So, WaPo, Whatever Happened to That AAU and Shoe Company Article?
by Ben Broman on Aug 8, 2009 6:40 PM EDT
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PrintI'm sure you remember Eric Prisbell, the Washington Post reporter who wrote the three part series on Gary Williams' supposed decline, and followed that up two weeks later with an "exposé" of Lance Stephenson's Under Armor factory visit. You probably know that he received massive negative feedback for it, and was able to call off the dogs for awhile with a statement about a piece over the summer on the state of AAU. This is from his blog post directly after the Lance story hit:
As I have said before, I plan to do extensive coverage of AAU-related issues this spring and summer (as soon as the Final Four is over). There is nothing more I would like to do than examine the recruiting practices and AAU-shoe company ties at several other top college programs in the country.
Now, I'm not out to get Prisbell, but correct me if this is anything other than bold-faced lying. It's been four months since the Final Four ended. Prisbell, meanwhile, hasn't done anything for the Washington Post since May. That, of course, means there has been no AAU piece, and certainly not "extensive coverage".
He definitely had the ammo, too. The Josh Selby issue by itself is worth an article. There was the Lance Stephenson issue, which extended ridiculously late and may or may not've had anything to do with shoes, and the Renardo Sidney issue, which blew up lately. The Wall Street Journal even had a piece on how bad AAU is.
Who knows, something could be on its way, and if it is, consider this post moot. Like I mentioned earlier, I'm not out to get Prisbell. That said, I think it's fair to say that he should live up to his promises, especially when they came in light of a major controversy. Maryland fans everywhere soured on the Post after those articles came out, and this does nothing to help the (perhaps perceived, perhaps real) anti-Maryland sentiment at the company.
I just thought this should be brought back across the readers' minds for when Prisbell becomes active again.
[Note by bbroman, 08/08/09 10:15 PM EDT]: Looks like a piece is still in the works, from emails in the comments from a week or two ago. If so, kudos to Prisbell to living up to it, and consider this entire post moot, though I am expecting something pretty good considering the amount of time taken.
[Note by bbroman, 08/09/09 10:48 AM EDT ] Yep, they're apparently on their way. Serve up the crow.
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Prisbell is a hack and a tool. And so is the Post.
by mariolucasforthree on Aug 8, 2009 7:00 PM EDT reply actions
Because The Wall Street Journal is a respectable newspaper, while The Washington Post is a rag. All of the Post’s sportswriters are terrible. La Canfora recently left, but he was terrible too.
The Washington Times and The Baltimore Sun blow the Post out of the water in sports, especially local and even more especially for college sports. Patrick Stevens and Jeff Barker are both great for Terps coverage.
Stevens and Barker are $
love their blogs, stevens’ especially. he never gets enough credit for how good it is.
Definitely, Stevens’ stories and blog are great.
by mariolucasforthree on Aug 9, 2009 5:36 AM EDT up reply actions
Heres a list of emails with eric, details of his story are listed.
July 28
Brad,
Thanks a lot for the interest. I have been traveling to the majority of the camps throughout July to interview many people and gather information. The way it looks now, we have 4 to 5 lengthy stories on a variety of issues. One of the things we’re deciding is whether it should run as a series or separate pieces throughout the fall. Not sure. And I am also still trying to convince some elusive individuals to talk with me, which will take more time. So we’re on our way, but it will take a little longer. Feel free to email anytime and ask any questions you want. Thanks again for the interest and keep in touch.
Eric
July 28
Hey Eric,
Been checking weekly on the blog for your story about AAU. I saw on testudo times and espn that some newspapers have done a few articles, yet I am still eagerly looking forward to the post’s take on it all. Have I missed the article, or is it not completed as of yet. I am sending this email, because July has almost come to an end and I wanted to make sure that I had not missed the article already. Thanks for your time,
Brad
On Wed, Apr 22, 2009 at 1:19 PM, Eric Prisbell <prisbelle@washpost.com> wrote:
Hey, what’s up, Brad? Thanks for the note. I’ve been taking some much needed vacation and I am working on a large aau/recruiting project for july. As for henry and kansas, I think this does mean lance will not go to kansas. St. John’s and maryland are the best bets. I would say st. John"s is a slight favorite, but any attempts to figure out what is next in lance’s recruitment are often futile because it has been so unpredictable so far. If maryland does get lance, it will go a long way to offsetting the potential loss of vasquez, if he stays in the draft. I still would rather have vasquez than lance next year because I wonder how lance will get along with gary. Regardless, it will make for an interesting year. Write anytime. Thanks again for the email.
Eric
I wrote him at 1am the 28th
I wrote him at 1 am on the 28th, and he responded at 9:30. Before you write a blog questioning credibility, drop them an email as common courtesy. I check all the blogs, and am most fond of testudotimes, however this post wasn’t appreciated. Eric is very quick to respond to emails, so drop him a line if you want to know :)
It appears I stand corrected
Like I said, this wasn’t meant as a piece trying to hack him down. If an article/articles do come out, I’ll gladly eat crow. I want him to come out with it, it would make Maryland’s life in recruiting easier if it draws attention to the stuff that goes on. He’s one of the best investigative sports reporters, I just want to see him investigate elsewhere.
On the email: I'm really dumb
I tried to drop him a line on it (completely truthfully, it wasn’t really questioning him, more of a heads-up), but I stupidly tried to send it to his direct address, which is prisbelle AT washingtonpost . com, whereas I thought it was eprisbelle AT washingtonpost . com. I don’t know what’s sadder: whether I did that, or whether it took me 40 minutes to figure out why he hadn’t responded to my email yet.
There’s an email to the right one on the way, I’ll update when I get a response.
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