THC -- Conversating With Terry

We’re back with another installment of the Terry Hutchens Chronicles, featuring Handsome Terry Hutchens, who wrote a book called “Let ‘Er Rip,” which is either about the 1995 Colts or Terry’s favorite fart-in-an-enclosed-space joke.

Anyway, today’s session is going to be about correspondence with ole Terry, and his wonderful ‘tude towards this readers.

As you may recall, one of the things that started many Purdue fans on the road to disliking Terry was his mocking of several players who have become standouts on the Purdue basketball team. Now, many of us would probably have let this go, but reader Purdue Matt is not among them. He decided he would hold Terry’s sizable feet to the fire and check in with Terry from time to time to see if his tune had changed regarding Robbie Hummel.

This past February, Matt wrote to Terry and asked him this:

Have you changed your mind about Robbie Hummel? Do you still think he'sunimpressive?

Terry’s snooty reply:

How many games has he played in his college career? I'll make my determination when that career is done, thank you. Terry

Maybe it’s because he has a girl’s name, I don’t know, but why the attitude, Terry?

Matt followed with a salient point and question:

Does that mean the jury is still out on Eric Gordon as well since he hasn'tfinished his college career? Why can't you just admit that you were wrongabout Hummel?

To which Terry, apparently already agitated from perhaps bad gas or something, begins to lose it. At 6:38 PM he replies with this:

Yes, I think the jury is still out on Gordon, too. The only difference isthat his career will be over in two months.

Ah, yes, a dig that Robbie isn’t going pro so he must not be that good yet.

And then, two minutes later, he writes to Matt again:

And why is it so important to you that I admit that I was wrong aboutHummel, anyway? I cover INDIANA UNIVERSITY BASKETBALL. I made a comment about Hummel and the recruiting class in a blog. It was my opinion. Why do I have to retract every comment I make when it was a matter of opinion.

Stop screaming Terry. And if you’re going to hide behind the fact that you cover INDIANA BASKETBALL then doesn’t that invalidate your earlier opinions on Hummel and Moore? I’m confused. You covered INDIANA BASKETBALL back then, too, right? Hello? Terry?

Matt decides not to let him off the hook, though, and responds to Terry’s question of why it’s so important that he admit he was wrong about Hummel (which should be obvious, but hey, this is Terry Hutchens we’re talking about):

Simple. Accountability.

And do you know what Terry thinks about that? Well, he’s a serious journalist, you understand… and so he values his readers – FOR HIM TO POOP ON!

Thanks, but I don't need to be accountable to you. End of conversation. Thanks for the note....Terry

Good gracious. What a prick. And, um, yeah you sort of do, Terry. See a blog with comments and an email address invite people to question you. And as a reporter/writer/opinion-giver you actually ARE required to be accountable. Probably was talked about in journalism class. Class… you know, CLASS, Terry? School? Big rooms, smart people talking at the front. You trying to look down girl’s shirts… you remember school, right Terry?

I sort of imagine Terry Hutchens envisioned that when he started writing his “blog” and his email address was out there that he’d get nothing but fawning emails about how awesome he is and how brilliant a writer he is. I also imagine he expected to be asked all sorts of questions about being an “expert” on IU sports. Instead, he gets challenged now and then and deservedly so, since he posts horse dung like Monday of this week, where he actually makes his readers suffer through stories about tracking down a cell phone number that he already had but managed to lose. Gripping, Terry, gripping. I can’t wait for your next post, where you detail the long line at Taco Bell.

But Matt’s exchanges with ole Terry weren’t the only ones we have access to.

In mid-February, IU played Illinois and the Illinois fans got all over Eric Gordon. And in the front row was Gordon’s family, and ESPN caught his father more than once standing up in front of people and then TURNING to the crowd with his hands up, as though egging them on. And then everyone bashed the Illinois fans for being meanies. Including Terry. And he started his blog post the next day with this title: “A Sad State of Affairs.”

For starters, Terry, who the hell do you think you are? Tolstoy? “A sad state of affairs…”? Seriously? Maybe this is just the writer in me, but, hey, shut up.

And then he went on to talk about how awful the Illinois fans were and how they need to “just get over it.” And then he laid it on thick about his crush, Eric:

But let's get back to Gordon and the way he was treated by the Illini crowd. OK, you had your chance to act like 10-year-olds (which is an insult to 10-year-olds by the way) in the way you treated Eric Gordon Thursday night … You called him names, you got into his head, you told him that no one liked him, and you booed him from start to finish. I'm sure when you went home from the game, you left the building with your chests puffed out and really feeling good about the way you treated a 19-year-old kid. But I'll tell you this … all you did on national TV Thursday night was embarrass yourself, your team and your university.

And for what? Because a young man, at the age of 17, changed his mind. A really nice young man by the way. One of the most polite, soft-spoken, respectful young men I have ever been around in college athletics. The kind of kid you would be proud to call your son. And yet, this nice kid had to endure that Thursday night because he changed his mind. … So he acted like a kid who didn't want to break up with his girlfriend because he didn't want to hurt her feelings … No, you're a loser because you changed your mind. You're public enemy No. 1 in the state of Illinois because you fulfilled a dream by playing close to home and representing your state university after telling another school that originally you wanted to play for them. I can understand people being disappointed, but to allow that disappointment to reach the level it did Thursday night was a travesty. And all for what? Because Eric Gordon changed his mind. Imagine that, a teenage boy changed his mind.

Wow. Just… wow. So I had to comment. I posted – or tried to post – a comment on his blog under this post about how Terry needs to step back a bit because he’s clearly too close to this situation and too biased. And, um, I may have laid it on thick myself, too, (some say I do that) and implied that Terry wanted to wear Eric’s letterman jacket... and that he was hoping Eric might invite him to the Sadie Hawkins Dance. That sort of thing.

I also took umbrage with another post he wrote that week, around AJ Ratliff leaving the IU program. What bothered me greatly about that post was that Terry was implying he was going to talk about AJ and what a great kid he is and what a loss it is for IU. Instead, he spends the first two paragraphs talking about his “relationships” with former IU luminaries, such as Dane Freaking Fife, Jarrad Odle, AJ Moye, Luke Recker and Gibran Hamdan… as though we’re all supposed to be impressed with what a well-connected and hip dude Terry Hutchens is. He doesn’t mention Ratliff until the third paragraph of a five paragraph post. Simply idiotic. And I told him so in his comments.

Shockingly, my comments were not posted. Instead, I got the following note in the Boiled Sports mailbox:

J Money,
Thanks for the insightful blog responses.Boiled Sports is an interesting site. I would think if you could get a fewpage views it would be something people might enjoy reading. It looks like most of your blogs get a handful of hits which is too bad. Sorry you don't agree with my opinions or the way I do my job, but I'm OKwith that. All the best… Terry

Ahhh, and the jabbing at Boiled Sports has begun. And that’s fine, really, since we’re not, you know, expecting to be famous or anything. “I think if you could get a few page views…”

You know what, Terry? If you can explain to me what page views are, I’ll get on a plane, fly to Indianapolis, wash and wax your car in the parking lot of the Indianapolis Star while wearing an IU hat and a shirt that says “Terry Hutchens taught me everything about everything and he’s the awesomest.”

Also, the “it looks like your blogs get a handful of hits…” comment. Yes, that’s his second dig at nobody reading our site. And, hey, Terry – the blog is the overall THING. Boiled Sports is a BLOGsite. Each post is not a blog… it’s a POST! Welcome to 1998, you haughty jackass.

I, of course, being the prick that I am, wouldn’t stand to just let him feel smug and self-satisfied that he showed us:

Terry -- We got some feedback about you and the way you are in general and so I decided to leave a couple of fiery comments on your blog just to see if it stirred anything up... glad to see you read them.

Oh, and thanks for the dig at our page views. We're doing okay, though, since it's not our primary jobs....

Boiler Up!
J

I like to imagine Terry seeing this note and choking on his Coca-cola.

He more or less admits to it in his response:

To be honest I didn't expect you to reply either so touche. Sorry for the dig but I was feeling dug on myself so I had to resort to acheap shot as well. To be honest, again, I liked the way your site looked especially with the pictures. I wish I could get a picture of Tiger Woods' wife on my blog. Anyway, thanks for reading. I didn't post your blog comments. The one about going to a dance with Eric was too weird. But thanks again for the email response. Again, that surprised me a little bit that you respond.

Terry

Yes, Terry, we get it. You didn’t think we’d respond… mainly because we’re cowardly bloggers in our mommies basements. And it’s amazing to me that a professional journalist will even admit that he’s so easy to rattle that when he feels a comment on his blog is a “cheap shot” that he has to take one back. Yes, Terry, that’s likely to work out well for you.

So what’s the moral of this week’s lesson? I don’t know… but I do know that if you want to get under Terry’s skin, just post a comment about him being in love with Eric Gordon. You should get a personal message replete with personal insults. We also learned that Terry thinks that posts are blogs. Also, whatever you do, don’t challenge his opinions as Matt did – that’s not allowed and he doesn’t answer to you! He blogs his blog for blog-reading, blog-appreciating IU fanatics who see Terry for what he is – a giant in the world of college sports in the state of Indiana Bloomington.