Fans hated Lenn Robbins because he defended Norm.
Fans hated Zach because he didnt defend Lavin.
Man are fans confuse the shit out of me.
A reporter should not go either way Moose. They should just be objective, fair and unbiased. There will always be people who disagree though. In the case of Zach , he lost his objectivity when Lavin wouldn't spill the beans on Jordan.
Fair point. I knock Zach for his constant digs at Lavin which obviously were personal because he was pissed at him but the one thing I will definitely give him credit for is his digs at Lavin started while Lavin was still working and Zach wasn't hiding behind an anonymous internet identity or writing nice things but saying things behind his back.
So even though the digs annoy me I give him credit for putting his name behind it
Lenn was just a phony. Someone who definitely knocked Norm behind his back and then wrote kiss ass articles about him. That I have no respect for
I think Lenn also knew he wouldn't have the access he did if he completely slammed him. Zach got frozen out real fast.
Zach is a far, far better beat writer for this program than Lenn. I really don't have respect for phony journalists who only compliment people to maintain sources. As stated on here, Lenn gave his honest view of Norm's program to the folks at a bar but wouldn't do it through writing. He even went on ESPN Radio the week of the Big East Tournament of Norm's last year and said Norm should be given one more year.
As for Zach hating Lavin or Lavin freezing out Zach, the reason Lavin froze him out to an extent is because Zach wrote the absolute truth about him, which happened to turn out to be negative towards Lavin. Lavin (and his people) then threw their scoops to Roger Rubin, who never did half the work covering the program to the extent Zach does. Rubin never editorialized or never did anyyyyy type of reporting aside from the few things that SJU threw to him. I'm really hoping that the NY Daily News gets us a young and hungry beat writer who will get out there, really try and keep tabs on the program (including recruiting) and report on the program year round, and editorialize once in a while on the program. Rubin never really did that. Unfortunately, with the cuts at the NYDN, I have a feeling only our home games will be covered for the most part, but we'll see.
Honestly, none of the mainstream beat writers we've had over the last decade or so has done the amount of work or covered the program to the extent that Zach has. The "shots" he took at Lavin were completely truthful. Only at the end of his tenure did national media use politically-correct terms to call him lazy (i.e. Pat Forde calling him "low motor guy"). I think the reason he still makes points about the previous regime, even to this day, is there are still SJU fans (and college ball fans in general) who don't understand the inner workings of the program and don't understand why Lavin was fired. I think Zach is trying to show, as this staff works far harder on the recruiting trail and Mullin appears to be a much more active presence than the previous staff did over their last 2 years or so, how this current staff "gets out there" much more than the last.