more espn hatred...

[Gator]

but i cannot stand espn guys when they refer to jason mcelwain (the autistic kid who scored 20 points in a game) as J-Mac. do you think they look at themselves and say, "Why are we doing this? Aren't we professional?" i can see T-Mac or J-Dub, because those were the first ones, but now they do it for everyone... im simply waiting for that idiot stuart scott to start spouting off at the mouth during an highlight saying, "T-Woo drained the 50-foot putt for eagle" or "B-Bel led the Patriots to another Super Bowl title." man, i hate espn.

 

[Fenian_Bastard]

To be fair, I think his teammates called him J-Mac on some of the early news pieces.

 

[Genome]

Is Stu on the team? I think that's a privilege reserved for his teammates.
It's like a Steelers fan saying, "We won the Super Bowl."
Boo-yah!!

 

[Fenian_Bastard]

Is Stu on the team? I think that's a privilege reserved for his teammates.
It's like a Steelers fan saying, "We won the Super Bowl."
Boo-yah!!

So only teammates get to use nicknames?
That's going to slow down a lot of game stories.

 

[Genome]

Taken out of contest a bit. I meant if you refer to Jerome Bettis as the Bus, big deal.
How many people actually refer to the kid as J-Mac? Not many, I'd guess.
I covered a team in the mid-90s that had a player nicknamed G-Money. Never once used that in a story. His teammates called him that. As a writer, I didn't think it was appropriate to enter their world. I'm a reporter, not a buddy. I think that's what Gator was getting at with this thread. That as well as the fact that TV faces are hacks and have backbones the consistency of Spam. But that's another thread altogether.

 

[leo1]

gator, i agree with you about this kid. it's ridiculous.

but nicknames have to start somewhere. who's to say that calling someone 'the bus' or 't-mac' has to star with a teammate. sure, 't-woo' for tiger woods sounds moronic, but if they start using it, it's a nickname. and if others keep using it, it's become tiger's nickname. i guess my point is that nicknames can be coined by TV folk.

 

[mookieblaylock]

this is pretty petty as far as picking on the "worldwide leader." i mean, when the kid goes around, the pro atheltes me meets call him j-mac. big deal. i'm sure the kid also enjoys the nickname recognition on espn. he's probably not too worried about ap style. if this is the worst thing espn is doing lately, they're doing ok then.

 

[TwoGloves]

When I hear these TV and radio guys use these stupid nicknames, I want to ask them to crawl out of said athlete's ass and quit being a fan. Trouble is, they're proud to be fans. As for Eldrick Woods, he already has a nickname, which means some douche bag will probably give him one that's more "hip."

 

[HoopsMcCann]

as much as i hate to be on the worldwide leader's side... my girlfriend was talking about this kid one day and called him 'j-mac' -- that was how she referred to him on first reference, so, you know... i think she saw the story on cnn, btw

of course, i had no idea who she was talking about when she said 'j-mac' because i was thinking about my friend johnathan, who we call j-mac. but you know, still...

 

[Kid Presentable]

this is pretty petty as far as picking on the "worldwide leader." i mean, when the kid goes around, the pro atheltes me meets call him j-mac. big deal. i'm sure the kid also enjoys the nickname recognition on espn. he's probably not too worried about ap style. if this is the worst thing espn is doing lately, they're doing ok then.

No, the worst thing ESPN is doing now is exploiting an autistic kid for ratings.

 

[Armchair_QB]

When I hear these TV and radio guys use these stupid nicknames, I want to ask them to crawl out of said athlete's ass and quit being a fan. Trouble is, they're proud to be fans. As for Eldrick Woods, he already has a nickname, which means some douche bag will probably give him one that's more "hip."

E-Woody?

 

[Oscar Madison]

The better question is why is this kid still on ESPN? Was it a nice story? Or course it was, but that had to be at least three months ago. Why do the good folks in Bristol continue to beat this story to death?

 

[joe king]

The better question is why is this kid still on EPSN? Was it a nice story? Or course it was, but that had to be at least three months ago. Why do the good folks in Bristol continue to beat this story to death?

Because that's what they do.

 

[slappy4428]

**** DJ STUEY! **** DJ STUEY! **** DJ STUEY! **** DJ STUEY!

Ms. Slappy and I are lying down last night and British Open highlights come on.. she listens for about a minute and says "who is that ASSHOLE?"
Tiger woods, I reply.
"Not him, the guy talking."
That would be Stuart Scott, and I proceeded to give her the 15-second version of him, ending with "I'm surprised he hasn't said 'as cool as the other side of the pillow yet.'"
Sho nuff.... 10 seconds later

 

[Mizzougrad96]

If I have to see another "My Wish" I'm going to ****ing puke...

 

[Armchair_QB]

If I have to see another "My Wish" I'm going to ****ing puke...

I'm sure the folks at the Make a Wish Foundation feel the same way.

 

[Mizzougrad96]

If I have to see another "My Wish" I'm going to ****ing puke...

I'm sure the folks at the Make a Wish Foundation feel the same way.

Don't get me wrong... I'm glad they do it. I just don't want to have to watch it every single night... Chris Connelly annoys the **** out of me...

 

[Gator]

i actually liked the my wish segments, it goes to show that the athletes are willing to take a few minutes out of their lives for kids who they dont know. i thought the whole thing was done well, with the exception of chris connely giving a play by play. i think they should have just shown the clips and let them speak for themselves.

switching topics, ESPN has beat the whole "J-Mac" thing to death, and i agree with whoever said it that this kid is being completely taken advantage of for ratings. he was on oprah and all over ESPN and now a movie is being made after his life. i think its great that they are trying to get the word out about austistic, but whats going to happen two years from now when no one remembers his name (or his nickname, for that matter) and hes looking around wondering why hes no longer invited to the ESPYs. toying with the emotions of a 17 year old kid for ratings....now thats solid.

 

[Mizzougrad96]

No... It goes to show that ESPN will go to any lengths to fill time before football season begins...

 

[broadway joe]

If I have to see another "My Wish" I'm going to ****ing puke...

I'm sure the folks at the Make a Wish Foundation feel the same way.

Don't get me wrong... I'm glad they do it. I just don't want to have to watch it every single night... Chris Connelly annoys the **** out of me...

Couldn't agree more. It's great that they do it, but do they have to run them over and over again? I've seen the kid with Donovan McNabb no fewer than six times. Makes me think that part of the motivation for doing them was to have content they could use again and again during the slow summer months.