SEAN Taylor always will be remembered here as the protago nist in an episode that, more than most, exposed ESPN for the bad-faith, blowhard-driven, viewers-are-too-stupid-to-know-better enterprise it has become.
Jan. 7, 2006, the Bucs-‘Skins playoff game on ABC, ESPN’s Sunday Night Football crew at the wheel. It was another of those three-in-the-booth, “I spoke to him before the game,” “Let me tell you what just happened,” everyone-on-both-teams-should-be-in-the-Pro Bowl, average-yards-per-everything, Chris Berman’s with us, too, ordeals.
In the third quarter, Taylor and Bucs RB Michael Pittman got into a face-to-face hassle. Pittman took a slap at Taylor. A flag was thrown. And then came word from ref Mike Carey that Taylor, not Pittman, had been flagged and ejected.
ESPN’s A-team, Mike Patrick, Joe Theismann and Paul Maguire, erupted, claiming Carey had flagged and ejected the wrong man. This was the worst call in big-game history, a travesty of justice, an outrage!
Theismann actually called for an on-the-spot change in the replay rule in order to get Carey straightened out, in order to punish Pittman and return Taylor to the game.
On and on they spewed. Meanwhile, the scene that continued to play out in front of them (and us) provided only two-plus-two evidence that they had no idea what they were hollering about.
After all, Carey was right there with Pittman and Taylor when he flagged and ejected Taylor. It stood to reason that Carey knew a) what had happened, and b) what he was doing.
Taylor was then seen walking to the locker room, providing no body language to indicate that he had just been unjustly tossed from a playoff game. His coach, Joe Gibbs, was seen to similarly accept Carey’s ruling. In fact, no one on the ‘Skins – no one on the field or on the sidelines – demonstrated any disagreement with the call.
But that didn’t stop Theismann and Patrick, who continued to rage on about the worst call they had ever witnessed. “Sean Taylor has had his troubles,” Patrick fumed, “but if he’s ejected for this, it’s wrong!”
Was there no one to stop them, or at least get in their ears to have them consider what they were watching? Was there no one to catch them up with what a national audience was watching and measuring?
Apparently not.
And then word came that Taylor had been flagged and ejected for spitting on Pittman. Oh.
And so what did the ESPN on ABC trio do to square things with Carey and the audience? Nothing. They acknowledged that Taylor was ejected for spitting, for cause, then just carried on as if nothing much had happened on their end, as if we’re too stupid to have known any better.
Toward the close of the game, they complimented Carey for a game well done, as if we didn’t know what that was all about, as if they hadn’t, a quarter earlier, trashed the man as incompetent, and as if we had forgotten how they had carried on. Nauseating.
And what did ESPN learn from this? Nothing, not a thing. The eagerness to make noise instead of sense is still the rule. The art of looking and thinking before one talks remains lost. The concept of saying half as much in order to sound twice as smart has vanished.
This past Monday night, 11:01 was left in the first half when Ricky Williams was slow to rise after fumbling; his right shoulder appeared to be injured. A replay clearly showed that LB Lawrence Timmons, who would recover the fumble, jumped toward Williams, his foot landing directly beneath Williams’ right shoulder. Ouch!
And then another replay clearly showed the same thing. Double ouch.
Though it was impossible for viewers to miss this after two close-up replays, the ESPN trio of Mike Tirico, Ron Jaworski and Tony Kornheiser apparently missed both and got no word from the truck about it. They blabbered away, but not a word about Williams having just been cleated, full force, below the right-shoulder.
ESPN cut to commercials.
Back from commercials, Jaworski, Theismann’s replacement, spieled about how Williams’ fumble likely was caused by the fact that “he hasn’t had contact for 22 months.” Still, nothing about the contact made by Timmons’ foot.
With 8:24 left in the half, ESPN aired its third clear replay of Williams being mashed by Timmons’ foot. Still, no mention of it from the ESPN booth. Williams returned to the game, carried one time, but again left, his right arm again dangling. Two plays later, ESPN cut to commercials.
With 6:45 left in the half, the fourth close-up replay of Williams being stepped on appeared. “Oh!” a surprised Kornheiser hollered.
It took 11 minutes, four clear replays and two full commercial breaks before even one of ESPN’s three announcers stopped talking long enough about what’s going on to realize what had gone on, making ESPN’s game announcers, yet again, the last to know.
Is there no one at ESPN willing or able to save ESPN from ESPN? Is there no one in an authority position who can distinguish good from bad, bad from worse, then act to reverse the course? Or does dreadful TV flow from the top?
Phil Mushnick’s columnreturns Friday.