OT- Not a good day for ESPN
Just keeps getting worse for ESPN after the LeBron debacle last night. Denny Green's son, an ESPN contributor, arrested for kiddie porn and drug possession.
http://www.startribune.com/sports/98119384.html?elr=KArksLckD8EQDUoaEyqyP4O:DW3ckUiD3aPc:_Yyc:aUUl
I believe you meant "LeBacle"
Aw... crap, this isnt the awkward LeBronisms thread...
The real loser here is not ESPN.
I wish the Greens good luck on getting their "kid" straightened out.
let him off the hook damn it!
He was who we thought he was.
Then ground his ass!
Just a notch above the Craig James/Texas Tech hoopla that went on last year.
is that they can produce or at least facilitate some great content when they're in the mood. To wit, the NFL Matchup series with Jaworski and Hoge is like crack for the X's and O's crowd among us (NFL Network's Playbook series picks up this idea and runs with it), and one of the few places you'll actually get to see the NFL's closely-held scouting tapes. It's also one of the few places ESPN doesn't grotesquely over-produce a football show (I'm looking at you, College Gameday).
An even better example is the 30-for-30 series. I've only seen a few, but they've all been compelling. I'd recommend to anyone, soccer fan or not, to see "The Two Escobars", a doc about the relationship of the Columbian Medillin drug cartel in the 90's to their first-division league and national side, all culminating in the murder of defender Andres Escobar after he scored an own goal vs. the USA in the '94 World Cup. Really brilliant content.
Last night was a disgrace from what clips I've seen. You couldn't have paid me to sit and watch it live. I'm amazed LBJ's publicists, handlers, entourage, etc. would have let him poison his standing with so many fans by carrying on such a manufactured circus. Doesn't he know you're supposed to have hats on a table? Where were the hats?
And what the hell has happened to Jim Gray? I haven't seen a respectable guy get dragged into a farce like that since the Bush administration snookered Colin Powell into presenting the WMD rationale for invading Iraq to the UN.
Pete Rose would disagree:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h4fmEbgKeh0&feature=PlayList&p=CE3AB4066…
He actually made Pete Rose into a sympathetic figure there which is hard to do. Jim Gray is a little weasel
I remember being on the fence about that at the time, but I think I'd like to change my vote to Rose after last night. On the other hand, it turned out he was corking his bats.
I get the feeling that the Boys/Girls Club got dragged into this the way a wife gets dragged to a press conference after her politician/athlete husband has to talk about something really dirty he did. And since when does the richest city in America, Greenwich, CT., need Boys/Girls Clubs? What do they do there, hold trust fund seminars?
the point is that Gray blindsided him with his line of questioning at an inappropriate time. Something Gray has made a career out of.
I was equally as shocked as you that Greenwich has a Boys and Girls Club. If LeBron was serious about the charity aspect of this farce he would have gone next door to Stamford or Port Chester
As a former resident of Greenwich, I can tell you that there are parts of town that are still blue collar and a little rough, particularly in the old Italian neighborhoods transitioning to latinos. Near the Port Chester border there is even gang activity - definitely a wrong side of the tracks area that you don't see in Westport or Darien.
That said, yeah, I'm sure the Norwalk or Bridgeport clubs probably are a little more deserving.
James Toney completely embarrassed Jim Gray. Priceless stuff.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JgecPysuGB4&feature=youtube_gdata
Unless I didn't hear it correctly, I thought Gray was on the Dan Patrick Show yesterday saying that he had come up with the idea of the hour-long special and pitched it to LeBron's people - twice. On the day of the 2nd game of the NBA Finals or something like that...
Found it!
http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/danpatrick/blog/119161/index.html
"And what the hell has happened to [INSERT RESPECTABLE SPORTCASTER HERE, ASSUMING SAID SPORTSCASTER HAD DONE "THE DECISION" INTERVIEW]? I haven't seen a respectable guy get dragged into a farce like that since the Bush administration snookered Colin Powell into presenting the WMD rationale for invading Iraq to the UN."
I'm trying to think who would really shock me if they'd been conducting the interview, and I'm coming up blank. Al Michaels? Jim McKay (if he's still, you know, alive)?
What made last night a debacle for ESPN?
I was watching Burn Notice. Oh, that crazy Fiona and her C4, blowing stuff up in Miami!
I didn't watch ESPN last night either, which is why I am asking what made it a debacle. I heard they had awesome ratings, so I must be missing something.
sold out...compromised their values...and basically acted a little slutty.
It's the Entertainment and Sports Programming Network. "Entertainment" is not only part of its official name, it actually comes before "Sports."
I was watching Sportrcenter this morning in a hospital waiting room. Of course, pretty much the whole broadcast was spent getting everyone's opinion on LeBron. Then all of a sudden, in the middle of the show they cut to a short segment of NFL Live with, yep you guessed it, Matt Millen! I could actually see what was left of their dignity get up, leave the building and go get a Slurpee.