An apology from Full-Time Hoops

Dear supporters,

As many of you know, I made an appearance on KUSI-TV last night to discuss, among other things, the San Diego Section Player of the Year and the selection process. My intention was not to stir controversy, but to inform viewers of the selection process and how the voting panel came to its decision.

As it turns out, I was not authorized to do so.

I arrived five minutes late to the selection meeting (my first time as a voter) and missed a major disclaimer prior the proceedings that the meeting was a closed-session discussion and details of the proceedings were not to be made public. Unaware of this, I operated with the understanding that the discussion and selection were embargoed until Saturday, March 11, when the San Diego Union-Tribune released the San Diego Section Team.

As a news journalist (most of you know that I am a professional news reporter) I am aware of the distinction between a public meeting and a closed-session discussion, and was I aware that the discussion was confidential I would not have spoken about it so openly on live television as I did.

I can not undo what was done, but can only offer my most sincere apologies to CIF, the San Diego Hall of Champions and to the voters in the room, whom no doubt can view this as a violation of their confidentiality.

With that said, I would re-emphasize that this apology does not take away my concerns with the voting process, nor does it change my opinion on the POY vote, as I discussed on KUSI.

As was explained to me on March 14, the confidentiality of the meeting is to stimulate the free flow of dialogue between the voters without fear of reprisal from other entities if information were to "leak" from the discussions.

I believe that discussions such as Player of the Year should be handled with the utmost transparency, and its membership publicly disclosed so that the process itself can not be questioned due to its currently opaque nature, which I believe does not serve the best interest of the public at large.

Perhaps this is a discussion for future selections, which I may or may not be a part of, but as of now, I acknowledge my error and publicly apologize for it.

Sincerely,

Aaron D. Burgin

Publisher, Full-Time Hoops