OTC: Whitlock Does Not Disappoint: The Explanation Targets Star’s Editor, Mike Fannin

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Greg Hall's take on the most epic three hours in KC sports radio history.

http://www.kcconfidential.com/?p=19093#more-19093

“I don’t make threats. That’s not the way I operate. I said, ‘Look, if this Yahoo thing doesn’t run, I’m not writing any more sports columns for The Kansas City Star.’ I’ve had enough.”
Jason Whitlock, getting to the meat of why his “vacation” from The Star lasted three months and ultimately led to his departure from the daily newspaper, The Explanation
GH: Whitlock had made a written reference to YahooSports.com as the source for the Kansas basketball ticker scandal story in his final Star column back in May. His sports editor, Holly Lawton, communicated to him the night before it ran that she was going to remove that reference. “We can’t reference YahooSports in The Kansas City Star,” Lawton told him. It was this impasse that ended JW’s 16-year career with The Star and gave us one hour and ten minutes of the best radio maybe ever in Kansas City — followed by two hours of a muddled mess that had me longing for more solo Whitlock. Here’s my OTC on The Explanation.

“Some Kansas City Star employees and (Sport Editor Mike) Fannin are at the Caddyshack Bar in the River Market. The guy (Fannin) gets so liquored up, he’s kissing all over the neck of one male employee – not in a sexual way but he’s… (immediate DEAD AIR at 4:13 PM).”
Jason Whitlock, The Explanation
GH: Whitlock unleashed a couple of Nagasaki-sized bombs on The Star during his three-hour Explanation and this was one of the biggest and more embarrassing. Metro Sports yanked him off the air just as we were getting the goods on Whit’s former boss’ male neck fetish. Did The Star send one of their favorite “cease and desist” faxes to MS? Did Brad Porter simply trip and pull the plug on the feed? Or did Drew Bledsoe finally seek his revenge on yet another Whitlock attack on gay love? Ahhh, mysteries still remain even after The Explanation.

“Everybody with any common sense thought Derek Sampson was going to be the sports editor of The Kansas City Star. Everybody assumed it was his job. Somewhere, out of nowhere, Mike Fannin elevates Holly Lawton as the sports editor. It was a travesty that Derek Sampson was not given that job. He left almost immediately for The Sporting News. Why did Holly Lawton get the job? The belief among everyone was that Mike and Holly were involved in an inappropriate relationship. Fannin bragged to people about this! I’m not making this up! It was well known throughout the industry. A lack of ethics. A lack of integrity has ramifications for the people who work at The Kansas City Star.”
Jason Whitlock, The Explanation
GH: HBO’s got nothing on The Star’s sports desk. Whitlock paints a picture that has the newspaper’s male editor banging a subordinate female employee and then promoting that banged subordinate into the prestigious role of sports editor. Oh yeah, and Fannin may or may not be cheating on Holly with an unnamed male employee’s neck. So much for the thought Whitlock would bring a pee shooter to this party. Big Sexy was spraying more hollow points than Dirty Harry.

“My only question for Jason Whitlock: how in the world is it possible to kiss someone on the neck in ‘a non-sexual way?’ ”
Raford3, Twitter
GH: Uh, it isn’t. Fannin may get blown out as The Star’s editor (“blown” might not be the best verb here) but he also has a decent shot at staring in his own realty series on Fox.

“There are people who have walked around the Kansas City Star and said; ‘I won’t get laid off because I know about Mike Fannin. Because I got drunk or high with Mike Fannin.’ ”
Jason Whitlock, The Explanation
GH: Damn! All these KC Star layoffs could have been avoided if Whitlock would have just broadcast his Explanation three years ago! Then everyone at The Star would have had Fannin by the balls…not just Holly.

“I’ll put my first three years as a columnist at The Kansas City Star up against any columnist in the history of journalism. That’s a terribly arrogant statement. It’s a factual statement.”
Jason Whitlock, The Explanation
GH: I enjoyed this terribly arrogant comment because JW and his little buddy GH were tight as a Fannin neck-lock on a paperboy in those days. I didn’t hear Whit call my name during the broadcast of The Explanation but I know he was thinking about me.

“I told Holly and Fannin that I’ve got to be removed from this unethical toxic environment that is The Kansas City Star.”
Jason Whitlock, The Explanation
GH: So he’s moving to L.A.

“I’m still hoping for Fannin…or at least his neck kissing partner (to be the “Special Guest).”
Gabe DeArmond, after multiple teases by Nick Wright about a “special guest,” Twitter

“Jason Whitlock, I love you, but goddamn. This is an absolute train wreck.”
Greg Doyle, as he listened to The Explanation live, Twitter
GH: Not everyone was as enamored with The Explanation as I. Read on.

“This has gone from great radio to a waste of my time. Bring on the surprise special guest.”
Gabe DeArmond, Twitter
GH: Whitlock’s solo monologue the first 70 minutes was great radio. Epic, epic stuff. If Nick Wright had more experience as an interviewer or a better feel for radio, he would have bowed out of the Q&A portion the second hour, poured Whitlock three scotches and let the big man burn what was left of The Kansas City Star. Instead, Nick jumped in as planned and started asking a list of questions that had nothing to do with the napalm bombs that Whit had just littered about the Metro Sports studios. Grade D for Wright.

“The bullying of young people. The compromising of the community to win awards. … It’s inappropriate to leave someone this unethical in charge of everyone. … I have so little faith in Mike Fannin. Not a good person in my opinion – at all.”
Jason Whitlock on Mike Fannin, The Explanation
GH: Whitlock made almost every boss he’s ever had at The Star sound like Michael Corleone. But he saved his best venom for Fannin – who he verbally trashed and stomped into a lump of deceit, lies, and unethical inhumanness.

“Anybody who has ever read Whitlock understands that the man has an ego. Still, this was unbelievable! He detailed every time a boss had ever wronged him over the last 15 years or so. I was waiting for a story about how the tooth fairy short-changed him when he was six.”
Lance Veeser, TV 41

“I’m begging you – do the right thing. Don’t participate in the lie and the cover up.”
Jason Whitlock, in a plea to Star employees to rise up and fight da man! Or in this case; da Fannin Man!, The Explanation
GH: I am guessing the straight Star dude with the neck hickey is leading this parade. Maybe The Star needs to dress their male sports staff in full turtlenecks just in case Fannin gets a bit frisky now that Holly has resigned. Speaking of Holly, read on.

“Finally, the conversation about any perceived personal battle between Jason and me is also utterly ridiculous. This email may be posted. Thanks.”
Holly Lawton, after she announced her resignation from The Star, bottomlinecom.com
GH: When I first read Lawton’s denial, I shrugged and took her at her word. Sometimes I’m not too bright. Read on.

“We just handed over the sports editor job to someone who is not remotely qualified. Nothing that I am saying is even remotely controversial. Anyone who says it is, is lying. I’ve been working with handcuffs on me. … I communicated with Holly Lawton only via text message for two years. For two years! We had one conversation of any substance that I can remember. I had almost no relationship with her. She admitted as much to me in an email.”
Jason Whitlock, The Explanation
GH: I’m guessing Whit’s email from Holly wasn’t the same one BottomLineCom was quoting.

“To some of you it’s going to sound like bitterness or bombast or arrogance.”
Jason Whitlock, The Explanation
GH: What great story doesn’t have a little bitter bomb air going for it?

“When it came to (Whitlock’s) most recent bosses at The Star, his allegations against them were so serious and so graphic (aka neck licking males) that the local broadcast carriers cut him off for a few minutes.”
Lance Veeser, TV 41
GH: If you didn’t hear, see or tape The Explanation, you might be out of luck. It appears to me that 610 Sports has refused to post the first 70 minutes of Whitlock’s monologue, the part with all the juice. Metro Sports was scheduled to replay The Explanation at 7:00 PM Friday but that did not happen. It looks like The Star’s lawyers have been busy yet again. The Star is all about free speech and getting to the truth as long as it’s about Mayor Funk, Lew Perkins or anybody else not employed by the newspaper.

“I don’t feel like my ego is a problem. I feel like I am very self-aware. I’m just honest, man. Some see that as an overblown ego. I’m just honest. … A journalist by nature burns bridges. That’s what I do. My column and what I do, it’s not an act. It’s what I do … As a person who throws stones, I have to be clean. You think Carl Peterson hasn’t looked for dirt on me?”
Jason Whitlock, The Explanation

“80 mins in- Jason Whitlock just said different bosses at the KC Star slept together, got drunk and smoked pot. That doesn’t even include — his male boss kissing on another man’s neck.”
Shan Shariff, Twitter
GH: I know most of the players in Whitlock’s tragedy quite well. Friday afternoon I listened to Mike Fannin’s and Mark Zeiman’s prize pig squeal all over them and their professional reputations and that of The Star. I would really like to see The Explanation – The Sequel! Starring Mike Fannin and all he knows about the squeaky-clean, ethical and above-it-all Mr. Jason Whitlock. Trust me, Fannin knows much.

“See what happens when you leave The Star in ‘97. Missed all the fireworks.”
Jeremy Crabtree, former KC Star writer and current Rivals recruiting guru, Twitter

“Another incomplete pass! The phone call was intercepted.”
Jason Whitlock, after the phone call from the “Special Guest,” Jeff George failed in its first attempt, The Explanation
GH: This was the funniest line of the interview and reminded me how quick and funny Whitlock can be. When George finally did connect via phone, technical issues made the QB sound more like Lou Gehrig giving his luckiest-man-on-the-face-of-the-earth speech at Yankee Stadium.

“Just being completely honest, I don’t listen to (your) show very often, so I haven’t heard the criticism. But at the end of the day, I don’t really care what you think of me because mostly what I hear, you’re not the first guy whose come along in the media who tried to execute what I’ve done.”
Jason Whitlock, to Nick Wright, who asked him to respond to his criticism of Whitlock, The Explanation
GH: Wright lacked any of his typical spunk to even blatant facials like the above bitch slap from Whitlock. I thought Wright was in way, way over his head here. He showed Whitlock far more respect than he deserved and totally ignored asking Whitlock to back up his most outlandish claims against Fannin the Vamp and his playmate Lawton. I was disappointed in Wright’s work here. I think he missed a great opportunity to step up and instead he laid down and genuflected for JW.

“For three hours you poured your heart out on television. … You did an hour without taking a breath. Congratulations.”
Leif Lisec, Metro Sports
GH: You gotta love, Leif. Whitlock just spent three hours publicly throwing at least five of his former Star editors under a nasty Greyhound bus and Leif calls it pouring his heart out. I’m guessing Fannin, and whoever pulled the plug after the neck nibbling, had a bit different take on the show.

“I’m signing up pretty much exclusively to write for FoxSports. I’m gonna be a fulltime employee for FoxSports.”
Jason Whitlock, Metro Sports
GH: Wright made it sound like the ridiculous rumors that Whitlock had signed a contract with FoxSports for $2.1 million were actually true. Wright never got Whitlock to address this very large point. Luckily, Lisec did. Read on.

“Exaggerated. I’m not making that much money.”
Jason Whitlock, when asked by Leif Lisec about the rumors he had signed a contract with FoxSports for $2.1 million, Metro Sports

“Just be fair. Be fair. Try to keep your personal feelings out of it.”
Jason Whitlock, when asked what advice he’d give to young aspiring writers, The Explanation

“I’m leaving newspapers man! You don’t get it. This is it. I’ve been wanted to be Mike Royko my whole life! I’m leaving newspapers. I feel like a sellout. I feel like I didn’t accomplish what I wanted to accomplish. It hurts!”
Jason Whitlock, breaking down and crying during his interview with Nick Walters, The Explanation
GH: Whitlock looked, what’s the best way to say this, uh, casual? He was sloppily dressed in an oversized Ball State football jersey that made his round features even more pronounced. It was as if a wannabe gang banger was attempting to verbally take down The Star. The crying worked much better on radio than television.

“You think crying is what you’re going to get lit up for?”
Nick Wright, after Whitlock expressed his regret for crying during the broadcast, The Explanation
GH: Finally, a good line from Wright. It only took two hours for Nick to loosen up. Let’s get Fannin on the phone and start to work on that sequel.

Greghall24@yahoo.com and Twitter / greghall24