The Asterisk on New England’s Winning Season

Sports Commentary published on Nov. 8, 2007 in The Watch Newspaper

Gus Jarvis

I can’t tell you how much I hate the New England Patriots. I have always hated them, but now I hate them more than ever.

Last Sunday’s matchup between the Pats and the Colts was truly an exciting game to watch and, at the time, I respected New England’s fourth-quarter comeback to beat Indy 24-20. What came after the game is simply ridiculous.

Coach Bill Belichick and the rest of his unbeaten New England cronies suspected Indianapolis of pumping up the crowd noise inside the RCA Dome during the game. This – coming from a coach who admittedly cheated earlier this year – is one of the most absurd allegations I have heard. So absurd, I am not sure to take it seriously.

Apparently, an “odd reverberating sound pattern could be heard on the CBS broadcast, but not inside the stadium,” reported The New York Times. A statement released by NFL officials said CBS had explained the “unusual audio moment” as being the result of tape feedback. With that, the NFL cleared the Colts on Monday of the charges made by the Patriots.

“We trust this will put an end to the ridiculous and unfounded accusations that the Colts artificially enhanced crowd noise at the RCA Dome in any way,” the Colts told the Times in a statement.

Belichick also said after the game that the Patriots’ coach-to-quarterback communications weren’t working.

“What all was going on, I can’t tell you but I can tell you that from a functional standpoint, the coach-to-quarterback was basically useless,” Belichick told the Times.

Boohoo. I could respect the fact that they made adjustments without their communication line to win the game, but to come out and whine like he did and then make accusations of increased noise is embarrassing. They are, after all, in the NFL and are paid high salaries to run an offense. The team could have done without the bitching and moaning after a grand victory.

Let us not forget that these allegations are coming from known cheaters in this season’s “Spygate” controversy. Early in the NFL season, the Patriots were fined $250,000 for recording defensive signals to opposing players on the field. They must also forfeit a first-round draft pick next year if they make the playoffs, or second- and third-rounders if they don’t.

A Patriots’ video camera aimed at New York Jets coaches (one of which who is a former Patriots defensive coordinator) was confiscated by league officials during the first quarter of the team’s 38-14 win over the Jets last September.

The Pats undefeated season and their cheating is on everybody’s mind, even if they don’t admit it. Dallas Cowboys head coach Wade Phillips told Peter King on Inside the NFL just before their loss against the Pats that it is on everybody’s mind.

“Hey, New England was caught cheating and it is a black mark on their success,” Phillips told King.

But then Phillips later retracted his statement by saying on ESPN’s Mike and Mike Show that, “I think it’s ludicrous to demean a team, an organization that has done a great job and won all those games, and deserved every bit of it. They won all those championships. They deserve every bit of what they got.”

More recently, former Miami and only season-long undefeated coach Don Shula pulled the same stunt by initially telling the New York Daily News that, “The Spygate thing has diminished what they’ve accomplished. You would hate to have that attached to your accomplishments. They’ve got it.” Shula compared the Patriots scandal to that of the asterisk on Barry Bond’s homerun record.

But, like Phillips, Shula changed his tune after he made those comments.

“If they run the table, and they win all the games, then they are doing it within the rules of the NFL,” Shula told ESPN’s Mike and Mike. “And there shouldn’t be any asterisk to it. That would be the accomplishment that they made. It would be the best in all of sports.”

I, for one (I know I’m not alone), have already attached an asterisk on any good thing the New England Patriots accomplish from here on out. They cheated. They are no better than other past cheaters, like Pete Rose. It is too bad for them if they become the second team in NFL history to go undefeated because they cheated early on.

Nobody really knows (besides Belichick) how long the Pats have been cheating but I guarantee the Jets game wasn’t their first time. So yes, the Patriots may win out and they may be their fan’s champions, but the rest of us aren’t fooled, just like Barry Bonds didn’t fool the rest of the world.

At some point the Pats’ luck will run out. I can’t wait to see the tear-soaked Grinders in Boston when their undeserved triumph ends.

Farewell to a True Community Journalist

Editorial published on Sept. 24, 2014

Gus Jarvis

I think I can speak not only for the staff here at The Watch, but for our readers and the entire Western Slope community, as well, when I say that the departure of photojournalist, reporter and all around newsman William Woody is going to be felt for a long, long time.

Next week, Woody will pack up his cameras, lenses and faded Duke T-shirts and head to Ashville, N.C. where he will take his career to the next level as a staff photographer for the Citizen-Times.

In this move, he’ll be trading Six Shooter Pale Ales for Cheerwine, Bronco Sundays for NASCAR Sundays and Telluride’s music festival scene for Ashville’s lively bluegrass scene.

All in all, it’s an exciting move for the Woody family, and I know he will bring a dedication to news and his photographer’s eye to the Ashville scene that they’ve never seen before.

The Citizen-Times is lucky to have Will Woody on board.

And we’ve been lucky to have Will Woody shooting, writing and showing an unparalleled dedication to community journalism for the past couple of years. As a photographer, my words can’t begin to describe the talent he has behind the lens. You’ve all seen his work on these pages before, and in other publications, including The Denver Post, The Grand Junction Daily Sentinel; he grew up in the business, and began shooting for the Montrose Daily Press in the days when his father, Stephen, was its publisher.

Nowadays, Woody, as we know him, seems to be everywhere in the region, shooting everything from high-speed shots of high-school football touchdowns to the first ears of the Olathe corn harvest, taking a GoPro ride on a crop duster and portraits of World War II veterans and close-ups of the Montrose County Commissioners, most likely to their dismay. Woody captures these moments as only he can, and we will miss his artful chronicles of life in this region in our pages.

Woody’s storytelling as a photographer carries through to his reporting; he knows a good narrative story when he sees one. Very rarely do we get a story from Woody that doesn’t have a deeper meaning, below the surface. From his story about homelessness in Montrose to his telling the stories of two teenage mothers continuing their education, his humanity shines through. He works hard to find the stories nobody else is telling and tells them, using pictures and often words, as well, as nobody else can.

Woody is dedicated to his profession. If you are a regular reader of his Facebook feed, you know what I’m talking about. He loves a scoop, and will work (to the dismay of his wife, Jeana) all hours to get one. His dedication to the police scanner on a Sunday last November was at the heart of reporter Samantha Wright’s prompt, accurate and award-winning coverage of the mine tragedy in Ouray.

While he takes his job seriously, Woody knows how to have fun in his work. Take, for instance, the first sentence of his first-person account of his mock firefight with the Montrose Police SWAT team last January: “All I was told was to bring gloves, a heavy coat ‘and something to protect your junk.’ Those instructions didn’t really intimidate me; I’ve been looking for a gunfight with the police for some time, and now I was preparing to reap what I’d sowed.”

Priceless.

On a personal note, I am going to miss slugging back beers with Woody at the Horsefly after the paper’s gone to bed, hanging with Jeana occasionally and horsing around with his two munchkins, Stella and Wilson. I look forward to watching them grow up on Woody and Jeana’s closely followed Facebook feed.

Community journalists wear many hats and keep odd hours, going from sports reporter/photographer on a Tuesday evening to capturing  the community’s heartbreak upon the death of a child to the drudgery of town and county politics and school board meetings, being fair to your sources and compelling your readers, at the same time.

But foremost, a community journalist has to love his community. Woody embodies the ethos of community journalism, and we will miss him, here in Montrose, and here at The Watch.

He is irreplaceable.

Cops, Guns and the Lost Idea of River Protection

Sports Commentary published on May 16, 2008 in The Watch Newspaper

Gus Jarvis

This week, I am going to turn my back to the national sporting scene. It’s river season here in the West and I have some things to get off my chest.

As this winter’s abundant snowpack begins to provide life to the rivers in and around the Colorado River watershed, boaters of all types are spending as much time on the water as possible – I know I am. And in doing so have noticed a disturbing occurrence – an overabundance of gun-carrying cops patrolling these recreational river wonders.

Last week, I took off with a group of friends to raft the Cataract Canyon section of the Colorado River in Utah. Most of this section of river travels through Canyonlands National Park.

After putting on the water, it became apparent very quickly that we were now on the National Park Service’s turf, heavily patrolled by their hot-dog rangers. Throughout our six-day journey on the park, we were incessantly harassed by a park ranger, one whose communication skills were anything but eloquent.

Here’s how our first conversation with this ranger started after he pulled up in his oversized diesel motorboat as we sat eating breakfast in all the canyon’s glory.

Ranger With Gun: “Who is the permit holder here?”

Permit Holder: “I am.” (Walks over to greet the ranger who is not surprisingly wearing hazer cop glasses like those found on the set of Reno 911.)

Ranger With Gun: “You see this?” (Points to Permit Holder’s name on permit.) “This is who is going to get a ticket when any one of these guys (points to us) screws up. Got it?”

Permit Holder: “Yes.”

The tone of our subsequent conversations with the ranger did not improve. Instead of acting like he cared about the delicate environment surrounding us, the cop simply wanted to assert his authority. And with a gun on his belt, he certainly had it.

Two years ago, in the Gunnison Gorge National Conservation Area, some friends of mine were checked by another so called “law enforcement official” from the Colorado Division of Wildlife. This time I actually felt threatened when he pulled up in an inflatable kayak and the first thing he did was pull his pistol and lay it across his kayak on top of a white towel. Once the gun was securely in place – resting on the rocking boat – he proceeded to check for fishing licenses.

One guy didn’t have one and as the conversation got heated and the ticket was issued the cop had moved almost 30 yards away from his boat – and his gun. Gun safety anyone?

An associate of mine tells me that in his Colorado fishing experience, “at least twice a ‘law enforcement official’ has asked for a fishing license with a hand hovering over his gun.”

Is that really necessary?

And let us not forget last spring on the Dolores River when another “law enforcement official,” this time from the Federal Bureau of Land Management, busted a number of boaters for smoking pot on the beach before their put-in. Some of those present during the bust said the officer (who didn’t check for proper river equipment, i.e. fire pans, groovers, etc.) was lurking in the bushes the night before with his nose to the air searching for the scent of pot like a beagle in an airport.

Law enforcement on our rivers is getting away from its main purpose. And there are too many damn guns to patrol people armed with fishing rods, boat pumps, and empty Bud cans. At any given time, on any given river in Colorado, a boater enjoying the recreation this state has to offer can be checked and questioned by personnel from at least three different organizations – all of whom carry guns. First, the Colorado State parks and Recreation Department will question you over the number of band-aids in your first aid kit. Then, a BLM officer can question you if you brough a groover. And finally, a DOW officer can question you about your fishing license.

To put it simply, there are too many cops with guns patrolling people who are generally trying to get away from cops with guns. And the problem with this may lie with President Bush in his antics to create “national security” after 9-11. Right now any cop from any organization has jurisdiction over, well, everything. 

But the travesty of this situation isn’t just the hardships put on recreationalists. It lies in the fact that a position was once filled by those who have studied river ecologies and have a natural love of river ecosystems is now being filled by heavy-handed, law enforcement types who don’t know the difference between cryptobiotic soil and beach sand, but can tell you the range of their .45 mag.

The federal/state government agencies who are charged with protecting these rivers, which are so important environmentally as well as financially, should rethink who they hire. It is time to go back and get those who are educated in environmental sciences patrolling rivers. Rangers, in most instances, shouldn’t have to carry a gun and their past experience should not be just the police academy or working in a heavy patrol unit in Afghanistan. Our rivers are not Hogan’s Alley and shouldn’t remind us of 1984.

Although few and far between, I know there are still dedicated river rangers out there who truly care about the river and aren’t afraid to check to make sure everybody is using the river in a clean, respectable way through friendly conservation. I commend you for that and I appreciate the work you do. I am sure, because you are just a ranger – not a “law enforcement official” – and don’t carry a gun, you are paid less.

Montrose County’s Public Relations Problem

Editorial published on June 23, 2014 in The Watch Newspaper

Gus Jarvis

Montrose County has a public relations problem.

As a reporter covering various issues that are often contentious, and with varying viewpoints, I work to believe that all parties are acting with the best of intentions, that they have good reasons for what they do and say.

In our region of small municipalities and counties, stretching from the North Fork Valley to Norwood, Telluride and Naturita, most of the time, this is true. Yes, there are conflicting perspectives, but most people have good, reasonable reasons for acting the way that they do.

Living in Montrose County, I’m finding that belief harder to hold on to.

In the course of covering the constant back-and-forth of the county’s dealings with a possible second Fixed-Base Operator at the Montrose Regional Airport, I was surprised to see that announced on the agenda for Monday’s regular Montrose Board of Commissioner meeting, in the small BOCC meeting room, on Monday, June 16. I had heard numerous times – directly from the commissioners, as did most interested parties – that when the proposed agreement with Majestic Skies went before the BOCC, that would take place at an evening meeting at Friendship Hall where more interested parties could attend, and weigh in on the proceedings.

It was also promised that the commissioners would have a representative from Majestic Skies on hand to answer questions from members of the community.

Imagine my surprise, at 7:18 p.m. on Friday, June 13, when I received an email noticing the commissioners’ meeting agenda for early Monday morning, the very next business day.

Yes, the FBO agreement with Majestic Skies was on the agenda. No, it wasn’t at the long-promised evening meeting. No, it would not take place at the relatively spacious Friendship Hall. And no,  it turned out, there was no Majestic Skies representative taking questions.

After several postponements of the agenda item, supposedly to allow for more public participation, why the sudden rush?

Despite hearing from members of the public who did attend the abruptly called Monday morning meeting that had not been given time to review the agreement under consideration, commissioners David White and Ron Henderson basically said the time had come to approve the agreement, and that’s what they did. Commissioner Gary Ellis, sticking to what the commissioners said previously, dissented, and said repeatedly that the decision was too big for that time and that venue.

For Henderson and White, it didn’t matter.

As a reporter, I want to believe White and Henderson had reason to approve the Majestic Skies agreement, then and there, but what I didn’t hear was anything about why they had reneged on what they promised the community they would do. Henderson and White’s decision to push the issue made me wonder, “What’s really going on here?”

Making it worse was how Commissioner White tried to explain his decision-making process, complaining that he  tired of the lawsuits, name-calling, legal threats, Colorado Open Records Act requests, and so on. In essence, White threw up his hands, telling the community, in effect, I am doing noble work here;  stay out of it. Maybe White is acting aboveboard and has the community’s best interests at heart – he, like other participants in the public arena, can start with the benefit of that doubt.

But if White is acting reasonably in this matter, he sure isn’t explaining the reasons for his actions at all clearly.

From the very beginning, the process of approving a possible second FBO at MTJ has been anything but understandable. The delay in announcing the name of the company wishing to be an FBO came first. Why the secrecy? If I were the commissioners, I would have stood up at first available meeting and said look, “We’ve been contacted by a company wishing to be an FBO at our airport. Here’s the email they sent. We, by FAA regulations, have to consider it.”

I am fairly certain Montrose County’s residents, by and large, would have accepted that explanation. Instead, the identity of the proposed new FBO operator was kept secret. The county continues to withhold Majestic Skies’ initial proposal. For what? From my perspective, it seems Majestic proprietor Larry Danielle has deep pockets and wishes to build and operate a FBO. What trade secrets are they obligated to hide?

White was very critical of citizens who have been critical of this process. As a citizen, how can you not be critical? The county is spending tens of thousands of dollars defending lawsuits. The commissioners, in my view, regularly discuss county matters amongst themselves, off the record. (Ellis and White went out the back door during a meeting recess into the alley during the last gravel pit hearing; Watch photographer William Woody snapped a photo of all three of them huddled in a recess at the April FBO hearing.) Now maybe they are simply discussing the shade of their brown boot polish or their dislike of ObamaCare, and maybe not? What I do know is that discussions like that create a public relations nightmare.

Why don’t they just release the records under Colorado Open Records Act? What do they have to hide? Their willingness to fight CORA requests creates skepticism.

And there are other actions I believe create public skepticism as well. For instance, the commissioners have a relatively new rule that now, in the public comment portion of their meetings, they will not engage with the public – meaning that they no longer have open conversations, on the record, with constituents. Is this what it has come to? Your elected officials, as an entire body, are no longer willing to have a conversation with you in front of others? This makes me skeptical of the commissioners’ intentions.

White suggested at the June 16 meeting that the county has been inundated with CORA requests. Over the better part of eight or nine years as a reporter covering local government in San Miguel and Ouray counties, including the towns of Telluride, Mountain Village, Ridgway, and Ouray, I’ve never had a problem getting my hands on public documents. In fact, the documents I request are readily made available, for accuracy’s sake. Before taking the Montrose County beat, I had never once been told to file an official CORA request. Boy, did that change, when I stepped into the Montrose County political landscape.

And while it took some practice to figure out Montrose County’s labyrinthine online system to get actual commissioner meeting packets, it was doable. I feel for those residents who tried to find the actual agreement between the county and Majestic Skies: I know firsthand that it wasn’t easy.

So, if I could make a suggestion to Montrose County when it comes to meeting documents and packets, I would suggest they take a look at Ouray and San Miguel counties. Getting a hold of meeting documentation, no matter how thick and elaborate it may be, is easy. But in Montrose County, it’s not easy, and that’s a big problem.

If we are to believe the Montrose County Commissioners have the best of intentions, then they should start acting like they have the best of intentions. Right now, all they’ve done is create a world of suspicion, and then placed the blame on  constituents, for suspecting the worst. I am not saying they’ve done anything illegal, but they certainly haven’t done anything to keep public suspicions at bay.

Perhaps the commissioners should hire an effective PR firm to help them communicate their intentions. It certainly would be cheaper than the barrage of lawsuits they are continuing to defend.

The End of An Era

Editorial published on Nov. 27, 2014 in The Watch Newspaper

Gus Jarvis

For all of us here at The Watch newspaper, it’s a bittersweet time. This is the last edition of The Watch under the ownership of Marta Tarbell and Seth Cagin, before it sells to the Telluride Daily Planet.

For the past 17 years, Marta and Seth have dedicated themselves to providing news that was accurate, informative and often humorous – in a beautifully designed format. It’s a quality product that is hard to come by in this ever-changing world of journalism.

In the eight years that I’ve been a part of The Watch family, I’ve often heard stories of this newspaper’s earliest days, when the paper was actually laid out on the bed in their Telluride home’s master bedroom. Volume 1, Number 1 of The Telluride Watch was published on Friday, Jan. 17, 1997, with “Council Denies New Protections for Historic Sheds” as its lead story on page 1. The edition also included a story about the swearing-in of San Miguel Commissioner Art Goodtimes, on page 5. Goodtimes, now the longest-running columnist for The Watch, remains a San Miguel County Commissioner to this day.

With a masthead of just two and with a motto promising “straight reporting,” “great cartoons,” and an “eight-day calendar,” Seth and Marta launched a newspaper that would later become the voice of an entire region, from Montrose to Ouray to Ridgway, and from Telluride to Norwood to Naturita.

As the newspaper grew over the years, so did the number of people who would call The Watch home. A decade after its first edition, the Watch masthead of two grew to a masthead of 33. Today, following the downsizing effects of the Great Recession, The Watch has a masthead of 21.

While Marta and Seth brought their journalistic knowledge and sense of news to their own paper, one of their greatest attributes in publishing The Watch was the way they treated the people who worked for them. They made The Watch a family. Not only would they give guidance when guidance was needed, but they would also allow staff to be creative in their own individual ways. It didn’t matter if you were a writer, a graphic designer and or advertising sales representative, they wanted your creativity unleashed to help the entire business succeed. They always treated everyone with respect, and in return, we all did our best to make The Watch the best paper in the region. Each and every Thursday, we all were proud to pick up the latest copy of The Watch and see that week’s work in print. It never got old.

Forward-thinking newspaper publishers like Seth and Marta naturally attract creative talent. In my tenure here at The Watch, I can honestly say I’ve worked with some of the most creative, upbeat and dedicated personalities in and around the region. Here are just a few of the people who have, over the years, made The Watch what it is today: Our columnists over the years – including Jack Pera, Art Goodtimes, Rob Schultheis, Peter Shelton, Martinique Davis, and the fiery voice of the late Grace Herndon – not only informed readers, but drew a line in the sand about important issues. Of course some of The Watch’s most heated and contentious columns were written by Seth, who always had a way of making his point seem impossible to disregard.

Community journalism is all about creating relationships, and The Watch always worked tirelessly to make advertising work for businesses throughout the region. Patrick Nicklaus and Peggy Kiniston, who worked for the paper in years past, laid a strong foundation for our current advertising staff of Tammy Kulpa, Melissa Lonsbury and Alec Jacobson. Advertising makes the world go ’round in the newspaper business, and without the hard work (often the hardest work) from these folks, I wouldn’t be writing this today.

The Watch, since it expanded to cover the entire region several years ago, has always taken pride in covering local news first and foremost. There’s a reason why you don’t see Associated Press stories in The Watch. Over the years, we have had some very, very talented writers report the news in these pages. Of course Seth and Marta, The Watch’s original newsroom, laid the foundation to good reporting. Others who came along over the years included Peter Kenworthy, Peter Shelton, Jeff Hunt, Adam Smith, Douglas McDaniel, Krista Sherer, Allison Perry, Samantha Wright, Andy Sawyer, Martinique Davis, and William Woody, to name a few.

Of course the stories these reporters filed each and every week always looked and read their best, thanks to the editing skills Jessica Newens, Josie Jay, Marta and Leslie Vreeland. To those who have edited me time and time again, I can’t thank you enough.

The photography work of Woody, Alec Jacobson, and, of course, Brett Schreckengost brought life to all those stories in a way that nobody else in the region could.

To put it all together, on a page, we must give a nod to The Watch’s design team over the years, including Anne Reeser, Casey Nay, Cecily Bryson, Barbara Kondracki, Rick Bickhart, and Nate Moore. No paper in the state of Colorado has a better, more aesthetic design than The Watch.

And, of course, none of it this would have been possible without the circulation services of Scott Nuechterlein and his crews for distributing The Watch to the far reaches of San Miguel, Montrose and Ouray counties.

On a personal note, while I worked in offices around the region, I particularly liked working in the Telluride office best, alongside Marta. I will miss our chats about literature, the latest in The New Yorker, upcoming news stories and, even, a little gossip here and there. I think Marta and I brought out the best in each other at The Watch. It was work, but it was always fun, and I always looked forward to it.

While I’ve only listed a few names from the paper’s masthead (there are certainly more who I’m sure deserve mention), my point here is this: The Watch is and has been a family of dedicated watchers. They are all the DNA of what this great regional newspaper is, and was. It is a conglomeration many different talents and personalities. Marta and Seth have been the glue keeping it all together and letting it grow collectively.

It goes without saying that the positive mark Seth and Marta have left on not only Telluride but the entire region with The Watch and its special publications is immeasurable. I wish them luck in their next, more relaxed, adventures and hope they can spend more time consuming media than worrying about creating it.

I wish the new owners of The Watch the best of luck, as well. They have big and important shoes to fill.