The Undefeated debuts

I thought this was an interesting podcast, hosted by Cari Champion, for anyone who might be interested in black women in the sports workplace. Guests are Jemele Hill and NBA union chief Michele Roberts.

Summit Sessions: Hill, Roberts - ESPN

 

I finally gave The Undefeated a good look tonight. I'm hopeful, bookmarked it, but damn, there is an awful lot of navel-gazing. (And yes, they can give "dope" a hiatus now.)

Anyway, after an hour of reading the site, I needed to be amused. So I combed through 11 pages of old white guys barely containing their irritation over the fact that there's a ballgame not being played on their field.

 

This article is remarkable for how bad it is on so many levels.

California’s first black doctor still going strong at 93 years old

It claims that the subject was the first black doctor to practice in California, was someone who graduated from medical school in 1952 which is absurd. I was born around then and there were plenty of black doctors then in Los Angeles. He maybe was the first black doctor in the relatively small town where he practiced.

The source seems to be a obscure clickbait web site.

The writer/editor on a black themed web site does not know enough about black history to know that black doctors have been around for much more than a century and were a staple in the black community prior to desegregation, just like black teachers, barbers and undertakers. The two southern black medical schools, Meharry and Howard were founded in the late 1800's.

 

still going strong at 93? How many referrals does he get? Because, sorry, I'm not sending my friends or relatives to see a doctor who was born in the early 1920s.

I hope you sent the Undefeated a very strongly worded letter. By the way, the Undefeated seems to have no buzz. Not helped, I imagine, by it being buried on the ESPN home page. The scroll forever model is death to so many stories and sections.

EDIT: That entire story was all of 243 words.

 

Yeah, that trend has gone haywire. Unless you're George Carlin and can bring the funny, I'm for staying away from the cutesy bios. Plus, food passionista is not a fucking term. Glutton is, however.

 

Only with TV and fan support will the Celebration Bowl be here for the long haul

"As North Carolina Central marches down the field on its first offensive drive – in the second annual Air Force Reserve Celebration Bowl – Bill Hamilton records every play, the same way he’s always done it: with a pen and notebook."

What a RIVETING narrative

 

Probably not a good sign when your first source in the story is a former SID.

 

I complained to both the Undefeated and ESPN. After several weeks the story was corrected to reflect he was the first black doctor in San Mateo California, not California as I surmised. Whoever corrected the headline didn't spend enough time to get the grammar correct. Of course the error was not acknowledged.

One of California’s first black doctor still going strong at 93 years old

Also the headline now claims he was one of the first black doctors in California. There is no evidence this is true.

 

"Mark W. Wright is the director of special projects for The Undefeated. Born in England and raised in Jamaica, He sends referees running for the hills when they see the soccer dad (and Howard University alum) coming."

Oh great not only does he write lame stories about HBCU football that put you to sleep, he's one of those psycho soccer parents. How many papers you think has cost his kids scholarships?

 

"He"

 

Wait so this guy is a God too? Wonder what The Undefeated is paying him. Is "eternal salvation" part of the benefits package at ESPN?