Jonny Miller. (Adam Kaufman/WBZ NewsRadio 1030)
BOSTON (WBZ-AM) -- If you're a Red Sox fan, you're undoubtedly familiar with WBZ reporter Jonny Miller. Not slowed by cerebral palsy, Jonny's been covering the team and Boston sports for us since 1972. He was the focus of a Dan Shaughnessy profile in the Boston Globe last week:
You may not know that Jonny votes each week in the Associated Press college football poll, and his choice to place Ohio State 25th in week two after having the Buckeyes fifth on his preseason ballot created outrage in that neck of the woods.
From 247sports's Bucknuts site ("Voter picks Ohio State No. 25 in AP College Football Poll"):
"Miller doesn't have any apparent explanation out for his pick, which may be out of protest if nothing else. And WBZ Newsradio is located in Boston, not typically a hotbed of anti-Ohio State sentiment. But the on-field results — not to mention his extremely polarizing pick — wouldn't seem to dictate such a low position."
From BustedCoverage.com ("AP Voter Has Ohio State 25th In Poll After Being 5th On His Preseason Ballot"):
"Could Jonny be playing judge and jury against football players who had nothing to do with the Urban Meyer situation? That’s nice of Jonny. Take it out on the unpaid labor that makes hundreds of millions for the schools and then makes hundreds of millions for the media outlets who need the content they provide.
...
It’s nothing new for AP voters to be jerkoffs. We’ve been showing you guys how these jerkoffs operate for years. Walk into a media room at a major sporting event. It’ll make you want to go drink beers with your neighborhood guys after like five minutes."
And then there's the backlash on social media:
"Why's he get a vote?" "Zero credibility!" "Drug test him!" "He's a joke!" Or much worse.
Jonny told WBZ NewsRadio 1030's Adam Kaufman the motivation behind his decision.
"As a kind of protest for what the Ohio State Board of Trustees didn't do when they voted on Coach Urban Meyer and the AD [Gene Smith]," he said. "They just gave them both what I thought was a slap on the wrist, a three-game suspension. I really think that colleges should set an example of sexual abuse harassment by their employees, and what Meyer did was just brushed aside, and I thought that was disgraceful."
Now, granted, players shouldn't be faulted for what coach Urban Meyer knew or didn't know, but Johnny's overall belief college athletics is a cesspool isn't exactly an outlandish opinion. And, Miller said he's unfazed by all the haters.
"Unfortunately, I got a lot of comments on my Facebook page from fans of Ohio State," he said. "I only looked at about six or seven. They were nasty! I'm still laughing inside by those yahoos, Ohio State fans. And if I voted some other school down, like I did last year--I can't remember the name of the school, but I voted them out of the top 25, and I got nasty emails from those yahoos--I just brushed it aside and I'm still laughing about it."
WBZ NewsRadio 1030's Adam Kaufman (@AdamMKaufman) reports