When the news broke Monday that a Nebraska football player had been hospitalized in connection with a "medical emergency," it brought to mind the media circus that erupted when Dallas Cowboy football star Terrell Owens attempted suicide last September.Speculation about the events that led up to Marlon Lucky's hospitalization Sunday night provided instant fodder for discussion on Omaha's two afternoon sports radio talk programs, "Unsportsmanlike Conduct" on KOZN (1620 AM) and "The Big Show with Matt Perrault" on KXSP (590 AM).
However, hosts of the two shows proceeded with caution when reporting on the few facts about the incident that had emerged.
"As (my) show went on, many people started to call us reporting that they were hearing from other media outlets about speculation about the story," Perrault said. "Some of that speculation turned out to be correct, some turned out to be wrong."
University Released Few Details
Kevin Kugler, co-host of "Unsportsmanlike Conduct," said the story was particularly difficult to cover because so little information was being divulged by the Nebraska Sports Information Department.
"We waited to report (Lucky's) name until we had a copy of the Lincoln Police Report in our hands due to the sensitive nature of the story," Kugler said. "We received that copy at approximately 3:40 (Monday) afternoon, so we felt confident in going with the name of the player at that point."
Perrault said he chose to mention only what major media news outlets, like sister TV station KMTV (Cox Channel 5), were reporting.
"I am a sports talk show host," he said. "Unless someone is willing to go on the air to talk about specifics of a story involving a player's health, I don't talk about it or wonder out loud about what could be going on. It's just too dangerous a situation to be wrong about."
Kugler said he felt responsible to be right, not first, with the story.
"This is too sensitive of a story to just run out and throw rumors on the air," he said. "We won't do that. Anything we have reported or will report will be confirmed through multiple sources."
On his early evening sportscasts Monday, KMTV Sports Director Travis Justice pointed out the primary obstacle many journalists faced when reporting on the story.
"You have a university that doesn't communicate and it leads to all types of speculation," Justice said. "In today's Internet world, it can run crazy."
