COMMENTARY: The good, the bad, the ugly but I'm OK
By Keno Sultan
Stark County Prep Press writer
CANTON--I have been involved in sports journalism now for 28 years.
I have seen the good side of it. I have also seen the bad side of it. And there also is the ugly part I have seen as well.
When I ventured into this profession, then Canton McKinley head basketball coach Dave Hoover, who also was my pre-algebra teacher as a freshman at McKinley left me this advice: "Keno, if you're going to be a sports reporter, you have to report the facts."
I never knew reporting facts could get me so hated. Two decades ago as a Mount Union senior, I was fortunate to become an assistant writer for the Massillon Tigers football team. Obviously that didn't sit well with Bulldogs fans and I was on the wrong end of many nasty and very inhumane comments which were not appreciated. Heck, one man even told me he "never liked me, never trusted me" and I "don't mean anything to him." He was the same one who told me not to come back to my alma mater and report. And to think I graduated high school with his son and daughter.
I was also called names out of the book not for print. Names such as stupid and ignorant is just putting that nicely. At the time I was a 22-year-old college senior who felt that I had to stand up for myself and I responded to people basically saying what they said about me wasn't appreciated.
Two decades later now as a 44-year-old grizzled savant of the profession, the same ugliness reared it's head again. Aside from this, I also do color commentary for ESPN 990 radio in Massillon for the Tigers boys basketball team. It upset Canton locals when I addressed the Division II state basketball champions as they became the fourth Stark County area team to win a state title.
Again there were some things said but this came from a high school classmate who I went to school with and know. He told me the same thing I was told two decades earlier from an adult that he never liked me, never trusted me and that I don't mean anything to him. Only this time, I wasn't mad. I wasn't upset. I was OK with that. This week I have seen a lot of things said that even my mother would have spanked me for and most of it aimed at me.
Hate me. I'm OK.
In a way, I guess I've become the Richard Steele of Canton. Steele, a widely known boxing referee is widely reviled by American boxing fans for his decision to stop the Julio Cesar Chavez-Meldrick Taylor fight with two seconds left and Taylor, the American favorite and IBF junior welterweight, who was knocked down but leading on two of the three scorecards found himself rescued when Steele intervened, handing Chavez an unlikely technical knockout victory that allowed him to retain his WBC super lightweight crown while adding Taylor's IBF prize to his possession. And that hate now has lasted 36 years, way too long.
Steele was castigated by American fans for the rest of his career as they believed Taylor earned those two seconds. But think about this: if Steele let Taylor see the final bell (mind you, Steele wasn't aware of the time) or if Chavez ran across the ring and landed one more punch, which may have caused irreversible health decline to Taylor, Steele will have failed his profession and duty. Like Steele, if I don't report the facts or don't acknowledge an accomplishment by a team, especially a local team, then I've failed my profession and failed my educators and Mount Union media professors, who taught me the importance of respect and integrity in journalism. And I've failed the players and coaches who I have interviewed over the years and the athletic directors who I contact for press credentials.
Even though I am a McKinley graduate, people want me to see Massillon fail. Even other high schools in the county too. And that is not who I am or will ever be.
Hate me. I'm OK.
Most people do not understand the expectations of sports journalism or don't care to, whichever comes first. Same as being a referee. Those same individuals don't understand the expectations of officiating or they don't care too. There is a key word to all of that: fairness.
If I don't execute fairness in the media, who are players, coaches, administrators and families to execute the same toward me if I can't be fair toward any high school, especially if it's the archrival? What if I let my bias get the best of me and I make a mistake that doesn't have to be made? What if a referee isn't fair to both teams, how can both teams expect to be fair toward a referee?
Fans don't think like that although there are some that do, which is appreciated. It saddens me that fans not just from Stark County but also other areas unjustly crucify Massillon and athletes from other schools too, especially Canton McKinley. Those players are also children raised in either a two-parent or one-parent household, a guardian, foster parent, aunt, uncle, cousin or grandparents. How do you think their family members feel when they see their son or school being labeled negatively? When I see them being labeled as "thugs", "hoodlums", "criminals" and so on, it rankles me deeply. I feel their pain. I feel their disgust. Or some labeled as "stuck-up", "rich kid", and whatever else is conjured up.
The same people who hate me, I don't have any bitter feelings. I'm not upset. I'm not angry. Life will continue to move forward. I will still treat them with respect like my mother wants me to while properly executing my duties as a member of the media. But the same hate directed at me......that same energy I hope is put to use forbid someone else in the media or whoever denigrates their child in athletic competition.
I've been doing this for 28 years. I've seen the good, the bad and the ugly but I'm OK.
Hate me. I'm OK. Just not the players, coaches, city, educators, administrators and families.
Hate me. I'm OK.
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