Dick of the Year

[NorthwestUteFan]

He's a no-talent hack. Always has been.

This may very well be true. And great sports beat writers of yesteryear like John Mooney, Dan Valentine, and Hack Miller are long gone.

But just to be fair, Harmon wrote that piece as an editorial column and not as a journalistic story. Were it a piece of journalism I would expect more of the who/what/why/when/how, as well as a concerted effort to dig into the other side of the story. As an editorial column, 'style' can sometimes supersede 'the whole truth'.

The real dick, IMHO, is the editor who failed to make him get the whole story. Oh wait, isn't DH the sports editor at the Des News? Very well then, carry on.

[Shaka]

The article was fine other than the Nelson bit. Including that tidbit showed bias which undermines his journalistic credibility. Had an attempt to explore both sides of the issue been made then he would have been ok.

The way that piece was written was a conscious effort to take a shot at the Nelson family. A reader, not knowing better, would automatically jump to the conclusion that Nelson's parents were the problem. This is a bad because Nelson's parents were elsewhere. Harmon has told people in private Twitter messages that it was Riley's sister who was at fault. This is cowardice. If you're going to print something like that then name the perp. By not being direct Harmon swung a hatchet at Riley's family as a whole. He did it without personally witnessing the incident and relied instead on third party witnesses who may or may not have had bias themselves.

Even if the incident was true it happened in the player's family section. Crap happens up there all the time for all manner of reasons. Singling out one player's family for ridicule in this regard is unfair. Heck I've had this type of stuff happen between parents of the various youth teams I've coached. Hardly newsworthy.

[byu71]

The article was fine other than the Nelson bit. Including that tidbit showed bias which undermines his journalistic credibility. Had an attempt to explore both sides of the issue been made then he would have been ok.

The way that piece was written was a conscious effort to take a shot at the Nelson family. A reader, not knowing better, would automatically jump to the conclusion that Nelson's parents were the problem. This is a bad because Nelson's parents were elsewhere. Harmon has told people in private Twitter messages that it was Riley's sister who was at fault. This is cowardice. If you're going to print something like that then name the perp. By not being direct Harmon swung a hatchet at Riley's family as a whole. He did it without personally witnessing the incident and relied instead on third party witnesses who may or may not have had bias themselves.

Even if the incident was true it happened in the player's family section. Crap happens up there all the time for all manner of reasons. Singling out one player's family for ridicule in this regard is unfair. Heck I've had this type of stuff happen between parents of the various youth teams I've coached. Hardly newsworthy.

Do you or does anyone know what the angst is the Harmon has? Was he a Heaps guy? Is Harmon old school and not really a fan of the current regime at BYU.

Heck, I am or was a Heaps guy. I am dissapointed the "dream", "hype" or whatever you call it didn't come true. I doubt I would stoop to a personal shot at the Nelson's though unless there was something that had really pissed me off I knew about.

Maybe Dick is just a jerk. I am just not convinced of that yet.

[il Padrino Ute]

This may very well be true. And great sports beat writers of yesteryear like John Mooney, Dan Valentine, and Hack Miller are long gone.

But just to be fair, Harmon wrote that piece as an editorial column and not as a journalistic story. Were it a piece of journalism I would expect more of the who/what/why/when/how, as well as a concerted effort to dig into the other side of the story. As an editorial column, 'style' can sometimes supersede 'the whole truth'.

The real dick, IMHO, is the editor who failed to make him get the whole story. Oh wait, isn't DH the sports editor at the Des News? Very well then, carry on.

No, Harmon is not the sports editor. Just an FYI.

[Shaka]

Do you or does anyone know what the angst is the Harmon has? Was he a Heaps guy? Is Harmon old school and not really a fan of the current regime at BYU.

Heck, I am or was a Heaps guy. I am dissapointed the "dream", "hype" or whatever you call it didn't come true. I doubt I would stoop to a personal shot at the Nelson's though unless there was something that had really pissed me off I knew about.

Maybe Dick is just a jerk. I am just not convinced of that yet.

I've talked to Dick and don't think he's a jerk. However he may have screwed up his ability to cover the team effectively. I'm sure the article didn't excite BYU or the Nelsons.

From what I know Dick is very close to the Heaps family. Word has it he even attended Jake's temple wedding. While I do not know if he's for sure a Heaps homer I would say that if he's close enough to attend the wedding then he is probably too close to write that kind of article.

[DU Ute]

The article was fine other than the Nelson bit. Including that tidbit showed bias which undermines his journalistic credibility. Had an attempt to explore both sides of the issue been made then he would have been ok.

The way that piece was written was a conscious effort to take a shot at the Nelson family. A reader, not knowing better, would automatically jump to the conclusion that Nelson's parents were the problem. This is a bad because Nelson's parents were elsewhere. Harmon has told people in private Twitter messages that it was Riley's sister who was at fault. This is cowardice. If you're going to print something like that then name the perp. By not being direct Harmon swung a hatchet at Riley's family as a whole. He did it without personally witnessing the incident and relied instead on third party witnesses who may or may not have had bias themselves.

Even if the incident was true it happened in the player's family section. Crap happens up there all the time for all manner of reasons. Singling out one player's family for ridicule in this regard is unfair. Heck I've had this type of stuff happen between parents of the various youth teams I've coached. Hardly newsworthy.

How old is Riley's sister? Probably in high school or college? How is this news? Dick has nothing better to do than spread gossip about a couple of girls? Harmon really is an idiot. At least we know now where he should be working:



Also, the young Mrs. Heaps needs to grow up and grow some thicker skin. I think SU is right in a lot of cases when it comes to LDS kids getting married too young.

[MarkGrace]

sometimes it's not good to know how the sausage is made

Dick not letting this one go.

[Jeff Lebowski]

The article was fine other than the Nelson bit. Including that tidbit showed bias which undermines his journalistic credibility. Had an attempt to explore both sides of the issue been made then he would have been ok.

The way that piece was written was a conscious effort to take a shot at the Nelson family. A reader, not knowing better, would automatically jump to the conclusion that Nelson's parents were the problem. This is a bad because Nelson's parents were elsewhere. Harmon has told people in private Twitter messages that it was Riley's sister who was at fault. This is cowardice. If you're going to print something like that then name the perp. By not being direct Harmon swung a hatchet at Riley's family as a whole. He did it without personally witnessing the incident and relied instead on third party witnesses who may or may not have had bias themselves.

No, that would not have made it OK. Not even for a high school newspaper.

Even if the incident was true it happened in the player's family section. Crap happens up there all the time for all manner of reasons. Singling out one player's family for ridicule in this regard is unfair. Heck I've had this type of stuff happen between parents of the various youth teams I've coached. Hardly newsworthy.

How old is Riley's sister? Probably in high school or college? How is this news? Dick has nothing better to do than spread gossip about a couple of girls? Harmon really is an idiot.

Exactly.

[Art Vandelay]

No offense to Harmon, I have a much better Dick of the year story...

My dad's first name was Richard, but he was Dick his whole life. Born in 1930, this was a pretty common name and didn't seem to have the connotation it does today. My brother's first name is also Richard, but he has gone by his middle name his whole life and generally just puts R < > Vandelay when signing official documents. His oldest son's first given name is Richard, but he likewise is exclusively known by his middle name

This October my dad became weak very suddenly and it quickly became apparent he was going to pass away. I live about 4 hours away and was driving down to say my final goodbye (I was about 30 minutes away when he passed). However, no one other than my brother and SIL were with him, so the rest of the family said goodbye via the phone. Though dad's Alzheimer's was pretty bad and he was at the end of life my brother would hold up the phone as each grandchild bid their final adieu. When it was my nephew's turn, he thanked my dad for being a wonderful example (he always was- several of this board's agnostics/atheists could learn a lot from him), told him he admired him (we all did and still do) and gave his departing words, "I love you grandpa and thanks to you I will always be a Dick"

[dabrockster]

I had a buddy in high school who was a wrestler. He wasn't a Nelson, but his mom was. We called him Half Nelson.

The "Half Nelson" is a fairly good move in HS wrestling and College (But mainly used as a stall tactic to gain the 1 pt for riding time in College)...

[dabrockster]

The article was fine other than the Nelson bit. Including that tidbit showed bias which undermines his journalistic credibility. Had an attempt to explore both sides of the issue been made then he would have been ok.

The way that piece was written was a conscious effort to take a shot at the Nelson family. A reader, not knowing better, would automatically jump to the conclusion that Nelson's parents were the problem. This is a bad because Nelson's parents were elsewhere. Harmon has told people in private Twitter messages that it was Riley's sister who was at fault. This is cowardice. If you're going to print something like that then name the perp. By not being direct Harmon swung a hatchet at Riley's family as a whole. He did it without personally witnessing the incident and relied instead on third party witnesses who may or may not have had bias themselves.

Even if the incident was true it happened in the player's family section. Crap happens up there all the time for all manner of reasons. Singling out one player's family for ridicule in this regard is unfair. Heck I've had this type of stuff happen between parents of the various youth teams I've coached. Hardly newsworthy.

If this is true and he is throwing a teenage girl out in the spotlight of the public media... Shame on you Dick. Shame on you for allowing your own bias to further cause hurt anger on both sides...

All you have done is stir the pot and lay waste to a teenager who is not an adult. You Dick as the adult knew better but still threw a helpless teenager out in public light..


What a piece of shit if you ask me...

[Green Monstah]

The "Half Nelson" is a fairly good move in HS wrestling and College (But mainly used as a stall tactic to gain the 1 pt for riding time in College)...

I know. I was trying to be funny.

[Shaka]

No, that would not have made it OK. Not even for a high school newspaper..

After thinking about it I have decided you're correct. There was no reason to put that in the article.

If Dick wanted to do something more abstract exploring the issue of competing players families then I would be fine with it. He would have to leave names out.

[TripletDaddy]

What a bunch of babies. Get a grip morans.

Throwing people under the bus? Bias? Calling people out? Sensationalism? Go read some new York sports media. This isn't nightly news. The main question is whether his story is true. For those that are asking how this story "got past" the editor, my guess is because the editor also believes it is true. Shocker.

The legit complaint to be made here against Harmon is that he writes these sorts of exposes far too infrequently, not that he writes them at all. He is the beat writer, so give us the juice. What is going on inside the program? What is the inside scoop?

"oh, I'm so mad because we found out that O Neil Chambers threw Jakes stuff on the locker room floor. How unfair. Why didn't anyone represent Oneills side of the story? What bias!"

Oh, brother.

[YOhio]

What a bunch of babies. Get a grip morans.

Throwing people under the bus? Bias? Calling people out? Sensationalism? Go read some new York sports media. This isn't nightly news. The main question is whether his story is true. For those that are asking how this story "got past" the editor, my guess is because the editor also believes it is true. Shocker.

The legit complaint to be made here against Harmon is that he writes these sorts of exposes far too infrequently, not that he writes them at all. He is the beat writer, so give us the juice. What is going on inside the program? What is the inside scoop?

"oh, I'm so mad because we found out that O Neil Chambers threw Jakes stuff on the locker room floor. How unfair. Why didn't anyone represent Oneills side of the story? What bias!"

Oh, brother.

Schtick of the Year.