Foss: It's been a week of rumors, speculation

I've been in journalism long enough to remember when the arrival of the portable typewriter made my job of covering a sporting event so much easier.

How times have changed. And not always for the better.

Now, news can be transmitted almost as soon as it happens, via cell phones, the Internet and the various message boards and blogs found there.

We've seen the good and bad of that this week involving several Fighting Sioux athletes.

Injuries to hockey players Chay Genoway and Danny Kristo and the dismissal of football player Josh Murray from the team have led to much speculation and runaway rumors.

Rumors abound as to how Kristo froze his toes, the exact nature of Genoway's injury and how long he'd be out. Same speculation buzz with Murray, who was dropped from the program for violating an unspecified team rule.

The problem comes in that schools are very careful with what they say about dismissal of players or when spelling out the extent of injuries or the factors involved in them.

Some of that comes from protection offered student-athletes by federal law. Part of it comes from reluctance of coaches to reveal too much.

So rumors spring forth and explode all over websites.

Anyone with access to a computer can post a comment on some message board, social site or blog.

Comments go there without editing, without anyone checking the truth of them or often even without knowing the true source of them. Pure rumors. There's truth to some of them, but how does one decipher truth from fiction posted on those sites?

As a journalist for close to 50 years, I've grown to hate rumors. I cannot begin to count the hundreds of hours I've spent checking them out. Some do indeed prove true, which is why rumors must be checked by reporters, no matter how distasteful the job.

I've received plenty of e-mails this week, a few phone calls and a lot of inquiries around town. They come mostly from people wanting to know the circumstances leading to Kristo's severe frostbite.

Everyone has heard this or that rumor, and press for more details.

As a retired journalist, it's no longer my job to track down rumors and separate fact from fiction.

So I know nothing about Kristo's frostbite, Genoway's injury or Murray's dismissal other than what I read in UND press releases or articles in the Grand Forks Herald. Nor do I have any desire to know more.

It's an easier path for me. I'm not obligated to dig into rumors. I certainly have no desire to repeat those I hear.

What you read on message boards or other web sites may indeed be truthful. Or not. You never know. So be careful, that's all I can say.

And bottom line is that to me, it truly doesn't matter how Kristo picked up the frostbite. What matters is that he recovers from it as best as possible and goes on with his life. That should be our wish and prayer for him.

Foss is a Hall of Fame journalist who reported on sports for 36 years for the Herald until his retirement. He writes a weekly column from October through April. Contact him at virgfoss@yahoo.com or at (701) 772-9272.