Paging Lynn Hoppes ...

1. If it sounds like many of us are pissed about this, I think it's because we understand how serious it is for a "journalist" to copy and paste from another source and claim the words as his own. Someone posted here that Hoppes didn't plagarize because he was copying "facts." Control "c" and control "v" is lazy at best, firing offense at worst.

2. I'm pissed because Hoppes comes across as a shyster who has somehow risen to a high level (including, I'm sure, excellent compensation) basically because he's great at the virtual blow job. At ESPN, he's the inside version of Craig James. If you want to throw the jealousy flag, fine. All I know is that other people who work hard and do their jobs competently with ethics get really pissed off when they see someone who breaks/bends rules advance to a high level.

3. To Brandonsneed: I know several folks at ESPN.com who are excellent journalists who work hard. They're ESPN's "Marines" - the few and the proud. Having a small percentage of your work force working the "right way" hardly mitigates the majority of the crap produced by the ESPN monolith. That's like the Koch brothers contributing a thousand dollars to United Way each year and thinking that clears their slate of trying to buy elections and run the country.

4. To Lynn Hoppes: You, sir, are a sham and a fraud. Good day.

 

He wasn't half-bad in "La Bamba," though.

 

ESPN's Marines. Got a nice ring to it. Might go make t-shirts.

 

"Shyster" has a nice ring to it, too.

 

Hoppes isn't Marines, but I think he has a Maroon 5 exclusive coming up with their picks for Olympic gold!

The Olympic Games is a major international event featuring summer and winter sports, in which thousands of athletes participate in a variety of competitions.

 

ESPN has plenty of great journalists on staff, many of whom are among the best in the business.

That said, when someone commits two of the most egregious acts in journalism, fraud and plagiarism, they need to be fired.

Hoppes should have been fired for his role in the faux female columnist from earlier this year. I will still never know how someone who works at a place that spends money like it's going out of style can hire a columnist without ever meeting them.

Between that and the multiple wikipedia incidents, he should be done.

 

If Lynn Hoppes was White instead of Asian, would there be this much outrage from this board over what was, in actuality, a minor infraction in the grand scheme of journalism?

I'm betting no.

From just reading this board, you'd think Hoppes took essential details from heavily-researched investigative reports without attribution, not general descriptions of well-known plays and celebrity figures.

 

That's just stupid.
It's because it's Lynn Hoppes, Self-Certified Rock Star.

 

Ah, THERE'S the race card.

Which is total bullshit. Plagiarism should be a fireable offense every time, no matter who the thief is.

 

And my anger at Hoppes was generated BEFORE I found out he was Asian-American.

The mullet, though, I'm prejudiced against.

 

Wow. I really hope you don't work anywhere near journalism.