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Mea Culpa RE Basilio

  • I like to be right. I hate to be wrong. But when I am, I try to own it.

    I have been a vocal critic of Tony Basilio. I think he is an instigator. I think he is irresponsible. And listening to his show is like fingernails on a chalkboard to me.

    I think Tony is little more than a UT sports shock-jock. I think he is more concerned with ratings than facts. He needs clicks on his website so he creates stories and issues to drive traffic.

    Or does he?

    Because Basilio was the voice airing out the issues surrounding Cam Clear, I dismissed the situation from the beginning.

    "I will wait for a credible outlet to report it," I told myself. When they didn't, I thought the worst of Basilio. How could he run a kid's name through the mud over mere speculation? It was unfair an unkind for him to do so.

    But I was wrong. Basilio was spot on. I now have to acknowledge that his "sources" within the program are legitimate. He has an inside track somewhere to get information that others do not have.

    I have openly mocked (politely, mind you) people on here for posting anything that used Basilio as a source. I will not do it again.

    So I say this openly to Tony Basilio:

    You have earned the right to be heard, Tony. And I will resume reading your blog. You have earned my clicks.

    I still won't listen to your show - still fingernails/chalkboard, all that stuff. But I won't mock what you say just because it was you who said it. And I won't refuse to gratify you by giving you the website traffic on your blog.

    I still think you jump the gun on reporting things that you haven't properly sourced (i.e. multiple sources corroborating). But I do think you have at least one credible source from whom you get information and I do not question that you have the ability to scoop a story in the Knoxville sports market and I will continue to consider your stories as you have the opportunity to build your credibility.

    I have dismissed your viewpoint outright and been guilty of argumentum ad hominem. You have, at least in this case, shown that you warrant more consideration than I have given you. I will still defer to what Wes, Ryan, or Kevin says over what you say, but I will no longer roll my eyes when someone takes you seriously. And I apologize for having done so.

    Mouth full of crow,

    Phil

    This post has been edited 2 times, most recently by TexasseeVol on 5/25/2012 at 1:58 PM

    TexasseeVol

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    "I'm like Wes." --Ryan Callahan

    MiltonVol

  • Dude you're giving him way too much credit on this. Just because he got one story correct does not mean we can just ignore the many that were either incorrect or remain unproven.

    VooDooVolunteer

  • volfan28

  • In the spirit of contrition, I agree with the op. Basilio is not 100% clown. He has his moments, but Big Will's affirmation doesn't help the tone of the credibility. Big Will may be right about a few things, but in my opinion he is always wrong regarding his methods.

    Agent Orange

  • VooDooVolunteer said...

    Dude you're giving him way too much credit on this. Just because he got one story correct does not mean we can just ignore the many that were either incorrect or remain unproven.

    Read my post carefully. I was intentional not to attribute credibility in general, but to acknowledge this particular "win" for him and admit that it is, in fact, indicative that he has someone with inside knowledge that is willing to talk to him. It didn't come to him in a vision. I have to acknowledge that he has a source and will, from time to time, get a scoop.

    I still stated my hesitation about his reporting in general and promised only that I wouldn't dismiss outright anything that he said simply because it was him that said it.

    Is that an unfair assessment/direction?

    I'll be clear. I don't like the guy's approach. And his show drives me absolutely nuts. His commercials alone are enough to make me want to scream. This isn't a 180 about Tony B. This is a "credit where credit is due" deal, and he was right.

    TexasseeVol

  • The afternoon guy reports any whisper he hears, how many things do you hear at work about other people that really just shouldn't be public knowledge, sometimes you have to let mistakes be just that and not something that is going to affect them the rest of the year, he only cares about himself...screw that guy...I've heard way more from him that never came true, I'm sticking with CREDIBLE FOOTBALL PEOPLE, not a radio hobbiest! Thank you

    TnMiles ●

  • Basilio was bound to get something right - after all, if you fling enough crap at the wall, eventually something WILL stick. On balance this does nothing to change my overall opinion of the man, his site, or his show. There's still a lot of examples of him being way off base on things, and those overshadow the cases where he stumbled upon something that was accurate IMO.

    signature image signature image signature image

    tntoak

  • TexasseeVol said...

    I like to be right. I hate to be wrong. But when I am, I try to own it.

    I have been a vocal critic of Tony Basilio. I think he is an instigator. I think he is irresponsible. And listening to his show is like fingernails on a chalkboard to me.

    I think Tony is little more than a UT sports shock-jock. I think he is more concerned with ratings than facts. He needs clicks on his website so he creates stories and issues to drive traffic.

    Or does he?

    Because Basilio was the voice airing out the issues surrounding Cam Clear, I dismissed the situation from the beginning.

    "I will wait for a credible outlet to report it," I told myself. When they didn't, I thought the worst of Basilio. How could he run a kid's name through the mud over mere speculation? It was unfair an unkind for him to do so.

    But I was wrong. Basilio was spot on. I now have to acknowledge that his "sources" within the program are legitimate. He has an inside track somewhere to get information that others do not have.

    I have openly mocked (politely, mind you) people on here for posting anything that used Basilio as a source. I will not do it again.

    So I say this openly to Tony Basilio:

    You have earned the right to be heard, Tony. And I will resume reading your blog. You have earned my clicks.

    I still won't listen to your show - still fingernails/chalkboard, all that stuff. But I won't mock what you say just because it was you who said it. And I won't refuse to gratify you by giving you the website traffic on your blog.

    I still think you jump the gun on reporting things that you haven't properly sourced (i.e. multiple sources corroborating). But I do think you have at least one credible source from whom you get information and I do not question that you have the ability to scoop a story in the Knoxville sports market and I will continue to consider your stories as you have the opportunity to build your credibility.

    I have dismissed your viewpoint outright and been guilty of argumentum ad hominem. You have, at least in this case, shown that you warrant more consideration than I have given you. I will still defer to what Wes, Ryan, or Kevin says over what you say, but I will no longer roll my eyes when someone takes you seriously. And I apologize for having done so.

    Mouth full of crow,

    Phil

    Your more than welcome to your mea culpa and I don't blame you but in short, Basilio is the poster boy for the blind hog syndrome. 'Nuf said.

    tnbear66 ●

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    Senior Writer, govols247 Email: wrucker@247sports.com Twitter: www.twitter.com/@wesrucker247 Facebook: www.facebook.com/wesrucker247

    Wes Rucker ●

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    "I'm like Wes." --Ryan Callahan

    MiltonVol

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    tnbear66 ●

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    TexasseeVol

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    camrox

  • TexasseeVol said...

    Read my post carefully. I was intentional not to attribute credibility in general, but to acknowledge this particular "win" for him and admit that it is, in fact, indicative that he has someone with inside knowledge that is willing to talk to him. It didn't come to him in a vision. I have to acknowledge that he has a source and will, from time to time, get a scoop.

    I still stated my hesitation about his reporting in general and promised only that I wouldn't dismiss outright anything that he said simply because it was him that said it.

    Is that an unfair assessment/direction?

    I'll be clear. I don't like the guy's approach. And his show drives me absolutely nuts. His commercials alone are enough to make me want to scream. This isn't a 180 about Tony B. This is a "credit where credit is due" deal, and he was right.

    In the business he is in its all about credibility. EVERY member of the Knoxville media has sources. It's what you do with the information your sources give you. Some (basilio) run to the nearest microphone and spill everything they hear with no regard to whom it may hurt. Others (Wes and Ryan) follow up and investigate on information given to them by sources. For instance, Wes indicated in a post several weeks ago (regarding Cam) that he was "hearing things" (I'm actually paraphrasing there and I don't think he used Cams name even though it was in a Cam thread) but would let us know more when he KNEW more.

    Now if Basilio goes on a streak of accurate reports then I may start buying in to him. Until then, I will continue to dismiss EVERYTHING that comes out of his mouth.

    **Sorry if this is hard to read and has a lot grammatical errors but I'm on a date with my wife and I'm using my phone. It's also kind of incomplete.

    VooDooVolunteer

  • This ordeal has been very disappointing and unprofessional, on both sides.

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    http://twitter.com/Volocaust

    VolPett

  • VolPett said...

    This ordeal has been very disappointing and unprofessional, on both sides.

    Couldn't agree more.

    Jetervol

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    kdlewis

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