mediameltdown Page 79 - Sports News, Headlines & Highlights

Even Italy's A Little Racist Toward Mario Balotelli
This cartoon ran in Sunday's Gazzetta dello Sport, Italy's top-selling sports newspaper. It's Balotelli, fresh off the Azzurri triumph over England, climbing Big Ben. (Fun fact: It's officially "Elizabeth Tower" now.) Yes, Balotelli is playing the part of a giant gorilla, and yes, 90 percent of Euro...
!["Why Don't You Go Fuck Josh," Said Somebody (Maybe Pam Shriver) On ESPN's Wimbledon Broadcast [CORRECTED]](https://images.deadspin.com/tr:w-900/Image_Not_Found_1x_qjofp8.png)
"Why Don't You Go Fuck Josh," Said Somebody (Maybe Pam Shriver) On ESPN's Wimbledon Broadcast [CORRECTED]
Reader Brian let us know about this oddity during match point of today's opening-round match at Wimbledon today between Kim Clijsters and Jelena Jankovic, in which a voice on ESPN asks "Why don't you go fuck Josh out there?" in hushed tones....

Here's How British TV Broadcasters Reacted Live To News Italy Bounced England From Euro 2012
Just in time for the national sports focus's shift to Wimbeldon, England's national team flunked out of Euro 2012. A 4-2 loss on penalties to Italy in last night's quarterfinal match in Kiev was, naturally, the top story of the day, so we decided to drop in various national British networks to see...

Memo: Layoffs Coming To <em>Sports Illustrated</em>
Job cuts are coming to Sports Illustrated and now we have a rougher idea of how many people are getting cut....

Darren Rovell Is Indeed Going To ESPN, ABC News, Reportedly For More Than $500,000 A Year
And it's official: Sports biz guy Darren Rovell is leaving CNBC after six years, having reached an "agreement in principle" with his old home, ESPN. Rovell tweeted this morning:...

Fox L.A. Legal Analyst On Jerry Sandusky: "He Shot His Wad"
Understanding the Jerry Sandusky trial from a West Coast viewpoint is hard. After all, California is so far away from Pennsylvania! So when KTTV, the Fox affiliate in Los Angeles, brought on legal analyst Robin Sax—a former district attorney apparently notable enough to have a Wikipedia article—th...

Note To Starbucks Baristas Everywhere: If You Find Yourself Serving Coffee To Mitch Albom, Spill It On Him
Mitch Albom, America's favorite fun-sized poetastering fabulist, decided to use his Sunday column space in the shrinking Detroit Free Press to whine about America's service workers in the haughtiest fashion possible....
![Rangers Announcer Dave Barnett Starts Speaking Nonsense During Broadcast, Claims Go-Ahead Run Is At "Fifth" Base [UPDATE]](https://images.deadspin.com/tr:w-900/Image_Not_Found_1x_qjofp8.png)
Rangers Announcer Dave Barnett Starts Speaking Nonsense During Broadcast, Claims Go-Ahead Run Is At "Fifth" Base [UPDATE]
The bottom of the eighth inning of last night's Rangers-Padres game from San Diego turned weird during tonight's broadcast on Fox Sports Southwest as longtime broadcaster Dave Barnett appeared to completely lose his mind, claiming a runner was at "fifth" base and then trailing off into a story ab...

Charlie Pierce Destroys An Awful Column Proclaiming Bryce Harper As A Conservative Hero
Last Friday, the Daily Caller published what is truly one of the most insane pieces of sportswriting to ever exist, in which a dumb guy attempts to turn Bryce Harper into a symbol of conservative values and the reincarnation of Ronald Reagan, or some shit....

Erin Andrews's Contract Is About To Expire, And No One Wants To Hire Her Away From ESPN
Around the time that news of Michelle Beadle's departure leaked, there was (surprise!) a US Weekly report that ESPN sideline reporter Erin Andrews and Gossip Girl guy Chace Crawford had gone out on a "couple" of dates. There were also a bunch of tweets about how much time Andrews spends with models ...

How Not To Be The Biggest Asshole In Media: 4 Lessons I Learned From Meeting Jay Mariotti And Reading His Awful Book
It's been almost two years since Jay Mariotti last wrote a sports column or appeared on ESPN. In that time, sports media's ur-controversialist—a pioneer of the sportswriters-being-dicks-on-television genre—has pleaded no contest to misdemeanor stalking and assault-related charges stemming from a hai...

Vanilla Ice Appears on <em> SportsCenter </em> Wearing "Morning Wood" T-Shirt
Vanilla Ice was on SportsCenter this morning promoting the new Adam Sandler film That's My Boy, in which Mr. Ice has a fairly big role. He's been making the rounds this week, appearing on the Dan Patrick Show today, and serving as Grand Marshal of Sunday's NASCAR race at Pocono, among other things....

David Stern Asked Jim Rome "Have You Stopped Beating Your Wife Yet?" As Today's Interview Turned Ugly
The Jim Rome Show turned awkward today as NBA commissioner David Stern lashed out at the show's host for asking whether the league's draft lottery was fixed, asking at one point, "Have you stopped beating your wife yet?" ...

The Rockies Are Losing Because They Were Mean To Ubaldo Jimenez, Idiot Columnist Claims
The Colorado Rockies have been awful this year. For example: Jamie Moyer was the team's most reliable starting pitcher for a good chunk of the season. After they ditched Moyer, Jeff Francis came back for the lamest return-of-the-prodigal-son ever (he gave up eight earned runs in less than four innin...
![Rick Reilly's U.S. Open Column Is 18 Years Out Of Date [UPDATE]](https://images.deadspin.com/tr:w-900/17pgascdl4p66png.png)
Rick Reilly's U.S. Open Column Is 18 Years Out Of Date [UPDATE]
The U.S. Open is this weekend, and the best thing about the tournament is that just about anyone can enter. The worst thing about the tournament is also that just about anyone can enter. Thousands of golfers, from seasoned pros to Sunday duffers, take part in qualifying rounds, and if they're good e...

Why ESPN Should Worry About <em>First Take</em>'s Ratings Slide
This has been the working theory: ESPN2's First Take is bad for the soul but awfully good for business. In late September, ESPN made the show the personal property of the professionally disagreeable Skip Bayless, turning the format into wall-to-wall staged argument. The conceit looked like a hit an...

Here Is A Seething Bob Costas Trying To Conduct A Post-Race Interview At The Belmont Stakes
Who won the Belmont Stakes? Who knows, it's not important. We're not degenerate gamblers, are we? This is fun, though. As Bob Neumeier attempted to kick it over to Bob Costas who was with Steve Duncker, chairman of NYRA, there was some confusion on Costas's end....

Reggie Miller Will Never, Ever Go Away
"I hope America and the nation embraces this team."...

Should Brent Musburger Apologize For Calling John Carlos And Tommie Smith "Black-Skinned Storm Troopers" 44 Years Ago?
John Carlos and Tommie Smith, each raising a fist on the medal stand at the 1968 Olympics, have become an icon of that decade, and that climate, and of the changes that were a-coming. They're heroes now, but that the time they were seen by many as traitors, and agitators, and by at least one up-and-...
![How A Teenager With A Fake Escort Service Duped Darren Rovell And CNBC [UPDATE]](https://images.deadspin.com/tr:w-900/17oy9pv00sq5dpng.png)
How A Teenager With A Fake Escort Service Duped Darren Rovell And CNBC [UPDATE]
An 18-year-old high school senior named Tim was bored one day last November when CNBC's sports biz guy, Darren Rovell, sent out the following tweet:...