It's on ESPN you know.
Here is my latest take on this whole thing.
At first I looked at it much like I would a story on Fox news or 'E'ntertainment. ESPN doesn't really have much of a story, but they are just fishing for ratings, so whatever works for them they will air. It happens all the time and this time we got stuck in the middle, so take a deep breath and try to get through it.
But it is actually much worse than that. If it is a legitimate news story backed by a strong case ESPN should run with it - they are reporting 'sports news' and I can live with that. But we all know it isn't a legitimate story. It is cannibalism.
There is another thread ongoing saying that OSU is the 2nd most popular program in the country. People turn on their TVs to watch OSU play football - today they turn on ESPN. Sponsors pay to have their commercials aired. They pay more for OSU than TCU or Marshall games. That money goes into the ESPN budget and comes out on the other side for things like expenses, profits, and salaries for people like Tom Friend.
The product that ESPN sells to its sponsors is provided by the NCAA, the Big Ten, OSU, Andy Geiger, and utlimately Jim Tressel.
Thank goodness Andy told them to shove Game Day. It is just unfortunate he can't pull today's game off the air. This goes beyond a fan boycott. This is your neighbor buying something from your garage sale so he can resell it at a profit and use the proceeds to have you run out of the neighborhood. That may be his right - but I don't think any of us would knowingly sell him anything to help him out.
Keep in mind that no crime has been commited here. If every allegation was true nobody would go to jail. The NCAA is a self governing body made up of member schools who investigate themselves. All current allegations have already been investigated. ESPN is not trying to make sure this process works. If that was their goal they would have turned over their transcript and anything else they found to the NCAA.
Instead they are putting it in their magazines, web sites, and on TV - all funded in part by the very program they are trying to undermine. ESPN is trying to sell a new product - "Scandal at OSU" - funded in part by proceeds from the very product (OSU Football) without which the Scandal has no value.
It is time that the NCAA and member schools find a new outlet for their product.
Here is my latest take on this whole thing.
At first I looked at it much like I would a story on Fox news or 'E'ntertainment. ESPN doesn't really have much of a story, but they are just fishing for ratings, so whatever works for them they will air. It happens all the time and this time we got stuck in the middle, so take a deep breath and try to get through it.
But it is actually much worse than that. If it is a legitimate news story backed by a strong case ESPN should run with it - they are reporting 'sports news' and I can live with that. But we all know it isn't a legitimate story. It is cannibalism.
There is another thread ongoing saying that OSU is the 2nd most popular program in the country. People turn on their TVs to watch OSU play football - today they turn on ESPN. Sponsors pay to have their commercials aired. They pay more for OSU than TCU or Marshall games. That money goes into the ESPN budget and comes out on the other side for things like expenses, profits, and salaries for people like Tom Friend.
The product that ESPN sells to its sponsors is provided by the NCAA, the Big Ten, OSU, Andy Geiger, and utlimately Jim Tressel.
Thank goodness Andy told them to shove Game Day. It is just unfortunate he can't pull today's game off the air. This goes beyond a fan boycott. This is your neighbor buying something from your garage sale so he can resell it at a profit and use the proceeds to have you run out of the neighborhood. That may be his right - but I don't think any of us would knowingly sell him anything to help him out.
Keep in mind that no crime has been commited here. If every allegation was true nobody would go to jail. The NCAA is a self governing body made up of member schools who investigate themselves. All current allegations have already been investigated. ESPN is not trying to make sure this process works. If that was their goal they would have turned over their transcript and anything else they found to the NCAA.
Instead they are putting it in their magazines, web sites, and on TV - all funded in part by the very program they are trying to undermine. ESPN is trying to sell a new product - "Scandal at OSU" - funded in part by proceeds from the very product (OSU Football) without which the Scandal has no value.
It is time that the NCAA and member schools find a new outlet for their product.
