First tee-time belongs to Ryan Crane, a reader from Bridgewater, NJ: “ESPN has done to sports what MTV did to music.”
The most revolting media element of this NBA offseason freak show has been ESPN’s all-day, “multiple platforms” relentlessness to remind all of its capacity to apply excess and transparent, often dishonest, self-promotion in order to earn nothing better than richly warranted ridicule.
Of course, if ESPN didn’t own NBA rights…
In the end, and despite its panting, 24-hour “coverage” of the free-agent pool, ESPN left no stones unturned — except those that covered the stories.
And while ESPN was never close to the LeBron James-back-to-the-Cavaliers ending, in keeping with another see-through ESPN habit, it had the gall to give “Insider” Chris Broussard — not fondly known among NBA beat reporters for “borrowing” their work — national credit for “confirming” the story.
Yep, ESPN was all over it! Again! Same as if James, Chris Bosh and Dwyane Wade had chosen to play for Pittsburgh. ESPN would have intruded on that, too. No one beats ESPN! The worst it can do is tie for first!
It’s not as if anyone has to sneak up from behind to place that “Kick Me!” sign on ESPN’s back. ESPN bosses demand that its performers are paraded wearing “Kick Me!” sandwich boards, thus the request is issued, coming and going.
The one who deserved — earned — credit for the James scoop, former AP and former ESPN reporter Chris Sheridan, now self-employed — was relegated to the balcony.
Thursday, before James’s obviously ghosted essay on rejoining the Cavs was disseminated by Sports Illustrated, Colin Cowherd, on his national ESPN radio show, teased his next segment: Stay tuned for Sheridan, the sole person reporting that LeBron-to-Cavs is a done deal.
After weeks of providing us ESPN’s fishing trips, that chat might have been one that ESPN Radio-New York might have wanted to include, or at least closely monitor.
But ESPN-NY switched to local programming. And, as Sheridan told Cowherd what he knew — as the first guy to get it right — that info was lost to New York audiences. After 45 minutes and done-counting, there still was no word on ESPN-NY as to Sheridan’s claim. But it’s not as if New York is a large market.
Come to think of it, I wonder if I was among the first victims of ESPN’s sense of, ahem, journalism.
In June, 1992, I got a tip that ESPN’s Jim Valvano was gravely ill with cancer. I called his since-deceased agent, Art Kaminsky. Normally talkative, Kaminsky wouldn’t say. Hmmm. Not that I relished landing such a scoop, but something was up.
So next I asked an ESPN public relations director. He said it was impossible. He had seen Valvano just a few weeks earlier, and he was fine.
I asked him to check. A lot can happen in a few weeks. When he called back, he was in shock. “You’re right,” he said.
“May I quote an ESPN spokesperson confirming that it’s advanced cancer?” I asked.
“I don’t see why not,” he said. “We’re going with it on the next SportsCenter.”
ESPN then reported it as if it was news-from-the-inside. Not even a mention that it arrived via a New York Post correspondent. By that night, the wires credited ESPN as the source of the news. ESPN coyly accepted that credit.
Having taken the journalistically righteous path by asking ESPN, I was left to write, for the next day’s paper, the story I’d provided ESPN, thus I finished tied for last on my own scoop.
Anyway, ESPN spent the World Cup lying about starting times by one hour. In Bob Ley, ESPN had a knowing, high-integrity World Cup studio host, but ESPN wrapped, then presented him, in deceit.
Yesterday, after a month of advertising 4 p.m. starts as 3 p.m. starts, the Argentina-Germany final was advertised as a 3 p.m. start. Those conditioned by ESPN to know ESPN was lying by an hour, tuned to ABC/ESPN at 4 p.m. — to see the game entering the second half. This time they were duped by ESPN because it told the truth.
Another blemish blights ‘The U’
Ja Wind Blue and Alexander Figueroa, both 20 and University of Miami linebackers, were dismissed from the team after their arrest, last week, for sexually assaulting “a physically helpless” 17-year-old female Miami student. Both admitted to raping her while she was incapacitated by alcohol.
Miami football has, for roughly 35 years, been a crime mill. Through coaching and administrative changes — and pledges to change — nothing has changed.
Still, Robin Roberts, on ABC News’ “Good Morning America,” reported the arrests with, “More trouble for one of the most prestigious programs in college football.”
Prestigious? A former ESPN anchor, Roberts had to know better.
When those “Keys To The Game” boxes don’t include nonsense, such as, “Get an early lead,” they can be helpful. At the top of Saturday’s Yankees-Orioles game, YES, with David Cone narrating, examined Baltimore starter Chris Tillman:
1) “Heating Up” — His ERA is declining. 2) “No Support At Home” — The Orioles have only scored for him on the road. 3) “Thou Shalt Not Steal” — No stolen bases on him in his last 40 starts.
Three-for-three. Tillman pitched well at home, the Orioles lost, 3-0, and the Yankees had no stolen bases.
How eager are media members to sound slick? Saturday morning WFAN updater Peter Schwartz reported that Friday “the O’s beat the Yankees on Nick Hundley’s walk-off single in the bottom of the 10th” — as if Schwartz needed to say “walk-off.”
Want good Yanks tix? Go to Baltimore
Judging from all those seen wearing Yankees caps and shirts in the up-close seats during the Yankees-Orioles series, more Yankees fans occupy the best seats when the Yankees play at the Orioles than when the Orioles play at the Yankees. But since new Yankee Stadium opened, Camden Yards has become a preferred destination for money-sensible Yankees fans.
Would Fox Sports 1 have devoted a full, high-fiving feature to the Brewers’ Carlos Gomez if he were a star of similar abilities but a modest sportsman and not an inveterate stage hog and showboat?
SNY’s Gary Cohen, Ron Darling and Keith Hernandez, despite the Mets’ recent success, have found some Terry Collins moves curious, if not dubious. Friday they wondered why, if Jeurys Familia is now a valued reliever, he entered in the ninth with a 7-1 lead.
Actually, the LeBron-to-Cavaliers scoop belonged to Sitting Bull, Mike Francesa — the instant he declared it couldn’t happen!