GAINESVILLE, Fla. – The story is the kind that often turns this writer, tweeter and Gators chronicler into a spectator.
And at times, it feels odd because of my past line of work.
When I first heard the news about freshman quarterback Treon Harris on Monday, like probably a lot of you, it took a moment to register.
The quick turn of events to his story was stunning.
Late Saturday afternoon Harris walked out of Neyland Stadium with a huge smile on his face and a promising future. And by Monday afternoon he was suspended by the University of Florida amid a sexual-assault investigation.
Shortly after the news broke, Harris was trending on Twitter and the focus of intense national, state and local media coverage.
Here is what GatorZone.com colleague Chris Harry and I contributed to that coverage:
Before you think we picked the wrong day to go fishing, our silence was by design. As proof of GatorZone.com's evolvement as a tool to share the Gators' story, we feel an obligation to tell you why.
Instead of chasing the story like in our old newspaper days, we met internally with several other members of the UAA Communications staff to help manage it.
That's part of our jobs.
Ideas were shared. Plans formulated. In the wake of the news, everyone agreed it best to respect the serious tone of the day by refraining from the communications staff's usual array of tweets, Facebook posts and stories about UF sports on GatorZone.com.
Meanwhile, UAA administrators, from Gators Athletic Director Jeremy Foley on down the food chain, worked closely with UF University Relations to quickly gather information, try to discern the reliable from the unreliable, and make a decision on how to address the situation.
Of course, many important questions were impossible to answer Monday. Only the parties involved truly know those answers.
No one knows how this story will play out in the coming days or weeks or months. Still, in the 24-7 world we live, where news and opinion move at warp speed, public institutions and their leaders are expected to make swift and educated decisions in moments of crisis.
The end result Monday was Harris being suspended from team activities during the ongoing investigation, and a statement from UF President Bernie Machen on the seriousness of the allegation and UF's commitment to provide a safe campus for the university community.
Having covered PR hits and misses from the outside as a newspaper reporter for more than 15 years, and for the past four years serving on the inside of the UAA in my role at GatorZone.com, I thought the challenging situation was handled fittingly.
As a UF grad, a longtime follower of Gators athletics, and, I like to think, a fair-minded and reasonable human being, I had my own opinions like every other member of Gator Nation and beyond.
However, I didn't write a column like so many others who cover the Gators on a daily basis.
You see, coming from me in this medium might not carry a lot of weight with some of you. And I get that. That's part of the deal I made when I moved from one side (sports journalism) of the fence to the other side (team media/public relations).
Still, it was satisfying to read that others – those on the outside not associated with UF or the UAA – agreed with my take on the dicey subject matter.
Tampa Bay Times columnist Tom Jones opened his column: A terrible allegation. An appropriate response. Orlando Sentinel columnist Mike Bianchi also wrote a column that endorsed UF's handling of the matter. Others shared similar views in their own unique styles.
Truth is, this job is probably more in the middle of those two fences than most realize. Whenever my sports-journalist friends ask me the biggest difference from this role compared to my past jobs, I tell them it's probably about 80 percent the same.
Like them, writing game stories, features, notebooks and blogs -- the bulk of the content that fans are most interested in -- fills most of my time. And as a bonus, I get to do it with better access than most, which often means richer human-interest stories for readers.
As for that other 20 percent, well, it often takes place on days like Monday and with stories like the latest one on Harris.
Our primary role here at GatorZone.com is to accurately inform, aggressively promote, sometimes entertain, and on our best days, humanize the players and coaches that Gator Nation cares so much about.
The week began with plans to do exactly that with Treon Harris. And then the storyline changed. There are many outlets on the Internet for you to read about Harris, and GatorZone.com will be one of those some days.
The fact we are posting this story hopefully helps you understand some of the differences in the way media outlets – those lines are blurred more than ever and GatorZone.com is just one of many examples on college campuses across the country – operate and disseminate information.
But until we know more definitive answers and have a final resolution, we won't post content filled with the speculation and unattributed sources that other outlets may or may not report. That's not our job.
Our job is to tell the Gators' story from our perspective.
