Bradley Diminishes Its Feel-Good NCAA Bid by Going after Reporter Doing His Job

Ordinarily, I have positive vibes about Bradley, a small university with a surprisingly big college basketball history. The pride of Peoria, Bradley went to the Final Four in 1950 and 1954, and was an NIT regular back in the day when the NIT was a big deal.

I have friends who attended Bradley. I am happy for them when the Braves are successful. From kindergarten on, I went to school with Marcia Melchiorre, whose father, Gene, was involved in a point-shaving deal when he played at Bradley. It was a big deal back then, but the minor dollar amounts revealed what a different era that was. And how much a small amount of money meant to a college basketball player. To think that he gave up an NBA career for three figures. . . well, the NBA was pretty hand-to-mouth in those days, anyway. And judging by Marcia, the guy was a great father and role model.

I like to see Illinois schools do well, because heaven knows we need to take our wins where we find them. Over the years, I have glommed onto Illinois State, Northern Illinois, Southern Illinois, Loyola, DePaul and Bradley when my main beat, the Fighting Illini, has fizzled.

And so, while I would have preferred to see Loyola follow up on last year’s Cinderella appearance in the Final Four, if the Ramblers were out, I was fine with Bradley being the Missouri Valley team in the NCAA tournament.

And then I saw this story about Bradley picking on the Peoria Journal-Star's Dave Reynolds. As Shannon Ryan notes in the Chicago Tribune, Dave Reynolds is hardly a negative reporter. Actually, Dave is old-school solid, an earnest and dedicated gentleman. But this is what happens in a company town. Bradley is the biggest deal in Peoria and in an era where the most powerful man in the world wants you to believe the New York Times is full of it—oh, never mind.

Here’s an excerpt. . .

``Reynolds said he and [Bradley coach Brian] Wardle have sparred through the years, but the coach took particular exception to an overwhelmingly positive story about fan support because it mentioned some online comments calling for his job. The program, Reynolds said, also didn’t like a story in which he wrote that the locker room wasn’t overly joyous after a narrow victory against Evansville — a game the Braves were expected to win easily.’’

There were so many other ways—better ways—Wardle could have handled his issues with Reynolds’ reporting. Ironically, Wardle played for and assisted Tom Crean at Marquette, where Al McGuire set the bar high for sunshine in basketball. I hope to address this stuff in a book I’m revising, a book on how the world of sportswriting has changed since I entered the business.

For now, I’ll just say that I am less inclined to feel good about Bradley being the only NCAA tournament representative from a beleaguered basketball state.