http://www.rollingstone.com/culture/feat...f-20141028

'ESPN jock coddlers'

LOL! Love it.

Quote:With a stake in the fortunes of each of the major conferences, it behooves the Worldwide Leader to shake its pom-poms for them all, right? That notion is belied by either an alarming instance of bias or ignorance among ESPN's announcers and analysts, perhaps suggesting there's an editorial directive to promote SEC teams at the expense of their conferential competitors.

For example, two different broadcasters on the network, analyst Brock Huard and anchor Cassidy Hubbarth, proclaimed that Florida State – one of only two teams in this week's AP top five not in the SEC – "barely escaped," "struggled" and took Wake Forest "down to the wire" in a game it won 43-3.

Or consider the way ESPN covered a pair of wins against Tennessee earlier this season. The first, a 24-point margin of victory for the Big 12's Oklahoma, was characterized on Twitter as "Oklahoma holds on to beat Tennessee 34-10." [Emphasis added.] The second, a three-point win, 35-32, for the SEC's Georgia, was positioned, "Dawgs run away from Vols."

Yep.

Quote:ESPN's coverage of off-the-field transgressions by athletes is patently inconsistent across conferences, with clear de-emphasis of violations committed by athletes in the SEC and hyperscrutiny of those outside it. For instance, save a link on its SEC blog, ESPN has yet to report the discovery of 100 grams of marijuana and nearly $5,000 in cash in Alabama tight end Kurt Freitag's dorm room.

...Of course, Jameis Winston is a fixture atop the network's programming blocks, tickers and home pages, mostly for news based on unfounded allegations. In fact, a statement issued on October 17th by FSU declaring it has found no evidence that Winston received compensation in return for over 2,000 autographed items was spun with the following headline: "FSU: No evidence yet of payment." The word "yet" does not appear anywhere in athletic director Stan Wilcox's actual statement, and its addition is both crucial and arguably reckless.

Contrast that with a recent feature on ESPN.com about Alabama linebacker D.J. Pettway, kicked off the team in 2013 for his involvement in a robbery and assault so brutal one of the assailants believed the victim dead until they gave his lifeless body an investigative kick. As the article states, "[Head coach Nick] Saban said he was satisfied with the way he handled his punishment: 11 months of what amounted to exile at a junior college in Scooba, Mississippi." The victim, as a result of the vicious attack, contemplated suicide and dropped out of school.

Not high-profile enough? Consider the treatment of the starting quarterback opposite Winston in last year's national championship game, Nick Marshall, who was cited in July for possession of a small amount of marijuana, a violation of a city ordinance. Auburn imposed a half-game suspension, drawing no criticism, while Winston received the same penalty over a publicly shouted obscenity – not a crime – and earned this line from ESPN's Mark Schlabach: "How many strikes does Winston get before he goes from being a foolish, immature college student to a complete knucklehead who can't be trusted?" Shortly thereafter, Winston's suspension was expanded to a full game.

(10-28-2014 04:52 PM)georgia_tech_swagger Wrote:  http://www.rollingstone.com/culture/feat...f-20141028

That was a great article.

really good article....great to see someone actually analyze some of the bull**** out there

In fairness to ESPN, which clearly is guilty of overhyping the SEC to nauseating levels, the public obscenity incident was not Famous Jameis' first embarrassing transgression, whereas it was Marshall's first negative episode.

I am not arguing that ESPN's perpetual humping of the SEC is over-the-top and distorting of the conversation. I just think trying to defend Jameis Winston is an impossible task.

Truthfully, aside from the sexual assault allegations – which remains very troubling how that entire thing was handled – most of the stuff he has done have been knucklehead, immature things, not criminal things. However, they have come at such a prodigious rate that it is difficult for me to believe that we are hearing about all or even most of his misdeeds. I think history has shown that old Jameis almost certainly has one more idiotic decision in him before he leaves Florida State. Let's just hope that it is something minor like stealing Coke or crab legs, or yelling some BS in the dining hall, and that it does not involve harming another young lady.

As for Florida State itself, I definitely agree that they are getting a raw deal in the national media – not just ESPN, everywhere. The Seminoles were so good and so dominant last year that they set a ridiculously high bar for this year. Also, the perception of the ACC is so low nationally that most people do not feel that Florida State is being tested like their peers from other leagues.

Therefore, FSU really cannot win with a large section of the college football electorate. If they blow out a team it is because the other team stinks. If they don't blow out a team it is because they are overrated. Either way, they are being judged much more critically and harshly than their peers in the SEC, B12, PAC–12, and B1G.

As a long time fan of the Big East, we are very well used to this phenomenon. Every single major out of conference and/or BCS win by a Big East team over a team from another league was accompanied by an excuse or a rationalization for why that win was a fluke and should be disregarded. By the fourth or fifth time, that obvious and shameless double standard starts to get very, very old.

The beauty of the playoffs is it will give a team like Florida State the opportunity to prove it on the field. If they just keep winning, it will not matter what anyone else says. I think the greater challenge for them will be keeping Jameis Winston eligible to play the rest of their games.

I actually think this is an inferior article. I mean one could accuse ESPN of ACC bias by the lack of coverage of the UNC and Miami scandals as well as the exclusive TV rights deal the ESPN has with the ACC. I think this article actually address the crux is ESPN's real issues; that its sports media distribution and journalism arms are increasing at cross purposes.

Here's the thing that bothers me. We hear rumors and allegations that Cam Newton's dad solicited money for his son's services - no action against any SEC team. Numerous SEC recruits post photos of themselves holding large amounts of cash - no serious investigation (outside of the "bag man" article).

Meanwhile the NCAA comes down on Ga Tech, Miami, and UNC (OK, UNC probably deserves worse) - but NO SEC teams. Are we to really believe 3 ACC teams are cheating worse than ANY SEC team?

(10-29-2014 12:53 PM)Hokie Mark Wrote:  Here's the thing that bothers me. We hear rumors and allegations that Cam Newton's dad solicited money for his son's services - no action against any SEC team. Numerous SEC recruits post photos of themselves holding large amounts of cash - no serious investigation (outside of the "bag man" article).

Meanwhile the NCAA comes down on Ga Tech, Miami, and UNC (OK, UNC probably deserves worse) - but NO SEC teams. Are we to really believe 3 ACC teams are cheating worse than ANY SEC team?

I'd like to add they came down on Georgia Tech for:

1) Free aquarium tickets and a t-shirt given to a player by a fan. They were paid back by the athlete. But because Dan Radakovich said to the player "be completely honest", that was considered tampering with a NCAA investigation. Probation. Vacate the 2009 ACC Championship.

2) A former assistant coach who came to GT from the Canadian Football League didn't check with compliance enough and sent too many text messages to recruits. Probation.


And that is before we get into the total bull**** that is APR.

Jealousy.

(10-29-2014 05:29 PM)firmbizzle Wrote:  Jealousy.

Is that why you're here, Gator? Left SEC-land looking for some classy folks to hang around with, I guess?

(10-29-2014 10:46 AM)Dr. Isaly von Yinzer Wrote:  Let's just hope that it does not involve harming another young lady.

He didn't harm (ie, rape) any "young lady". The mere wording of that by you demonstrated your lack of knowledge of the physical evidence and bias/ignorance on the matter.

Don't have anything to say about the rest of your comment but something as blatant as that shan't go unchecked.

(10-29-2014 07:50 PM)Hokie Mark Wrote:  

(10-29-2014 05:29 PM)firmbizzle Wrote:  Jealousy.

Is that why you're here, Gator? Left SEC-land looking for some classy folks to hang around with, I guess?

This thread is about the SEC right?

The only thing Rolling Stone has ever torched is Acapulco Gold! That is why I never listen to stoned music fans talk about sports.