SI.com’s Richard Deitsch reports Ray Lewis is close to signing a deal with ESPN. Colorful and outspoken, Lewis should be a good fit for the analyst seat.
Multiple sources told SI.com the Ravens linebacker is close to signing a multi-year contract with the network. At ESPN, Lewis is expected to have a significant role on the network’s Monday Night Countdown program. As with most ESPN NFL talent, Lewis would also be featured on multiple platforms, including ESPN Radio.
No formal announcement from Lewis or the network is expected until the conclusion of the Ravens season. Lewis announced Wednesday that he planned to retire at the end of Baltimore’s season. The Ravens host the Colts on Sunday in the AFC WIld Card round.
An ESPN spokesperson declined comment when contacted Thursday morning.
Good to hear Sean McDonough is on the mend. Chad Finn of the Boston Globe talked to the ESPN announcer as he recovers from brain surgery earlier this month.
“I’m getting there, a work in progress, but getting out pretty regularly,’’ said McDonough, who was in the operating room at the Massachusetts Eye and Ear Infirmary for more than four hours as Dr. Daniel Lee repaired a hole in the bone near McDonough’s left ear that separates it from the brain. “I still have fluid in the left ear, and my hearing is low in that ear. I have sensitivity to loud noise and some dizziness. But they’re pretty common effects during recovery. They just take a while to resolve themselves.’’
McDonough put off the surgery for nine months so he could continue to work.
“It was a long time to live with it, but the surgery is major, and it’s very invasive,’’ said McDonough, who was originally scheduled to have the surgery Aug. 7 but put it off until a time when his schedule was lighter and the weather wasn’t as good. “They have to cut a hole in your skull and move your brain and have to lift your brain off the bone that they’re fixing. It’s daunting, it’s scary, and I really had to weigh, which I did for a long time, the pluses and minuses of the surgery.
“The symptoms were awful, to the point of almost being debilitating. But you can live with them, and you have to make that decision. I realized they can get worse over time, you risk the onset of vertigo, and a lot of people try to live with it, go back to the surgeon one, two, three, or five years later, and say I can’t live with it anymore. And you’re left asking why didn’t I just do this four or five years ago? I just figured I don’t want to live with this. Plus, I’m hoping the titanium in my head gives me 10 more yards off the tee.”
Rob Parker didn’t get fired for his statements regarding Robert Griffin III.
From ESPN:
“ESPN has decided to suspend Rob Parker for 30 days for his comments made on last Thursday’s episode of First Take. Our review of the preparation for the show and the re-air has established that mistakes both in judgment and communication were made. As a direct result, clearly inappropriate content was aired and then re-aired without editing. Both were errors on our part.
“To address this, we have enhanced the editorial oversight of the show and have taken appropriate disciplinary measures with the personnel responsible for these failures. We will continue to discuss important issues in sports on First Take, including race. Debate is an integral part of sports and we will continue to engage in it on First Take. However, we believe what we have learned here and the steps we have taken will help us do all that better.”
Couple of things:
This is about what I expected. In most cases, not all, ESPN allows for second chances depending on the circumstances. I don’t think the network wants to get rid of Parker.
Also, the part about enchancing “the editorial oversight of the show” would seem to suggest Parker’s position on RGIII might have been brought up at a pre-show production meeting. Perhaps not in those exact words which eventually caused all the trouble, but something was discussed.
Given what happened, on sensitive topics such as race, I’m betting ESPN will want the dialogue to be played out more fully before the show to avoid these situations again.
I blew it and I’m sincerely sorry. I completely understand how the issue of race in sports is a sensitive one and needs to be handled with great care. This past Thursday I failed to do that. I believe the intended topic is a worthy one. Robert’s thoughts about being an African-American quarterback and the impact of his phenomenal success have been discussed in other media outlets, as well as among sports fans, particularly those in the African-American community. The failure was in how I chose to discuss it on First Take, and in doing so, turned a productive conversation into a negative one. I regrettably introduced some points that I never should have and I completely understand the strong response to them, including ESPN’s reaction. Perhaps most importantly, the attention my words have brought to one of the best and brightest stars in all of sports is an unintended and troubling result. Robert Griffin III is a talented athlete who not only can do great things on the field, but off the field handles himself in a way we are all taught – with dignity, respect and pride. I’ve contacted his agent with hopes of apologizing to Robert directly. As I reflect on this and move forward, I will take the time to consider how I can continue to tackle difficult, important topics in a much more thoughtful manner.
******
Jason McIntyre of Big Lead believes it is 75/25 that Parker will get fired. He might be right, but ESPN does have a history of giving second chances.
Mike Tirico really called a great game on Monday night. He didn’t try to sugarcoat the rotten excuse for football in Tennessee.
It was horrible, and he didn’t hide his feelings. As ESPN cut to a commercial in the third quarter, Tirico said bluntly, “A bad punt in a bad game.”
If I’m ESPN, and paying something like $50 million per Monday night game, I’m on the phone with the NFL today. The league blew it by scheduling a Jets-Titans game for primetime so late in the season.
Neither team made the playoffs in 2011. The Jets were a measly 8-8, while Tennessee wasn’t much better at 9-7. What made the schedule-makers think that this match-up would be worth watching in late December?
The potential definitely was there for Tennessee to be a dud, and who knows with the Jets? Even so, nobody thought they were Super Bowl contenders.
Meanwhile, over at NBC, Al Michaels and company had the New England-San Francisco game on Sunday night. Now at the beginning of the season, you would have to say that looked like a pretty good game on Dec. 16.
NBC gets the flex scheduling option beginning in week 10. However, its schedule has been so strong, this Sunday will be the first and only flex of the season. The NFL decided to switch from San Diego-Jets (enough with the Jets!) to San Francisco-Seattle.
NFL can’t flex for ESPN since much more is involved in moving a Monday night game. However, if it had been in play, I bet the league would have flexed off three ESPN games: Pittsburgh-Kansas City (1-8 going into game) on Nov. 12; 2-8 Carolina at 3-7 Philadelphia on Nov. 26; and last night’s game.
ESPN closes out its season Saturday with Atlanta-Detroit. The game has lost considerable luster with the Lions playing out the string at 4-10. But with Detroit coming off a playoff run in 2011, at least this match-up made sense for prime time at the beginning of the season.
Jets-Titans didn’t. ESPN and the viewers (those who tuned in) got stuck with a terrible game.
I’m not trying to be insensitive here. This is an unspeakable tragedy.
It hits especially close to home for ESPN since it occurred only 30 minutes away from its headquarters in Bristol. It is understandable that executives would ask staffers not to tweet until noon Sunday, per a report in Deadspin.
But I do have a question:
Does this mean none of us should tweet about sports until noon Sunday?
Despite our collective mourning, sports will go on today. Sports news will be made. ESPN has a full slate of games and SportsCenters on tap today.
ESPN.com is loaded with stories and highlight packages. The same holds true for the other networks and sports sites.
As far as I can tell, it looks like a normal Saturday.
Why then draw the line at Twitter?
Sorry, if that seems insensitive, but I just felt the question should be asked.
Sports always has served as a diversion. People will be turning to games on ESPN and elsewhere today to escape from the heart-breaking realities on CNN. They also will be looking at their Twitter feeds for the latest sports news. And other reporters and outlets are tweeting about sports.
Bottom line: Everyone has to do what they think is best for them.
Bottom line II: Keep those families in your prayers.
Update: ESPN spokesman Josh Krulewitz just posted this tweet: “Following yesterday’s comments, Rob Parker has been suspended until further notice. We are conducting a full review.”
*******
These kinds of stories make me sad. I’d rather be writing about something else than somebody making stupid statements on television. I call it chasing fires. Some people love it. I don’t.
Yet you can’t ignore what Rob Parker said yesterday on First Take. And it appears as if he is about to incur ESPN’s wrath.
In case you missed it, Parker went off about Robert Griffin III. “Is he a brother, or is he a cornball brother?” Parker said.
Parker went on: “I’ve talked to some people in Washington, D.C. Some people in [Griffin’s] press conferences. Some people I’ve known for a long time. My question, which is just a straight, honest question, is … is he a ‘brother,’ or is he a cornball ‘brother?’ He’s not really … he’s black, but he’s not really down with the cause. He’s not one of us. He’s kind of black, but he’s not really like the guy you’d want to hang out with. I just want to find out about him. I don’t know, because I keep hearing these things. He has a white fiancé, people talking about that he’s a Republican … there’s no information at all. I’m just trying to dig deeper into why he has an issue. Tiger Woods was like, ‘I have black skin, but don’t call me black.’ People wondered about Tiger Woods early on — about him.”
Stephen A. Smith, in one of the smartest things he said on the show, cut off the discussion: “I’m uncomfortable with where we just went. RGIII, the ethnicity, the color of his fiance is none of our business, it’s irrelevant, he can live his life any way he chooses… I don’t judge someone’s blackness based on those types of things.”
Apparently, Parker’s views on Griffin didn’t go over well in the corporate offices at Bristol. An ESPN spokesman said the comments “”were inappropriate and we are evaluating our next steps.”
So why does something like this happen? I think it is due in part to the environment that’s been created at ESPN and elsewhere with these debate shows. It’s all about getting noticed. Get your name out there on Twitter. Get people talking about you. Get people wanting to tune in to hear what you say next.
In order to do that, you have to be controversial, outrageous. At times, you have to be really out there. Really, really out there.
It’s cause people to cross the line and then some. They don’t think and consider the impact of their statements, especially when it is about a volatile subject like race. Then the trouble begins.
Rob Parker got himself noticed with his comments about RGIII. His clip, posted by Awful Announcing, has received nearly 300,000 pageviews on YouTube as of this morning. However, I can’t imagine he is enjoying this kind of attention.
If you have 55 minutes to spare–and who doesn’t?–it is worth your time to check out Awful Announcing’s latest podcast with John Koblin.
Interviewed by AA’s Matt Yoder, Koblin talks about covering ESPN for Deadspin. At the top, Yoder tells Koblin to say hello to all the ESPN PR folks, who most definitely are listening.
Plenty of territory is covered here. From AA:
-His conversation with John Walsh and reaction to being put into the story himself.
-Thoughts on why it took that embarrassing episode for ESPN to finally correct the plagiarized stories.
-The importance in aggressively covering ESPN and the comparison to other media beats.
-The state of the Deadspin-ESPN relationship.
-ESPN President John Skipper’s comments about the network pulling back on its Tim Tebow coverage.
-The appeal of Skip Bayless within Bristol.
-Sourcing issues and controversies at ESPN.
-Whether or not the journalistic questions raised in the last year will ever effect the average ESPN viewer or ESPN brand.
-The modest progress ESPN has made in the last year and where the company goes from here.
Koblin makes some good thoughts, especially on ESPN reacting so slowly to the plagiarism problem. However, there were some points of disagreement for me.
I think the entire ESPN sourcing issue has been blown out of proportion. Nobody in this business is good at crediting sources, speaking as someone who didn’t receive credit for stories I broke through the years.
Koblin and Yoder failed to note that ESPN admitted it went overboard on its Tebow coverage months prior to network president John Skipper’s statements this week. Mark Gross, ESPN’s executive producer said back in September: “Some things work out, some things don’t. You sort of pick it up and move on to try something else the next day.”
Regarding the larger issue of Deadspin’s agenda when it comes to ESPN, Koblin makes some reasoned remarks about being fair with his coverage. Perhaps.
However, clearly there is a desire to highlight and magnify the network’s flaws. That’s what Deadspin does. Negative stories about ESPN leads to page views. I don’t think I’m breaking news here.
Yet having said all that, Koblin seems like an interesting sort. Worth your time if you have some.
It’s been open season on ESPN of late. John Skipper has decided to fight back.
In an interview with John Ourand of Street and Smith’s Sports Business Daily, the ESPN president reacted to mounting criticism from various outlets (Deadspin, Awful Announcing in particular) that the network’s journalistic standards have been reduced, and that its brand has been diminished by an endless array of debate shows, headed by First Take.
The always candid Skipper clearly thinks enough is enough. “The brand’s never been stronger,” he said.
Regarding standards:
We have standards of journalism that are at the highest order. There’s a separate question, which is, ‘Are we adhering to them?’ But at least our intention and what we publish is that we are going to adhere to high standards. We don’t discourage the scrutiny, we welcome it. Generally, we react to it….
We started Front Row so we could be a little more transparent. I don’t think anybody responds more or has higher standards. So I reject the overall criticism that we’re not doing this stuff.”
On whether ESPN goes soft with its league partners:
The thing that makes me angriest is that ESPN has a conflict. Give me three examples where we pulled up. I think that we did a comprehensive story on stadium and arena food standards and found about one quarter of the stadiums to be deficient in terms of their health standards. I don’t recall anyone else doing that or being in that much conflict with all of their partners. I think I remember a whole week of stories about the concussions in the NFL. But people still write it as a matter of fact, ‘Of course, ESPN’s not leading the way in writing about concussions.’ Other than the N.Y. Times, we’ve clearly been the most aggressive on that. Talk to David Stern about whether he thinks we pull up on stories.
And here’s my favorite. Regarding criticism of First Take:
It’s just another show. It’s not journalism. Nobody goes, ‘Gee, look how awful it is that CBS does these awful reality shows. Doesn’t that taint their great news organization?’ We have seven networks. There’s 8,760 hours per year. We’re programming 50-60,000 hours per year. … But people say, ‘Gee, that awful debate that you’re doing, how can the great ‘SportsCenter’ coexist with the debate of ‘First Take.’ I don’t know, how do infomercials coexist with the great journalism they’re doing someplace else? We’re not a micromanaged place. Jamie Horowitz is the producer of ‘First Take.’ He’s gone in a direction that’s working. Ratings are up.
So here’s my question: Who’s going to be the more upset? Skip Bayless and Stephen A. Smith over Skipper comparing them to “awful” reality shows; or with the polarizing hosts, reality shows being compared to First Take?
Given the way Skipper spoke out, I’m sure he would have no problem holding his own on First Take. Now there’s a show.
I overdosed on the Dallas Cowboys this year. It seemed like Jerry Jones’ mediocre bunch were featured more in Chicago than the Bears.
