media Page 203 - Sports News, Headlines & Highlights
Josh Levin's Fascination With Rick Reilly's Tooth Jokes Is Oddly Captivating
When I initially took over this site there was a lot of discussion amongst former and current editors about doing a weekly feature devoted entirely to Rick Reilly's ESPN column. It would be too easy to just pick apart its contents FJM-style (R.I.P), but given his hubris, his enormous contract, and t...
SI's Dr. Z Recovering After Two Strokes
This is sad news from the sports media world. Paul Zimmerman, the grouchy football columnist better known as Dr. Z, suffered two strokes in late November and is currently on a leave of absence while he recovers. He'll survive, but how it'll affect the rest of his writing career is still undetermined...
The Curious Case of Fred Hickman
Most of you probably don't remember Fred Hickman's somewhat brief tenure as an ESPN anchor and talking head and most of you also were probably unaware that the man is no longer working for them. Hickman was signed on from the YES network in 2004 to a significant contract to come over to the WWL, due...
Exploring the ESPN Business Model (Hint: It Involves Swimming In Piles of Cash)
By now everyone knows that ESPN paid $100 million more than Fox could afford for the rights to the BCS games beginning in 2009. Cementing, to a great degree, ESPN's status as a post-season college football monopoly (they now control 29 of the 34 bowl games). And we've also noted that this increasing...
The Creative Impasse Between Bill Simmons and ESPN Appears To Be Over
The rumor about Bill Simmons "quitting" his B.S. Report podcast on ESPN due to restrictive over-editing policies were apparently overblown, for today the B.S. Report has miraculously reappeared. The one noticeable change to it is the new pre-show disclaimer from the Sports Fella himself that states ...
ESPN Mag To Get a Sharapova-cized Makeover
Each year, ESPN "The Magazine" trots out special issues like the goofy jocks-are-in-charge issue one when they let a professional athlete play editor for the week. (Remember one year Matt Leinart did this. Yeah, it'll probably be a long time before he gets on the cover again.) This year the mag has...
When Blogs Go Too Far?: Yahoo! NBA Writer Calls Blogger After Perceived Threat
There's an odd but serious spat brewing between MVN blogger and Yahoo! Sports basketball writer Adrian Wojnarowski over an extremely disturbing post that has now extended beyond the web pages. Amir Panchmatia, of the "Cavalier Attitude" fan blog, posted an item in late October titled "Going American...
Chicago Magazine Writer Loves Him Some Jay Mariotti
By his own count, Jay Mariotti wrote more than 3,000 columns in his 17 years as a Chicago Sun-Times columnist. But now that that's all over, and being an ESPN jabbering noggin is his main gig now, how does a professional contrarian stay relevant in a world that's swiftly passing him by? By grabbing ...
Buffalo Sportswriter Dies After Press Box Fall
Tom Borrelli, a sportswriter for the Buffalo News died today after an accident that happened at high school football game. On November 8, Borrelli was climbing up a steep metal staircase (almost like a ladder, really) on the way to the press box at All High Stadium, when he hit his head on a girder ...
Is This The Most Suggestive Sports Headline Ever Written?
When I worked at the Peninsula Times-Tribune in Palo Alto, Calif., (former home of Ray Ratto!) a young copy editor came up with a rather inadvertently amusing headline for a story in the features section: You May Be To Blame If Your Dog Won't Come. That still ranks in my top 10 of funny suggestive h...
What Is ESPN Sports Passport, And Should I Be Afraid?
Surely you've noticed by now that alongside every recap on ESPN.com is an ad for ESPN Sports Passport. But what is this exciting service and how will it affect my daily life? Let's let the WWL itself explain: WERE YOU THERE? Did you attend this game? If so, start chronicling your sports memories tod...
Oh...And About Simmons' Podcast: "He Told Me He Quit It"
So, here's a little snippet of of information from an individual close to the ESPN/Simmons slap-fight. Remember last week, when we reported that ESPN insisted that there was nothing to the sudden disappearance of "The B.S. Report" and that, according to them, there's no smoke, fire, or truth to that...
Rick Telander Does Not Fear ESPN's Wrath — But He Does Respect It
In a tough economic market, you'll find many sports writers scaling back on their criticism for the sake of job security. Trying to garner attention through traditional shit-stirring isn't the best way to keep your self afloat right now — piss off the wrong source or anger enough readers and you may...
The Ongoing Odd Behavior of One Bill Simmons Continues to Captivate, Cause Concern
Many of you emailed to inform me that I was inexplicably name-dropped in the Sports Fella's most recent mailbag column, which was quite hilarious, if not a little jarring. Was this another not-so-subtle way of Mr. Simmons extending a bony middle finger to his employer? Not really. It was his own way...
Fire Joe Morgan: The Exit Interview
Like many of you, my heart sank last week when I learned that Fire Joe Morgan announced they were hanging up their purple spikes after, as they put it, "21 years, and almost 40 million posts." Fire Joe Morgan was one of the reasons I got into this blogging game — and what a game it is! — and I'm sur...
Some Things In The SI Vault Should Stay There
We were all excited when Sports Illustrated announced back in March that they were putting all of their old issues online: "150,000 stories , 2,800 covers, 500,000 photographs!" But for every intriguing journey into the SI Vault, there is also a very dark, disturbing one, as a tipster pointed out th...
Ad Agency Behind Controversial ESPN Spot Speaks: "It Wasn't Meant to Offend Anyone"
Many of you saw Awful Announcing's fascinating post about the leaked casting call item for an upcoming ESPN commercial. The concept seemed innocent enough: "The spots take place in the ESPN College Basketball Call Center (CBBCC). All of these guys are there representing their schools, calling people...
It'll Be Our Merriest Christmas Ever
Just imagine their delight when the kids troop down on Christmas morning and find one of these babies under the tree. It will be hard for little Trevor to contain his joy. It's the ESPN broadcast microphone, advertised as the "perfect gift for the aspiring broadcaster. Now you can call the plays!" C...
Contentious Media Dork Calls Bill Simmons a "Jock Washer"
Throughout Bill Simmons ongoing mysterious Andy Dufresne saga with the WWL over his podcast, his NFL Picks column, and his treatment at Page 2, his thinly-veiled digs have, for the most part, only been scrutinized by the sports media watchers fascinated by the Sports Fella's every move.(Myself inclu...
According to Jemele Hill, Warren Sapp Deserves a Pounding for Keyshawn "Bitch" Comment
Here's an amusing little snag from Awful Announcing, featuring current "Inside the NFL" analyst Warren Sapp and budding home decorator/"NFL Live" analyst, Keyshawn Johnson. Sapp was responding to viewer questions during his "Ask Warren Anything" segment. One viewer was curious about Sapp's thoughts...