NCAA v. Bloggers

[orange+white=heaven]

The NCAA's ejection and revocation of credentials of a reporter for the Louisville Courier Journal, who was also posting to the paper's blog site, has raised some real questions about the relation blogging has to the nature of broadcasters rights to exclusivity.

Some excerpts from the AP's coverage as posted in Sporting News...

Brian Bennett, a writer for The (Louisville, Ky.) Courier-Journal, was approached Sunday by an NCAA representative in the bottom of the fifth inning and told that blogging from an NCAA championship event is against NCAA policies. Bennett had done live blogging during Louisville's super regional games against Oklahoma State in the previous two games of the three-game series. The representative revoked Bennett's credential Sunday and asked him to leave the game.

NCAA spokesman Bob Williams said Monday that Bennett was asked not to blog about game action before Sunday's game. "In a nutshell, we asked the blogger repeatedly not to cover it in that manner, because it violates the policy, and he continued, and his credential was revoked," Williams said.

On the surface, It seemed to me a reasonable assumption that live blogging, once considered as what it really is... live coverage, would be the sort of thing the NCAA would jump all over at it's venues.
But another portion of the AP report offered this comment, from the paper's attorney, Jon Fleishaker...

"Once a player hits a home run, that's a fact. It's on TV. Everybody sees it. (The NCAA) can't copyright that fact."

The Courier-Journal's editor sees First Amendment infringement....

"It's clearly a First Amendment issue," said Bennie Ivory, the newspaper's executive editor. "This is part of the evolution of how we present the news to our readers. It's what we did during the Orange Bowl. It's what we did during the NCAA basketball tournament. It's what we do."

I'm not sure First Amendment is a kite that will fly on this, but if you carry on out the thinking that bloggers are offering live coverage, then aren't all those fans with picture phones, sending photo messages and 'live' coverage via conversations with friends, aren't all those people violating the same rules. Is the NCAA coming for your cell phone and blackberry, in order to protect the exclusivity of their product. Seems they would be within their rights...

This information society we now exist in creates new challenges to old standards almost daily. Eventually, someone is going to have to open the door and make room for the speed of access we have created. You can't throw these folks out forever. It's time to make accomodations...

 

[GAVol]

You'd think the NCAA would beg people to blog about post season baseball. The average sports fan doesn't even realize it's going on until they get to Omaha.

 

[Lexvol]

I heard about this on talk radio a few days ago. It is just further proof that the NCAA is out of its collective mind.

 

[Svengali]

You'd think the NCAA would beg people to blog about post season baseball. The average sports fan doesn't even realize it's going on until they get to Omaha.

I'd even say that's real generous, and it more like the average sports fan has no interest in college baseball at all. Only sports nuts, alumni, boosters, relatives are likely to even know that fact.

NCAA are a bunch of tards. I guess they figure if 20,000 people blog live at the same time attendance or tv ratings will drop. As if live written text will ever be a fix for those with a sports jones.

 

[utvolpj]

CBS has a live game blog (or glog) for football games. Is the NCAA going to go get them too?

Here's an example:
NFL Football Glog - CBS SportsLine.com

 

[jakez4ut]

good points owh......never thought about it that way.