An open letter to KBZK

[whitetrashgriz]

Remember the chef-boy-ardee games?


I'm not going to blame KBZK because it was a KPAX production.

ya those were funny. although i did love the fact that high school football and basketball games were televised. that was pretty cool even if the quality wasn't always the greatest.

[Will_Holden]

Not to go trudging up the past or anything, but a few people have been asking me about this. Here is the new link to my letter to KBZK/KPAX: http://bozeman-www2.bozemandailychronic ... og/?p=3051" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

And yes, it did get temporarily lost in our website redesign.

[Billings_Griz]

Phil Buck sucks, I'll give you that.

And you did reference that Costas is on a much bigger stage than PB or his color guy, hence the preparation. Costas has several million viewers, KPX has several thousand.

But wouldn't a letter to the station's powers-to-be be more appropriate than busting a fellow sportswriter/caster's balls in a public (newspaper/internet) setting? Pretty low blow, IMHO. Like a ref/umpire calling of a fellow official, it's just not right.

[coachouert]

Phil Buck sucks, I'll give you that.

And you did reference that Costas is on a much bigger stage than PB or his color guy, hence the preparation. Costas has several million viewers, KPX has several thousand.

But wouldn't a letter to the station's powers-to-be be more appropriate than busting a fellow sportswriter/caster's balls in a public (newspaper/internet) setting? Pretty low blow, IMHO. Like a ref/umpire calling of a fellow official, it's just not right.

I'd argue putting a letter out on the interwebs for hundreds to see (maybe thousands between here, the Chronicle website and sites like eGriz, but I'm low balling) would do more than sending yet another letter that will get no response. I do know a couple others who have sent in letters/emails and got nothing back, not even a generic response. Maybe if KBZK did something to improve their product, they wouldn't need to be called out in a fashion like this. Just playing devil's advocate first thing in the morning...good start to the day.

[Old Skool Cat]

Phil Buck sucks, I'll give you that.

And you did reference that Costas is on a much bigger stage than PB or his color guy, hence the preparation. Costas has several million viewers, KPX has several thousand.

But wouldn't a letter to the station's powers-to-be be more appropriate than busting a fellow sportswriter/caster's balls in a public (newspaper/internet) setting? Pretty low blow, IMHO. Like a ref/umpire calling of a fellow official, it's just not right.

Whether you're broadcasting to millions worldwide, or just a few thousand on the local stage, a broadcaster should always be professional and prepared like each situation is the same. You can bet that Costas has not gotten to the point in his career by not treating each situation with his absolute best effort. Just because you are only in front of local MT fans on a station out of Missoula does not give you the right to be unprofessional, unprepared, or biased. It doesn't take that much time to go through the lineups of both teams, know how to pronounce names, or get some insight into some of the players backgrounds.

As to the calling out of someone in public, at what time do you finally do something different to get a response? These types generally do not respond to phone calls, letters, or personal emails. If this is what it takes to wake somebody up, then I am all for it.

[Will_Holden]

Phil Buck sucks, I'll give you that.

And you did reference that Costas is on a much bigger stage than PB or his color guy, hence the preparation. Costas has several million viewers, KPX has several thousand.

But wouldn't a letter to the station's powers-to-be be more appropriate than busting a fellow sportswriter/caster's balls in a public (newspaper/internet) setting? Pretty low blow, IMHO. Like a ref/umpire calling of a fellow official, it's just not right.

Old Skool Cat and coachouert hit my intentions right on the head, Billings Griz: I'm hoping this letter affects change. I wasn't hoping to simply tan the hides of a couple fellow journalists in public, although I can certainly see how it may seem that way.

Stations like KBZK and KPAX and newspapers like the Chronicle and the Missoulian get swarmed with private hate mail on a weekly basis. In fact, just last week the leader of Bozeman's white-supremest organization, the Creativity Movement, sent us an email to inform us our website sucks (at that point, myself and several members of the newsroom toyed with the idea of putting a poll up on our new website: What do you think sucks more? A) The Creativity Movement, B) Our new website).

I digress. The point is that I didn't think sending another sealed letter to a station head would change anything. Putting something out there in public addressed to a colleague might. I know when I receive critiques that speak negatively of my work - in public or in private (and I've received both) - I take them to heart. I assumed Phil Buck and Shane Ewing would do the same.

I've talked to Shane in person and explained my intent was not to publicly bash him but rather to bash his company for making his first-ever live broadcasting opportunity a 'Cat-Griz game. In my humble opinion, they didn't put him in a great position to succeed. From what I can tell, Ewing and I have buried the hatchet and our engagements since (including the Montana State women's game in Spokane this past weekend) have been as friendly as any I've had with a colleague.

I've not spoken to Phil, but I'll welcome the opportunity the next time our paths cross. I've heard nothing but great things about him personally, and I'd like nothing more than to see him continue to improve at what he does. It was my hope that this letter would give him some motivation to do so.