Sometimes I Just Expect Better

Over at E. C. Huey for Guilford School Board there is an interesting piece about MRSA-gate, and by that I mean the N&R's cover up of their own pathetic reporting practices. Well, that is not Huey's angle, that's mine. You should read Huey's story, which includes John Robinson's story.

In his piece Huey references and quotes John Robinson, whose own piece is really full of bologna. Robinson says one thing that sends chills down my spine, "I’ve said it before, I’ll say it again. When a reporter calls with questions, tell what you know even if you don’t want to. If you stonewall, you put yourself at the mercy of those who WILL talk to the reporter."

Wow, such power. They must really get off on that. Hey, it may be true. That may be how this world works, but I'm thinking, did I just get transported to China or Iran? Weird.

Contrary to what is claimed by Mr. Robinson, and further commented upon over at Huey's, the school administration does in fact know the appropriate steps to be taken, and they were taken. As to Robinson’s take on the urgency of the story, well, there were two stories, one which should have been released immediately, one which should not have been. That a student at a school has MRSA is a matter of public health and people need to know that. But the question as to whether people at the school had been encouraging the student to wrestle anyway knowing he has a staph infection is a whole different matter. That really needs to be checked out. The original reporter told me that leaving messages late on a Friday amounted to doing “everything” to fact check his story. So, he e-mails or leaves a voice mail late on a Friday and does not hear back by the deadline, and he considers that doing everything? All that needed to be said was that a case of MRSA had been reported. The rest could have waited. The reporter also said to me that he was under pressure to print the story. That interests me.

The wrestler in question wrestles not only at SE but also in a wrestling club in Jamestown. Has anyone looked into that? The same wrestler had been diagnosed with staph a month before and had not been wrestling with SE since then. Had he been wrestling at the other place? I wonder? But anyway, what was the big public health issue on Friday?

Robinson’s comments that doing a better job getting the story amounts to killing the story is ridiculous. You’re talking about ruining a man’s reputation. Give me a break.

And, by the way, the Cox’s have no record of having been contacted by the reporter. Maybe he called them, maybe he didn’t. What number did he call - the school number? Was Coach Cox around? A cell number? A home number? Did he leave a voice mail?

How many voice mails do you get which you do not access or even know about for an hour or two. I get a lot. The Cox’s know of no call. They are truthful people.

By the time Tuesday came around, after the original story, particularly given what had been released Saturday, you bet that folks aren’t going to talk to the reporter. I wouldn't. Besides, the information that school officials potentially have which would vindicate them they can’t release. It’s not only HIPAA laws it’s valid local GCS regulations about releasing information about students. But by Tuesday it was too late for that.

This story on Saturday had nothing whatsoever - not even the slightest little thing - to do with keeping this from turning into some nightmare. The kid hadn’t wrestled for the school for a month. What nightmare was avoided? The school would not let a kid who had not wrestled for a month wrestle? So, where is the big news in that?

Is anybody other than me curious that the same kid was back in school Tuesday? It’s a sidebar, but I am curious.

In other words, there was nothing happening or going to happen that was kept from happening by the Saturday story. A boy who was not wrestling anyway continued not to be able to wrestle. Wow. That’s big news.

The public has a right to know the real story, and that is the motive behind the parent’s anger at the coaches. This story is the same old story - a parent mad at a coach because his little boy isn’t playing enough or whatever. Been there. Done that. It will all come out, in time.