The View From Bristol, Part 2

The cosmos chose me to work here during a fascinating summer in sports.

Baseball will reflect on this as the year of the milestone: I worked during Trevor's 500th save, Craig's 3,000th hit, and Tom's 300th win. I was here when Griffey passed Frank Robinson, The Big Hurt hit his 500th, Sammy slugged 600, and Barry went by the Hammer. My in-person interview came the morning after one no-hitter (Buehrle), and I built pushback graphics for another (Verlander).

I was on the set of Outside the Lines, minutes before the show started, when news broke that Bill Walsh had died, thus altering the entire show and giving me a real-world experience in live TV. I was at the ESPN News desk when news passed that Rod Beck had died, sending me scrambling to put his career in perspective for viewers, instantly.

I saw Houston Oiler Bruce Matthews and Missouri Tiger Roger Wehrli join the hall of fame with a Mo City native (Thurman Thomas) and a Texas football icon (Michael Irvin). As people ranted and raved about the sanctity of sport collapsing, I watched two members of a dying breed, Tony Gwynn and Cal Ripken, classily take their place among baseball's immortals.

I remember the news wire crossing that described the Tim Donaghy scandal - something that we know neither the depth nor horrific effect of yet on the integrity of sport. Tim Donaghy's name will take it's place with that of Pete Rose, the Black Sox, and Boston College basketball.

I saw the unraveling of the Mike Vick case - something that is quickly and unfortunately deteriorating into a divisive racial battle reminiscent of the OJ Simpson trial. Whatever rational, adult thought is shared by knowledgable people is soon to be smothered by the screaming of the moronic as this case exponentially expands. Few things incite Americans more than racial discussions. Few things impassion Americans like their pets. Fuse elemental pieces of the two, and watch the mad sociological experiment begin.

I already lament my defense of due process that I will have to make in the face of a racist comment that has nothing to do with the case.

I was present when the network was bashed, and rightfully so, for the escapade that was the 'Who's Now' tournament. The concept of this wasn't what I totally dispised, but the sickening presentation of it. The occasional pandering to idiots is tolerable to an extent, but this fiasco took the cake. Want to know how fake it really was? A certain actress during one of the tapings didn't know who Dwyane Wade was. She was then fed what to say by co-workers of mine. Many people inside the company liked the whole thing as little as I did.

I was here as a living broadcasting legend left his post at the company. When people have asked me about my career aspirations, I sometimes said, "I want to be Dan Patrick." It seems fitting to me that he would walk away while I was employed at his company. I don't pretend to think I'll ever be some titan of media, but it would be cool if I look back in 30 years and remember I got my foot in this business the same time a personality I admire pulled his away.

I have walked the hallways and parking lot and studio sets where the famed 'This is Sportscenter' ads were filmed. I have eaten at the Caf far too many times, standing in line to pay for my salad alongside Trey Wingo and Buster Olney. (I have learned to always go with the omelet bar when presented the chance.) I have had friendly conversations with The Schwab, Steve Bunin and Dari Nowkwah. I have been humbled by the depth of sports knowledge people in the research room have. I have had Neil Everett, John Anderson and Scott Van Pelt express their admiration for a horse-related, hand-drawn sign at a basketball game that may or may not have been key to getting me this job.

I have eaten at what is likely the Outback Steakhouse where events transpired that led to the termination of sport blog martyr Harold Reynolds. Sometimes I wonder if Harold realizes that he may be one day remembered more for being a subculture's cult hero than an All-Star second baseman. Speaking of blogs, I admired the step Goliath took when it invited David (Will Leitch from Deadspin) to discuss criticism of ESPN in open dialogue on air. I think sites like Deadspin serve as an unfiltered ombudsman that when used correctly, can greatly benefit the company. Scott Van Pelt told me he thought the fall out from his conversation with Leitch was pretty fascinating.

I met and worked with basically every on-air personality you can imagine, and 99.99% of my experiences were overwhelmingly positive. There's a reason why this place is so successful: the building is filled with obscenely talented individuals. It's also filled with hilarious, sharp people, too. That being said, everyone respects hard work and professionalism, which I guess I tried to pull off. I'll just say this - If you can't enjoy yourself at work doing what I did this summer, you just ain't like me.

I'll wrap it up by saying this: I got to work for the biggest sports media organization in the world, immersed in their day-to-day studio production, during a fascinating, tumultuous period.

What did you do this summer?

The View from Bristol, Part 1

This isn't a blog about the cool shit I've seen during my time at ESPN. For the record, I've seen alot of cool shit. My summer has been a perpetual vision of cool shit.

Rather, I wanted to take on a few of the journalistic items that have crossed my mind, and the collective sports media consciousness, in these past weeks.

ESPN's dynamic, because of it's vastness, is invariably complicated. The business relationships that made it into the monopolic behemoth it is today have impacted its journalistic integrity at times. Don't think this is lost on the people who work there, though - they're normal, working professionals doing the best they can, and fight this mixture of journalistic integrity and commercial obligation, like every other facet of the media.

During a Q and A session, I asked one of the veterans of the company, who had a journalism degree, how he felt about infusing advertisements into SportsCenter (the example I used was a mini-trailer for Pirates of the Carribbean leading into a highlight for the actual Pittsburgh Pirates game). The pessimist in me expected him to skate around the answer. He was refreshingly honest when he said he was torn by the whole thing.

He told the room that he knows he and the company have obligations to the company fueling their perpetual growth, but that there has to be a threshold the network reaches in its cross-promotional efforts. He then wanted my opinion, and I told him it hurts to see things like the trailer as a journalist, but I understand why it happens. I joked that I was worried about being honest because I loved it in Bristol, but he seemed pleased with my response.

NHL die-hards have let it be widely known that they believe hockey is being intentionally pushed out by the network. Personally, I chalk up the NHL fans conspiracies as denial that their sport has been horrifically marketed and manipulated for the better part of 2 decades. That, and those making these comments are probably coming from places where the sport still thrives - i.e., the Northeast. Get outside that bubble, and you'll see that apathy regarding the sport reigns over most of the U.S.

Also, I'd like to add this: I've heard more hockey-related banter inside the ESPN newsroom the past few months than I have the rest of my life combined. I would argue that ESPN has covered transactions in the sport this summer on a fair scale in terms of newsworthiness. Some of the anchors would be happier if it was talked about more.

ESPN, from my experience there, has been a fantastic organization and a joy to work at, but it's hard to see them conspiring in a room to destroy hockey. There are so many hundreds of voices channeling into the network's product, that to imagine them all pushing one specific agenda is kind of laughable. Honestly, efficiency is not their strongest suit.

As someone who has spent the summer witnessing the hundreds of technicalities that go on during highlight show broadcasts, I can assure you that the frantic work being done by so many professional individuals doesn't permit pausing to remember how much the network hates hockey.

This isn't about hockey, though - what I'm reaching for is a broader point. When you're the biggest show in town, the people will pick at your flaws, rather than celebrate your success. Spiteful commenters on blogs like Deadspin (which I enjoy) and Kissing Suzy Kolber (which I enjoy immensely) harp on everything that the WWL does wrong. Berman is annoying, Who's Now is ridiculous, and the like. Well, not the like - really, the commentary is more harsh, vulgar, and often hilarious.

But this is no different than anyone, or anything else, that achieves widespread success. When a band blows up, indie kids who touted their greatness think they suck. Pseudo-intellectual hip-hop heads loved Common until he went and sold a bunch of records. And sports fans yearn for the glory days, when ESPN was just spreading it's multi-national wings, and Dan and Keith were your boys in the SC anchor chairs.

People throw rocks at the throne, no matter what field that throne lies in. Nobody bothers to pepper the up and comer with stones - on the contrary - they often see them as trendy and fresh. When they get to the top, they've reached their zenith, they've jumped the shark, it's all downhill. Many people clamor for change, disregarding if the product is even better than before, because crispiness appeals to their microwavable tastes. What can we get that's FRESHER?

In the consistently negative sports blogosphere, this is what has happened to Bill Simmons, and is beginning to happen to Deadspin. By 2008, Kissing Suzy Kolber, or the Big Lead, or whatever, have a strong likelihood of feeling this. And then, someone who's new will have their 18 months in the sun, until they're picked apart by those who just love to bitch about everything.

Will Leitch sounded like a nervous, web-sufficient hermit on adderrall when he was on The Dan Patrick Show being interviewed by Scott Van Pelt last week. I thought Van Pelt was fair, yet managed to lightly scorch the obviously nervous Leitch. After seeing how he's acted in the spotlight, I can't help but form new opinions of Will. Maybe the safe-house of blogging suited Will better than going into journalism face-first? Mere speculation, but that's just the impression I've been gradually left with.

For a long time, ESPN has been able to skate by on its sheer size. The new flock of sports blogs that find its flaws can serve as a great ombudsman and resource for the network if used properly.

Will had a fantastic chance to champion the journalistic traits of Deadspin the Media Critic when Van Pelt asked him to. Scott asked Mr. Leitch what he would change at ESPN. Will made a lame joke, then tried to talk about the lack of transparency of the network, but his verbose analogy was difficult to follow, and lost its effectiveness.

I guess the bitter masses haven't found the right critic in Mr. Deadspin. They'll keep looking.

More to come later in the summer.

ESPN is Bamboozling You

Note - This isn't a commentary about the Amaechi story, it's about ESPN's circumstances surrounding it. I wouldn't want to stop anyone from buying it out of desire to read 'Man in the Middle,' and in fact, it's gotten great reviews from places like Outsports.com. Had to throw that disclaimer in there.

The Worldwide Leader, despite spurning me recently in my efforts to acquire an internship with them, have been my surrogate family for the better part of two decades. One of their family of networks is essentially all I watch on television - which has, sadly, been the case for most of my time here on this planet. Bill Simmons has evolved into my favorite sportswriter (save your cynicism, I still enjoy his work despite his rampant popularity), and closely trailing him are ESPN.com mainstays Len Pasquerelli, Buster Olney, Tim Kurkjian and Chad Ford. I listen to Mike and Mike in the morning on the way to class/work, and Dan Patrick in the afternoons when possible. So take this for what it's worth - it's not an absolute seige of Big Bristol.

This being said, they have slowly evolved into an amorphous, conglomerate blob of a sports news monopoly since Disney/ABC purchased their souls several years back. The increase in fluffy feature pieces on SportsCenter was digestible, but delivering a quasi-cloaked marketing campaign for Disney-sport-flicks (i.e., The Rookie, Miracle, etc.) has become the status quo. They've tried slapping ESPN's name on a litany of shit: from restaurants to video games. Some of this has made Michael Eisner more money, some has not.

This week, the John Amaechi story has gotten fresh legs since ESPN personality Dan LeBatard evoked caveman-jock-speak from Tim Hardaway regarding the situation. What does this have to do with anything, you may ask? Well, Amaechi's story has been put into book form, and is being produced by... of course! ESPN books. Allow me to run down the various list of items I found interesting in this dynamic.

1. Amaechi's story becomes public, drawing attention primarily just from ESPN's coverage of such a revelation.
2. The NBA and general public's collective yawn lets the story settle.
3. ESPN clamors for any sort of virulent reaction from an NBA personality.
4. LeBatard reveals Hardaway's idiocy.
5. Debate about gay athletes gets new legs, as book is readied for release.
6. This is all happening during the slowest sports month of the year - the time between the Super Bowl and March Madness.

ESPN is aware of its monopoly status is currently holds on national sports news in this country. Don't think that they, combined with the colossus that is Disney, won't put that to use to get you to buy shit. I'm just sayin'.