The ESPN ombudsman is pitching a perfect game

shotglass · Oct 10, 2007

Frank_Ridgeway said:

I think she's great, too. On the one hand it seems a bit silly for someone who essentially writes an opinion column to criticize the amount of opinion ESPN offers, but the difference is she supports her viewpoints with reporting and she generally gives people a chance to defend themselves. I wonder, though, whether her studious, reasoned tone would translate to broadcasting. Could her way of expressing opinion hold an audience in anything but print? I don't know. I'm asking.

I think she's absolutely right that people get pissed when they tune in to watch a game and the commentators talk about everything except the game. And I think they get equally honked when they pick up the paper hoping to read about the game and find in its place a feature or analysis with the score and maybe one or two key plays popped in -- except newspaper editors tend to write off their complaints by rationalizing that the complainers will croak within five years because everyone outside of the nursing home has heard of the Internet and "already knows what the score is." They might or they might not. But no matter what medium it is, it is annoying as bird poop on your head when you tune in or log on or open the newspaper and the very thing you're looking for is being ignored because supposedly you've either already read it or seen it somewhere else, or somebody on the newspaper/TV/radio has determined that what he has to say is more interesting than the actions of the people on the field that drew us to read or tune in to begin with.
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Man, have I missed such points of view. Bravo to her ... and to Frank.

friend of a friend · Oct 10, 2007

What a great read.

buckweaver · Oct 10, 2007

PackOfGauchos said:

Great piece. What's the message here? That being hired to write opinions doesn't mean you're absolved of the duty to report. The best columnists are also very good reporters, people who research their opinion pieces just as beat writers would research a daily news story. With this expanding media, we have a lot of people who are sort of thrust into opinion-writing roles -- some perhaps who don't belong there -- and need to learn that writing opinion isn't just ranting for 900 words. Yes, being a columnist allows you to take more liberties with language and style. But not facts. Given that columnists are almost always featured writers in a paper or on a Web site, it's integral that they be solid reporters. I wonder if everyone hired to write opinion these days really understands that.
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No, but that's an astute point. I'm going to quote it because I think it should be read again.

The Commish · Oct 10, 2007

JayFarrar said:

It was weird.
This past weekend I moved and my internet wasn't connected just like the cable. The paper was delivered to the old address, I guess, so I fired up the radio Sunday morning to get the scores.
I never heard them. I heard that USC and UCLA lost. I heard about coaching decisions and moods in the stadium, but no results.
Not one.
After 30 minutes I gave up and started unpacking.
So to me, the whole notion that everyone knows what happened was rendered completely false. At some point people should report the news, and not what they think about the news.
And my ESPN blackout continues unabated.
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ESPN is still working on that ticker for radio...

Ben_Hecht · Oct 10, 2007

Think she's dead wrong re Easterbrook re Aiello.

Only thing she's been wrong about, yet.

henryhenry · Oct 10, 2007

wow.
i tip my hat.
she can write...and think...at the same time.

ought to be a regular page 2 columnist.

Dave Kindred · Oct 10, 2007

Beautifully conceived and executed.

Should be required reading for anyone claiming to be a columnist. She pays attention, reports, thinks, writes. What a concept.

And I officially forgive her for killing Red's column in 1980.

Fenian_Bastard · Oct 10, 2007

Yeah, swell. I agree with every word.
I will now go out and stop a freight train with my fist.

slappy4428 · Oct 10, 2007

Fenian_Bastard said:

Yeah, swell. I agree with every word.
I will now go out and stop a freight train with my fist.
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I laughed out loud at that... bastard

ballscribe · Oct 10, 2007

God, that's good. And well-written, too. And fair.

SixToe · Oct 10, 2007

Outstanding.

Maybe someone at ESPN will read it and take it to heart.

jgmacg · Oct 10, 2007

Ms. Schreiber, since her first piece, has been giving an absolute clinic in advocacy journalism.

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