The Jesus Principal

Mark 16:15 tells you everything you as the sports media relations person needs to know about dealing with the bloggers and boarders:

Go into all the world and preach the good news to every creature

Now, I'm not about to put on a rainbow afro wig and start showing up in the endzone waiving a Mark 16:15 sign. Truth be told, I had to google it.

That does not make this point false: Jesus went to where the sinners were.

Simple. If you are concerned about what the B&B world is saying, you've got to do the dirty work and reach out to them. Every day I read or hear of another SID who has hardened his shell against the slings and arrows of the internet, and dismiss the people who make the posts as hiding behind anonymous postings.

This comes from experience. If you step into the room and turn on the light, the cockroaches will scurry and the angry dogs will growl. Very, very few dogs were born mean. Somebody had to make them that way.

Angry B&B traffic more often than not comes from a lack of information. Withholding information only makes it worse. And the only thing worse than that -- excuse-making spin.

In my classes -- both the SID one at UA and my history ones at NWACC -- I use Richard Nixon as the perfect example. In domestic policy, Nixon probably did more to shape the country we live in today than any recent president. He certainly did the same in foreign policy.

But Nixon lives in infamy because he screwed up massively in trying to game the system to his advantage then cover it up when his people made mistakes.

Ask yourself this question: Did Nixon get run from office because a bunch of over-zealous staffers broke the law, perhaps at his direction? Or did he lose his job because he worked overtime to cover it up?

Back to the B&B's. If you have owners that routinely allow false information to remain on-line, pick up the phone or send an email to politely correct the false information. Talking to these potential opinion shapers is no different than trying to correct errors with the traditional media. More times than not, they just want to be heard. Some of them won't listen, but the ones that do will become your allies -- your WOMMA group -- to help do battle with the fringe.

Our business has always been, and shall always be, about relationships. Even with Raman noodle and Cheeto dust sinners. So go forth and tell the good stories of your athletic department to every form of media.