Deadspin: jeremy schaap

Media Approval Ratings: Jeremy Schaap

Will Leitch — Fri, 20 Jun 2008 13:05:50 EDT

Right now, we desperately wish we had video handy of Jeremy Schapp in one of the "meetings" on "E-60"'s conference room segments. He is ... saying something ... very serious.

Schapp still hasn't had his signature breakout to escape his father's large shadow, and Dick Schapp comes up even when it's not Jeremy's fault, like in that famous Bob Knight interview. We also love the way he says "EEEE SSSSSS P NNNNNNN."

Oh, and his Cinderella Man book is pretty good.

So: Do you like the Jeremy Schaap? Do you not like the Jeremy Schaap? Go.

Witness Bill Simmons In Tight Tight Tights

Leitch — Wed, 17 Oct 2007 12:35:56 EDT

We watched that new ESPN show "E-60," or whatever the correct nomenclature is, and you know what? It's not so bad.

The E-Ticket section on ESPN.com has always been one of the stronger elements of the site, and the show, while occasionally lapsing into the same soft-focus weeper segments that permeate Chris Connelly's "reports," trades off it well. Jeremy Schaap's Cecil Fielder story was fascinating; it was hard not to feel bad for the guy, even if he probably has a lot of it coming. Even Rachel Nichols' segment on gambling was well-done, and she didn't once ask how the bookies were "feeling." We even like the "reporter explains his/her story" black-and-white newsroom footage; it's kind of a clever riff on the "Real Sports" studio segments where Bryant Gumbel interviews Frank Deford. A little of Schaap's This Is An Important Story And I Am Saying Important Things voice goes a long way, but on the whole, not a bad show.

Bill Simmons' segment at the end, in which he plays one-on-one with Paul Pierce while wearing a motion capture suit, wasn't an embarrassment either, though we question the appropriateness of following four serious investigative stories with a man in spandex joking about ruining his "career."

But look! See! An ESPN show we kind of liked! We're fair!

OK, Seriously, Knock It Off You Guys

Leitch — Wed, 09 Nov 2005 11:00:33 EST

All right, we know we've mentioned this already, but we're still kind of obsessed with this daily SportsCenter feature of Steve Phillips "playing" the role of every team's GM. At first, we thought this was just going to be a Boston thing, playing with the Theo Epstein press conference last week. But then they did the Yankees, and then the Cubs, and the Astros tomorrow, and we're realizing that they're really going to do this, they really might do every MLB team. So we thought we'd just go ahead and confess every part of this we're confused about. Henceforth:

OK, first off, if they're going to have this mock press conference, why is Phillips speaking in the bland cadence of GMs? More accurately ... why isn't he saying anything? Is this supposed to be analysis? Why is he just spouting press releases? Oh, and, honestly, why does ESPN have real reporters asking questions? Poor Buster Olney, the guy's got a huge cover story about steroids this week, he's written for the New York Times, and now he's got to ask these fake questions with a fake notebook? Are we supposed to think he's actually writing anything on that? And why are they wasting five minutes of SportsCenter during one of the most busy times of the year with this? Are they really going to do every team? And why do they keep acting like there's this onrush of questions? They're gonna call on Olney or Schaap every time; isn't it just mean to make the interns keep shouting things out? Are those really flashbulbs going off? Where is this filmed, anyway? Shouldn't some of those reporters be out, you know, reporting? Oh, and why does Phillips keep answering questions like he really has a relationship with the people he's talking about? "I — along with the Tribune company — am committed to Dusty (Baker) and I like what he's doing with this." What? We have fake owners now? Can we have a fake firing? Please? Are we going insane?

Oh, and the best part: When Phillips called on Jeremy Schaap to ask a question today, he totally called him "Jerry." Of course, it's possible that just like Phillips is playing the "character" of Cubs GM, maybe Schaap is playing the character of "Jerry the reporter."

EARLIER: The Sad Faces Of Buster Olney And Jeremy Schaap [Deadspin]

Sure, Yeah, Critics, ESPN's Totally Listening

Leitch — Tue, 08 Nov 2005 11:30:31 EST

Maybe it's that ridiculous Steve Phillips mock press conference thing that "SportsCenter" is doing right now, but for whatever reason, there's all kinds of anti-ESPN invective out there today.

The Philly Inquirer gets it started by pointing out that this whole Terrell Owens mess was an ESPN production from the start, lamenting "take ESPN out of the equation, and this is a run-of-the-mill contract squabble between a star player and a football team." And Joe Sports Fan is terrified of the day we have ESPN TV dinners. We suspect they would take about 30 seconds to cook and would have the nutritional content of spam covered in bacon fat.

And, in the best hit we've seen all day, SportsBiz pleads with ESPN head honcho George Bodenheimer to stop ruining sports for him. And through all this, we still can't find anybody to say anything bad about executive vice president of content John Skipper. Honestly, this guy must wear pants made of diamonds or just own incriminating pictures of EVERYONE in Bristol.

Made For TV: ESPN Found The Perfect Dupe [Philly.com]
What's Wrong With ESPN [Sports Biz] (via TrueHoop)
Media Circus [Joe Sports Fan]

(By the way, just for fun, here's a mildly amusing mock SportsCenter "racist coach" broadcast.)

The Sad Faces Of Buster Olney And Jeremy Schaap

Leitch — Mon, 07 Nov 2005 10:15:38 EST

For anyone who wondered just what sacrifices that legitimate journalists like Jeremy Schaap and Buster Olney have to suckle from ESPN's cash teat, look no further than this morning's "SportsCenter." In it, baseball analyst Steve Phillips answers mock questions in a mock press conference, pretending to be Boston's general manager. This is bad enough, dumb, pointless, harmless. But then, the people "asking" the "questions" to Phillips ... they're real ESPN journalists! Including Olney and Schaap, who both, after asking scripted questions to a co-worker, have considerable "I hate myself and want to die" looks on their faces.

If you missed this today, just catch the 7 p.m. "SportsCenter" tonight. They're going to do it again. Fake questions, fake answers, fake GM. At least they're not even pretending anymore.

Steve Phillips Archive [ESPN]