The above video shows Brian Smith, a reporter for the student newspaper at Texas Christian University, saying he thinks TCU would be better off with incoming freshman Casey Pachall at quarterback than with returning starter Andy Dalton. Smith offers some mild criticism of Dalton and praises Pachall's talents, and overall it's a rather unexceptional commentary on the state of the TCU program. But when TCU coach Gary Patterson heard about the commentary, he was furious.
Smith's commentary was part of a show called On Campus Cam on the Mountain West Conference's official television network, The Mtn. And because The Mtn. left the job of filming the On Campus Cam segment to the folks in the TCU PR department, it was easy for TCU to pull the plug on the segment, and that's exactly what it did: The TCU athletic department said Smith couldn't appear on On Campus Cam anymore.
But why? What does TCU care if a student reporter says he thinks the incoming freshman quarterback is better than the returning starter? Patterson told the Ft. Worth Star-Telegram that he considers Smith to be representing the football team:
"I believe Brian Smith is entitled to his opinion," Patterson said, "but when he's in front of that Campus Cam and our media relations office is setting it up, as far as I'm concerned, he's representing TCU and TCU football and that's my problem with it."Patterson is just plain wrong about that. Smith isn't representing anything other than his own opinion -- the opinion he was invited on the show to offer -- and Patterson comes across as petty for wanting to crack down on Smith because he doesn't like that opinion.
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