ESPN is going to give me an aneurysm…
Adam Rittenberg continues the insane amount of unethical one-liners and headlines today with this beauty:
“Team chemistry is a question mark after current players spoke publicly about possible NCAA rule violations involving time limits, but the Wolverines need a united effort Saturday.”
(You can read the full story here: http://espn.go.com/blog/bigten/post/_/id/3087/what-to-watch-in-the-big-…)
Someone…anyone…tell me what’s wrong with that sentence?
NO current players spoke publicly about possible NCAA rule violations! Two current players spoke about an average day in the RR program in the context of a friendly discussion with NO knowledge it was being used to support an article on rule violations. In addition, the players were not asked to distinguish between required hours and voluntary hours in the description of their day.
How in the hell can ESPN continue to allow such simple facts to be overlooked? (Not to mention the booster headline that made me consider blocking ESPN from my firefox)
I sent Adam a respectful message asking him to be more clear in the future when doing his job.
You can contact Adam here: http://espn.go.com/sportsnation/mailbag/_/id/21423/21423
September 3rd, 2009 at 4:31 PM ^
Using your definition of "unethical," your use of "unethical" is "unethical."
September 3rd, 2009 at 4:44 PM ^
Would you be willing to elaborate? (Keep it simple, a picture in MS paint is preferred)
September 3rd, 2009 at 4:52 PM ^
The comments aren't unethical, they are just wrong.
Ethical-Being in accordance with the accepted principles of right and wrong that govern the conduct of a professionUnethical would be contrary to that, which his headlines and comments are not. The comments he made though, are wrong. MS Paint isn't my recent gimmick. Art isn't my thing. But if it was, I'd be flaunting this piece of Michigan Wall Art from Mden.com! [/gimmicks]
September 3rd, 2009 at 4:53 PM ^
Misinformed would be another word that would suffice.
September 3rd, 2009 at 5:08 PM ^
I used the word “ethical” because Adam has an increased responsibility when commenting on hot-topics (his position at ESPN demands a higher level of knowledge and accountability). Since he is obligated to understand the fundamentals (and his comment was of a 101 nature) of a story before posting on it (this is his profession and as you noted, “Being in accordance with the accepted principles of right and wrong that govern the conduct of a *profession*), he is “ethically” responsible to get it right and this boarders on negligent/unethical!
Now I don't have an ethical responsibility to visit the Mden.com, but it’s beneficial to visit the Mden.com and I’m going to ask everyone I know to visit the Mden.com!
September 3rd, 2009 at 4:31 PM ^
He usually does a decent job, but I have seen that simple fact repeated over and over. Stokes & Hawthorne were bragging how hard they worked and their parents both said they couldnt be happier. Also, the media keeps saying academics might be affected. They ignore the highest GPA in FB history
September 3rd, 2009 at 4:46 PM ^
stop!!!!!
September 3rd, 2009 at 4:49 PM ^
alone. they won't stop til we beat western on saturday
September 3rd, 2009 at 4:56 PM ^
Hopefully they'll be too busy talking about why Florida didn't cover the 73-point spread.
September 3rd, 2009 at 5:10 PM ^
the funny thing about that spread is that, according to odds-makers, their is just as good of a chance that Florida wins by MORE than 73 as their is that they won't.
September 3rd, 2009 at 4:58 PM ^
They saw what a hit a successful team like the Patroits caught cheating was and they want that next big scandal. One big kink in the plan is there's no smoking gun like the camera on the sidelines. No way New England gets penalized at all if a couple players said I've looked at the other teams play callers from time to time when I was on the sideline. It's a stretch and they can play the naive card when the total story comes out if they even bother to do anything at all. I agree with Brian that if nothing comes of this then they'll spin it to look like big Michigan got off easy.
September 3rd, 2009 at 5:03 PM ^
Friends don't let Friends watch ESPN talking heads.
ESPNews is one of the few tolerable things associated with the mothership. I've developed a nice little habit of watching BTN for my NCAA Hoops / Pigskin fix, and MLBNetwork for my baseball coverage. I really don't need much else.
If any baseball fans out there haven't tried the MLB Network, you're missing out. It's the awesomeness of baseball tonight with most or all of the suck taken out. Top notch.
September 3rd, 2009 at 5:05 PM ^
I think our fan base has made the point, and made it well. Let's not have this blow up so we look at our fans like we are a bunch of whiney kids.
I'm begging you to stop in any language I can from Cantonese to Zulu.
tìhng dài!
Dayanın!
Halt
Arrêtez !
Stad!
Ferma!
Siste!
Pare!
Alto!
Ma!
September 3rd, 2009 at 5:23 PM ^
If ESPN bothers you that much, don't visit its site. I don't and I am currently aneurysm-free.
EDIT: Seriously, there are multiple threads every day about how much ESPN sucks. Why do people keep coming back to them if they're so bad? It's one thing to watch them when there isn't much alternative, but why visit their website when there's so much else out there?
September 3rd, 2009 at 5:31 PM ^
I hear your concern but it's still an adventure in missing the point. ESPN is willfully misrepresenting the truth and not visiting them doesn’t stop my SEC friends from clogging up my voice mail and inbox with ill informed (thanks to ESPN) comments.
ESPN has a responsibility to get it right...and when they don't we should let them know.
You’ve chosen to not visit and I see some merit in that approach, but avoiding the situation doesn’t help in the long run because ESPN has real influence (see video of RR choking up at the press conference). I can’t stay quiet when misinformation begins to manifest itself in tangible ways.
September 3rd, 2009 at 5:36 PM ^
"I can’t stay quiet when misinformation begins to manifest itself in tangible ways."
Is bitching about it here going to help anything? Send an email to that Ombudsman character or something. Last I heard, nobody on this blog worked for ESPN.
September 3rd, 2009 at 11:05 PM ^
I did send an E-mail and I asked that others do the same...please read the WHOLE article before you comment.
September 3rd, 2009 at 7:02 PM ^
i stopped visiting their website long ago. they used pop-ups more than any sports site i knew. and when the had an interesting article headline, it always seemed to be behind a pay wall.
I still watch ESPN and too am very annoyed at the talking heads spouting incorrect "facts".
September 3rd, 2009 at 5:38 PM ^
It would be unusual for ESPN to GIVE you an aneurysm, but much more likely for them to cause your pre-existing aneurysm to rupture.
Sorry, I had to, the physician in me couldn't let it go. Gave you a +1 b/c this whole thing is getting out of hand. Still have no clue who on the current team actually spoke out negatively and meant it.