Just because the Texas A&M-Texas rivalry is finished off the field doesn’t mean it isn’t simmering other places. Instead of the schools doing battle on the gridiron, we have the rare faceoff of “university chancellor versus beat rival school beat reporter” making headlines. The particulars in this instance would be Texas A&M chancellor John Sharp versus Chip Brown of Scout.com. Brown was one of the leading reporters of Big XII realignment and is a leading authority on all things Longhorns.
Sharp released a scathing statement calling Brown’s reporting on A&M finances, Kevin Sumlin’s job security, Kyler Murray’s recruitment, his relationship with Rick Perry and pretty much everything else ever written about his school. In what may be a media criticism first, he also called Brown “Cowchip”… if you need an explanation for what that implies, you should definitely click here.
A few excerpts, via the Houston Chronicle:
“Austin-based sports blogger Chip Brown’s last attempt to report on Texas A&M football, on December 17, 2015, was apparently only the first in a series of fairy tales he intends to spin. Chancellor John Sharp made it clear to another reporter (Brent Zwerneman) that Brown’s speculation about him trying to get Kevin Sumlin fired was indeed a fairy tale. And there is no one more unethical than a reporter who has been embarrassed by being called out for misstating information who then decides to seek revenge. This new report – a fairy tale on steroids – seems to be Chip Brown’s attempt at revenge. The entire report is patently false, but here are a few of the biggest errors:
“Discussing the budget for the redevelopment of Kyle Field, which was revised in December 2014 from $450 million to $485 million, Brown says “…that I’m told actually cost $520 million because of $70 million in overruns…”. This is hogwash. The project was delivered on time and on budget. Anything outside of this would have required a vote by the Board of Regents, and that was never necessary.
[…]
“We respectfully suggest that Mr. Brown should consider sticking to covering UT football and leave reporting on Texas A&M to reporters who pay closer attention to the facts and who do not have some kind of personal axe to grind with John Sharp. In the meantime, we hereby nominate “Cowchip” Brown for sleaziest reporter in Texas, with full confidence he will win hands down.”
Obviously, Brown wasn’t going to take that lying down, responding to a couple of Sharp’s specific claims:
#TAMU chancellor John Sharp and Rick Perry as A&M roommates:
Dallas Morning News: https://t.co/6iqb9Ed9Jd
Yahoo:https://t.co/FW6eA7NlHi
— Chip Brown (@ChipBrown247) January 7, 2016
No one in the know at #TAMU believes renovated Kyle Field was "on time and on budget" as John Sharp says. Open records will bear this out.
— Chip Brown (@ChipBrown247) January 8, 2016
I can’t recall off the top of my head someone at a university in that kind of position coming out that strongly and using that colorful of language to question someone’s reporting before. The word “hogwash” is greatly underused in today’s sports media for sure. However, Sharp better be careful here. Rivalries aside, accusations of personal bias in any kind of journalism are a serious matter and Brown has had the goods many times before on important reports. If he pledges that the records will be on his side, it’s worth believing.
However this turns out, it’s a strange chapter in one of the most famous rivalries in college athletics and proves that it’s only dormant on the field right now.
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