers. He clearly doesn't get it. And I will NOT follow him on Twitter, so take that! It makes no sense to compare what UConn does against other schools based primarily on the salary of our head coach v. the other team's head coach.

I've watched a lot of UConn basketball over the past 20 years. It is ok to be a contrarian journalist, but there is no way you watch that game last night, and your story the next day is negative, about not beating a quality team by more than 15 points and letting little old Columbia hang around in the second half. You can spin different storylines, but (1) has to be Purvis; (2) has to be the best outside shooting effor of the season; (3) has to be Boat's heart and tremendous leadership; and (4)-(6) can be Hamilton struggling early, but coming on late, Amidah rebounding from a poor performance, and Nolan, well..if you want to get negative, I suppose you can get at Nolan from last night..

 

[OkaForPrez]

You need a hobby.

I had never heard of the Greenwich Times before today - I don't think we've ever had a link to it posted previously.

I'm sure you would need a Sherpa and a map to find a copy, so why on earth are you trying to aggravate yourself by hunting it down online?

I thought it was clear this was my Hobby. You saying I need a new one?

I hadn't heard of it either, the only reason I knew who this guy was is because I follow Duffy (who was the best beat writer we had). He plugged this guy, I saw the logo, asked him to ditch it, and then largely ignored him until now. Apparently this is the only way he can get on the radar, which is why Tom should break the link because this is going to be his only connect.

 

[Gurleyman]

When you think about it, there's simply no way that a vintage Calhoun team would find itself in a close game with a non-scholarship Ivy and win by a modest deficit after an uncomfortably close game. These are troubling times. Calhoun set the bar higher than that.

http://www.nytimes.com/2003/11/18/sports/basketball-no-1-uconn-pushed-by-gritty-yale.html

 

[Inyatkin]

He's the columnist for a group of four papers -- Greenwich is only one, and it's the smallest.

 

[UChusky916]

It is ok to be a contrarian journalist, but there is no way you watch that game last night, and your story the next day is negative, about not beating a quality team by more than 15 points and letting little old Columbia hang around in the second half.

Agreed 100%. How any type of beat writer could watch that game and then decide to drum up a negative article about the team and KO is beyond me. There's little slanderous jabs littered throughout the article:

-He makes 3 separate references to KO's salary and money from his contract which he's 9 games into. "Now is the time for Ollie to earn his money" being one of them. KO earned his money by winning a national title LESS THAN A YEAR AGO and this guy is calling him out?!
-This guy's writing is all over the place. He blames Ollie for his team not performing as it should based on this contract, then says:"Ollie has already grabbed the brass ring of a national championship. The feat remains the crowning achievement that buys a coach a contract, if not some breathing room."
Contradicting yourself much, Koonz? If he deserves some breathing space, maybe the rest of your article trashing the team is irrelevant?

-"On the heels of a grinding 80-65 victory over Columbia -- the program with exactly zero scholarship players -- UConn remains a basketball team building a consistent identity."
The fact that he sums up Columbia as a team with no scholarship players completely misrepresents their team and disrespects them. They gave UK a run, they're well coached and their PG almost made the German national team. They'll compete for Ivy Champs and the Ivy is much better of late. Yet, Koonz characterizes them as a team with no scholarship players? And he does this twice:
"When Boatright buried a 3-pointer at halftime to break a tie with Columbia, the crowd roared, the bench jumped up and Boatright bounced to midcourt.
Really, is that what UConn basketball has become, the celebration of a 3-pointer against a program without scholarships? I think not."

So according to Brian Koonz, UConn players and fans should not celebrate against inferior opponents. Again, characterizing Columbia in this manner either shows that he has NO basketball knowledge or he's just simply spewing bullsh!t.... in his case, I think it's both.

-"Although Brimah finished with 14 points, six rebounds and three blocks, he also went for several head fakes that gave Columbia free lanes to the basket."
Several head fakes? I remember only 1 instance where Amida gave up a basket. No, 14/6/3 isn't good enough for Koonz because he gave up a basket. He wants perfection from a sophomore center who only learned basketball a few years ago. God forbid he falls for one head-fake.
​

This guy makes for a terrible beat-writer journalist. He is an alumnus for a rival school and promotes it on his twitter picture. He has little-to-no basketball IQ (based on his assumptions on Columbia and Amida). His writing leaves a LOT to be desired... some of his sentences don't even make sense and he's all over the place between blaming Ollie and mentioning his contract then he blames individual players and then says that KO deserves some breathing room... whats the point you're trying to make here? What summation are you arriving at? There isn't one. He's trashing the team because he chose to. He comes across almost like Jacobs with an eliteist attitude. Except Jacobs actually drives home points. Jacobs has the reputation to do that. This guy has nothing. He's an embarrassment.

I support @temery banning these garbage articles. If we have to deal with this type of article after a win, I can only imagine how much worse it gets.

 

[Walker11]

The guy does write for the CT Post, which is the big paper in my neck is the woods. And he did write a terrible article. But no needed to ban, just don't read. He did write a nice piece about Sandy Hook and the Coppin State game.