What is wrong with ESPN??

[irish]

Originally Posted by FRPLG

My feeling is that all of the negative stuff in his past is completely irrelevant to this. He wasn't shot in a night club or at some crack house. He was at home asleep with his fiancee and baby girl. Then some piece of crap cuts his phone lines breaks in and shoots him dead. Whether he had past legal trouble or not has no bearing here and the fact that he had become a better man, a man to look up to means he deserves to be remembered that way and ESPN seems to be doing a pretty shitty job of remembering him the way he should be remembered.

Unfortunately I think we will soon find out that some of the negative stuff in his past is directly related to this incident. IMO, this has all the earmarks of a revenge hit.

He had become a better man but I'm sure those that did this to him didnt care.

[sportscurmudgeon]

Let me say something in defense of ESPN here.

They have a story on their hands today that they are not accustomed to covering. Star athletes in the prime of their careers and in the middle of their seasons just don't get killed [maybe murdered with pre-meditation?] very often. In fact, I'm trying to think of a previous case with all of those factors in it. I can't come up with one that has all of the factors. ESPN is "feeling its way" in its coverage here...

There was more "info" to report in the T.O suicide nonsense and the Ben Roethlisberger accident stories because there were more "publicity folks" involved and fewer "police folks". When the police are investigating a homicide - particularly one that has all the earmarks of being a "really high profile case" - they tend to play their cards very close to their vest. So, ESPN - and the rest of the media - cannot come up with new info on any regular basis. And ESPN does have lots of time to fill on the air...

So, what does ESPN have at its disposal to talk about. It can show Sean Taylor playing football at Miami and in Washington. They can show his highlight plays. They can show his teammates/coaches saying what a wonderful person/player he was. [They even have to be careful there lest someone criticize them for "intruding on the grief" suffered by those players/coaches.] Then what? Remember, ESPN has lots of time to fill on the air...

What else is "background info" here? That's the sordid stuff that seems to get folks riled up here. But there isn't all that much more that ESPN has at the moment.

And if they just mentioned his killing and then ignored the story, people here would be angry at ESPN for snubbing Sean Taylor and/or the Redskins and/or ...

No one is really to blame for the coverage of this tragedy so far because there just isn't enough factual info yet to make it into anything meaningful.

And for those of you who are angry at ESPN's coverage, just wait until Nancy Grace and Larry King get on the story.

[12thMan]

Originally Posted by sportscurmudgeon

Let me say something in defense of ESPN here.

They have a story on their hands today that they are not accustomed to covering. Star athletes in the prime of their careers and in the middle of their seasons just don't get killed [maybe murdered with pre-meditation?] very often. In fact, I'm trying to think of a previous case with all of those factors in it. I can't come up with one that has all of the factors. ESPN is "feeling its way" in its coverage here...

There was more "info" to report in the T.O suicide nonsense and the Ben Roethlisberger accident stories because there were more "publicity folks" involved and fewer "police folks". When the police are investigating a homicide - particularly one that has all the earmarks of being a "really high profile case" - they tend to play their cards very close to their vest. So, ESPN - and the rest of the media - cannot come up with new info on any regular basis. And ESPN does have lots of time to fill on the air...

So, what does ESPN have at its disposal to talk about. It can show Sean Taylor playing football at Miami and in Washington. They can show his highlight plays. They can show his teammates/coaches saying what a wonderful person/player he was. [They even have to be careful there lest someone criticize them for "intruding on the grief" suffered by those players/coaches.] Then what? Remember, ESPN has lots of time to fill on the air...

What else is "background info" here? That's the sordid stuff that seems to get folks riled up here. But there isn't all that much more that ESPN has at the moment.

And if they just mentioned his killing and then ignored the story, people here would be angry at ESPN for snubbing Sean Taylor and/or the Redskins and/or ...

No one is really to blame for the coverage of this tragedy so far because there just isn't enough factual info yet to make it into anything meaningful.

And for those of you who are angry at ESPN's coverage, just wait until Nancy Grace and Larry King get on the story.

I don't buy it. Yes, this is unprecedented on some level, but ESPN like most of media outlets are reaching for the most convenient narrative here - "Yet another young star athlete caught in the cross-fire of violence."

I believe ESPN calls itself the "Worldwide Leader In Sports? Well then act like it! Don't re-hash what everyone is re-hashing. Dig deep and get beneath the surface. In other words, do some reporting not repeating. Get on the front end of this story and tell us something we don't already know. And because they are a national outlet, they have a much bigger responsibility.

As far as background info not available, if ESPN can routinely run footage of a guy running touchdowns in college, dunking a basketball in high school, swinging a golf club at the age of three, and other background facts that we aren't privy to, I'm sure they have the resources to talk about the good human being Sean Taylor is.

[pg86]

Originally Posted by 12thMan

I don't buy it. Yes, this is unprecedented on some level, but ESPN like most of media outlets are reaching for the most convenient narrative here - "Yet another young star athlete caught in the cross-fire of violence."

I believe ESPN calls itself the "Worldwide Leader In Sports? Well then act like it! Don't re-hash what everyone is re-hashing. Dig deep and get beneath the surface. In other words, do some reporting not repeating. Get on the front end of this story and tell us something we don't already know. And because they are a national outlet, they have a much bigger responsibility.

As far as background info not available. If ESPN can routinely run footage of guy running touchdowns in college, dunking a basketball in high school, swinging a golf club at the age of three, and other background facts that we aren't privy to, I'm sure they have the resources to talk about the good human being Sean Taylor is.

The sad part is disney owns this network.