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My Problem is I’m too fussy. I figure that candidates for media positions should hold enough regard for the truth to arrive with, at least, a minimal drive to pursue and present it.
And those who do the hiring, it seems, minimally owe truth-telling to their viewers, listeners and readers — in service to the public trust.
Antonio Pierce was hired as an ESPN analyst immediately after he retired as a Giants linebacker in 2010. Tuesday, he was on “SportsCenter” to provide advice on how first-time Super Bowl players should best manage their personal affairs before the game.
“Self-evaluation,” Pierce, in part, told anchor Kevin Neghandi, who knew that Pierce was credited with “10 total tackles” in the ’08 Super Bowl.
Fascinating. In 2008 Pierce was in Arizona with the Giants to play — and beat — the Patriots in Pierce’s only Super Bowl. At the time, he was 30, an age when one wouldn’t just bolt for a week, allowing his pets to take care of themselves.
But neighbors in Monroe, N.J., alerted cops that his two pit bulls were loose. Animal control found neither had rabies shots and that one was sick, undernourished, maltreated. Both dogs were confiscated, and Pierce pleaded to cruelty and paid a $1,300 fine.
For better or worse, I’m stuck with my opinions. They’re all I’ve got. Once I start writing what I think what those I write about would prefer to read — or baste it with honey — we’ve entered the pandering stage, next-door to dishonesty. So:
1) Pierce, paid a reported $4.75 million per year, couldn’t have paid someone a few bucks to watch the dogs while he was away?
2) Unless he cherished the breed or the specific animals — which Pierce clearly did not — why would he want/need to own two pit bulls?
3) Maybe I don’t get out enough, but I never have known anyone to have been charged with cruelty to animals, let alone plead guilty to it.
Later in 2008, Pierce was with teammate Plaxico Burress in that night club that early Saturday morning when Burress shot himself with the .40-caliber Glock he illegally carried. Pierce’s actions, from that moment on, again seemed designed to cause wonder.
He didn’t call for an ambulance — immediate medical attention for Burress — but chose to drive him to the hospital, where Burress was registered under a phony name, then Pierce left the hospital with Burress’ gun stashed in his car.
The doctor who treated Burress would be suspended for failure to report a gunshot wound.
Oh, and the Giants had a game in D.C., the next day. Days later, the cops had to find Pierce, not vice versa.
Again, I can only go with my gut and head. I can’t recall the last time a colleague of mine shot himself while in a nightclub early in the morning the day before our biggest day of work, so I’m not sure what I’d have done.
But unlike ESPN, I don’t think I would have placed Pierce on my immediate, must-hire list. And I’m almost positive that I wouldn’t have chosen him to appear on “SportsCenter” on Tuesday to give conduct tips to first-time Super Bowlers. But I’m fussy, that way.
Everybody loves Ray, but are they paying close attention?
Now that Ray Lewis has become a caring, religious man, his one-man photo-op/prayer service after Sunday’s game might have been to ask forgiveness for that illegal, penalized hit to the head of Patriots’ tight end Aaron Hernandez.
Funny, how that hit — a standard, career-long act for which he has regularly been penalized and fined; football’s most dangerous deed for which Lewis has answered with defiance, not a word of remorse — has been edited from TV’s artificially sweetened and sentimentalized Ray Lewis Farewell Film Festival.
Hey, how hard would it be to put together a “highlights” reel of Lewis laying guys out — and blood-dancing afterward — following brutal hits to the head? But as long as TV tells America that we all love Ray Lewis, I guess we all love Ray Lewis.
* Here’s the deal, Erin Andrews: Drooling, tweet-twisted males will cease objectifying you as a sexual object, and perhaps even regard you as a serious broadcast journalist — as you’ve insisted all folks should — if you provide some evidence that you wish to be regarded as one.
While with ESPN, Andrews was the victim of a horrifying, highly publicized crime: A man covertly videotaped her while she was in her hotel room. He was convicted, sentenced. Good.
But since that episode, Andrews’ sincerity in being regarded as a serious TV journalist — and her choice to be a spokesperson against the objectification of women — has been betrayed by her own choices and professional behavior.
What she described as part of her “healing process” following that stalking included the removal of much of her clothing to perform for ESPN’s Disney sibling, ABC, on “Dancing With The Stars.”
Andrews, now with Fox, appeared from the Niners’ sideline on Sunday at the top of the NFC Championship coverage wearing skin-tight, shiny pants. Hmmm.
Fox obliged her — and reminded us of what her hire likely is predicated on — by first showing Andrews in full, check-her-out view. Next, it was time to go to Pam Oliver, on the Falcons’ sideline. She appeared only from the waist, up.
With Fox, Ms. Andrews’ curious healing process apparently continues.
5-star failure on 5-setter
What Espn did to the Australian Open men’s quarters — David Ferrer vs. Nicolas Almagro, a five-setter — was a crime against any sport at any level. ESPN — and this is nothing new for it — abandoned the match to go to its on-site studio for on-camera tennis talk, interviews and promos!
* Dance-a-likes: Ray Lewis and Elaine Benes. … Lookalikes: Reader Jim Mulloy submits Knick Iman Shumpert and Grace Jones, from “A View To A Kill.”
* ESPN’s Thursday morning “Bottom Line” headline: “La Salle Stuns Butler.” La Salle, 13-5, was a tiny favorite at home. But ESPN knows college rankings better than college basketball.
* With the most impressive, imposing physique in tennis, Serena Williams, 31, continues to break down a lot. One wonders if her condition and conditioning hurt as much as help.
* Reader Greg Gillen suggests that as a show of respect to Earl Weaver and the images he has left as the 17-year lead character of the Orioles, mourners should cover his casket by kicking dirt.