The sport's machine known as ESPN is hard at work keeping a story from becoming a story...and they are succeeding. I am sure a memo went out in Bristol yesterday telling all major television and radio personalities to not talk about it. I am sure someone was on the phone with all of ESPN's radio affiliates to ensure they did not talk about it. The result? Most people do not even know what story I am alluding to right now.
What should be front page sports news cannot be found anywhere on ESPN.com, not the homepage and not the college basketball frontpage. Colin Cowherd, host of ESPN Radio's nationally broadcast show "The Herd," is a man who loves hot-button issues; he sometimes spends an entire show on just one of them. Yet, this morning, he danced around college basketball topics and eventually discussed how ridiculous it was that Syracuse fans stormed the court last night after beating Georgetown (although it was truly ridiculous, I'm pretty sure it didn't require 15 minutes of discussion on one of the most, if not the most, popular sports radio shows around the nation). Hosts Steve Mason and John Ireland of "The Big Show," 710ESPN Radio's afternoon drivetime sports talk show in Los Angeles, have a segment of their show entitled "The Big Show Interruption" where they supposedly debate the biggest sports topics of the day. While they felt the need to talk about the Clippers and whether they will make the playoffs, they did not even come close to discussing college basketball and what should have been one of the biggest topics in sports yesterday.
What ESPN did not count on, however, was GameTime, TBD© getting its hands on the story.
Love him or hate him (in the interest of full and fair disclosure, I lean towards the latter), Dick Vitale is one of ESPN's most loved and respected college basketball analysts, baby. Although he might not know anything about college basketball west of the Mississippi or north of the Mason-Dixon Line (hell, I'm not even sure he knows anything about basketball outside of the state of North Carolina), Vitale is one of ESPN's go-to-guys for major happenings around college basketball. This is why his opinion is well respected and many people want to hear what he has to say.
Vitale is slated to provide the color commentary for ESPN tonight when the University of Florida visits the University of Tennessee, a big game with the tournament right around the corner. That being so, yesterday morning News Sentinel's Sports Page, a sports radio show based in Tennessee, wanted to get Vitale's thoughts on the game. What they got, however, were Vitale's personal thoughts on Florida and its talent, as well as the contents of a "confidential" conversion Vitale had with Florida coach Billy Donovan. When hosts Mike Griffith and John Adams cut to Vitale live, Vitale did not know he was on. Instead, Vitale was in the middle of a conversation with a friend he was having breakfast with. Although Griffith and Adams were finally able to get Vitale's attention, the statements had been broadcast and Vitale was none the wiser. Griffith and Adams even tried to broach the issue with Vitale to give him the opportunity to explain and clarify his comments. That explanation, however, did not come until five minutes after Vitale had concluded the interview and had been contacted by someone at Florida. At that point, Vitale called Sports Page back, told Griffith and Adams how unprofessional they had been, and explained that his comments were merely in jest to a friend. (You can, and should, listen to Part I of the interview here, and Part II here).
Should Vitale's recanting really be the end of the story? I certainly do not think so. Obviously, ESPN has a great deal of interest in ensuring this, for lack of a better word, incident does not gain widespread media attention. A crucial part of ESPN's information comes from the personal relationships its analysts create with insiders of the various sports it covers. These "sources" expect their information to be held in confidence. So, it is a big deal that one of ESPN's most well known and highly regarded analysts would (a) be sharing this information with a friend at restaurant, as opposed to in his office or home, and (b) that he would even put himself in the situation where it could be broadcast over the airwaves. Things like this can affect ESPN's ability to get the information it needs
What about Vitale's credibility the next time he is calling a game or providing an interview? How are we to believe what he is actually saying? As the Sports Page interview shows, Vitale does not always give an opinion he believes to be true. Every interviewer will want to know how Vitale really feels. I, for one, thought the interview was great because it shows just how political people are, willing to say one thing when they believe something else just for the sake of their professional well being. Best of all, Vitale was not even willing to own up to it. I can understand denying the conversation he had with Donovan (more below), but Vitale could have at least just admitted he believes Horford is more talented than Noah. I feel like the 2008 Presidential Election is here already.
And what about the impact this could have on the Florida locker room? How hard has Billy Donovan worked to create a close bond and trust with his players, a familial atmosphere? Florida is a contender for the NCAA National Championship. It is late in the season and they have just lost two of their last three games. With the tournament right around the corner, a tear in the fabric of a team could have big consequences.
There is a legitimate story here that needs to be followed up on. Instead, ESPN is doing everything in its power to ensure this story does not get any bigger than it is. More appalling, however, is the double standard at work here; we all know that if this had happened to anyone outside of the ESPN family, you would be sick of hearing about it by now.
Hey Dickie V, I think it's time to call the fire chief, 'cause you're on fire, baby!
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