Live-blogging is not a crime

In the eyes of the NCAA, I’m a felon. I’m rule-breaker. I’m a flaunter of by-laws.

I’m no better than Antonio Langham or Albert Means, Gene Jelks or the 1986 SMU Mustangs.

What did I do, you ask? Well, I didn’t accept cash from a booster. I didn’t sign with an agent and then compete in an NCAA-sanctioned athletic event. I didn’t accept a laptop computer from some handicapped guy in Athens, Ala.

No, what I did was more sinister than any of that.

I live-blogged a baseball game.

OK, four baseball games. And a football game. Which means that from May 20 of this year through two weeks ago, I’ve been in direct violation of Section 6 of the NCAA rulebook on broadcasting:

“Each Credential Holder (including television, Internet, new media, and print publications) has the privilege to blog during competition through the Credential Entity. However, the blog may not produce in any form a “real-time” description of the event. Real-time is defined by the NCAA as a continuous play-by-play account or live, extended live/real-time statistics, or detailed description of an event… If the NCAA deems that a Credential Holder is producing a real-time description of the contest, the NCAA reserves all actions against Credential Holder, including but not limited to the revocation of the credential.”

At this point I would like to formally request that any and all wins associated with my four-year career playing intramural football and basketball for Lambda Sigma Phi at the University of Alabama not be vacated, as these infractions occurred long after my playing career ended. It’s not right to punish an entire house for the thoughtless actions of one rogue brother.

I guess this also means that I’ll be forced to forfeit my remaining NCAA athletic eligibility — all four years of it. Alas, another dream deferred. I guess I have no other choice than to turn pro.

OK, tongue and cheek aside, apparently it is indeed a violation of NCAA by-laws for a blogger, even a properly credentialed blogger, to give you a minute-by-minute report on any NCAA-sanctioned athletic event. I’ve done that five times this year alone: four SEC Tourney baseball games in May and the UAB/Rice football game from three weeks ago.

I had no idea that such a ridiculous rule existed until my friend Norm Reilly, UAB’s Director of Sports Information, brought it to my attention two weeks ago. After our conversation — and he wasn’t mad by the way, thank God — I looked it up for myself. Wouldn’t you know it, Section 6? Section 6! I was in violation of a whole section! I could have been thrown out of the press box, for crying out loud! All because I wanted you the reader to know that UAB quarterback Joe Webb just scrambled for a first down in Rice territory.

Of course, I wasn’t thrown out of any press box. I was apparently never caught! Some bloggers haven’t been so lucky. On June 10, 2007, Brian Bennett, a reporter for the Louisville, Ky. Courier-Journal was actually ejected from a press box for live-blogging a NCAA baseball Super Regional. The NCAA claimed that he was infringing upon the game’s exclusive broadcast rights, which had been granted to a major TV network. So I’m not being factious about this thing: There’s precedent for tossing writers and their laptops into the streets!

But is live-blogging infringement? Of course it isn’t. Unless the blogger is streaming live video or audio of game action, then he or she is not really providing “real-time coverage.” I don’t know how fast they think I can type, but I can assure them I can’t type in real-time.

Let’s face the facts here. When it comes to following a sporting event, there’s a hierarchy of coverage. Obviously, nothing beats being at the game live. But if you can’t be at the game live, you’ll watch it on TV. If you can’t watch it on TV, you’ll listen to it on the radio. If you can’t listen to it on the radio, then you’ll follow a live-blog. (By the way, the bottom of the hierarchy is “read about it the next day in the paper.” Just sayin’.)

Reading along with a live-blog is usually the last resort for a fan. It’s for the guy or gal who’s stuck at work or in traffic, or out of broadcast range for his or her favorite team. It’s not costing a TV network any viewers. Honestly, would you have turned off the UAB/Rice game in order to read along with my slow fingers for the afternoon? Of course you wouldn’t! I know this. You know this. Why the hell doesn’t the NCAA know this? Live-blogging isn’t real-time coverage; it’s analysis. In essence, it’s no different than what I do right here every Thursday… just timelier.

Until now, I used to roll my eyes when football fans — OK, Alabama football fans — started bitching about the NCAA and it’s oft-violated but erratically implemented standards and practices And while I don’t believe the home office indiscriminately targets the Crimson Tide (as so many Bama fans do), I do see where that paranoia comes from.

The NCAA should be far more concerned about graduation rates, fiscal responsibility and rogue boosters rather than whether or not I’m giving you too much analysis too quickly from an afternoon football game at Legion Field.

I’m not going to apologize for violating Section 6 of the NCAA rulebook, in part because I didn’t know I was doing anything wrong at the time and in part because it’s a stupid rule. That’s not to say I’m going to keep breaking the rule, because I won’t anymore. After all, I do have scruples, somewhere deep inside of me.

But know this NCAA: I’m a reporter for a damn weekly paper. My allotted budget for covering sports: $0. All I’m trying to do is connect local fans with their favorite teams. I’m not trying to infringe on the rights of ESPN, Fox Sports, CBS Sports or any other multi-billion dollar media conglomerate. That’s not my gig. I’m just trying to carve out a niche for this paper in a daily-dominant town. And you just made my job a lot harder.



“Upon Further Review” is the Birmingham Weekly sports page. Write to matt@bhamweekly.com