Lloyd Carr, Lloyd Carr, Lloyd Carr...

by Sean Keeley on Sep 29, 2008 12:03 PM EDT

If you were perusing the Syracuse-related Intertubes this weekend, you probably noticed a bit of a kerfuffle going on over the "Lloyd Carr Phenomena." Let's get up to speed...

Midday Friday, Orange44 posts that, according to multiple reliable sources, Lloyd Carr is at Syracuse and in Manley Field House. No reason is given as to why he is there. A note comes in later that claims Carr and DOCTOR Daryl Gross has been seen together on the Quad. This is not confirmed by Orange44, only stated that it is posted on a message board. It is also noted that last week Brent Axe was informed that Lloyd Carr was attending the Northeastern game. Brent can't confirm it at the time.

That evening, Syracuse.com's Donnie Webb posts this note on his blog, demonizing the Orange44 post. Donnie says that he "had a reasonable SU type tell me this bit of news is BS, nonsense, stupid, dumb, reckless and disappointing." Not sure what a "reasonable SU type" is, but we'll assume that's someone who works for SU Athletics.

Also not sure exactly what is specifically being denied here. It is the rumor that Carr would become the next coach that's reckless and disappointing or just the rumor that he's on campus? Since no one actually claimed that Carr was interviewing for the job, we have to assume that SU is denying that Carr is on campus at all. And that's very hard to believe considering all of the sightings and sources.

Donnie calls for an end to the rumor mongering, especially amongst those "desperate for Syracuse to get rid of Orange football coach Greg Robinson." This is an odd statement because it implies that Donnie feels that Greg Robinson is doing a bang-up job and deserves to remain as head coach, which I'm pretty sure isn't true. So does that mean that those of us who feel Greg Robinson should be fired are a contemptuous lot worthy of society's scorn? If you aren't desperate to get rid of Greg Robinson right now, you're either related to him, not an actual Syracuse fan or you're a moron. So it's a little confusing.

Donnie does clarify that Gross was in fact in Los Angeles at the time, so the purported Quad-walk between he and Carr was in fact erroneous.

Naturally, Brian over at Orange44 responded:

Nowhere in my article did I make any representations about what Lloyd Carr was doing on campus, or the fact that he was going to replace Greg Robinson, or have any job in any capacity for Syracuse. As a matter of fact, I went out of my way to say more than once that I am making no representation of this at all. I said, "What is he there for? Who knows. My inside source with media credentials at Manley just knows he’s there, but not why or what is going on." See, that is language where the plain text meaning would be that I am making no representations as to what Lloyd Carr is doing on campus, thus I am not starting or contributing to rumors.

Yes, people on message boards started discussing what it would mean if Lloyd Carr was our next coach. The same way people have been doing so for weeks about Skip Holtz, Lane Kiffin and many other coaches whose apparent interest in the position is nothing more than conjecture. I'm pretty sure no one went out and spray painted CARR 4 LIFE on the side of the Carrier Dome, so there was no actual damage to property or otherwise in the discussion. And at the end of the day, all that was said was that there's a fairly strong reason to believe Lloyd Carr is on campus...take from that what you will.

What's the happy solution here? Should Syracuse blogs always cross-reference against Post-Standard employees before posting credible news and tidbits? Should we all just do what Greg Robinson does and pretend everything is hunky-dory and any coaching rumors or news items relating to that should be kept hush-hush...for the betterment of the people?

Brian didn't create a rumor for the sake of it. He didn't even create a rumor. He received a tip. He checked his sources. He received third-party confirmation. He reported it at face value and made no implications. What else was he supposed to do? All he did was mention what he heard. Any implications that were made after that were up to the reader.

For instance, take a look at these two sections from Donnie's post:

Syracuse director of athletics Daryl Gross has been in Los Angeles much of the week including Friday.

And

As far fetched as this may sound, Gross would never huddle with any consultant or coaching candidate in clear view of anyone in Area Code 315. These things are done in remote locations, not in broad view of campus spies. The last time Gross did the football search, it was conducted in Miami and Los Angeles.

NOW, all Donnie did was point out what he knows. But if you wanted to extrapolate from those two statements, you could certainly make the case that Gross was in Los Angeles for reasons other than to attend the premiere of The Express, couldn't you? I certainly did.

Isn't that the point of all news, media, blogging, etc? You say what you say and let the reader decide based on the facts and the issue what's worth noting and what's not.

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