I'm not going to hate on Bob Kravitz this morning because, when all is said and done, he's a good writer. Rather, I'm going to poke a little fun at him. There's really no other way to treat him after his meltdown on Twitter last night following the reports that the Colts will retain Jim Caldwell as head coach in 2012.
We'll start out by going back to the timeline.
It all began when Indianapolis sports radio host Jake Query tweeted Saturday night that the Colts will keep Jim Caldwell as head coach in 2012, and that an announcement was expected Tuesday or Wednesday. Bob Kravitz saw this tweet, and, in a passive-aggressive sort of way, did his best to discredit it. He started his response to the Query report by tweeting 'No disrespect,' and then used the rest of his 50 characters to disrespect Query and his dismiss his story. There was some bickering back-and-forth between Query and Kravitz, which I highlighted in this article. In the end, it seemed to settle down to a 'let's see how things play out' kind of resolution.
Harmless spat. No harm. Everyone moves on.
Then, on Sunday, Indianapolis Star beat writer Mike Chappell posted his weekly 'Ask the Expert' piece, where he answers questions from readers. In the piece, he reported (or so it was presented) that the Colts will indeed keep Caldwell and that the announcement will come Tuesday or Wednesday.
Well, that's kind of a big deal.
Here is the local beat writer essentially confirming Jake Query's earlier report, which Chappell's colleague, Bob Kravitz, did his best to discredit the day prior. Chappell's news was so big that the Indianapolis Star's sports twitter account (@indystarsports) blew the bombshell up all over the Internet Monday night:
Reporter Mike Chappell expects Colts to retain Jim Caldwell, announcement tomorrow or Wednesday. indy.st/AcKVaV
— Indy Star Sports (@IndyStarSports) January 16, 2012
Well, it was at that point when I thought it prudent to suggest that Kravitz apologize to Query. Kravitz's colleague had just confirmed Query's report, and it's just good gamesmanship for Kravitz, who seemed pretty clearly out-scooped by Query, to say sorry and congratulate Jake on his news-breaking skills.
Instead of doing this, Bob opted to toss an insult my way, rant insanely against rumor-mongering, and, in general, make a bunch of illogical, contradictory comments.
In short, Bob Kravitz sounded an awful lot like Bill Polian last night on Twitter.
Here's what Bob tweeted to me after the Chappell story blew up on Twitter Monday night:
@StampedeBlue seriously, dude, you aren't the sharpest tool in the shed -- no disrespect -- yes, actually, lots of disrespect - tweet that
— BobKravitz (@bkravitz) January 17, 2012
Kravitz then went on a tirade:
Let's get this straight: Chap wrote his gut feeling is Caldwell is back. Same as my gut feeling. Nothing has been confirmed. Period.
— BobKravitz (@bkravitz) January 17, 2012
As far as @jakequery goes, if you report he's not coming back, then report he's coming back, you're going to be right eventually.
— BobKravitz (@bkravitz) January 17, 2012
And @jakequery you don't report stuff you haven't confirmed. We're not in the rumor biz. We're in the what-we-know-as-fact biz.
— BobKravitz (@bkravitz) January 17, 2012
Lost to Kravitz in this crazy rant against Query, me, and the forces of logic and reason was that Query's report had been confirmed by the Indy Star's Colts blogger Phil Wilson as well. Here's Wilson the day Chappell's 'Ask The Expert' piece was published, answering a tweet from a follower:
@prettymansc I'm hearing he's staying. Don't know about D.C.
— Phillip B Wilson (@pwilson24) January 16, 2012
Sounds an awful lot like a confirmation there, doesn't it? Or, perhaps, if we follow Bob's thinking, Phil must have heard that bit of news on Caldwell from his gut talking to him.
As I tweeted to Kravitz last night, he cannot say on one hand that the Star is in the "what-we-know-as-fact biz" and on the other say that Chappell's report was just "his gut feeling." Chappell is the beat writer. He is either writing reports that are well-sourced and factual, or he is just throwing stuff out there.
If Chappell and Wilson weren't reporting anything, if they were, instead, just writing their opinion, then the Indy Star should have made that clear in its Twitter announcements and articles online. Wilson himself re-tweeted the @IndyStarSports Chappell tweet, strongly suggesting this bit of information was NOT Chappell's "gut feeling," but rather a factual report from the Colts beat writer.
Because Kravitz's insult towards me seemed so out there and silly, I don't take it too seriously. Bob and I have had a good relationship in recent months. Just this past weekend, he was asking my advice on software that can record interviews. Maybe he was just having a bad night, lost his cool, and did the very thing he often bashed Bill Polian for doing.
In the end, it's cool. I've taken more than my share of shots at Bob over the years. He's entitled to a few back. I honestly hope he didn't mean what he wrote, and was just venting.
Again, it will be very interesting to see if there is an announcement tomorrow or Wednesday saying Caldwell will return in 2012. Personally, I hope it isn't true. If it isn't, that's going to make Mike Chappell, Jake Query, Phil Wilson look bad. If it is true, Bob Kravitz will look bad.
Either way, it's going to be entertaining. Well, entertaining to me anyway.