The latest from ESPN's ombudsman

Ding Ding Ding.

 

The midlife crisis thing is depressing. It's sad, moreso because a guy like Cowherd doesn't even realize how pathetic he sounds.

I can listen to him talk about sports, but when he feels he has to update his audience with his "Uncle Dad" tales of the every other weekend time with the kids, I click out. This morning, he started talking about how he called his buddy to make a trip to vegas over the holiday. Click.

Give us sports, not your pathetic post-divorce life.

 

I heart Le Anne Schreiber.

 

Funny that this thread popped up again today. On my way to a doctor's appointment today, on a whim, I thought, "You know ... I'll give Colin a try again this morning."

He's talking about how he pays $18,000 (or something like that) a year on convenience things, spurred on my his story of how he dropped more than $100 at UPS last night.

Before I could get to the "fuck" part of "What the fuck?" I had already changed the channel.

 

When does the light belatedly go on in ESPN Land that his fifteen minutes are up, on this pathetic act?

 

FWIW, Schreiber did not go hard enough at the Les Miles thing. On Saturday night of the scoop Herbstreit was calling Miles' whole act a smokescreen...that assertion persisted through the next day. ESPN left the distinct idea, the whole time, that Miles was a liar.

It moved dangerously close to the "omnipotent media" syndrome I so loathe and fear.

Again:You may see a whole piece devoted to Cowherd. His show is becoming more and more bizarre by the week.

 

The sound of that assclown's voice makes me cringe. I haven't listened to him in about the same time span. Wasn't really a fan, but liked how he talked college football year-round. Short of Mickie James wearing nothing but an Eagles jersey, 4-inch pumps and holding a six-pack, there is nothing that can make me listen to that whiny little bitch.

 

Which was later bolstered by the fact of Miles apparently continuing to talk to Michigan-- as a "consultant"-- or whatever.

I'd love to know what really happened there.

Schreiber talked about potentially changing the course of history with some of this shoddy reporting. I think she meant the outcome of the game.

But what if Herbstreit's reporting actually caused Miles to have to back out of the Michigan job. It's possible...

 

Kathy, his wife, told us Les put his team ahead of his professional goals. She said that less than 2 hours after the SEC Championship Game. My take on that is there eventually would have been a real discussion, with a Michigan offer, but Miles didn't want his team distracted for the game, and he knew that was the end of the Michigan possibility -- for now. He acted swiftly to try to negate any damage to his team's psyche by the report. If he did it a little crudely for some people, well, that's just Miles. He's not smooth. To me, his unpolished stuff is more refreshing than bothersome.

One player went straight to Miles after Herbstreit's report and said something like, "So I guess you're getting on a plan Monday, huh?" Miles had not yet won an SEC championship, and I don't think he wanted his legacy -- whether he stayed or left -- to be that his first shot at a conference title was lost by distractions related to another job.

I know I'm in the minority on this, and I'll not waste a lot of time explaining it, but I've heard every word Miles has said on the subject since September, and I'm not sure what he realistically could have done differently. It's his alma mater. He's not going to come right out, before any discussion even takes place, and say "I'm not interested." In five or six years, perhaps after winning a couple of national championships, he'll want to retire in Ann Arbor. And anyone who thinks, with a BCS title in play, Miles should have come out and said at any of a number of LSU pressers that he wanted the job -- well, that's ridiculous. He played the game about as well as it can be played.

I get tired of reporters and columnists -- many of whom are where they are after leaving jobs that paid less -- expecting a coach to say definitively on any given day "Yes" or "No." It's a ridiculous standard, and one few reporters would hold themselves to.

Miles is rough around the edges, but I think he handled it pretty well. I know few agree with me. This was not a guy leaving his alma mater for another school. This was a guy who was wanted by many at his alma mater, a place very dear to his heart. I don't know that I can find anything beyond the typical coachspeak that brands him as the liar he was called in several columns.

And Luggies, he didn't "continue" talking with Michigan. He hadn't talked to them at that point, so it was his first contact. With the SEC title game behind him, he felt comfortable having a conversation with Michigan for the first time.

 

Gotcha.

Great post - thanks for sharing.

 

Sure is, and they sure wouldn't. I am always amazed at the entiteld attitude certain columnists and talking heads. It funnels into the larger idea of the ominpotent media: We know who you are, what you're thinking and what you're going to do, even if aren't, not and don't plan to.

News has never ever been more cynical than it is today. We not only expect people to act like money-grubbing assholes, we try to goad them into it so it fits the viewpoint we've already set out for ourselves.