Deitsch on the Skip Bayless-ization of ESPN

I present the analogy to remind folks that big companies have lots and lots of disparate parts. Even parts in active conflict. As consumers we distinguish between those parts.

The prejudice on this board and elsewhere is that the parts of ESPN are indivisible. They are not. The branding may be indivisible, but the parts and works can be pretty clearly distinguished.

ESPN is a newsstand, a menu, from which lots and lots of choices can be made. Some serious, some less so.

 

Why did Dr. J shave his beard and mustache?

 

Disparate parts, operating under the false premise of independence. At the end of the day, they all fall under the same management, follow the same edicts and policies, the same corporate identity.

It still has nothing to do with the integrity of the journalists, I think we can agree to that.

(And btw, re the Time Warner analogy, you have to factor in Disney, not espn, as the parent company controlling the parts.)

 

I typically avoid the slam-ESPN threads that get going on here, but I have to say that this is kind of a ridiculous statement. In part, because I write for ESPN The Magazine. When I do my work, I do it with integrity. But I'm still basically a nobody, so I know you don't care. But I'll echo Double Down. No, actually, I'll just quote him:

They and many others at ESPN—Bob Ley, the E:60 crew, and on and on—do some fantastic work. But I guess anonymously insulting an entire company is more fun. Or something.

 

I don't have many friends at ESPN, and I don't draw a paycheck from ESPN.

But I also think MileHigh's statement was unfair. Lot of really great journalistic work done on all of ESPN's platforms.

The rest of it, I'll gladly defend with the usual reminder that the "E" is not for "Journalism."

 

You know who IS horrible? That Sara Walsh on Sports Center. On Monday, I believe, they were reading the nicknames for Tebow's overtime pass that viewers have submitted on Twitter; "Mile High Miracle," etc., before she came upon the phrase "The Prodigious Pass" and she actually stopped talking because she DID NOT KNOW HOW TO SAY THE WORD PRODIGIOUS. There was just an awkward pause. When they brought back the Tweet thing the next hour, "The Prodigious Pass" was no longer on the list though the others still remained.

I was not so much embarrassed for ESPN as I was for all literate humanity.

 

Sigh. I think my comment might have been a joke. And I have no problem with shows such as First Take and Numbers Never Lie and SportsNation. I even watch most of them from time to time. I think the lack of journalistic integrity is revealed on SportsCenter and the other news shows and the neverending reports from Mort, et. al that cite anonymous sources and such.

 

Sorry. Sincerely. I did not read everything. I should have done that first.

And apologies also for the "anonymous." I don't know everyone here as well as many others might. I just saw a generalized attack on an entire corporation which has given me fantastic opportunities, and I reacted. I should have taken a breath and read everything else all the way through before said reaction.

So, sorry, MileHigh. Could I, I'd buy you a beer.

 

Too little time and so much to read.... the only way I seem to find good stories on any of the ESPN platforms is if someone posts them here at SJ.

There are many, but they get lost in the clutter and I'm too lazy to try to find them myself.

 

Skip Bayless vs. Terrell Suggs this morning may have been the low point of sports television.