Tag Archives: ESPN

Media Weighs in on Cleveland Browns Starting Quarterback Position

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By Nick Muhl

Late in the fourth quarter of the Cleveland Browns game Sunday versus the Buffalo Bills, starting Browns quarterback Brian Hoyer was benched for the rookie Johnny Manziel. The highly awaited move by Browns head coach Mike Pettine was loudly cheered for as Mr. “Money” Manziel stepped on the field. Manziel did lead the Browns on their single touchdown-scoring drive of the day, capped off by a Johnny Manziel rushing touchdown. Following the 26-10 loss, the Browns coach did not make a decision on who the starting quarterback would be the next week for the Browns versus the Indianapolis Colts.

In his past three games, Hoyer has thrown one touchdown and six interceptions. The Browns have lost two of their   last three games. Despite his slow streak in the past three games, Hoyer still has the Browns at a 7-5 record and facing their best chance to win the AFC North and capture a playoff spot in many seasons. However Hoyer still faces losing his starting position to the former Texas A&M heisman trophy winner.

Hoyer had this to say about his starting position on Monday in a post-practice interview, “You don’t get to 7-5 in the NFL just lucking into it,” Hoyer said. “It’s been a lot of hard work, and I think I’ve proven that I’ve gotten us to this point. I feel like I can carry us through the next four games.”

The Cleveland Browns traded up in the first round of this past year’s draft to select Johnny Manziel with the intention of him one day being the starting quarterback for the franchise. However, is the time now? Up until this point Pettine has remained firm in his position that the veteran Hoyer gives the Browns the best chance to win.

There is no denying Johnny Manziel’s popularity, following the NFL draft Manziel remained the number one NFL selling jersey for many months. His level of popularity has already put pressure by the media on the Browns franchise to answer the question, when will Johnny become the starting quarterback for the Browns?

After benching Hoyer this past Sunday, the media pressure has reached an all-time high. According to Washington Post writer Mark Maske, there is no turning back now for the Cleveland Browns franchise,

“The Browns invested plenty of hope in Manziel when they drafted him, and now it should be time to find out whether he can deliver. It’s the way of the NFL. Once a team turns to its young, would-be franchise quarterback, it generally stays with him until he demonstrates whether or not he can play. It would be extremely difficult to go back to Hoyer now.”

The Washington Post wasn’t the only paper to publish articles urging that now is the time for Johnny Manziel to be given the job. The Cleveland Plain Dealer, Chicago Tribune, ESPN blog writers and many more all weighed in this week on the largest new story in the NFL at the moment. An overwhelming majority appealing to Pettine to give the headline grabbing rookie a chance this week against Andrew Luck.

The Browns franchise has faced many obstacles in its search for its first Super Bowl and a franchise quarterback. Tim Couch, Brady Quinn, and Colt McCoy are just a few high draft picks the Browns have used over the past 15 seasons in hopes of finding a franchise quarterback who could lead them to victory and capture an AFC North title. It remains to be seen if Manziel will be given the chance this week against Indianapolis. 

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Sorry to sound like a broken record but…

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By Kaleb Page

Over this past college football weekend, games were tightly contested and full of excitement which we all came to expect with this college football weekend. With that said a lot of games were not only battles between teams, but the elements as well. One game in particular, Ohio State versus Minnesota, was just that case. Playing in blizzard like conditions with temperatures in the teens, made it a game within the game just to even move like you would without having these conditions.

The game ended in a 31-24 win by Ohio State that was deceiving due to the miscues by Ohio State that left opportunities for Minnesota. Now it must be given to Minnesota that they are a very hard team to beat and work hard in all phases of the game. Therefore a tough win by Ohio State in those conditions should have a gotten a better reception.

That same Saturday TCU traveled to Kansas to go collect their win in what seemed on paper a mismatch in favor of TCU. For much of the game that mismatch did not play out as Kansas led 27-17 in the third quarter. A valiant effort was put together by TCU to come out on top in the end with the score of 34-30.

Now when looking in comparison to these two games you could pull out some things just by doing the eye test of the two teams (OSU and TCU) in the running to finish in the playoff. For one thing, the eye test would show you that the respective opponents for OSU and TCU that day were on two different planets. Coming into the game Minnesota was ranked 25th and in contention to make it to the Big Ten title game. While Kansas with only three wins on the season has been a bottom feeder in the Big 12 for the past few years. When watching the OSU-Minnesota game it was easy to see OSU was dominating. If they didn’t have three costly turnovers, who knows how big a winning margin we would be talking about today. TCU on the other hand was on shaky ground the entire game but did show their heart in this game to come away with a win; nevertheless they should have been nowhere near that position.

When it came to coverage at the end of these two contests it was interesting to open my ESPN homepage and read two different headlines that left me thinking “Are you kidding me?” The headline for the TCU and Kansas game read “TCU Passes Test in Lawrence” while the OSU and Minnesota headline read “Ohio State Escapes Minnesota.” So my question is this, did the person who put these headlines up even watch the games?

I mean come on anybody who knows even the slightest bit of football, or even watched both games Saturday would know that Minnesota would dominate Kansas nine times out of ten with the tenth one about to be served up. That is why it frustrates me to no end to see one team squeak by when they should dominate and get a somewhat praising review (TCU), and then another team get a headline almost making their tough road win seem like nothing (OSU). It wouldn’t matter what team it was or sport for this fact to frustrate me. I know it is good to write the headline that grabs attention, but there is a difference between that and just being so far off base.

I don’t understand how you can’t have a similar tone from headline to headline when talking about these two games. This is not the first time I have seen this by ESPN to make a headline about respective college football games, and one will get a good perspective while the other one will not.

I don’t want to be the one crying out that there is a bias or sounding like a broken record in that regard, but it is a suggestion to ESPN to fix this. How about we think before we post and make sure to not be too pointed one way in our judgment of a performance and then pointed in the opposite direction toward another similar performance.

To some of you who have heard this argument before I’m sorry to be the broken record, but someone had to remind us again.

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“You can’t worry about failure” – Bryant Makes All-time NBA Mark for Missed Field Goals

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By Ellen Chlumecky

On Tuesday in Memphis, Kobe Bryant made history by setting the NBA record for missed field goals. The Los Angeles Lakers played the Memphis Grizzlies on Tuesday and Bryant set the mark with 6:22 left in the fourth quarter of a 107-102 loss. He missed a 14-foot fade away jumper from the left side. This miss gave him his 13, 418 career missed field goal. He made history by becoming the player with the most missed field goals by beating Boston Celtics John Havlicek by one shot. Also, in this same game, Bryant scored a game high of 28 points on 10-of-26 shooting.

After the game, Bryant was asked if he knew about the record. Kobe Bryant let it roll off his shoulders and commented on how he did not follow records or statistics like that. When asked how he managed to make the mark, he laughed and said, “Well, I’m a shooting guard that’s played 19 years – ‘shooting’ guard, 19th year.” Bryant said, “I don’t care about it, to be honest with you. It is what it is. I remember when I was a kid and I watched Michael shoot 49 times in an NBA Finals game. Can you imagine if I did that and lost? Puts thing in perspective.”

Kobe Bryant did not seem to be concerned about the major milestone in his career. He is among the ranks of Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Michael Jordan, Allen Iverson, Elvin Hayes, Karl Malone, and other greats of the NBA. All of these players worked their butts off every game to become greats.

ESPN, The New York Daily News, and NBC Sports all seemed to press on Bryant, asking him if he knew about the record and what he thought and if it bothered him. Even after all these people kept pushing to get some sort of anger or regret from him, Kobe Bryant chose to rise above it. He said, “You’ve got to step up and play, man. You can’t worry about criticism. You can’t worry about failure. You really can’t worry about that stuff.”

“You can’t worry about failure.” While I am not the biggest fan of Kobe Bryant, I have utter respect for him for understanding that this landmark in NBA history isn’t a failure. It is just a moment showing that Kobe Bryant has been working his butt off every game this season and every game of previous seasons as well. While most reporters are looking for a reason to tear him down, Bryant consistently tries to improve himself by working harder every day in every game.

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NHL’s Team’s Tweet Gives Insight Into Growing Social Media Interaction

By McKenzie Whiteman

The world is commonly shaped by the words and opinions that social media platforms post for millions of viewers to comprehend. Whether it’s celebrity drama, natural disasters, or political updates, you can find information on literally anything without having to turn a page of a newspaper or type into a search engine. Because of the influence these sites have, some posts produce certain emotions. The quick response…a combative post. Twitter proved to be a platform for this kind of interaction when ESPN’s post rubbed the Columbus Blue Jackets’ media team the wrong way.

After the Blue Jackets’ 4-7 loss to the Tampa Bay Lightning, ESPN’s Twitter account read “Hey Columbus. Think you’re the best fans in the world? Prove it.” Below it read, “Apply now to the #FanHallofFame” and listed a link. It seems as if ESPN’s simply trying to promote some type of fan promotion. The Blue Jackets, however, didn’t see it as so. They responded by tweeting to ESPN with, “@espn Who is this?”. Some believe this is in reference to the television series, Seinfeld, and it’s popular bit in which its main character, Jerry, replies to phone calls with “Who is this?” in response to ridiculous comments stated by the caller. Whether or not this is true, the Jackets were obviously upset enough to tweet in attempt to show they care very little about what ESPN had to say.

While this may not be the biggest Twitter battle society has seen between major sport organizations, it’s certainly one of the most recent. Media is beginning to mean more than television broadcasts and radio reports. The public is beginning to gain insight on news on a more personal level through the use of social media. Because of the growing popularity of these sites, any post that is related to your particular organization is handled thoroughly or defended aggressively…thus these growing Twitter battles.

No matter if it’s on a large or small scale, teams are beginning to take a particular interest in what their social media accounts say about their organization. If an account posts something negative in regards to your organization and your account doesn’t counteract, your organization is deemed passive. If your respond with an overly aggressive post, your organization is seen as ruthless. How you post gives followers insight on how you conduct business.

This particular example between ESPN and the Blue Jackets gives off the assumption that the Jackets don’t particularly care about what the media has to say about their fans, (whether it was in regards to a promotion or not). It may not be the most aggressive social media battle the world has been exposed to, however it does provide an example of how organizations are interacting through social media. As social media is beginning to become the public’s main source of news and information, it’ll be interesting to see how sport organizations define themselves through their accounts.

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Bill Simmons: Shots Fired

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By Kaleb Page

When it comes to talking sports, whether it is with friends or here in this blog, there comes times when we say things that are shock value type statements. These statements typical are a little on the extreme side and yet we all make them. While for us who aren’t in the spotlight these comments only receive a good “are you serious” or “c’mon man.” For those in the spotlight these comments receive way more.

Bill Simmons is a contributor, analyst and personality on ESPN covering the NBA. His style of analysis is one that catches fire from others in the industry. However for me I think sometimes his personal touch on the topics, which he has a massive knowledge for, is something I look for because it breaks up the cookie cutter mundane reading we get from certain columnists.

On Wednesday of last week, Simmons went on to Colin Cowherd’s radio show. On the show Colin and Bill got on the topic of the Cleveland Cavaliers, and what Bill thought so far. Simmons gave his assessment and further stirred the pot with his comments on LeBron James. Before making his comments Simmons did drop the disclaimer of it is still way too early to make big assumptions. Simmons comments were:

“I don’t know if he’s hurt, I don’t know if the big weight loss has affected his game or whatever. This is not a jump-to-conclusions thing. I have been watching this Cavs team since the preseason games started, and he does not look the same.”

Also Simmons made the comparison of the LeBron move to Cleveland to the Albert Pujols move to the Angles a few years ago. Saying that this could play out to that but he still was holding out on fully committing to that thought.

Now keep in mind that even though Simmons was making these statements that would seem pretty far out there; he did provide solid reasoning and said he was not jumping to this conclusion. Merely he was wondering, with the basketball knowledge he has and what he has seen so far, what is going on with this super-team?

While you keep that in mind, Simmons’s colleagues at ESPN ripped his comments apart and even cut it to not have his disclaimer about not wanting to jump to this conclusion fully. The colleagues in particular are Mike Golic and Mike Greenberg of the Mike and Mike show. The snippet of the segment between Greenberg and Golic can be seen below.

This brings up a key word or phrase that if you watch sports more and more you will pick up on a whole lot. That key word or phrase is “context or taken out of context.” This is a clear showing that when you cut out the important parts said before Simmons’s comments you lose a big piece. Obviously if you frame what Simmons said in the way Mike and Mike did; he will sound like someone who has no idea what he is talking about.

Shots were fired by Mike and Mike but Bill didn’t hesitate to get his in too. Thursday Simmons took to Twitter going on a rant about how he lost respect for the show. He even further went on to say:

“For an ESPN Radio show to pull an interview out of context from another ESPN Radio show, then play the moral authority card, is disgusting.”

There are multiple tweets and things said by Simmons in response to what has happened. Personally, I side with Simmons in that it almost seemed like an attack on his comments. If they really had a problem with his comments, why not have him on to discuss it himself? Instead you just throw it out there to fill air-time and really frame the words said into your favor. Definitely the wrong move by Mike and Mike in my opinion.

It will be interesting to see, since this isn’t the first time Simmons has been at with ESPN or colleagues there, if Simmons will soon leave the organization. It would be tough since he is tied heavily with the organization and it is one of the biggest sports followed networks in the world.

If Bill does leave ESPN, I hope he doesn’t change his ways and he continues on to be the witty, smart and candid sports personality so many of us like to listen to.

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Kentucky Hosts NBA Style Combine for Scouts

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By Nicholas Muhl

This past Friday, Kentucky Wildcats Men’s Basketball coach John Calipari hosted an NBA-style combine for his players to show off their skills prior to the start of next spring’s draft. The combine was attended by over 90 NBA scouts and general managers, and each team had at least one representative present.

This coming year, the Wildcats squad is home to six McDonald’s All-Americans and is coming off a runner-up performance in last year’s NCAA Tournament. The two-hour combine, which was televised live on ESPNU, included both individual and team drills , which are included in the NBA scouting combine each year.

The move by Calipari to host such an event is not surprising, considering a record six Kentucky players were taken in the 2014 NBA Draft. The Wildcats head coach has produced many high level NBA players including Derrick Rose, Rajon Rondo, Eric Bledsoe and the list goes on. More recently, former Wildcat players Anthony Davis, Julius Randle and Nerlens Noel were all selected in the top 10 picks in recent drafts.

Unlike many of his peers, Calipari embraces the one-and-done college basketball player. With his padded resume he continues to send 18 and 19-year-old young adults into the NBA, where the average player age is around 27 years old. Calipari was quoted this past weekend acknowledging that many of his players are already considering the NBA, long before they even attend their first class on campus.

“Someone said, ‘You’ll make them think about the NBA.’ Excuse me? They all do. Even the walk-ons. It creates a base for me to build with each individual kid and what I need to do.”

This brings to light a serious issue in sports culture today. 18-21 year old young adults are still maturing as they gain new responsibilities with age. In today’s sports society, these young student-athletes are exposed to fame, fortune, massive media coverage and many other things a typical young adult does not experience at such an age.

Through social media networks like Twitter, major TV networks like ESPN, and other media outlets, student athletes who achieve even most smallest amount of success are household names by the end of the week.

It isn’t just college basketball, as this goes for football and all other major college sports. One can argue that the added attention, such as Kentucky’s combine, can only bring upon more success for the student-athlete. At the very least, they receive recognition for the great achievements and talents they posses.

However, there is an opposite side to the coin. As much as fans love their young talent and phenoms, is the media and college sports as whole bringing too much added attention to student-athletes at such an age? Young superstars like Wildcats Derrick Rose and Anthony Davis are great examples of how successful a student-athlete can be from the additional attention they received at a young age. 

Examples of Johnny Manziel and Jameis Winston, both who have been surrounded by media coverage since the start of their college careers, can be given as to why student-athletes at such a young age are exposed to too much early on in their bright careers.

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Back in Full Swing: Start of the 2014 NHL Season

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By Ellen Chlumecky

The 2014 NHL Season kicked off this Wednesday with a substantial amount of media attention from a multitude of different media outlets. While the NHL is not the number one popular sport currently in the United States, NHL teams’ public relation and marketing teams have been doing an exceptional job at getting the attention on the NHL.

Hockey is not covered much as sports such as football and basketball, however hockey is still proclaimed one of the four major sports in both North America and the United States. However, NBC Sports Network has world class coverage which includes weeknight games all week and the rivalry night during the week. NBCSN is also starting to show some college hockey games in addition to the NHL games.

In addition to local radio stations and TV stations in each of the respective teams’ areas, the NHL franchise has taken to Twitter to promote the 2014 season. All of the individual NHL teams have also taken to Twitter to promote their games and the start of the season. The NHL also decided to create a Snapchat to promote their stories and game times. They also post daily to their Instagram account, which had a countdown of the amount of days until the season started. The NHL franchise is trying to hit every corner of the media to broadcast the start of the season and to get more and more people to watch. The NHL wants all types of fans and are trying to expand their media horizons even more than ever.

While the NHL is being supported by NBCSN and other major media outlets, one of the biggest sports media outlets that tends to ignore the NHL is ESPN. While NBCSN own all national coverage rights to show NHL games, it shouldn’t stop ESPN from broadcasting stories or highlights of certain games. The reason why ESPN is not a huge supporter of the NHL is unknown, but despite this setback, the NHL seems to be doing fine without their support. It is set to be a great season for the NHL with plenty of fresh faces and a multitude of teams ready to battle for their chance to hoist the Stanley Cup. The NHL franchises should be commended on their hard work with the marketing, promotions and advertising they have been doing to promote the league further. Here’s to another great NHL season!

 

Hockey: The Neglect Continues for the NHL

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By Nicholas Muhl

I was born December 29th, 1992. That year the Pittsburgh Penguins won their first Stanley Cup behind NHL Hall of Famer Mario Lemieux. Growing up as a young kid in the 90’s, I was raised to love the National Hockey League. To this day I can remember collecting NHL hockey cards as a kid, and knowing many of the players that played for each team.

I grew up watching the toughness of defensemen Scott Stevens of the New Jersey Devils. I saw both goaltenders Patrick Roy and Martin Brouder battle for who was the best in the NHL. Both are now probably two of the best hockey players to ever play. And I saw the Dallas Star’s Brett Hull score the infamous “No Goal” in triple overtime to defeat the Buffalo Sabres in the Stanley Cup.

In the 90’s and early 2000’s, the NHL was in it’s prime. The NHL is much different a decade later. It’s experienced two lockouts since 2004 under commissioner Gary Bettman. Events like Todd Bertuzzi’s blind side sucker punch on Steve Moore in 2004, and Patrice Bergeron’s Grade III concussion in 2007 have called into question the brutality of the sport.

Rightfully so, for a time period, the NHL was it’s own worst enemy and received little to no media coverage because of it. There was a point where many NHL games were being shown on little known media networks like OLN. Gone were the big time games on ABC, NBC, ESPN and other major networks.

However, the NHL is building back to what it once was. Superstars Sidney Crosby and Alex Ovechkin have generated national attention to the NHL and have become household names, even for the non-hockey fan. The 2014 Stanley Cup final between the Los Angeles Kings and New York Rangers was the second most watched Stanley Cup final since 2006.

Now, days before the 2014 NHL season is set to begin, where is the media coverage of the NHL? After such a highly watched Stanley Cup, why do I find myself, an avid fan of the NHL, barely feeling like the season is set to begin at all? Nightly SportsCenter episodes are spent discussing players like Johnny Manziel and LeBron James. Headlines are all about the major sports like football and basketball.

While the NHL still has a long way to go before it can be once again included with the major leagues of the NFL, NBA and MLB, it is now on the right path. However, the NHL will never make a comeback until major networks like ESPN begin giving the NHL the coverage it deserves. It’s frustrating as a fan, because these major networks make it harder to be a fan of a sport so many love.

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ESPN throws Freeman under the Bus

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BY OLLIE GOSS

The day after a Monday Night Football game, SportsCenter usually starts off by airing highlights from the game, analysis, and post game press conferences from the winning team. This was not the case this past Tuesday following a hard to watch Monday Night Football game involving the Giants and the Vikings.

SportsCenter began with a small montage of Vikings quarterback Josh Freeman getting sacked, overthrowing receivers, and analysts verbally ripping the quarterback to shreds.

ESPN focused on the inadequacies of a quarterback who has only been with the team for two weeks instead of the Vikings coaching and management that set him up for failure on a nationally televised game.

ESPN could have decided to lead SportsCenter with reaction of the New York Giants notching their first win, highlights from the three NHL hockey games from the night before (all decided by one goal), or even a preview of the World Series. 

Instead, ESPN put a dunce hat on the NFL quarterback that underperformed and has made, the once promising prospect, now the laughing stock of the league instead of the people in power that set him up for failure.

Roberts well-deserving of Arthur Ashe Award

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BY LOREN BRANCH

Robin Roberts is currently a host of ABC’s “Good Morning America,” but from 1990 to 2005 she was one of the first female anchors for ESPN. In the past few years, she has battled with two serious illnesses. She was diagnosed with cancer in 2007 and just returned to the air in February after receiving treatment for a rare blood disorder called myelodysplastic syndrome. It is because of her determination to continue bringing life to the world of broadcasting, despite these struggles, that she will receive the Arthur Ashe courage award at the 2013 ESPYS. She will join past honorees, Jim Valvano, Muhammad Ali, Dean Smith, and Pat Summitt.

According to the LA Times, ESPN President John Skipper made the following comments when announcing the award: “Robin brings an amazing amount of energy, compassion and determination to everything she does. Those qualities made her an incredible asset during her time here at ESPN, and they have served her well as she battled the terrible health challenges that she’s had to face. Robin’s accomplishments in so many areas, as an athlete, a broadcaster, a cancer survivor and more, demonstrate her ability to shine regardless of adversity and we could not be more proud to honor her as the recipient of this year’s Arthur Ashe Courage Award.