The guy was kinda malicious too:
KENT, Ohio (U-WIRE) -- A New York Times reporter said Kent State is miscounting its football attendance. Kent State officials said he was lying.
Laing Kennedy, Kent State's athletic director, said the article's author, Jayson Blair, never even contacted the university about how the school counts its football attendance.
"It's full of inaccuracies," Kennedy said. "It's totally irresponsible and not true. It infuriates me."
Neither Blair nor various editors at The New York Times could be reached for comments after numerous attempts.
The story says the university has sponsored tailgating parties and counted those packed on flatbed trucks and sitting on lawn chairs in the parking lot as being in attendance.
In one version of the article, Blair quotes Pete Mahoney, associate athletic director who oversees marketing, as saying, "We are going to do it until someone tells us to stop." In another version of the article, the same quote was attributed to "one Kent State official."
"I never saw the article," Mahoney said. "I got a phone call after it ran. Those are not my quotes.
"We're not very happy, especially about some comments that were made. 'Flatbed trucks' never came out of my mouth. My whole objective is to get people in the stands. The gate revenue is very important."
Kennedy backed-up Mahoney's comment, stating attendance numbers are accurately reported based on people coming through the turnstiles at Dix Stadium.
"We are not free and easy with the NCAA," Kennedy said. "They are very clear on how to count attendance. We don't count tailgaters. We don't count people on flatbed trucks, and we don't count people in lawn chairs."
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