Don't get me wrong. As a sports junkie, I love ESPN -- well -- most of the time -- and watch the various feeds a lot.
Sure, Tony Kornheiser of "Pardon the Interruption" is the most interrupting talking head I've ever seen. Poor Mike Wilbon can't seem to get through a single sentence without the Kornster jumping in with another of his inane rants. And let's not forget dear Tony has been repeatedly suspended from the station for, shall we say, politically incorrect dialogue over the years. Dude just doesn't know when to shut up.
And Stephen A. Smith has to be the most annoying, with Max Kellerman not far behind, TV "journalist" -- and I use that term VERY loosely -- in recent times. Honorable mention to Skip Bayless and Shannon Sharpe. This unholy foursome could probably cause the Pope to go on a murderous jihad if he watched enough hours of their programming.
But most of the time, ESPN serves up some pretty good stuff.
[It should be noted that while most cable subscribers think the four letter network has always been a "freebie", they have been mistaken. Depending on the local affiliates, ESPN typically constitutes about seven bucks worth of the "basic" cable bill/package viewers receive every month.]
Yet this time, they seemed to have totally botched a story.
Yes, those lovable reporters will go to great lengths to get a "scoop", the more sensational the better. See the sacred ratings/cha-ching god they all worship.
This time around, they have New England Patriots owner Robert Kraft, head coach/GM Bill Belichick, and all time best QB Tom Brady in some sort of a family feud.
OMG, quoth the pundits, there's "a palpable sense in the building this could be the last year together for the group".
It could be indeed, You never know. Maybe one of them drops dead from a heart attack, stroke, or other fatal affliction. Or somebody retires. Or a plane crashes. Anything could happen, but there's a major problem with that "story" as is.
Namely, Bob, Bill, and Tom have all joined hands (hear the melodic notes of kumbaya in the background) to refute that very story.
Well then. If all three of them disagree with the story, it logically follows the story was wrong to begin with. After all, who would know more about it than the very participants who have been living through it for the past 18 (very successful) years?
And that's where the reporters and media talking heads have a problem.
They cite "dozens" of Patriot staffers as their sources, but all remain anonymous.
Sure, I get it. People wish to remain anonymous for fear of retribution if their names become public. As in being fired.
And reporters certainly have the right not to give up such "sources", else Big Brother would stampede all over them in the future. Not only that, those very sources, snitches, whatever, would never confide in that reporter again. That's truly being on the proverbial "horns of a dilemma".
But there's the rub. Until and unless the reporters that generated this so far pseudo-story to begin with can offer up credible evidence from "real" people willing to go on the record, it remains no more than a fairy tale like those once generated by the Brothers Grimm.
Tough job being such a reporter. You think you know, you're pretty sure you know, you're almost positive you know, but you can't offer up any solid evidence to back up your story, other than phantom "sources".
And when the three co-stars of that very story come out and jointly deny it, all of a sudden it just might begin to look like tabloid fodder to objective people.
Like me. Personally, I couldn't care less if Bob, Bill, and Tom have long been sniping at each other behind the scenes in Patriot world.
But I'm not going to believe it until you prove it.
And so far, you've got about as close to that as the Detroit Lions have to winning a Super Bowl.
Which, BTW, the Patriots have seemed to do quite often in recent years.
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