Let's Talk About Brian Kelly And The Media

One of the main storylines from Saturday night's game that saw the Notre Dame Fighting Irish lose to the Georgia Bulldogs 20-19, was about forty seconds at the end of Brian Kelly's post game press conference.

To steal a line from Aaron Sorkin's The Newsroom, "I don't like when the media reports on the media."

What could be brushed aside as an irritated coach after a close loss, was instead blown up by national media- which in turn, forces the hand of the regional media.

It was the last question of the press conference — not because Brian Kelly stormed off, but because Notre Dame SID Michael Bertsch had said as much. It was the last question of the press conference after a grueling game.

In case you have't seen or read it:

Q. Obviously you made a ton of changes, changed the culture, everything. But obviously, you lost and at the very end, kind of like last year, seven of eight losses, how do you --

COACH KELLY: What's the question?

Q. I'm getting to it.

COACH KELLY: Well, get to the question.

Q. How do you keep this from snowballing?

COACH KELLY: It's not going to snowball. Next question.

Q. Well, what exactly will be different, I guess.

COACH KELLY: There's nothing different. I go to work every day, and I coach my football team.

Q. Okay.

COACH KELLY: Is that -- is that good enough for you?

Q. Yeah, I was just asking about how it was different from last year's losing by one possession.

COACH KELLY: Okay.

Q. Tonight was also like that, so I was just wondering.

COACH KELLY: Losing by one possession?

Q. Yeah.

COACH KELLY: No, it was one point.

Q. Okay.

COACH KELLY: Okay. Thanks.

The reporter was Indianapolis Star Notre Dame beat reporter Laken Litman. Now, I'm almost positive Litman would have remained professional (as so many have in this business that have been a part of similar instances) and reported the game as she saw it, without dwelling on that awkward exchange, but still reporting it as well. That would have made this a non-story.

However, it's when a national guy (Yahoo's Pat Forde) is doing a drive-by in South Bend, and decides to carry the torch for the abused media, while calling Kelly a "jerk" and a "bully," that this thing gets blown up.

Let's get real here:

• The point of the question was legitimate, but the manner in which she asked it was wrong. The media needs to stop dropping 10 thoughts prior to each question, and just ask the damn question. There isn't anyone that doesn't understand the backstory of 2016.
• Kelly should have known better. The media is no friend to Kelly, and many are more than eager to cast a bad light on the Notre Dame coach. He only helps with the endeavor here.
• Some in the media (people like Pat Forde) are the biggest hypocrites alive. They blast Kelly as a bully and a jerk for saying what he means in public to their face. Meanwhile, the reporters with an agenda continually write one negative story after another, call for jobs (or say OH MY YOUR SEAT IS SO HOT MAN) and do this all in the public light without saying as much to the coach. To put it into today's perspective, it's like being somewhat cordial to someone you have as a Facebook friend, but every week posting an update about how awful that person is. What did you expect at the grocery when you took the last bunch of grapes right from them?

I'm not sure when we all decided that the media was a bunch of porcelain dolls that were too fragile to be real with, but they are most certainly not — and I don't think that Laken Litman is. Like Kelly, she made a mistake that night by being a little too fancy with her job and it backfired. It's really not that big of a deal.

Maybe Pat Forde is a porcelain doll, or maybe he has a vast collection that he protects with every ounce of his being -- but I suspect he has a general dislike of Brian Kelly, Notre Dame, and non-sensationalism. I suppose that it is his job to be that way, but that doesn't mean Brian Kelly, or the fans of Notre Dame.

Notre Dame lost a one-point game at home to a higher ranked team with a ton of talent, and Brian Kelly wasn't happy about that. STOP THE PRESSES! THIS IS CRAZY!