Bob Lutz

Bob Lutz really is a fun guy to hear speak. Sports Daily with Bruce and Bob is entertaining.

I get the podcast every day.

But there is a good reason Bruce is listed above Bob.

Sorry, can't take the I out of this one.

I lost all respect for Bob when he wrote a column about the firing of Hesston College head coach Tim Swartzendruber.

At the time, I was the Hesston College sports beat writer for the Hesston Record. Keep in mind, this was my very first venture into journalism. And I lived in a "mod" with the big three basketball players at Hesston.

Marlon, Mike, and LaMonte were my roommates, and are still my friends.

Three black students, and basketball players from Louisiana, Texas, and Wichita respectively, at a mostly white, Mennonite school.

I had been at Hesston throughout a couple of coaching changes. And I can say that this class of basketball players were special.

They achieved success on the basketball court no other class had achieved. And they were the most stand up, likable humans I have ever known in my lifetime of years on the Hesston campus.

But when Swartzendruber's contract was let go by the college, he ran to every media outlet that would listen, with the message that racism had to do with his firing.

Like I said, this story broke in my first, untrained year of journalism. I have many close friends, people I consider family, inside of Hesston College.

People who would, and did break Hesston's code of "we don't talk about personnel issues," silence.

Swartzendruber's failure to have his contract renewed had nothing to do with his recruitment of black players to the basketball team. I will get into this later.

But this was the rumor he circulated. It spread like wildfire in a small Kansas town.

His players were hurt, understandably. How would you feel if you were a black kid from Louisiana in the middle of white Hesston College. And all the sudden everyone is talking about RACISM!??

It all came to a head when a basketball player presented me with a copy of the Wichita Eagle with a Bob Lutz column detailing the possible racism leading to Swartzendruber's firing.

A player actually slammed the paper down and said to me, "It's in the Wichita Eagle. It's true."

At that moment, I knew that you actually can't believe everything you read.

I had this revelation at a bible school mind you!

More importantly, I learned a real lesson. As a journalist, people are going to try to use you as a bullhorn for their own gain. It is important to filter this garbage out when sitting down to write.

Since then, it has always been my goal to abstain from sounding off for any cause that would take advantage of my situation.

I held back from this story as a bright green kid who didn't have a clue. But Bob Lutz taught me the importance of holding back, getting all the facts, and knowing what you are talking about before pulling the trigger.

I knew better. Lutz pulled the trigger and wounded an entire college campus.