Is ESPN’s Page 2 About to Suffer Another Loss? (Updated)
Uncategorized September 14th. 2006, 7:50pm
In what has the potential to be a massive blow to ESPN’s once-vaunted Page 2, emailers tell The Big Lead that in another disastrous chat session with readers yesterday, Scoop Jackson made not one, but two references to the departure of columnist Jason Whitlock.
But when we went and looked for the references, they appear to have been scrubbed clean from the chat. In what readers tell us was a contentious chat session – in which the N-bomb snuck by ESPN sensors – a reader mocked Scoop, telling him they were “waiting out his departure.” The new tennis king responded, “yeah, Whitlock’s gone, too.” And later, Scoop supposedly added, “Whitlock’s leaving by choice.”
For what it’s worth, Whitlock’s column ran today.
Although he has yet to respond to our emails, sources in Bristol claim that should Whitlock depart, he is likely to reunite with his old editor at Page 2, Neal Scarbrough, who heads AOL Sports.
If the news is in fact true, Page 2 will now border on the irrelevant. At the turn of the century, the page featured the likes of Ralph Wiley, Hunter S. Thompson, Bill Simmons, and Whitlock. Now it will have been reduced to The Sports Guy, the unreadable Scoop, and a cast of characters who have yet to keep us coming back for more.
More details as they become available.
Scoop Jackson Chat (ESPN.com)
[Update: We're short on sources at AOL Sports. But when we notified someone there of our post, and asked if they had heard anything, their response surprised us: No comment.]
[Update II: Every blog brags about its wonderful readers, but ours rock just as hard. Here is Scoop's second reference to Whitlock's departure from Page 2.
Majeed: Scoop, ESPN needs to let you go just like they did Whitlock. You 2 guys are just terrible!
SportsNation Scoop Jackson: Jason wasn't let go, he stepped on his own (from Page 2, not television). As for me? That might happen. Like I said earlier, hold your breath.]
One Response to “Is ESPN’s Page 2 About to Suffer Another Loss? (Updated)”
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September 16th, 2006 at 4:13 pm
Ralph Wiley’s passing was sad. Such an influential person, not just a reporter. Hunter S. Thompson? Sorry, he put as much effort into his P2 columns as Lindsay Lohan does in keeping a curfew while she’s on a movie set. Being sad about losing Skip Bayless is like being sad after you’ve found out the cancer is benign, not malignant. Dan Shanoff pretty cut and pasted the same column (fill in name and team here) since about 3 months before his marriage ongoing through his departure. Losing Jason Whitlock, however, would be a real blow. He’s one of the best there is right now.
The thought of doing anything to add to AOL’s revenue streams just sickens me, but if they keep adding talent, I’m gonna be forced to bookmark ‘em. Basta!