Chris Erskine wrote last weekend in the L.A. Times: “There are trace amounts of autumn in the air — pixie dust, or maybe that’s just garden grit. Whatever. Change is good, or so they tell us.”
Back to school. Back to college football. And, finally, the changeover to where we pay attention to the NFL regular season launching.
When can we use our charge card to bet on the Chargers in one of many local and legal sports book? We aren’t there. Yet.
Week 1 starts the Thursday-to-next-Monday exercise of spreading the wealth, and more opportunities for protests during the National Anthem during nationally televised games. The first: Defending champion Philadelphia playing host to Atlanta (Thursday, 5:20 p.m., Channel 4). By Sunday, we have Los Angeles’ second year of the Chargers inviting Kansas City to come over and play in their condo-shaped backyard at the StubHub Center in Carson (1:05 p.m., Channel 2). The Rams don’t end the official first week until they go to Oakland on a Monday night, so hold that thought, and the first Aaron Donald sighting. The rest of the schedule for the L.A. market :
Note: the Chargers’ single game for CBS meaning there is no Pittsburgh-Cleveland, Cincinnati-Indianapolis, Houston-New England, Buffalo-Baltimore San Francisco at Minnesota, Sunday at 10 a.m., Channel 11 (chosen over Tennessee-Miami and Jacksonville-N.Y. Giants) Dallas at Carolina, Sunday at 1:25 p.m., Channel 11 (over Seattle-Denver and Washington-Arizona) Chicago at Green Bay, Sunday at 5:20 p.m., Channel 4
As far as brand names go, USC and UCLA go large for Week 2 with roadies that end up as the best bets to watch on a national basis. The Trojans’ Pac-12 opener at Stanford (Stanford, Saturday at 5:30 p.m, Channel 11) should be an eye-opener for freshman QB J.T. Daniels, although the Cardinal (1-0) stumbled around for awhile against San Diego State before recording its season-opening win last week. The Bruins’ trip to Oklahoma (Saturday at 10 a.m., Channel 11) comes with the Sooners’ game film of a 63-14 squashing of Lane Kiffin’s Florida Atlantic in their opener last Saturday. The best of the rest this week: Monday: Virginia Tech at Florida State, 5 p.m., ESPN Friday: TCU at SMU, 5 p.m., ESPN2 Saturday: Arkansas State at Alabama, 12:30 p.m., ESPN2; Georgia at South Carolina, 12:30 p.m., Channel 2; Colorado at Nebraska, 12:30 p.m., Channel 7; Penn State at Pittsburgh, 5 p.m., Channel 7; Michigan State at Arizona State, 7:45 p.m., ESPN.
The first major weekend of every college football season is rarely a trip down Easy Street for Kirk Herbstreit.
The 2018 version is just a bit more fascinating in watching how tight his seat belt must be fastened.
The ESPN/ABC prime-time game analyst and de facto TV voice of the game today covers three games in the first five days of this first big weekend, on top of a swing through South Bend, Ind., for the first “College GameDay” show.
Adding on, he agreed to a conference call with a group of reporters late last week, something that took even more expert navigation behind the wheel of opinionating.
The former Ohio State quarterback, who just turned 49 and starts his 23rd season on the “GameDay” franchise, was of course going to be hit with Q&As about this three-game, go-sit-in-the-corner punishment levied on Buckeyes head coach Urban Meyer, who actually spent the fall of 2011 at ESPN chilling out between gigs at Florida and Ohio State.
If you’re into connecting irrational dots: Herbstreit’s coach at The OSU from ’89-’93 was John Cooper, who in 1988 was the successor to Earle Bruce (’79-’87), who was the grandfather of former OSU assistant Zach Smith, whose bombshell interview with ESPN earlier this month revealed Meyer knew about allegations that Smith abused his then-wife in 2015, and Meyer apparently decided to ignore “red flags” in Smith’s personal life because Meyer considered Bruce to be one of his great mentors. And ESPN was kind of lax in reporting some of that followup, generated by a former ESPN reporter, Brett McMurphy, who says he would be “stunned” if Meyers is still coaching at OSU after this season.
Herbstreit’s devotion to the OSU program goes back to his father, Jim, starring in the Buckeyes’ backfield during the late ‘50s and early ‘60s. But Herbstreit moved his wife and four sons from Columbus, Ohio, to Nashville, Tenn., in the spring of 2011. He explained it was too difficult to maintain some peace and tranquility the more he worked at ESPN while doing a sports-talk show in Columbus:
“Nobody loves Ohio State more than me,” Herbstreit told the Columbus Dispatch at the time. “I still have a picture of Woody Hayes and my dad in my office, and nobody will do more than I do for the university behind the scenes. But I’ve got a job to do, and I’m going to continue to be fair and objective. To continue to have to defend myself and my family in regards to my love and devotion to Ohio State is unfair. …
“Eighty to ninety percent of the Ohio State fans are great. It’s the vocal minority that make it rough. They probably represent only 5 to 10 percent of the fan base, but they are relentless.” Continue reading “Media notes version 08.29.18: The rollicking intersection of “Herbie Rides Again” and “Goodbye, Columbus””→
When USC opens its college football season Saturday at the still-in-facelift-mode Coliseum with a 1 p.m. game against UNLV (Pac-12 Network), followed by UCLA starting it face-lifted program with Chip Kelly against Cincinnati at the Rose Bowl with a 4 p.m. kickoff (ESPN), one of the natural inclinations isn’t to ask: Is it possible to drive and see both games?
That’s often a sports writer’s dilemma, if that’s the correct words to use here. It becomes a dilemma not because it’s a choice of two bad things, but because it’s deciding to try something that’s highly impractical.
Pick one, and stick with it, based on parking, freeway traffic and the overlap – one will still likely be going when the other kicks off.
The easier answer is: Can I watch both on TV? That’s another dicey proposition if you’re a DirecTV user and have come to the realization that the Pac-12 Network will (probably) not be on your menu unless AT&T figures things out as the new DTV caretaker.
JUST IN: The Rose Bowl will be the next venue to drop prices on classic concession items. $3 hot dogs, nachos and fountain sodas at UCLA football games, school & @LevyRestaurants will announce today.
For openers, neither is an eye-grabber along the lines of Michigan-Notre Dame (Saturday, 4:30 p.m., Channel 4). Or Washington-Auburn (Saturday, 12:30 p.m., Channel 7). Then there’s Miami vs. LSU at the JerryDome in Arlington, Tex. (Sunday, 4:30 p.m., Channel 7). The nation’s No. 1 team, Alabama, starts off at home against Louisville in the prime-time window (Saturday, 5 p.m., Channel 7). There’s also some compelling reasons to check in on Ohio State (hosting Oregon State, Saturday, 9 a.m., Channel 7) and Maryland (hosting Texas, Saturday, 9 a.m., FS1). There’s even Lane Kiffin’s Florida Atlantic testing itself at Oklahoma (Saturday, 9 a.m., Channel 11).
But just celebrate that Sept. 1 is here, and the sport that has some real issues with trust among the coaching fraternity can put that aside, maybe, and play some ball. As for some of the rest: Thursday: Northwestern at Purdue, 5 p.m., ESPN; Missouri State at Oklahoma State, 5 p.m., FS1; Weber State at Utah, 5 p.m., Pac-12 Network Friday: Utah State at Michigan State, 4 p.m., BTN; Western Kentucky at Wisconsin, 6 p.m., ESPN; San Diego State at Stanford, 6 p.m., FS1; Colorado at Colorado State, 6:30 p.m., CBSSN Saturday: Mississippi at Texas Tech, 9 a.m., ESPN; Tennessee vs. West Virginia at Charlotte, N.C., 12:30 p.m., Channel 2; Washington State at Wyoming, 12:30 p.m., CBSSN; North Carolina at Cal, 1 p.m., Channel 11; Akron at Nebraska, 5 p.m., Channel 11; Bowling Green at Oregon, 5 p.m., Pac-12 Network; UTSA at Arizona State, 7:30 p.m., FS1; BYU at Arizona, 7:45 p.m., ESPN; Navy at Hawaii, 8 p.m., CBSSNContinue reading “08.27.18: Five things you should plan for the week ahead based on unscientific evidence of guaranteed importance”→
In response to our earlier version of Media Notes 08.22.18, we have updated with new information/stories and commentary, revised at 9 a.m. 08.24.18:
We’ve been asked recently for an opinion about the progress of The Athletic, which has recently started up a Los Angeles beachhead and hired away some of the local sportswriters working in the newspaper game.
Would you like to work there? Perhaps. Have they contacted you? Naw, not really. Have you reached out to anyone? Well, who would that be?
There’s not really a fine line between a mob of people running at your business with fiery torches, and an Olympic athlete running through the streets carrying a flaming torch of hope and cooperation.
Maybe these particular tweets lately sum it up for us:
Just once I want to see “Why I joined the Athletic: THE MONEY”
Totally agree with this from @LukeDeCock, in that I really want The Athletic and their great writers to succeed, but I think newspapers occupy a more important role in society and public life, and *need* to be supported, in every town, everywhere. https://t.co/baFcvL01JA
The Athletic can hire all of the sportswriters it wants but this is a reminder of why it will never get a penny of my money. As journalists, we should be rooting for local news organizations to thrive, not plotting ways to destroy them. pic.twitter.com/RHTkf2Jiqk
We got a notice recently that our $59.99 year-long subscription to The Athletic comes up Sept. 12.
We declined renewal.
Not even at $9.99 a month. It’s based on past consumption, future expected use and projected value of recent hirings. We can’t really justify the expense at the moment.
Not even for a media columnist who might normally get this comped by the publication, or have it re-embursed by the company we work for. We actually bought into the concept. Now we’re opting out.
Then there’s this the tweet we have saved and wondered why it even came back at us in the first place. Last fall, we tweeted out our dismay over a sloppy rah-rah piece they purchased from freelancer Molly “The Best Team Money Can Buy” Knight during the Dodgers-Cubs playoffs. We could link it here, but … why?
That reply above came from a gent at the Chicago bureau named Jon Greenberg (and, yes, we’ve been hanging onto this screenshot for just the right occasion).
Thanks, Jon. We appreciate the nice snappy comeback. Almost felt we got topped by it for an instant.
Thing is, I was also a paying customer. I was part of your core audience, even if you think no one outside of Chicago cares about Chicago sports.
A updated drill down into this:
First, my media partner Steve Lowery and I get into this discussion on our GameTakes app podcast linked here.
Second, we came across this tweet/story that may be the positive outcome of The Athletic’s presence:
The Athletic, in its latest push to add new city sites, is struggling to recruit writers in Washington, D.C. https://t.co/mVUe67RGuz
Meanwhile: The Miami Herald and Kansas City Star are now offering sports-only digital subscriptions https://t.co/bTBgfwN9s7
Third, check out this story produced by Deadspin.com about how the Washington Post talent has resisted overtures from The Athletic about setting up shop in their backyard. It contains this quote: The Athletic is either a force that’s going to change sports media forever, or, perhaps more likely, a racket perpetuated by excitable venture capital dudes who are going after an artificially inflated valuation by paying top dollar for mediocre-to-good beat reporters whose followings are largely a function of their previously existing platforms, and by making attention-grabbing hires of sportswriting relics of the 1990
Finally, here’s the New York Times framing of this story from Friday’s post, which contains this insight:
Here is Brian Grey, who ran Bleacher Report when it was the last sports media company to go through this, on The Athletic’s efficient cost structure and perils of raising more money: pic.twitter.com/aL5frT8uFd
We continue to monitor because we want to see how this affects the sports media landscape, locally and nationally, and if it changes readers’ habits.
ITEM 2:
ESPN president Jimmy Pitaro (Photo: The Associated Press)
At a political rally Tuesday afternoon, the current President of the United States decided it was as good a time as any to besmirch ESPN:
“It was just announced by ESPN that rather than defending our anthem — our beautiful, beautiful national anthem and defending our flag — they’ve decided that they just won’t broadcast when they play the national anthem,” Donald Trump said, sparking a chorus of boos from the audience.
“We don’t like that … The ESPN thing was terrible.”
Wednesday, Trump followed it up with an email petition encouraging a boycott of the all-sports network.
So, there’s that.
Then there are the facts about the story he seems to be referencing. One that has been initially reported one way and somehow twisted into a few different directions since then, as well documented here:
It's absurdity. ESPN's policy of 'we'll air it if news warrants' turns into 'ESPN won't air it at all,' which is interpreted as 'ESPN is censoring [anthem or protests] because of bias'. And fellow media outlets are largely responsible. https://t.co/PmyNEjm3D7
Here’s how the Washington Post correctly framed this story when the quote from new ESPN president Jimmy Pitaro was extracted out of a large media gathering at the network’s Bristol, Conn., studios on Aug. 17:
Pitaro also has told the league that ESPN does not plan to air the national anthem ahead of its Monday night telecasts. The policy is not a change from previous seasons, but the network articulated its plans directly to the league for the first time. “They have not asked,” Pitaro said. “But we have proactively just as a courtesy and as good partners let them know what our plans are.” Asked about Pitaro’s comments about the national anthem, Stephanie Druley, ESPN’s senior vice president for event and studio production, noted that the policy could be adjusted if news warranted, but said, “We’ve seen data — fans want the game. That’s where we will keep our focus.”
ESPN has not responded. Not that it has to. Probably best to leave it alone.
Try repeating what it has already said, and it’s likely to get mangled even more, look like a sad walkback, and get skewered for no reason again.
Seriously, what’s the proper way to report this story?
Start with accuracy.
Also during that ESPN group interview, Pitaro was asked what he thinks is the biggest misconception about the network: “That we are a political organization. Because we are not. We are a sports media company. We are always going to cover the intersection between sports and politics, sports and culture … When the Eagles are disinvited to the White House, we are going to cover that. When someone takes a knee, if we think it’s newsworthy, we are going to cover it. Our partners across the industry understand that. But covering sports in an exemplary fashion is our focus, our priority. That’s not going to change.”
Pardon this interruption, but we may have not agreed with some policy at ESPN in the past, from this, that and the other things (fill in the blanks).
Yet, when your policy hasn’t changed from its original intent, and you only bring it up so that you’re clear on what you’re not trying to do, and that gets picked up as a story that picks and chooses which words to punctuate to the population, then it’s just a poor reflection on the inner-workings of the media.
As the New York Times points out, “ESPN and other networks that televise the N.F.L. have not generally shown the anthem, often airing commercials during that time instead.” Also: “The networks have sometimes shown the anthem live during their broadcasts. ESPN did so on ‘Monday Night Football’ three times last season.”
Probably because it was newsworthy that particular week.
It’s kind of simple to check. Verify. Check again. Verify again. Report. Check again.
Or, just say things and hope no one follows up on it.
There are 576 international teams included in the FiveThirtyEight.com Global Club Soccer Rankings, positions determined by all sorts of data shoved into a software program that comes to measure something called the Soccer Power Index. It might be a bit underwhelming, then, to trumpet the fact that the LAFC has nudged itself up six spots to No. 304, while the Galaxy has dropped from 297 to 340. A far cry from Man U, Barcelona, or Bayern Munich. None of that info should factor into a discussion of the third and final version of El Trafico for this 2018 MLS season – at Carson’s StubHub Center, Friday, 7:30 p.m., ESPN. Based on the first two meetings, bizarreness seems to win out over rational computations.
The 2-2 draw back at Banc of California Stadium on July 26 was basically an LAFC loss, after it had built a 2-0 lead and saw things fall apart on the last 15 minutes of regulation. Then there’s that actual 4-3 Galaxy win back during the first meeting at StubHub Center on March 31, highlighted by Zlatan Ibrahimovic’s MLS debut and subsequent magical comeback from a 3-0 deficit. Without Ibrahimovic as well as Jonathan dos Santos, Giovani dos Santos and Romain Alessandrini – all kept back because of the pain they would endure on the artificial turf of CenturyLink Field — the Galaxy was demoralized in a 5-0 loss. Ibrahimovic has still scored 15 goals in 16 starts for the Galaxy, who sat fifth in the Western Conference, two points behind third-place LAFC.
Chris Erskine wrote last weekend in the L.A. Times: “There are trace amounts of autumn in the air — pixie dust, or maybe that’s just garden grit. Whatever. Change is good, or so they tell us.”
As far as brand names go, USC and UCLA go large for Week 2 with roadies that end up as the best bets to watch on a national basis. The Trojans’ Pac-12 opener at Stanford (Stanford, Saturday at 5:30 p.m, Channel 11) should be an eye-opener for freshman QB J.T. Daniels, although the Cardinal (1-0) stumbled around for awhile against San Diego State before recording its season-opening win last week. The Bruins’ trip to Oklahoma (Saturday at 10 a.m., Channel 11) comes with the Sooners’ game film of a 63-14 squashing of Lane Kiffin’s Florida Atlantic in their opener last Saturday.
The ESPN/ABC prime-time game analyst and de facto TV voice of the game today covers three games in the first five days of this first big weekend, on top of a swing through South Bend, Ind., for the first “College GameDay” show.
Herbstreit’s devotion to the OSU program goes back to his father, Jim, starring in the Buckeyes’ backfield during the late ‘50s and early ‘60s. But Herbstreit moved his wife and four sons from Columbus, Ohio, to Nashville, Tenn., in the spring of 2011. He explained it was too difficult to maintain some peace and tranquility the more he worked at ESPN while doing a sports-talk show in Columbus:
based on past consumption, future expected use and projected value of recent hirings. We can’t really justify the expense at the moment.
Tom Hoffarth's The Drill: More Farther Off the Wall 