Breaking up is hard to do, or so we've all been told and probably experienced, but there are ways to do it and not to do it. On Monday CBS Sport's Dennis Dodd announced that he is breaking up with his vote for the Heisman Trophy and instead of doing so in a private way he decided it best to air the dirty laundry of his now broken relationship with the Heisman Trust.
Basically, Dodd ended it before the Heisman Trust did, you know… the good 'ol preemptive break up. Only Dodd decided on the way out to announce to the whole world why his ex-lover should never be loved again. Folks, there's your example of how not to do a break up.
Yes, we live in an era of look at me now journalists, but usually Dodd isn't one of those guys and that's what makes this a bit of a head scratcher…. Well, that and the fact that he needed to take a private squabble public to begin with.
Dodd's complaint is that there isn't more "transparency" in how the voting is done, calling for more public knowledge of all votes cast before the official announcement and in doing so is attempting to be "transparent" by putting his break-up letter back to the organization out for public consumption, but that doesn't mean doing that was right.
Instead of achieving his aim of affecting change, Dodd comes off as the jilted lover that can't let go and is going to make life for the ex a living hell with his own bully pulpit as a writer.
Look, if you don't like the rules and how they are enforced, fine, don't be a part of the organization – no one is forcing it down your throat. However, that also doesn't give you the green light to just go off because you don't like how things are run.
Does Dodd have some valid points in his argument? For sure, especially in that they haven't enforced the non-disclosure agreement in the past, but to complain that a rule that's always been there is now being enforced just comes off as sour grapes at best.
In reality, his motivation in writing the letter isn't to affect change at all, rather it's about some sort of assumed personal insult the Heisman Trust was hurling at him by targeting him for revealing his vote to the public before the votes are tabulated.
Call me a sucker for the old-time ways if you want, but what's the harm in keeping things to yourself and thus allowing us all to enjoy the unknown winner? Is it really such a terrible thing they are asking you to do there Dennis?
By accepting their invitation to be a voter didn't you agree to the terms of getting that privilege? That's what we all thought.
Again, if you don't like the rules or how they are enforced then leave, but leave with some class will ya?
Not everything is about you (insert whatever sports writer you want) and while Dennis Dodd may have had the best of intentions with this, his message comes off more as a thinly veiled attempt at self-aggrandizement rather than a true attempt to affect change. If you wanted that you would've done it behind the scenes first.
