Tom Oates - Wisconsin State Journal

[GGGG]

I just sent the following email:

"Mr. Oates:

I have to say that I find your comments about Marquette and its use of junior college players to be somewhat immature.

Yes I do realize that there is a "stigma" that comes with JUCOs, but do you realize that academic non-qualifiers that go the JUCO route must earn associates degrees before they can play at a four year school?  That means that players like Dwight Buycks and Jae Crowder have actually earned something in the classroom before coming to the Marquette campus.

Furthermore, do you know how many non-athletes transfer from MATC, UW-Rock County and other JUCOs around the state to UW-Madison annually?  I think its kind of sad that you feel that their qualifications are something to be mocked instead of something to be admired.  I mean, UW has articulation agreements with MATC and many of the UW Colleges to make such transfers easier.  Why is this such a problem for you?

Honestly, you come off as an uninformed elitist when you make such comments on your twitter account."

[ecompt]

Anyone who does not know that there is a difference between junior colleges and community colleges is a complete and utter tool.

[GGGG]

Actually ecompt, they are the same thing.  Community colleges and junior colleges are just different phrases to describe two year schools.

[warthog-driver]

Bottom line is Oates could give a rat's arse

_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

yes, send it


> From: TOates@madison.com
> To: warthog-driver@hotmail.com
> Date: Wed, 19 Jan 2011 18:20:06 -0600
> Subject: Re: Jump Around
>
> Do you need his address?
>
>
> Sent from my iPhone
>
> On Jan 19, 2011, at 6:15 PM, <warthog-driver@hotmail.com> wrote:
>
> > What is the point of referring to Marquette University as a Community College? I am sending a letter to your editor about this matter. You have compromised your journalistic integrity. You are unworthy of the title journalist.

[warriors1965]

I'll probably get ripped for this, but that's OK.

I root for UW football and hate UW basketball.  I also have season tickets for football and Jump Around is always a highlight.  But when MU plays it and shows that goof on the scoreboard, the whole thing seems ridiculous, forced and lame.  It does look like a copycat move and MU should just drop it and find a different song to make a tradition of their own.

[MerrittsMustache]

Writers like this guy clearly make comments like this for no reason other than to get a rise out of people and to bring attention onto himself. Congrats to those of you who have helped him succeed in his mission.

[MUCam]

To whom it may concern:



I was recently alerted to a "tweet" by one of your journalists in which he referenced the Marquette program and the "jump around" theme that is used at Marquette games. I will not even address the actual substantive complaint, other than to suggest that Mr. Oates review cheerleading history the next time he sees Badgers cheerleaders on the sidelines. My limited knowledge of the subject is that the "cheerleader" idea stems from a certain Big 10 university down I-94 in a state that shares a border with with the State of Wisconsin. Shame on Wisconsin for following suit and adopting idea, huh? But, I digress...



The true purpose of my email is to share with the editorial and managerial staff at the Wisconsin State Journal my complete and utter disappointment with Mr. Oates increasingly antogonistic antics when it comes to Marquette University. I cannot fathom how any professional outfit, such as the Wisconsin State Journal purports to be, would tolerate such shallow, biased and short-minded comments from one of its staff members. In a day and age where local newspapers are struggling to make ends meet, I would think that this type of classless, complete lack of professionalism would be deemed unacceptable. It calls into question the very integrity of the Wisconsin State Journal and its journalists.



The facts may be the facts as Mr. Oates recently stated in a response "tweet." But, in journalism, we do not manipulate the facts for our own personal digs and agendas. In journalism, we do not wield our pen (or keyboard, as may be the case) in attempt to push our viewpoints on others. In journalism, we report the news in an unbiased manner. Sadly, Mr. Oates has proven again that he is incapable of so doing. In other words, Mr. Oates has proven again why, as a journalist, he is a complete and utter failure.



Mr. Oates has violated so many of the tenents that once made the journalist profession proud. He exemplifies so many of the negative traits that characterize the currently embattled journalist profession. With journalism like his, it is no wonder that the public is increasingly frustrated and fed up with the media. Mr. Oates reporting cannot be trusted. His presentation of the facts must be viewed with suspicion. His bias is clearly intwined in his every word. In essence, he has stopped being a journalist and has, instead, simply transformed himself into another loud mouth with an opinion.



In an article dated July 15, 2010, entitled "Money Talks, Matthews Doesn't," Mr. Oates made the following statement: "Over the last six months, State Journal sports staffers have received numerous - and very legitimate - inquiries about why we haven't done a story on Matthews. Most of those included some reference to an anti-Marquette bias at the newspaper, a bias that simply doesn't exist." Perhaps, after this latest childish display, Mr. Oates might have a greater appreciation for why some feel an anti-Marquette bias does in fact exist at the newspaper.



I am not a manager at a newspaper, nor am I a journalist. That said, I am a paying customer for many local and national newspapers. I can assure you of the following: I would immediately cancel my subscription if I saw this complete lack of professionalism in my local paper.



If the sort of filth that Mr. Oates dresses up as so-called journalism is the Wisconsin State Journal's idea of journalistic integrity, then the WSJ's worth as a legitimate news source is completely undermined. I implore you to review Mr. Oates recent comments and to address them with him.

[MUCam]

Writers like this guy clearly make comments like this for no reason other than to get a rise out of people and to bring attention onto himself. Congrats to those of you who have helped him succeed in his mission.

Eh....perhaps. But one thing is for sure, he didn't succeed in gaining respect or even notoriety in my book. I won't read the WSJ or his tweets, other than as they appear on this board. So what has he really succeeded in?

[Hamostradamus]

I can only assume Oates is proud of the fact the Badger football team has a 54% grad rate for African American football players, must be proof of how hard it is academically. If UW was more like the MU Community College, those kids would probably end up with a degree instead of arthritis. I'm sure he's running down a story right now on the stellar attendance rate for Badger football players at their most popular class, Clap for a Credit.

[Eye]

Any staff with any talent are leaving (or have left) the Wisconsin State Journal.

Best statement of this entire thread. Very, very true.

[ecompt]

Sultan, I believe junior colleges and community colleges used to be one and the same. Over the past two decades, though, most junior colleges have become private. Virtually all community colleges, on the other hand, are taxpayer-funded and have open admissions. It may be a small point, but there is more a stigma to CC than JC. I might be wrong. In any case, Oates is a jerk.

[Wareagle]

Oates is one of Bo's lapdogs, plain and simple.  The Wisconsin State Journal's sports section might as well redirect to uwbadgers.com

[MUfan12]

You know, by my count there are four JUCO guys from MU on twitter.

Maybe we should let them know about Mr. Oates' remarks. Because we all know he won't have the balls to say that to them.

[Ron Paul]

Can anyone let us know where Tom Oates went to school? 

The good (100 percent graduation rates): BYU, Marquette, Notre Dame, Utah State, Wake Forest, Wofford (average tournament seed: 8.8)

Just sayin'

[MU Avenue]

I know nothing about Tom Oates or his work. Were I his editor, however, I would explain to Oates the glaring difference between good, smart commentary and amateurish, sophomoric, childish writing, such as a Twitter post that refers to Marquette University as "Marquette Community College."

Some sportswriters are solid reporters and credible newspeople who think deeply, write well and take the debate to higher levels. Others are men or women who have never gotten past their infantile intrigue with sports and, thus, want to be around athletics and athletes well after the rest of us have grown up and found additional interests.

Some of the brighter people I know are sportswriters. So, too, are some of the biggest morons I have met.

Knowing nothing about Oates or his work, I am left to assume he plays the role of hardcore homer for the University of Wisconsin at Madison. That is fine if it is acceptable to those who publish the Wisconsin State Journal. They pay Oates' salary and they buy the ink and the newsprint.

My biggest problem with Oates' line about "Marquette Community College" is that it makes no sense. He refers to Marquette in those terms for what reason? Other than being some sort of childish jab, the comment means what? Oates' dig at Marquette is the punch line to what joke?

I suspect that Oates giggled like a little boy when describing Marquette University as "Marquette Community College." I wonder, however, if anyone else could honestly claim to understand the joke.

[LON]

"When you say Wisconsin, you've said it all"

They stole that from Georgia Tech...the outrage!!!!

[Pakuni]

So wait ... is this guy somehow claiming that the concept of jumping around during the song "Jump Around" was invented by the fine folk in Madison? Huh? Did they also invent twisting and shaking during "Twist and Shake?" It seems following the lyrical directions of a popular music song is hardly the most inventive act out there, but if that's the best they got, so be it. Of course, these are the same people who brought us "The Grateful Red," so there you have it.

Regardless, the reaction/notoriety he's getting from this is exactly the kind of attention small-town hacks like this crave.

[LON]

I'm ashamed this hack went to the same high school as me.  MU is/was promoted very well at Xavier

[mu_hilltopper]

Wow.  Just read this thread.  Gotta say .. I find the umbrage embarrassing.

The thought that he's a sports journalist/columnist so his tweets must be unbiased or professional is goofy.   It's Twitter, for god's sake.

While "Marquette Community College" is certainly pejorative, I honestly find it a legit taunt aimed at a team that currently owes its success to JUCOs where his team (UW) does not.   Oh my god, he's biased just like 3 million other Badger fans .. the horror.

Writing to his editor makes you look like .. total whiners.  

[DJO's Pump Fake]

I root for UW football and hate UW basketball.  I also have season tickets for football and Jump Around is always a highlight.  But when MU plays it and shows that goof on the scoreboard, the whole thing seems ridiculous, forced and lame.  It does look like a copycat move and MU should just drop it and find a different song to make a tradition of their own.

Is this true for every other sporting event that plays jump around?

Did the People's republic patent this song for their own private use?

The fact that they cling to that and the budweiser song like they invented it is just hilarious to me.

[Skatastrophy]

If my buddy at work made a crack at MU's expense would he get a 2 page thread?  He's got more twitter followers, and is therefore more relevant, than this guy that works for a publication I've never heard of.

[MerrittsMustache]

Wow.  Just read this thread.  Gotta say .. I find the umbrage embarrassing.

The thought that he's a sports journalist/columnist so his tweets must be unbiased or professional is goofy.   It's Twitter, for god's sake.

While "Marquette Community College" is certainly pejorative, I honestly find it a legit taunt aimed at a team that currently owes its success to JUCOs where his team (UW) does not.   Oh my god, he's biased just like 3 million other Badger fans .. the horror.

Writing to his editor makes you look like .. total whiners.  

+1

Well said.

[Rubie Q]

Wow.  Just read this thread.  Gotta say .. I find the umbrage embarrassing.

The thought that he's a sports journalist/columnist so his tweets must be unbiased or professional is goofy.   It's Twitter, for god's sake.

I don't think this is the source of discord.  If it was a journalist OTHER THAN one who had publicly whined that a former Marquette player wouldn't talk to him and insisted that his newspaper didn't have an "anti-Marquette bias," there wouldn't have been the same reaction.

[goldeneagle91114]

Can some one please tell me of a sports talk radio station in Milwaukee that is "pro-Marquette." I have started to listening to different stations at work and they all seem to hate on Marquette basketball. after reading this thread it appears this is a similar trend in the media.

[PuertoRicanNightmare]

God...who cares about any of this? You are actually writing letters to the guy and complaining to his editor? He's a buffoon. Just ignore him. Are you guys the same ones who complained about the JS running a poll about Marquette fans being whiners? Some of you ARE whiners...STOP IT!