It Pays to Face the Music

More than a little commentary last week while I was away regarding Tim Tebow's not taking questions after the Miss State game. It was the second difficult outing for the Heisman star after surviving the Razorbacks.

This space certainly advocates making available the players the media wants -- good or bad -- and have written about the positives than can be gained by the difficulty of those moments, both for the reputation of the institution/team and for the growth of the student-athlete.

Arkansas is not without its own examples, on both sides of the ledger. Quarterback Clint Stoerner and point guard Christy Smith cemented their legends for meeting the press after historically bad events. Years later, Razorback QB Matt Jones had his own Tebow moment, which cause the invocation of Stoerner's legend.

Tebow apologized, and in a tight Heisman race, it allowed Texas Colt McCoy to go on record that he'd never duck the media.

"If you play good or you don't, you've got to talk to the media. You're the voice for all the fans, for everybody, to let them know what's going on. That's your job as a quarterback to do that."

I applaud Colt's straight forward statement, but it the further away from the events of last weekend, it rings a little too much like a calling out. Perhaps that's a tad cynical on my part.