Monday, December 20, 2004
Yeah,
what Tom said.ESPN long ago blurred the line between reporting the news and making it, and there was no better example of that than Rick Majerus' abrupt "retirement" after three days as USC's head coach. Majerus, it was reported, had decided to return to ESPN as a college basketball analyst. Guess which media outlet broke the story? Surprise -- ESPN. Make the news, break the news, report the news, affect the news. It seems to make no difference to the folks in Bristol, who continue to have little use for credibility.
Commenting on an earlier post, reader Milbarge asked why ESPN failed to report Majerus' return on Friday night. A very good question. On Saturday, the "worldwide leader" reported that a day earlier Rick had called the network and asked if his old gig was still available. Which raises a question (similar to the one) I earlier asked as a comment.
Imagine if Majerus had been an analyst for Fox Sports. Then left FSN to coach USC. If ESPN learned on Friday that Majerus had called Fox Sports and asked for his old job, would the "worldwide leader" have waited until Saturday to report that Majerus was likely to have a short stay at USC?
Fat chance. ESPN would have broken the story shortly after learning of Rick's return to the booth.
