Don't Be That Guy

I have a lot of pride in UB athletics, and Buffalo Bulls football is certainly no exception. When I am covering news that pertains to the school, however, I cannot be biased towards either team, for good or ill.

This, however, is an opinion piece.

I don't know how many of you reading this are native to the city of Buffalo, but those who are know how much we care about football. Those of you who also read The Buffalo News may know whom this article is about: Jerry Sullivan.

Before I became involved with the Spectrum, even before I turned sixteen, I marveled at Sullivan's uncanny ability to write so inaccurately. There were times when I wondered if we had even watched the same game.

I had operated under the assumption that Sullivan just did not understand sports. Well I was wrong. The real problem is that he does not WANT to understand sports. He wallows in his own ignorance like a hog wallows in the cool mud of its pen.

I was shocked at Sullivan's degree of professionalism at the game last Thursday night. He looked like a retired lumberjack and complained about the game right up until the last second ticked off the clock. Listening to him was like having bamboo shoots shoved under my fingernails.

His questions at the press conference following the game were asinine and leading. It was clear that he had written his article in his mind already, and was using the press conference to get miss-used quotes that supported his argument.

This an excerpt from his opinion piece of last Thursday's game:

"By the fourth quarter, he [UB quarterback Randall Secky] was as easy to read as a kid's book, and just as predictable.

'I guess you could say that,' [Lehigh cornerback Lawrence] Williams said."

Sounds good doesn't it. Except that isn't the question that Sullivan asked. He asked whether Williams thought the Buffalo offense was predictable, NOT Secky. Williams had said that their scheme helped them to be in place on passes to the flats, and didn't even have an answer right away. After a long pause, he gave his response.

On top of that, he rudely left the press conference while another reporter was asking a question. I can't imagine that he was worried about meeting a deadline considering that it couldn't have taken him long to write the uninformed opinion that showed up in the paper last Friday.

I have a newfound disrespect for Sullivan and his column, which belongs in the stalls of restrooms. Last Friday's article bashed UB quarterback Randall Secky on the basis of 31 passes, and an imaginary knowledge of the inner workings of Bulls football. Sullivan barely has knowledge of the inner workings of a toaster oven.

Another example? Why not.

"Last year, as a redshirt freshman, he [Secky] presented little challenge to the starter, Joe Freedy. Privately, the Bulls coaches wondered if he ever would become a serious contributor."

Privately? Does he get to sit in on coaches meetings? Does he help the coaches with their cuts, the traveling roster, or the starting line-up? In what capacity does he involve himself with the team, I wonder. The only thing he seems qualified for is the water boy.

Sullivan knows as much about football as I know about art. Absolutely nothing. Has he ever even played? I myself played for eight years and have been coaching for four, and sometimes I wonder if I'm qualified to make judgements on a player's progress. Of course, when I read the inane babble that spews forth from Sullivan, I feel OVER-qualified.

The fact is, Jerry, that there is no pre-season in college football, and that Secky will take his lumps in non-conference games meant to get the team ready for conference play. Those facts are inevitable. I wonder how the average Division I-A college quarterback has fared in his debut as a starter. My guess would be not a whole lot better than Secky did.

The fact is that the jury is out on Randall Secky, who has only thrown 66 college passes in his career.

The jury is in on Sullivan though.

Don't be that guy.