Sports Media Spotlight: Apologies and continued replay woes mark this week in sports media
Two prominent sports media types, football analysts who usually work the most-watched NFL and college football games each week, offered apologies this week for things they said.
They were right to do so.
At the same time, all football fans continue to wait for the apology that matters most. One that should come every week of the season but never will.
First, the apologies.
Cris Collinsworth, the accomplished and usually steady analyst on NBC’s “Sunday Night Football,” got himself in trouble during the second quarter of the delayed Ravens-Steelers game Wednesday when he was talking about football fans in Pittsburgh.
“Everybody’s a fan, in particular the ladies that I met,” he said. “They had really specific questions about the game and I’m like, ‘Wow.’ You’re just blown away about how strong the fans are here in this town.”
Perhaps not surprisingly, a social media outcry necessitated a response and Collinsworth provided one.
“Today on our broadcast I made reference to a couple of women that I met in Pittsburgh who so impressed me with their football knowledge that I wanted to tell their story on the air,” he wrote on Twitter after the game. “I know the way I phrased it insulted many. I’m so sorry. What I intended as a compliment to the fans of Pittsburgh, became an insult. I’m sick about insulting any fan, but especially female fans and journalists. I know first hand how much harder they have to work than any of us in this industry. I was wrong and I deeply apologize.”
It seemed much ado about not much. It’s hard to believe Collinsworth meant what he said with malice — and the apology then brought in a group of people, female sports journalists, who were not even mentioned in the first comments, further muddying the waters.
A day earlier, popular ESPN college football analyst Kirk Herbstreit got himself into trouble — and his case seems more worthy of criticism.
He suggested, without any reasoning or reporting to back it up, that Michigan might duck Ohio State to hurt the Buckeyes’ in the College Football Playoff.
“I still think Michigan waves the white flag, potentially avoids playing Ohio State next week, and then they’ll potentially get a game on the 19th,” he said during the playoff rankings TV show. “Michigan could opt out, basically, of that game, and keep Ohio State out of six games to qualify for the Big Ten championship. That doesn’t make sense to me.”
What did not make sense was the comment. It was irresponsible and unfounded — setting Herbstreit up for unnecessary criticism and speculation about how his allegiance to his alma mater (Ohio State) might impact his work. He knows better, and has proven that through the years.
After the expected he response, he offered an apology with a video on Twitter. He blamed his shoddy work on the pressure of the ongoing pandemic.
“It was completely unfair to the University of Michigan, to Jim Harbaugh, to his players and coaches, and I just wanted to apologize,” Herbstreit said. “I think, typically I try to remain positive and upbeat, and I think sometimes we all have our breaking points and right now, at Week 14 with so much negativity surrounding the sport, I think that’s sometime a pressure point for me.
“I’ve got a 25-year track record of not being a guy that pokes at Michigan even through I’m an Ohio State guy. I take a lot of pride in being fair, and I was not fair tonight and I apologize.”
He’s right about his record (there was another misstep involving Michigan and a then-LSU coach Les Miles), but he was wrong with what he said and, again, should know better.
Regarding replay
Still, the real apology we all need should come from anyone associated with replay review in football — especially the NFL and its broadcast partners.
Every one of the TV networks with an NFL contract employs a former official as an on-air rules analyst and none of them do anything on a consistent basis to benefit viewers.
Instead of helping clarify controversial plays or offering insights about the rules, the analysts often share personal opinions about how they would rule in a certain situation. Sorry, but that’s neither helpful nor relevant.
Even worse, all too often, the on-air analysts are not asked to do their jobs in a timely manner. Often the color commentator gets a chance to offer an opinion first and then the broadcast adds in the rules analyst.
Here’s the thing, if the color commentator knows what he’s taking about, and some do, then one accurate voice is enough.
On Wednesday’s Ravens-Steelers game, a controversial play at the end of the first half was not reviewed by the rules analyst for viewers until the second half started. That’s much too late, with his work irrelevant by that point.
So, an apology would be great. And a better model would be the proper solution. We don’t need more people commenting on replays and rules, we need better people.
The best thing would just be for the broadcast partners to have direct access to the league’s working replay officials — and viewers could listen in as things happen.
For the billions of dollars broadcasts pay, it seems like asking for a little more access would make sense. It would also bring a level of clarity and consistency and some behind-the-scenes cachet — and fans love that kind of thing.
Le Batard leaving
The final episode of “The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz” will air Jan. 4 on ESPN Radio, bringing an end to a long simmering feud between the popular host, who likes to push his rebel approach on air and behind the scenes.
He’s leaving to “pursue a new opportunity” and will resurface prominently somewhere else. His TV show, “Highly Questionable,” will remain on ESPN with a series of different hosts.
Le Batard’s departure further dilutes what was once a strong ESPN Radio national lineup. His show deserved the attention it got, even if it played the silly and rebellious card a bit much.
The network’s fairly new morning show “Keyshawn, JWill & Zubin” (6-10 a.m.) remains short of what the network offered in that spot previously and “Greeny,” with Mike Greenberg, will expand from one hour to two (10 a.m. to noon) — again not a more-is-better situation.
In and around Centre County, we’ll probably then get an hour of “Bart & Hahn” (Bart Scott and Alan Hahn) beginning at noon, which could be interesting listening.
Still, the Le Batard loss is huge for ESPN.
Spikes ‘saved’
Were the State College Spikes ever really in danger of leaving, or not playing baseball in 2021?
While local media for the most part breathlessly reported on the #SaveOurSpikes campaign last year, it always seemed a little bit more of a season-ticket push than some potential death knell.
This week, when news of the team’s new league and situation was announced, ensuring baseball next summer as long as the pandemic gets under control, Chuck Greenberg, the team’s CEO and managing partner, said he “always felt there’d be a soft landing.”
He also said, “the Spikes weren’t going away.”
It’s clear to me there was doubt about what level of baseball the franchise would be playing as a result of the restructuring of the minor leagues when Major League Baseball took over, but it’s also fairly clear a team would be back in some form — and that context was rarely reported during coverage of the team’s situation in recent months.
Tuner tidbits
When the media speculates about the future of Michigan football coach Jim Harbaugh, all the answers seemingly point to the NFL because of his track record in the league before returning to his alma mater. It’s interesting that a spot on TV has not been part of the speculation. It seems like his quirkiness could be interesting if harnessed by the right production team in the right situation.
You’ve noticed the Pro Football Focus (PFF) rankings on “Sunday Night Football” in recent years. The broadcasters and NBC have mentioned it at times, but not enough, that Cris Collinsworth owns a majority interest in the company, which provides customized data to agents, media members, players and NFL teams.
Kudos to Brian Tripp, the play-by-play voice of Penn State hockey, for this line earlier this week when discussing the lack of the usually boisterous students at Pegula Ice Arena. “You can’t have pandemonium during a pandemic,” he said.
Longtime ESPN Radio morning cohost Mike Golic, who has worked college football games (including Penn State-Michigan) as a TV analyst this season, becomes a free agent in January. It will be interesting to see where he lands.