Will Sammon new CL MSU beat writer

Talldawg21

Redshirt
Apr 14, 2014
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He has to be better than Bonner right? Should have some good info on recruits, as he has been the CL recruiting guy
 

Willow Grove Dawg

All-American
Nov 3, 2016
8,552
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Bonner did a solid job as a beat writer covering MSU

The whole deal with breaking the Cohen as AD story early was blown WAY out of proportion & he cannot help that his boss is determined to keep singing from the TSUN hymnal.
 

TBone.sixpack

Redshirt
Feb 2, 2011
9,759
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Booooo!

J/K. I will not hate him until he shows he received the plantation's marching orders.

He needs to come here and do a Q and A introduction.
 

patdog

Heisman
May 28, 2007
61,325
33,039
113
He did a pretty good job until the last 6 months to a year. Then he apparently just said, 17 it, I'm going to do be more like my boss.
 

OliveBranchDAWG

Redshirt
Aug 22, 2012
643
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He did a pretty good job until the last 6 months to a year. Then he apparently just said, 17 it, I'm going to do be more like my boss.

Couldn't agree more. Bonner seemed to put more effort and attention into stories that put MSU in a negative light recently. Example: When Josh Robinson thought Mullen had called the cops on him last summer. Bonner spent two days investigating and posted Robinson's tweets before getting any factual evidence.

I won't miss Bonner.
 

TorchingTime

Redshirt
Aug 25, 2012
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From the CL article announcing the change: "He’s [Bonner] been a major part of our staff, a first-rate reporter and someone who wanted to write the stories that mattered to his audience."

Not sure if that means Bonner wanted to write different articles and Hugh wouldn't let him or that his audience was comprised of mainly Ole Miss fans.
 

Shamoan

Redshirt
Jun 27, 2013
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wasnt a fan of bonner, but i wish him luck. now we get someone new to hate on.**
 

DancingRabbit

Redshirt
Mar 3, 2008
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And then there was one.

Like Pat said, Bonner was fine until about a year ago. He always seemed to work hard at his job, but the last year he seemed intent on getting subtle digs in at every opportunity.


 

BiscuitEater

Redshirt
Aug 29, 2009
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BiscuitEater

Redshirt
Aug 29, 2009
4,178
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Bonner did a solid job as a beat writer covering MSU

The whole deal with breaking the Cohen as AD story early was blown WAY out of proportion & he cannot help that his boss is determined to keep singing from the TSUN hymnal.

Every journalist has an inherent duty to corroborate any story they write and especially when they choose to cite 'unnamed' sources. Bonner ran with a 'scoop' without attempting to get anyone to go on record. MSU, for whatever reason, was not ready to announce Cohen.

Sorry, he got exactly what he deserved.
 

Hump4Hoops

Redshirt
May 1, 2010
6,611
13
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Bonner was great. Our dumbest fans will hate anyone.

He got some really stupid stuff by the worst of our fans. He was constantly **** on by idiots on Twitter (and on here) simply for being from the northeast.

The AD thing was ugly, but in the end he was exactly right.

This same group of idiots eventually hate everyone that covers the team - Brandon Marcello was a true professional, but was **** on (and called Marshmello) by this same group eventually. I think Veazey got the most hate of all. New guy is just another punching bag in the making.
 
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FlotownDawg

All-American
Aug 30, 2012
7,381
8,458
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I liked Bonner up until the AD fiasco. Always thought he was very professional and fair, which is all I ask for. I wasn't even mad about him breaking the AD story because it turned out he was right. But that episode seemed to sour his relationship with MSU. After that it seemed he became really negative toward us and looked to get a dig in at any opportunity. Time for him to move on and I'm not sad to see him go.
 

MedDawg

All-Conference
May 29, 2001
5,573
1,129
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He got some really stupid stuff by the worst of our fans. He was constantly **** on by idiots on Twitter (and on here) simply for being from the northeast.

The AD thing was ugly, but in the end he was exactly right.

This same group of idiots eventually hate everyone that covers the team - Brandon Marcello was a true professional, but was **** on (and called Marshmello) by this same group eventually. I think Veazey got the most hate of all. New guy is just another punching bag in the making.

We've had beat reporters that were liked--Sekou Smith and Ian Rapoport, and those guys' careers have turned out well.

One thing to remember is that going way back the headlines have often been slanted against State, even when the article is rather neutral. Even for small articles.

There is no doubt that there have been negative MSU slants. It's not that they are reporting our team play negatively when we aren't playing well. SPS readers understand that. When our football team was consistently bad (like under Croom) there were negative slants about everything else. For example, for many months the MSU beat writer included our players shooting a gun on campus in nearly every article about our team.

Over the last 8 years (before 2016) State has been playing it's best football in history, yet almost daily there have been complaints about Clarion Ledger headlines and articles. They're not imagined-the're stated in print.
 

BiscuitEater

Redshirt
Aug 29, 2009
4,178
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He got some really stupid stuff by the worst of our fans. He was constantly **** on by idiots on Twitter (and on here) simply for being from the northeast.

The AD thing was ugly, but in the end he was exactly right.

This same group of idiots eventually hate everyone that covers the team - Brandon Marcello was a true professional, but was **** on (and called Marshmello) by this same group eventually. I think Veazey got the most hate of all. New guy is just another punching bag in the making.

Times have changed. We have had really good beat writers from the CL in the past. Sekou Smith was just an intern when the CL made him the MSU beat writher. He remains one of the best. We also had the pleasure of having Ian Rapoport as CL beat writer. These guys spent time with and got to know the players, did research and actually 'wrote' stories. Both were outstanding.

Then we have Veazey & Marshmello Marcello. If it had not been for Twitter, Instragram, FaceBook .. 'social media,' neither would have anything to report .. period. I disagree with your assessment and am truly sorry that you can't tell the difference between a really good beat writer and a 'Dear Abby' columnist.

Never had a single issue with Bonner until the AD reporting fiasco. Again, It's NEVER right to report on a story without getting it verified. Last six months he has simply become a 'snark.' Wish him the best .. but not sorry to see him go.
 

Dawgs'n'Grizz

Redshirt
Dec 12, 2016
248
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I also didn't have a problem with Bonner until this past year. It seemed like he was constantly making sarcastic remarks towards the program. However, I don't see how the AD thing lost him respect from readers. He got solid intel from a legit source and went with it. It sounds to me that is what good reporters do.
 

Drebin

Heisman
Aug 22, 2012
22,953
28,643
113
Goddammit, that's funny.

And if my damn sports department looked like that, I for sure wouldn't be putting it out there for the world to see. That bunch looks better qualified to cover ComicCon conventions.
 

Drebin

Heisman
Aug 22, 2012
22,953
28,643
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Bonner was fine early on. I think he took some things personally, like the Cohen thing, and that led to him putting a negative slant on just about everything he reported. Even announcing the Grantham hire on twitter, he couldn't resist to throw in the ol' "This will be MSU's 4th DC in 4 years" barb. I realize it's true, but it was unnecessary. Dude is a beat writer - he should stick to reporting facts. Let killaburger write the opinion pieces.
 

LilSebastian

Redshirt
Sep 13, 2012
175
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I liked Bonner up until the AD fiasco. Always thought he was very professional and fair, which is all I ask for. I wasn't even mad about him breaking the AD story because it turned out he was right. But that episode seemed to sour his relationship with MSU. After that it seemed he became really negative toward us and looked to get a dig in at any opportunity. Time for him to move on and I'm not sad to see him go.

Yeah, having Keenum single out the CL as wrong was a bad look for us, especially when he wasn't wrong and Keenum knew he wasn't. All schools have over reactive fans who will go after a reporter/recruit/woman for doing their job, but to have our university president do it was exceedingly dumb (and fed into a narrative of Ag schools having insane fans). It's also a bad look when people were calling Bonner negative for the bball attendance stories/tweets when it was pretty clearly Howland feeding him that story.

Edit in italics
 

maroonmania

All-Conference
Feb 23, 2008
11,389
1,165
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Bonner was fine early on. I think he took some things personally, like the Cohen thing, and that led to him putting a negative slant on just about everything he reported. Even announcing the Grantham hire on twitter, he couldn't resist to throw in the ol' "This will be MSU's 4th DC in 4 years" barb. I realize it's true, but it was unnecessary. Dude is a beat writer - he should stick to reporting facts. Let killaburger write the opinion pieces.

I think you are dead on. At first, I thought Bonner did a pretty good job, but over the last 6-9 months its become pretty obvious that he got his panties in a wad and became almost vindictive and overly negative about every MSU related topic. DEFINITELY was time for him to go. And these dufusses who say that MSU hates every beat writer they get are just ignorant or very young. There have been CL beat writers in the past that MSU fans were either neutral on or were universally liked such as couple you mentioned like Sekou Smith and Ian Rappaport. Heck, MSU folks were even ok with Rusty Hampton. Unfortunately, as the CL culture has devolved, you probably won't ever get a beat writer for MSU again that doesn't take constant digs at the school and the fanbase. That rag is totally sold out to be a Rebel Bear mouthpiece as far as the Sports section.
 

maroonmania

All-Conference
Feb 23, 2008
11,389
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Yeah, having Keenum single out the CL as wrong was a bad look for us, especially when he wasn't wrong and Keenum knew he wasn't. All schools have over reactive fans who will go after a reporter/recruit/woman for doing their job, but to have our university president do it was exceedingly dumb (and fed into a narrative of Ag schools having insane fans). It's also a bad look when people were calling Bonner negative for the bball attendance stories/tweets when it was pretty clearly Howland feeding him that story.

Edit in italics

He wasn't wrong. There were plenty of reasons to single out the CL regardless of the AD topic. Still glad he did it although it obviously turned Bonner even more sour on MSU.
 

OliveBranchDAWG

Redshirt
Aug 22, 2012
643
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<blockquote><p>It is customary around Starkville, though, to announce a hire three weeks after one accepts a job. <a href="https://t.co/YAJQdxoxrp">https://t.co/YAJQdxoxrp</a></p>— Michael Bonner (@MikeBBonner) <a href="https://twitter.com/MikeBBonner/status/819676891997159428">January 12, 2017</a></blockquote>


Yeah Bonner is a great guy, he'll be missed***
 

Drebin

Heisman
Aug 22, 2012
22,953
28,643
113
I know it's a fact and acknowledge such. But we all know it already. I took it as a dig, and I know a lot of other people did too.
 

HD6

Sophomore
Apr 8, 2003
10,019
108
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Then that is your interpretation of a fact. You're applying your own bias to it. A fact is neither negative or positive. It simply is.
 

Drebin

Heisman
Aug 22, 2012
22,953
28,643
113
Of course I look at it from a MSU perspective. I know you like Bonner. That kind of snippet could be in the article - no issue there. To make it part of the headline, which is essentially what a tweet is, was unnecessary in my opinion. It's a dig.

I remember the headline when we won the SEC in baseball where they wrote "Thanks Ole Miss". It was true that the Ole Miss win helped State win the SEC, but it was unnecessary.
 

mount lefroy

Redshirt
Feb 10, 2013
2,501
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36
4 defensive coordinators in 4 years is a fact.

I think we all realize you are buddy's and all but he turned out as much **** as he did good. Rapaport and Smith proved the job could be done without all that nonsense and they went on to better things.

If it was a known fact, what was the need in repeating? To be an ***.
 

maroonmania

All-Conference
Feb 23, 2008
11,389
1,165
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Then that is your interpretation of a fact. You're applying your own bias to it. A fact is neither negative or positive. It simply is.

Peter Sirmon led one of the worst statistical defenses in the history of MSU and had no business keeping his job while Grantham is coming in as one of the most established DCs in the country. That is a fact, was that in Bonner's story? I don't know, I didn't read Bonner's story, but that is the kind of thing that I would doubt Bonner would say because it would spin this as a good thing for MSU.
 

dawgstudent

Heisman
Apr 15, 2003
40,732
22,964
113
So was his tweet yesterday saying "In Starkville, we announce jobs 3 weeks before it's official" a dig at State? You have to look at his body of tweets from the past few months and say more often than not - it's been a dig at state. From the attendance at basketball games, the cohen hire (which I'm in Bonner's corner on this one - the university was stupid on that), and the 4 DC's in 4 years. Add it all up - he's being a smartass on twitter. And yea - I do it too. But still doesn't change the fact that you most everyone would agree that the defensive coordinator tweet wasn't just to tweet "factual" information.
 

HD6

Sophomore
Apr 8, 2003
10,019
108
63
From the article.


A spot for Grantham opened after Sirmon's defense struggled in 2016. Mississippi State allowed the most passing yards in the SEC at 281.5 yards per game — 31.5 more than any team in the league. The Bulldogs also allowed 31.8 points per game, which ranked 13th in the SEC. At one point during the season, the defense surrendered at least 40 points and 500 yards in four of five games. One of those teams was FCS opponent Samford.
 

HD6

Sophomore
Apr 8, 2003
10,019
108
63
I mean, the score of every game played is a known fact. Don't repeat those either?

I would love to have seen Ian Rapaport's Twitter had it existed during the Croom years. We'd all hate him. Sekou Smith, its pretty easy to be loved when you are reporting on SEC Championship games, Final Fours, and College World Series.

Also, in case you didn't notice, Mike is going on to a better thing, as have Marcello and Veazey.
 
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