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Credibility.
If there's an overused word in sports journalism...it's credibility.
Sports journalists talking about the importance of credibility in their line of work is like entrepreneurs talking about the importance of free and open markets for whatever it is that they're selling.
You see, credibility in the eyes of one sportswriter is at times simply an impediment that stands in the way of a story (or an excuse to disparage a rival)...just as your average entrepreneur sometimes overlooks his disdain for government-imposed restrictions on trade.
Especially when the restrictions in question benefit his own enterprise...and disadvantage his competition.
In the world of St. Louis sports journalism, no one worries about credibility more than Post-Dispatch columnist Bernie Miklasz.
On his radio show, in the press box, outside the clubhouse, and even in his column, Miklasz is always talking about "credibility".
It's as if Miklasz has appointed himself Sheriff of the Credibility Police.
And when it's time for The Sheriff to take a shot at someone else in the media...he often starts out with a rather oblique reference to that individual's "credibility".
The following two examples of Miklasz as Credibility Sheriff were lifted from St. Louis Sports Online issue #s 40 and 43.
EXAMPLE A: In September of 1995, Miklasz, on his KFNS morning show, responded to KMOX-based criticism of a soft Miklasz-authored column on the Rams with the following shot aimed at then-KMOX talk show host (and former Post-Dispatch colleague) Kevin Horrigan: "You know, [KMOX] have the Steve Ortmayer show over there. The guy who usually hosts the show (Horrigan) rips the Rams all week, and then when Ortmayer's on...he never asks a tough question because he's a coward."
EXAMPLE B: In October of 1995, Miklasz, once again on his KFNS morning show, aimed his credibility bazooka at Hall of Fame broadcaster Jack Buck.
Here was Buck, on KMOX's air, discussing Anheuser-Busch's impending sale of the Cardinals: "They're doing things over there [at 250 Stadium Plaza]. They're trying. I don't see the Post-Dispatch bringing in some million dollar sportswriters. Here's a chance for the Post-Dispatch to write a check and buy the stadium, parking lots, and the team. They write a lot of negative stuff about the ballteam."
Miklasz' response? "The legendary Jack Buck was taking shots yesterday over on Mother Radio. It's always sad to see that. He was saying that maybe the Post-Dispatch ought to buy the team."
More: "Boy, what some people will do for money. It's just sad when you hear stuff like that. Some of us are paid to be honest in our opinion. Others are paid to be mouthpieces for the ballteam..."
Still more: "[Jack Buck's] a legend. I think the world of Jack Buck. [But] it's so transparent. He's paid by [Anheuser-Busch]. Print people maintain their objectivity no matter who's paying them. But [Jack Buck] shouldn't take shots at me."
Perhaps now is as good a time as any to see how Sheriff Miklasz himself measures up in the credibility department.
As far as a sports columnist's credibility is concerned, the following two issues appear to be most important, at least to yours truly, a regular consumer of daily sports journalism:
(a) Content-Related Credibility--Can the columnist consistently deliver lively and informed opinions, on the subjects that matter most to his or her readers? In other words, does the columnist know what he or she is talking about? Do his opinions hold up under modest scrutiny? Can he turn a phrase?
(b) Agenda-Related Credibility--What is the columnist trying to accomplish with his prose? Is he hoping simply to entertain and inform his readers, is he hoping that his readers (as well as the subjects of his prose) respect him and his work...or is he trying to be liked? And does his agenda affect the quality of his work?
But first...a bit more history from 1995...this time from May.
St. Louis' hockey fans recall that the Blues lost a series-deciding Game 7 of their first-round match-up vs. the Canucks in May of '95 (May 19), despite outshooting Vancouver by a wide margin (44-22).
Blues goalie Curtis Joseph was widely viewed as the weak link in that season's playoff run.
But Joseph's failure in the playoffs wasn't really a surprise to those close to the Blues, since the quality of his play in the latter stages of the '95 regular season had already started to decline.
More than one observer blamed Blues C&GM Mike Keenan for Joseph's demise, since it wasn't hard to get the impression that Keenan spent much of the '95 season trying to figure out just what, and how much, it would take to break the spirit of the sensitive Joseph, a favorite of St. Louis NHL fans.
Joseph did fail. In fact, his flame-out was spectacular.
And at the end of his career as a member of the Blues, Joseph couldn't wait to get out of St. Louis--and away from Keenan.
Which came as no surprise to several people close to the Blues, because Keenan's actions concerning Cujo throughout the season indicated that he wanted no part of the popular goaltender.
As a result of Joseph's failure, Keenan's maiden playoff effort with the Blues ended like so many others in St. Louis--a first round loss.
Let's look back at a few excerpts from three Miklasz 1995 P-D columns--May 19 (day-of-game 7), May 20 (day-after-game 7), and May 21 (the post-mortem). The excerpts are italicized:
***From the day-of-game 7 (5.19.95) Keenan Tribute #1:
Keenan simply will not allow the Blues to lose these three decisive hours at 14th and Clark. He has a career record of 5-2 in seventh games, and hasn't lost a Game 7 since 1988...
[Keenan and Jack Quinn] are kindred spirits. Rebels with a cause...[T]he Blues are daring and different, the envy of dozens of hack executives around the NHL.
Keenan will never acknowledge this, but he knows that this series was won as soon as [Vancouver director of hockey operations George] McPhee began talking trash after Game 6. The Canucks have Keenan on the brain. He has won the psychological war. He has won this round...Mike Keenan owns their minds, and the Canucks know it.
***From the day-after-game 7 (5.20.95) Cujo as Scapegoat & Exonerate Keenan Daily Double:
Here, Cujo. Here's the puck. Come and get it. Fetch, Cujo. Oh, no...
Captain Kirk's nerves were made of steel, and steal. And our poor Cujo slobbered all over the place again...
How can Keenan possibly view Joseph as a savior for future postseasons? How can any team win in the playoffs when its goaltender melts into the ice and vanishes?
***And from the post-mortem (5.21.95) Keenan Tribute #2:
Mike Keenan is in command, and he'll know what to do from here. And a memo to those consumed by paranoia: Keenan recently purchased a home in Clayton, so he plans to stay a while...
Another season is over, but this disappointment is different, because we can count on Keenan to have a plan...
Keenan reprogrammed this team's self-absorbed nature on short notice.
The '95 Blues were a better team because of Keenan, and the best is yet to come. Go to it, Iron Mike. Seize the chalice.
So it seems that the Credibility Sheriff came up a bit short on just about all fronts on this one, at least as far as his hockey acumen is concerned.
Paraphrasing his own (5.20.95) words, let's question Sheriff Miklasz' Content-Related Credibility: In light of the above excerpts, how can any P-D reader interested in the Blues possibly view the Sheriff as a credible and informed source of hockey information and opinion?
And while we're at it, let's question The Sheriff's Agenda-Related Credibility, again paraphrasing his own words: How can any newspaper entice new readers, and respect its current readers, when its star sports columnist often misplaces his objectivity?
That's just The Sheriff's misguided views on hockey and Keenan, you say? Hockey's just a minor sport, and it doesn't really matter to the Sheriff if he's mistaken?
Maybe so.
Says here, though, that The Sheriff trashed Cujo because he was trying to impress Keenan, trying to curry favor with Keenan...because he wanted Iron Mike to like his column.
That's weak, dear reader. And that sort of agenda results in a HUGE credibility problem for the lead columnist at a major metropolitan daily newspaper.
Fast forward to the middle of summer, 1997...changing the subject to football.
Ever since Dick Vermeil agreed to coach the Rams (in late January of 1997), seldom does a fortnight pass without the Credibility Sheriff pausing to pay tribute to Vermeil...in print and/or on the radio.
Heck, The Sheriff is laying it on Vermeil as thick as he laid it on St. Louis NFL expansion mover-and-shaker Jerry Clinton.
(Before The Sheriff took out his six-shooter and shot Clinton.)
But the P-D's sports department outdid itself on July 20.
On that day, the local sports section contained four articles focussing on Carol Vermeil, Dick's wife.
The author of two of the articles (including a 17-question Q&A)?
Mary Miklasz, wife of The Sheriff!
According to the introduction that accompanies the article, Mary Miklasz (then known as free-lance writer Mary Kopetskie) first interviewed Mrs. Vermeil in 1977.
So perhaps there's an angle there that justifies such extensive coverage of an NFL head coach's wife.
Nevertheless, portions of the articles read as though they were written by the Rams PR staff...and Carol Vermeil, whose husband left a successful broadcasting career' to coach the Rams in part because John Shaw made him one of the highest-paid non-playing employees in all of the NFL, comes out looking like Mother Teresa.
Maybe Carol Vermeil is saintly. Heck, let's assume that she is! And let's also assume that Mary Miklasz is a talented sportswriter.
But that's not the point.
Like the Keenan situation, it's hard not to come to the conclusion that The Sheriff, in his zeal to be liked by someone that he perceives as important, has gone over the top when it comes to a significant authority figure on the St. Louis sports scene.
That presents a credibility problem, sports fans.
And in a way, that kind of writing is disrespectful of all those who rely on the P-D as their primary source of print sports coverage.
All of which brings to mind a comment that countless St. Louis sports fans have uttered in the past few years:
"Man, this town needs another newspaper."
Maybe, though, a different Credibility Sheriff would do just fine.
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