Fascinating locker room dynamic with the Dallas Wings

[BurnsWhenIPee]

The flip side of the Russini-Vrabel story is, there *should* be a double standard in this case. At least imo.

To me, the "they are married to other people" angle is the part that bores me the most and I have the least interest in.

He is (allegedly) sleeping with a reporter, and (may have) used that to plant stories/drive the narrative about players, etc., that was in the team's best interests. Is that slimy? Definitely. Will he ever get so much as a wrist-slap for it, from the team or league? Never, especially considering he took them on a completely-unexpected Super Bowl run in his first season there. And Happy Ending Bob will never fault him for anything he's done.

Now her - she is (allegedly) sleeping with a coach on the beat she covers, and (may have) been used to drive that narrative and couch her coverage for that coach and that team's best interests. That is a nuclear bomb when it comes to being an ethical reporter, and while it obviously won't, it should make her unhireable by any outlet with any substance or self-respect.

She's a big girl, and she knew what she (allegedly) was doing could napalm her career, if she was caught.

Well, she was caught. The "we were with other people" bull****, then the "you can't fire me, I quit!" pivot shows her thought process in all of this is something that a 13-year-old girl would be embarrassed by.

She's getting all the scorn and career implosion that she deserves. He deserves more than he's getting, and hoping his wife dismantles him in the future here.

 

[BYH 2: Electric Boogaloo]

To be a woman who does reporting in any field, especially one dominated by men, is to put up with a lot of propositions and harassment and unfairness that your newsroom will be unable to do much about. You also must put up with a lot of people assuming you sleep with your sources because they think that this is the only way you as a female reporter can get any information. Despite all of this, you know there is a line you can not cross. In part, it's because, journalistically, it is just wrong. But it's also about self-preservation.

Every time a woman is found to be credibly sleeping with a source—or, in the case of Russini, seen in a position that suggests she might be—the man hardly ever pays. There is no torrent of calls for Vrabel to be fired. But the woman? She always pays.

You Can Never Let Them Think They Have A Chance | Defector

Would you look at the drop head from the Jersey Man article mentioned within the Defector piece:

ESPN’s NFL reporter and host has never done things the easy way.​

Instead, she has done them the right way.​

 

[BYH 2: Electric Boogaloo]

Sorry for the double post but that story is a ****ing TRIP to read almost six years later. I'm sure she went from no. 3 to no. 1 in DC in a millisecond by accident.

Dianna Russini | JerseyMan Magazine

 

[Slacker]

The flip side of the Russini-Vrabel story is, there *should*
be a double standard in this case. At least imo.

I disagree. It's an ethical breach and a serious conflict of interest on both sides.
Seems to be a rare dissent here. But Vrabel crossed the line and sowed distrust, too.

 

[BurnsWhenIPee]

I will gladly admit that I could be wrong, sexist, misogynistic and all that.

Not sure what, outside of his marriage, that he did in crossing the line when it comes to ethics and conflict of interest, though.

He has one job - to win games. If he isn't breaking league rules and decides ****ing some strange will help lead to that objective, he will get more pats on the back than reprimands inside the building.

 

[Shropshire Slasher]

Ask Bobby Petrino how fishing off the company pier went for him.

 

[wicked]

Would you look at the drop head from the Jersey Man article mentioned within the Defector piece:

ESPN’s NFL reporter and host has never done things the easy way.​

Instead, she has done them the right way.​

At least the headline writer resisted the urge to use “hard way” in the head. But perhaps he/she should’ve done it anyway.

 

[BurnsWhenIPee]

Ask Bobby Petrino how fishing off the company pier went for him.

Please don't tell me you think these situations are even in the same universe

Please.

 

[Inky_Wretch]

Ask Bobby Petrino how fishing off the company pier went for him.

Well, his biggest sin was lying to Jeff Long. Second was putting her on the payroll.

 

[outofplace]

There has to be an Eddie Murphy or Dice Clay or Chris Rock joke somewhere, but I’m drawing a blank.

Writing my post and reading the responses got me curious, so I looked her up. I was shocked to discover a picture with her hair straightened. lol

 

[dixiehack]

Well, his biggest sin was lying to Jeff Long. Second was putting her on the payroll.

Third was doing so while technically holding a government job.

 

[BurnsWhenIPee]

But other than all that, some people think it's *exactly* what Vrabel did. :rolleyes:

 

[Roscablo]

I've told this story here before, but in terms of the who you cover and beyond question, when I was at the college paper covering the women's basketball team, which was a top program at the time, the starting point guard during an interview (and there was another player with her) flat asked me if I would date anyone on the team. The other player nodded in approval. Kind of funny considering where this thread started.

Anyway, it was during a time when another student reporter in the area got in trouble for trying to date a women's athlete that actually made a few rounds in local media and I was close to graduating. Maybe nothing would have happened careerwise, but I wasn't touching that then.

I'm not going to lie and say I haven't always wondered who was interested, because obviously someone was.

 

[MTM]

Jeff Pearlman wonders why the Bueckers-Fudd relationship was ignored by traditional media

WNBA media ignores Azzi Fudd-Paige Bueckers relationship

 

[dixiehack]

So the biggest out of nowhere television breakthrough lately is about two men on different hockey teams in a romantic relationship. Maybe the public is in a different place with this than many imagine.

 

[SixToe]

Good grief. Players in the WNBA are lesbians and date other players, have dated other players, dated them in college, have relationships.

Big f'king deal. The Wings PR people shut down questions about it, the league is acting like it doesn't exist.

What a bunch of bull****. Just let things happen and don't worry about it. Does no one in today's PR world have any f'king clue about stuff like this? Just like anything else, it's become a bigger issue because they're trying to hide or blunt it.

 

[BurnsWhenIPee]

So much this, SixToe.

If you have fans who are going to clutch their pearls and run away from the team/league because they have gay players and may be dating each other, they really aren't fans of the team/league, and just want to make a social stand against the gays.

**** anyone who can't handle that reality.

 

[dixiehack]

Pretty sure the people put off by lesbians noped out of the WNBA several stops back.

 

[Gym Beam]

Pretty sure the people put off by lesbians noped out of the WNBA several stops back.

After having to watch women's basketball for many years to earn a check, no way will I watch it now when I am not required to. Same goes for men's hoops, actually.

 

[tapintoamerica]

I have thought for some time now that journalists who specialize in one sport -- particularly those who have earned relative fame and financial success as an "Insider" in that one sport -- are often mouthpieces for that which they cover. Why? Because criticism or any degree of prying might be bad for their mutual business. There are WNBA media now, and I doubt their professional ethics are any more advanced than the standards of those who "cover" NASCAR or golf.