In the media there are a wide variety of reporters covering stories. Many are impartial and take their responsibility very seriously. Some are “homers” who are little more than media “shills” or PR men for a specific organization. There are other who do not have scruples, see the people they write about as vehicles to their own success without any sense of sympathy or carry around a degree of bitterness or a “hidden” agenda. It’s becoming clear so far that Mr. Joseph Goodman tends to fall in that last group although we cannot specifically ascertain whether he does so out of hate, callous indifference or ruthless ambition.

The story goes that Joseph Goodman is the beat writer for the Miami Herald for the University of Florida.  Some of Mr. Goodman’s previous work includes writing about the interview with Chris Rainey which eventually led to an investigation of the Lakeland High School by the FHSAA for possibly accepting gifts and/or money from school boosters (High School Boosters, only his high school eligibility was in question).  While one cannot criticize the Herald for bringing this information to light.  The timing of it and the interview is suspicious as the interview with intern Brian Costa occurred 3-4 weeks before it was released and it was released just days before the 5A Championship Game.  Lakeland High was the favorite and the defending champions.  Coincidentally the team Lakeland had beaten the previous two years and would rematch AGAIN was none other than the interviewer Brian Costas alma mater . . . St. Thomas Aquinas of Fort Lauderdale.
 
Recently Goodman has been the author of such innocent quotes (on his Gator Clause Blog) as:

 

– Florida spent $1,097,300 on recruiting in 2002 and $655,000 on recruiting in 1996, according to the report. Of the nation’s top 10 biggest spenders, five are members of the Southeastern Conference: Tennessee, Florida, Auburn, Georgia and Arkansas. . . . Thoughts are welcomed on this subject, people. Is it absurd that schools spend so much money recruiting football and basketball players? Is it justifiable? Should the NCAA make a spending cap? Did I mention that Florida is the No.1-ranked party school in the country?
 
– Gator Clause pulled the report from the Alachua County public records this afternoon. Maurkice Pouncey was issued the citation on Sunday, July 20 at 9 p.m. near 3500 NW 8th Ave. Just four days before Maurkice’s 19th birthday. What a killjoy, right?
 
– Torrey Davis wasn’t at practice today, wasn’t on the roster and appears to be academically ineligible. Florida coach Urban Meyer said on Monday after practice that there is no timetable for Davis’ return.
It seems like just yesterday that everybody (except me) was writing about how hard Davis worked to get into Florida, and blah, blah, blah. Yeah, right.
 
– A New York Giants just left practice and I asked him if he saw any talent. He said, “Not this year.”
 
– As you know, The Miami Herald broke the news last night of Ronnie Wilson’s marijuana arrest and the lucky break he got from the state attorney’s office in Gainesville. (If you or I are on probation for a felony (reduced to misdemeanor), and we get pinched for marijuana, do you think the DA overlooks that? Uh, no.)
 
– The terms of Wilson’s plea bargain were spelled out in the official Judgment and Sentence. The court document reads: “Live and remain at liberty without violating any law. If you fail to complete the terms of your probation as required, you will be arrested …” In the words of Napoleon Dynamite, “Lucky.”
 
– This next bit might be even more interesting. According to official court documents, Wilson completed his 100 hours of community service as an assistant offensive line coach at his old high school, Pompano Beach Blanche Ely. . . . . According to the volunteer service forms signed by Wiggins — forms that list every day that Wilson apparently was at Ely and span nearly two months but which have that unmistakable look of something that was filled out all at the same time
 
– Wilson was at Ely nearly every day from August 22 to October 10. I spoke with Jones to verify this. According to Jones, Ely’s head coach, Wilson was only at the Tigers’ practice “twice a week.”
 
–Wait, wait, wait. So, let me get this straight: Wilson was apparently at Ely’s practice every day last season and coached in every game and cornerback Patrick Johnson still snubbed Florida for LSU? Wow!
 
 

As you can imagine with sports fans (in this case Gator fans) the accusations are flying.  Goodman is a beat reporter for the hometown newspaper of one of Florida’s big in-state rivals, the Miami Hurricanes.  A number of members of the sports department are Cane homers and Goodman probably is too.  Goodman knows that many of the Herald readers dislike Florida because of their jealousy of UF’s position as the State’s Flagship University and long time sports rivalries.  In an attempt to advance his own career Goodman realizes the best way to ingratiate himself to his bosses as well as make a splash on the national scene is to break as many negative stories as possible.  With Florida being one of the premier athletic programs in the country, AP reports of deeds in Gainesville have a much greater chance of being picked up nationally that if it were as story on other state schools.
 
What we have here seems to be a pretty damning set of accusations and circumstantial evidence.  Goodman has been on the forefront of reporting negative issues regarding Gator athletes (even when they are just verbal commitments).  His constant insinuation of “special treatment” of Gator players in his blog posts are hard to ignore.  His relentless digging up of dirt on current athletes leads us to assume a singular and pit-bullish mentality to find or create a scandal within the program.  What are we to think of poor Mr. Joseph Goodman?
 
However, I don’t believe Mr. Goodman’s motives are quite as sinister as they might superficially appear.  Goodman covered Broward High School Sports for the Herald prior to being assigned the Florida Gators so it’s no surprise he published another of pieces on the Rainey investigation.  He did not publish the initial article that began the investigation, he only covered it afterwards.  It’s also a reporters job to do research and uncover public information (however damning) on celebrities.  Personal feelings aside, many Florida athletes have “movie star” appeal and followings.  The idea that someone over the age of 18 is “entitled” to privacy because they are in college is counter to our accepted societal norms.  A large number of minors are much more harassed and researched by the media because of their celebrity.  While very few football players are under the microscope of the “Paparazi” their public records are still fair game.  The lesson here is if you want to stay out of the limelight, stay out of trouble.  It CAN be done.
 
If Mr. Goodman is guilty of anything it’s a polarizing writing style and some poor judgment.  He spent an entire article making shrouded accusations against Ronnie Wilson only to state at the end that he felt Wilson deserved a second chance.  Either he added the opinion at the end as a defense to try and mitigate any backlash or he took the approach of bashing Wilson to provide a misdirection for his ultimate opinion (a literary twist so to speak).  Either way, I don’t think it was handled professionally.  I realize that bloggers are NOT newspaper reporters but if you blog FOR a newspaper there is a higher expectation of professionalism, especially when dealing with young men.  As for the Miami Hurricane allegiance clouding his viewpoint, Goodman is a graduate of UAB from what I can tell was raised in the fine state of AL E. BAMMY and if he has any hatred of UF it would probably stem from being a fan of the Crimson Tide or Auburn Tigers.  In the end I figured a blog attacking Goodman for the first 80% only to proclaim his innocence at the end similar to the style he used in his post on Ronnie Wilson would be “poetic justice”.
 
Therefore . . . . Voila!!!