ESPN Page 86 - Sports News, Headlines & Highlights
Duke Homer Dick Vitale Not A Duke Homer, According To Duke Homer
Here's a piece in today's Wall Street Journal from Ben Cohen, Duke '10, former Deadspin intern and author of An Illustrated History of Duke Basketball: A Legacy of Achievement, this column on why you shouldn't hate Duke, and this series of columns on why you should like Duke....
Bill Simmons Calls The Bayless-Sherman <em>First Take</em> Meltdown "Awful And Embarrassing"
It's been a while, but Bill Simmons has finally weighed in on something ESPN. Naturally, it's about the show that sucks up the most oxygen in Bristol, First Take. ...
Here's A 1984 Commercial Starring Chris Berman Shilling A $50 Satin ESPN Jacket
The year is 1984. ESPN has just become America's biggest cable TV channel, reaching nearly 30 million homes. It has not, however, yet shown a profit. Perhaps in an attempt to create a new revenue stream (the days of five-dollar subscriber fees being well into the future) the brains in Bristol star...
"I'm Better At Life Than You": Richard Sherman Craps All Over Skip Bayless On <em>First Take</em>
Embrace the debate, you guys! Here's a painfully awkward clip from today's edition of First Take in which Seattle Seahawks cornerback Richard Sherman, who is not afraid to speak his mind, has some very unkind things to say about resident ESPN troll Skip Bayless....
Rob Parker's "Cornball Brother" Comment Is Still A Big Headache For ESPN
Well, actually, the Rob Parker cornball comment became a big headache for the CEO of ESPN's parent company, Disney. At a Disney shareholders meeting yesterday, one guy representing a conservative group, the National Center for Public Policy Research, used Parker's comment to demonstrate that ESPN is...
Fox Sports 1, The ESPN "Alternative," Starts In August, And Regis Philbin Is Involved
"Fans are ready for an alternative to the establishment," reads the press release announcing the Aug. 17 launch of Fox Sports 1. That's how big ESPN is: In the sports world, Rupert Murdoch is considered the scrappy alternative....
One More Stupid Thing About That Stupid Rick Reilly Column
Sean gave Rick Reilly's column a thorough fisking earlier, but here's one more thing. Remember: The conceit is that these are Dennis Rodman's hypothetical reports from present-day global hot spots. Emphasis mine:...
Stephen A. Smith Thinks Hockey Has Ties, Is Not As Dumb As People Who Expected Hockey Analysis From Stephen A. Smith
After weeks of increasing criticism of ESPN's less-than-comprehensive hockey coverage, the NHL finally made SportsCenter. After a 19-0-3 start, a record, the Chicago Blackhawks have finally become a "sports" thing instead of a hockey thing. But be careful what you wish for: on this morning's Sport...
Jim Valvano Gave His Moving ESPYs Speech 20 Years Ago Today
Jim Valvano's famous ESPYs speech was 20 years ago today. Valvano had bone cancer and it was unclear if he would even have the energy to appear at the ESPYs. This is what former ESPN executive John Lack said about it in Those Guys Have All The Fun:...
Keith Olbermann Wants To Work At ESPN Again; ESPN Responds By Swinging Its Dick Around
Keith Olbermann very badly wants to work for ESPN again. And today's New York Times story—written by Those Guys Have All the Fun co-author Jim Miller, who along with Richard Sandomir is working on a feature about ESPN for the paper—suggests that Olbermann is going to have a hell of a hard time findi...
Miami Heat Do The Harlem Shake, <i>SportsCenter</i> Explains It For The Stupids
The Heat released their Harlem Shake video yesterday, and as much as we'd like to call this a dead meme, it's racked up 2.3 million views in under a day. It's watchable as far as these go because of who's in it: where else but in your Stygian nightmares can you see Chris Andersen flapping towards ...
Bill Polian, Television Personality, Found Himself Surprised To Be On TV Yesterday
Veteran NFL executive Bill Polian has found new life in ESPN's arms as a pro football analyst, and he's part of the Bristol diaspora that's found its way to Indianapolis for the pro football combine that gets underway tomorrow. I don't know if it's possible to suffer jetlag without changing time z...
ESPN Urges Facebook Users To Celebrate Black History Month, With Predictable Results
We don't know why ESPN is posting a plea on Facebook for the celebration of Black History Month. Black History Month is, after all, nearly 75% over. (Maybe ESPN was consumed with celebrating Michael Jordan's birthday.) Also curious is ESPN's use of American sport's most notoriously racist franchise...
ESPN Announcers Dress As Abraham Lincoln, George Washington, And Ben Franklin To Celebrate President's Day. Wait, Ben Franklin?
We're all for ESPN's talent going the extra mile to spice up a broadcast, especially when it's a less-than-thrilling midweek Rutgers-Villanova matchup. So here's LaPhonso Ellis and Adam Amin getting into the holiday spirit and dressing up like their favorite presidents last night: Lincoln for Ellis...
Bill Raftery Asks Jay Bilas If He's Ever Been Ridden
If you dig those awkward silences, this one's for you: a discussion about "riding the hot hand" during last night's Notre Dame-Pitt game led to Bill Raftery springing a loaded question on Jay Bilas. Nervous chuckling, and a "moving right along" segue followed....
ESPN Reports On ESPN Negotiation; ESPN Spokesman Declines Comment
Here is an ESPN.com story written by ESPN college football reporter Brett McMurphy about the battle between ESPN and NBC Sports for Big East broadcast rights:...
How Clark Olson Beats Everyone Else In Fantasy Everything
The guy who just beat everyone else in America at all the fantasy sports, again, is a computer science professor who is not so much into trades but who is really, really into spreadsheets. Clark Olson, the 2012 winner of ESPN's omnibus Uber Challenge fantasy game, again, tallied the high score acros...
Jim Boeheim Is Mad At Andy Katz Because Jim Boeheim Is An Officious Turd
Last night, Syracuse coach Jim Boeheim took time out of his post-game press conference to take a shot at ESPN's Andy Katz. "I'll answer anybody's question but yours," Boeheim said, "because you're an idiot and really a disloyal person."...
<em>Around The Horn</em> Viewers Continue To Be Mystified By Ash Wednesday
For years, Around The Horn host Tony Reali has proudly worn the mark of Ash Wednesday upon his forehead while hosting that day's program. While other talent on other networks might not have such freedom, Reali's clearly a person who both believes strongly in his faith and works on a program that do...