Couple of Media Notes
Uncategorized July 17th. 2007, 4:23pm
This is actually a chinchilla, and we’re told it makes a swell pet.
* Two interesting notes from the Worldwide Leader: last week, Deadspin’s Will Leitch was a guest on ESPN radio, and it made for an interesting interview. You can – and should – listen to it here. Then Monday, Page 2’s Jemele Hill was asked in her chat about ESPN getting slammed by Newsweek and it didn’t get cut, and later she mentioned a few blogs, including us, and that didn’t get trimmed, either. The WWL loves blogs!
* Before reading about Murdoch taking over the Wall Street Journal (ugh), you absolutely must read this profile of the media baron that was in the New Yorker in October. It’s tremendous.
* An interesting point was made by a reader yesterday: is ESPN the ultimate destination that it once was for sports personalities and writers? Here are five names who surprisingly left the four-letter at or near the height of their popularity … yet still were able to thrive: Craig Kilborn, Keith Olbermann, Rich Eisen, Jason Whitlock and now Dan Patrick. When you think of ESPN.com, the first name you think of is hockey-hater Bill Simmons; what about ESPN? Could it actually be Stuart Scott? Chris Berman? Screamin’ A Smith? Whatever your answer, it’s quite clear the void left by Patrick will be a sizeable one.
* Guess the Suns didn’t put ‘can’t ride a skateboard‘ into Steve Nash’s contract.
14 Responses to “Couple of Media Notes”
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July 17th, 2007 at 4:38 pm
Sure would be nice if those of us who refuse to give BSPN any cash money could read the articles you mention…
Guess we’ll just have to take your word that they love blogs in Bristol.
July 17th, 2007 at 4:43 pm
I remember taking a political sociology class where the professor said one of the easiest ways an establishment can minimize the power of a radical fringe is by including it.
July 17th, 2007 at 4:51 pm
Will dropped the ball in that interview. SVP gave him plenty of opportunities to give a “fix” to ESPN, and Will just rattled off this dumb list. And when SVP made a valid criticism of Daulerio creeping on the ESPN people at the Super Bowl — essentially stalking Stu Scott and trying to ruin his marriage — Will said something trite about “humanizing” the ESPN empire, or some other lame excuse. Still love Deadspin and all, but Will, come on man, gotta do better next time.
July 17th, 2007 at 5:09 pm
Mike, comedy is comedy. Will’s not a business person, so I’m thinking he can’t effectively “fix” ESPN, assuming anything is truly broken at all. Sometimes you need to stick to what’s in your wheelhouse.
Nice links, TBL. People who don’t do ESPNsider might appreciate a cut-and-pasting, though.
July 17th, 2007 at 5:14 pm
That SVP question was a no-win. If you offer a suggestion, regardless of your answer, ESPN will say, ‘who is this guy to fix the most powerful sports brand in the world!’
And i completely disagree about Stuart Scott and Miami. This is a guy who is walking red carpets, always makes stories about himself, and signs autographs probably most places he goes. He’s definitely not some average Joe Citizen … whether we like it or not, Stuart Scott is a ‘celebrity’ in the sports world. He plays in golf tournaments, gets the coveted invites, and is all over that circuit. If he wants to recuse himself from all that (say, like Bob Ley), it’s another story. Yet another reason it’s difficult to take DJ Stewy seriously when he’s doing a ‘news’ cast.
July 17th, 2007 at 5:32 pm
It was a valid question — there’s nothing more annoying than people who bitch & complain about things, but offer absolutely no solutions of their own. Here’s one: don’t have ESPN.com automatically load up the video when you log-on. Here’s another one: do away with that horrible Who’s Now, and replace it with, say, more hockey highlights. See how easy it is. It had nothing to do with “business” and everything to do with “ideas.” And for all the bashing Will does of ESPN, I agree with him 98% of the time — I just wished he had taken some of his criticisms from Deadspin and voiced them when given the chance on-air with SVP.
TBL, I can’t stand Stu Scott either. And if you want to call him a “sports celebrity,” then fine. But because he’s got a recognizable face, and does ads to make some money, he deserves to be stalked while having a few beers at a bar, and then have shit posted about him the next day on DS? Kind of creepy, if you ask me.
July 17th, 2007 at 5:33 pm
Jason Whitlock is thriving? He got the boot/threw a hissy fit at Aolsports. Now, he either is or isn’t at Foxsports. He’s been writing the same article for 4 months now and lost any steam he thought he had. He’s turned into a one-trick pony.
July 17th, 2007 at 6:27 pm
The humanizing answer wasn’t wrong, but SVP made it sound like Deadspin is going through peoples trash and stalking them. That wasn’t the case. I agree with TBL – if ESPN personalities want the perks of being recognized, then they have to accept the consequences of it as well. If you are at a party that you used your fame to get into (as SVP says in the clip,) around the most widely covered event on the planet, maybe some discretion is in order.
July 17th, 2007 at 6:38 pm
Chris Berman has been the person you think of when you think of ESPN for over 2 decades now, so nothing changes in that aspect. Including Whitlock in the discussion is a joke, he was nothing more than a fringe player. The other 4 were offered other opportunities based on their popularity with the WWL, which pretty much opens and closes the debate on whether or not ESPN is still the ultimate destination. Kevin Frazier spent years at FoxSports with little love, spends a minute at ESPN and gets the ET gig. Stu Scott is good at what he does. He just does his thing with a flavor or flava that alot of blog inhabitants cannot hide their bias of.
July 17th, 2007 at 9:05 pm
I gotta pay to look at the Jemele Hill chat on the WWL? And they don’t even throw in a football phone?
Will somebody please lure Berman away from ESPN? I’d like to be able to watch NFL highlights with the sound turned up again…
July 17th, 2007 at 9:12 pm
What you didn’t read in the Nash story.
Stevie Williams and the rest of DGK dared Nash to ride, and he didn’t want to punk out in front of the homies.
July 17th, 2007 at 9:31 pm
speaking of deadspin, did anybody catch kornheiser on pti a few weeks back saying he was going to read it? i think it was on the pti podcast too.
July 17th, 2007 at 10:01 pm
ESPN just announced that the Feds indicted Mike Vick for illegal dog fighting after all.
July 18th, 2007 at 1:32 am
Craig Kilborn = Failure.
Isn’t he waiting table in West Hollywood these days?
The real question at ESPN ought to be which on-air personality will be the next to get busted for pulling a MikeTirico on a female staffer?