COLUMN: Any publicity is not good publicity

I’m sure there were many people in Attala and Choctaw counties who were just as shocked as I was when I learned that an article had been printed in Penthouse magazine on Weir football.

There’s an old saying that any publicity is good publicity but that’s not the case here. Having a story printed in a pornographic magazine is not good publicity, it’s down right embarrassing.

Several things about this article really bother me.

First of all, even though he denies it in a letter to the school, it’s likely the writer of the story misled the people he talked to in Weir. He apparently told them the story was going to be in Sports Illustrated. That’s great, who wouldn’t want to be in Sports Illustrated. The only problem was Sports Illustrated hadn’t committed to publishing it. When SI rejected the story, Penthouse bought it.

The story is mostly complimentary of the school and its athletic program.

One of the major problems I have with the story is a quote attributed to former Star-Herald publisher Mark Thornton. It read “If you’re from Weir, you’re either a logger, a crack dealer, or a pro football player.”

The writer wrote that Thornton was “kidding – sort of.” If Thornton made this comment, kidding or not, it’s insensitive and irresponsible. As one letter writer suggests this week, Thornton – who confirmed on Tuesday afternoon that he made the comment – owes Weir an apology.

There is nothing wrong with being a logger. As a matter of fact, my wife’s family was in the logging business for years and as a group, loggers are good business people who make good money. They just have to work a little bit harder than some of us.

I honestly don’t believe there are crack dealers on every corner in Weir. I find it hard to believe that anyone who actually set foot in Weir would say such a thing.

People wonder why Weir has a successful football program. It’s because they work hard and football is more than just a game, it’s a heritage. And just as important, they care about each other.

They care so much that it doesn’t matter who scores or gets the most yards, its about winning as a team. It’s something to be admired. It’s builds character and prepares young men to succeed in life. At the beginning of this football season, The Star-Herald started a football stats page. This is something I’ve done in the past with a great deal of success at other publications. After the first week, Coach Jim Wood graciously told us that he would prefer to send his stats at the end of the year and didn’t want them included on our weekly stats page. When asked why, he simply said Weir football wasn’t about stats. It wasn’t about one player or who got the most yards, it was about a team. I didn’t understand at first but I surely do now and admire Wood for taking that stance.

There are some who say former head coach Joe Lynn Gant knew the article was going to be in Penthouse. I find that hard to believe. I’ve never met Coach Gant but here’s an interesting story I was told that shows insight into his character.

One of the first things Gant did after taking over the football program at Louisville was to take down photos of former players who were in prison, because he did not think they were good role models. When he was told to put the photos back up or be fired, he left. That’s what you call standing up for what you believe. Knowing this, I find it hard to believe that Gant would knowingly be interviewed for an article that would run in such a magazine.

In closing, we hope the Penthouse article and its mention of The Star-Herald doesn’t strain our relationship with the Weir community.

That’s not the way we do business.



Robbie Robertson is editor and publisher of The Star-Herald. E-mail him at publisher@starherald.net.

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