True, and I was dissapointed when Bell came across that way, because I knew it wouldn't help the situation one bit. I think a portion of him saying the things he said was in frustration of the abuse he was taking both in the barbershops and yes, in the press, just for being where he was. No one forgot the way he was hired, and he was constantly reminded of that. Now part of me can't blame him for lashing out like that-- it's human nature to fight back when you're backed into a corner-- but the other 90% of me felt he should've been a bigger man than that and hold his tongue. It just wasn't smart to get into a feud with alumni and the mediathat fed it's ire.
Bell didn't hold his tongue, he paid for it, and he's still paying for it in the court of public opinion.
That brings me to the role the media played in the mess that was last season. Bell and our beat reporter, Mark Alexander, got off to a rocky start when Alexander placed a negative spin on some early articles concerning the offense. I'm sure yall remember Torrey Ross getting the spot light in a couple of those articles, including the one in which he made the irresponsible "hooptie with rims" statement. That was asking for trouble, although it seemed innocent. The tension was brought to a head after the NSU game, when Alexander lead-in his report with the "scouts leaving" jab. Well Mark was flat-out wrong for that because that 'report' more than anything else killed Bell's chances of having an effective season PR-wise. Bell understandably got upset by that; he just didn't handle it the best way.
Alexander has been a very good beat reporter for JSU, but last season he made the mistake of becoming more of a fan than an impartial journalist. That hurt us badly. The good news is that the two men appear to have improved their relationship, which should help Bell's PR this year.