No more Mike on the mic

posted by David Cloninger, 4/22/2009 12:48:00 AM

"It doesn't matter what you know.
It only matters what you can prove."
---------------- JOURNALISM SCHOOL SAYING

This is the part of the job I detest.

(Except for realizing that my tape recorder is full of six hours of untranscribed various narratives, therefore knocking out my social life for the next week.)

Since around 9 p.m. Monday night, when I first got the news about Mike Morgan, I’ve been dialing phone numbers with the intensity of a college senior sucking on a Folgers I.V. while cramming for finals. I got a multitude of answering machines, a few pickups, a couple of no-comments and too many more questions.

Of course I want to know what really happened. I consider Mike a friend, a guy who with I’ve (badly) played basketball and someone who I used to seek out before every road USC hoops game to get his opinions on what we were about to watch.

Problem is, the finger-pointing going on in this case is enough to rival an ordinary United Nations summit. I can’t tell who’s right and who’s wrong.

I don’t think I’m ever going to know the definitive answer, and based on the people who I called or the ones who didn’t return my calls, I’m left with a sickening conclusion.

This one’s over. There is no right answer. Each party seems satisfied with what has transpired and despite the howling of USC’s fan base that there has been an injustice here, it’s time to just let this one go.

I feel exactly the same way I did when I lost out on that auctioned date with Jessica Biel. There’s an answer out there somewhere, but it’s going to cost way more than I can afford to give up to get it.

Morgan is gone, and that is a shame. He is a very talented announcer and an even better person, the kind of guy you want next to you in the proverbial foxhole.

But if he seems to be ready to leave, that’s his business and we all must respect that.

I’m not passing blame around because from what I’ve heard, it can be argued that there’s some on each side. I’m sure not praising the decision because I think Mike Morgan was a truly great treasure to bestow upon South Carolina’s athletic program.

I’ll never forget some of his calls – the one he had describing USC’s first NIT championship was so gripping that I used it as a lead to a story I wrote. I’ll also never forget his kindness in going out of his way to stop and chat when I know he could have been doing game prep.

He took the time to write a thank-you note to USC fans --
Thank You -- and talked of the wonderful memories he made in Columbia. I’ll always owe him a debt of thanks because he may not have realized it, but listening to him and watching his approach helped me whenever I was asked to be on radio programs.

Fact is, I could write about this until the Gamecocks win the national championship and still never find a clear answer to why Morgan won’t be around anymore. This was not a snap decision.

But we’ve all just got to calm down, turn to other things and hope that USC hires a replacement who’s as talented, enthusiastic and knowledgeable as Morgan was. And also give whoever that may be a chance to prove himself instead of comparing him to his predecessor.

This, too, will pass. I’ll move on to another basketball season and y’all will move on to lamenting the end of the world when Stephen Garcia throws his first incomplete.

I wish it didn’t have to be this way, but if you were to compile a list of what I’ve wished for and haven’t received, you’d be typing well past the length of “War and Peace.”

There’s nothing else to say.

Except “Thanks.”

Link to this entry - Discuss this entry - Return to Blog Home

---