SPORTS MEDIA: FIVE WHO GET IT, FIVE WHO DON’T
A weekly analysis of the best/worst in media from a multimedia content prince — thousands of columns, TV debates, radio shows, podcasts — who receives tweets from the burner accounts of media people
THEY GET IT
Jeff Passan, ESPN — Oh, to witness the mastery of a traditional baseball reporter who uses the written word — and a visual medium — to tell the most powerful sports story of 2021. Still undefined in its journalistic mission while groveling to league partners, Bristol should identify Passan’s portrait of Drew Robinson as a blueprint for multimedia brilliance. As it was, his print piece about the outfielder’s suicide attempt last year was chilling, almost beyond belief. ‘‘At about 8 p.m., in one uninterrupted motion,’’ he wrote, ‘‘he leaned to the side, reached out to the coffee table, lifted the gun, pressed it against his right temple and pulled the trigger. This was supposed to be the end of Drew Robinson’s story.’’ It wasn’t, somehow, even after the bullet tore holes into the right and left sides of his head. Miraculously given new life with only one eye, Robinson is attempting a comeback with the Triple-A Sacramento Rivercats. Passan teamed with acclaimed director Martin Khodabakhshian to chronicle the story in an E60 documentary, ‘‘Alive: The Drew Robinson Story,’’ which premiered with an open end: Will Robinson be an inspiration to millions when he is called up by the San Francisco Giants — or will he succumb again to his depression? For decades, ESPN has hired journalists and force-fed them onto TV with varying results. Passan is the rare find who writes exceptionally AND translates to screen projects.
David Zaslav, media mogul — With Sir Bob Iger gradually nudged toward emeritus status, Disney has a new challenger in the streaming wars. Team Mouse has met the potential enemy in Zaslav, who inherits massive industry power as the lead dog in WarnerMedia’s merger with Discovery Inc. Among other volcanic implications, he’s an admirer of live sports, which could turn a division led by TNT and TBS into a bigger global content force. A longtime pal of Jeff Zucker, the CNN boss who also heads WarnerMedia’s sports interests, Zaslav already is framing his vision with a direct mission statement: ‘‘We think one of the true differentiators of the future is live news, live sports.’’ With a new NHL rights deal added to a roster that includes the NBA, Major League Baseball and March Madness, well, let’s just say company founder Ted Turner is watching it all from one of his ranches and saying, ‘‘Hot Damn.’’ Meanwhile, AT&T should stick to developing more reliable 5G, having flopped in its quest to conquer Hollywood and now frantically offloading media assets. I’ll be really impressed if Zaslav orders Charles Barkley to stop his fat jokes about women.
Jalen Rose, ESPN — He easily could have handed off the assignment to a colleague, avoiding the tension of a feud that dates to the mid-‘90s. Admirably, Rose took a blowtorch to the iceberg, welcoming Chris Webber to the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame while some of us wondered if Webber was even worthy. ‘‘I love you, my brother. Congratulations,’’ Rose said. ‘‘You made it to the Hall of Fame, brother. Well-deserved.” Their Fab Five breakthrough at Michigan deteriorated into hard feelings over trademarks and Webber’s link to booster Ed Martin, which forced the program to vacate victories and led to the removal of Final Four banners from the campus arena. It seemed unlikely they ever would speak again, particularly as Rose thrives in his media career while Webber was fired last week from his lead NBA analyst gig at TNT. Rose, whose mother died from lung cancer in February, was the bigger man. ‘‘Jalen Anthony Rose, it’s crazy, man,” replied Webber, wiping tears. ‘‘And thank God for your beautiful, wonderful mother because you know what she did for me.” I’m proud to say Rose is my former radio partner, way back when on ESPN shows in Los Angeles. Isn’t it great when adults actually can be adults?
Marv Albert, broadcasting icon — Is any voice more identifiable with a sport than Albert’s? When he barks ‘‘YESSSSS!’’ through a microphone, an audience sees images of basketball greats and famed arenas spanning decades. The play-by-play legend is retiring weeks from his 80th birthday, wisely announcing that the current NBA postseason will be his final sign-off, and his is a study in perseverance and corporate second chances as much as sustained excellence. In 1997, amid the massive exposure of the Jordan Era, Albert pleaded guilty to misdemeanor assault and battery, with a witness testifying that Albert bit her while he wore white panties and a garter belt during sex. NBC fired him on the spot, but TNT saved his career by making him its NBA voice. Albert didn’t let his worst moment define him because, in the end, he was too good at his job. ‘‘There is no voice more closely associated with NBA basketball than Marv Albert's," commissioner Adam Silver said. Someone will take over his seat — hopefully, Ian Eagle — but no one will replace his resonance.
Barry Rozner, smart man — You can’t half-ass a sports column. Either you’re fully invested in the daily grind, as so few are these days, or it’s best to exit as Rozner did after 24 years in the gig — and 37 years total — at the Daily Herald in Chicago’s northern suburbs. He writes that his ‘‘wife and girls deserve my time after so many years of putting breaking news before everything else,’’ but the most telling takeaway of his farewell column was this: ‘‘I would be doing the newspaper — and you — a disservice if a year or two or 10 from now I was mailing it in, waiting to have the sweater ripped off my back, going through the motions …’’ That describes any number of sports columnists in the industry, paycheck-pilferers who rarely speak truth to power anymore because life is easier that way. Column-writing needn’t be a dying art — with the Washington Post and Sports Illustrated still showing the way — but in an opinion corner swallowed by Big Sports and Big TV, Rozner will be among many who opt out early. At least he was honest to himself and his readers.
Front Office Sports — Remember when Camp A-Rod vowed to give its next exclusive to ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski, who was miffed when The Athletic beat him to the original story of Alex Rodriguez’s ownership interest in the NBA’s Minnesota Timberwolves? Turns out Woj bombed again, as the industry site was first with the official $1.5-billion sale of the Wolves and WNBA’s Lynx to Rodriguez and Marc Lore. It’s healthy for the media business when an independent site, with no direct financial connection to sports, breaks a major story without it being hand-delivered. The Athletic credited Front Office Sports; ESPN did not, crediting its own reporter, Brian Windhorst. (Sigh.) This fulfills my ongoing streak of at least Six Who Get It. And, as seen below, Six Who Don’t Get It.
THEY DON’T GET IT
Documaniacs — So now they’ve turned storytelling into a boutique image-polishing service, wrapped around a blind ratings grab. ‘‘The Last Dance’’ created docuseries fever, with ESPN and other media companies rushing to produce the next killer ratings hit, though I hate to break the bad news: The Michael Jordan doc never will be approached in scope, numbers and cultural importance amid a pandemic’s early stages. ESPN claims it will ‘‘pull back the curtain’’ on Derek Jeter’s career, though I’m not sure much is behind that curtain. Seems Jeter wants to control his ultimate narrative in a definitive film, as Jordan did, and he’ll have the means to do just that — the six-part series is produced by the Players’ Tribune (founded by Jeter) and the shared interests of Major League Baseball and Jeter friend Spike Lee. Tom Brady will have the same power in his nine-episode ESPN docuseries, which means we’re simply giving elite athletes license to tell their own fairy tales without balance. After two decades in the global glare, what more does Serena Williams have to say? Her story is imbued in history, from her Compton childhood with sister Venus to her place as the most dominant female athlete ever, and as she nears age 40, we await her transition from competitive tennis to motherhood. Little will be gleaned from a new Serena docuseries, via Amazon, but after various films and stories have depicted her less than gracefully, she wants the last word. If iconic athletes have something new and compelling to say, wonderful. If their self-styled docs are persona-scrubbing, controversy-spinning exercises in public relations, the masses will grow tired and bored.
Sports-related websites — On my latest iPhone — not purple — I have room for countless apps. So why have I only unloaded these: ESPN, New York Times, Washington Post, Los Angeles Times, New York Post, Sports Illustrated, The Athletic, Wall Street Journal, Associated Press and USA Today? Because too many sites, local in particular, aren’t worth my time, intelligence or paywall money. Content should be king in any circumstance, but sites generally are lacking in depth, gravitas, urgency and impartiality, with more using sports to drive gambling initiatives or political agendas. The sports radio division truly doesn’t get it, failing to cross-promote daily programming with quality columns and timely video commentaries. Why remain in business if every exposure opportunity isn’t maximized?
ESPN — How convenient of Bristol, fully immersed now in the treacherous waters of legal gambling, to have its GAMBLING WRITER author a long piece titled, ‘‘Sports betting is booming, like it or not.’’ As you know, I hate it and reiterated my reasons last week in my own long piece, which scolded major media companies for abandoning what is sacred about sports — the authentic competition — for a grimy alternate universe of point spreads and over-unders. When the inevitable scandals happen — assuming they aren’t as I write this — ESPN and others with heavy betting associations won’t be summoning expert investigative reporters as they once did. Nor will they probe the disease of wagering and the ever-growing number of problem gamblers in America, now that betting is as easy as the tap of a phone app. When a record $4 billion is bet with U.S. sportsbooks in March alone, investigations that serve the public interest would be kinda bad for business, wouldn’t they? A ruthless money grab is out of control, linking the media with leagues and casinos … and trouble. As I concluded, Congressional intervention is the only way to stop point-shaving and other forms of game manipulation. This obviously is a job for the Brothers Fainaru, Steve and Mark, an investigative tag-team like few others. But the only reason they’re still employed at ESPN is because they no longer pursue stories that can adversely impact the company, which, at this point, is in business bed with every league, conference and sports initiative short of Competitive Pillow Fighting, which I’m sure is next if odds can be set.
Associated Press — If nothing else, America’s news organization of record can be trusted not to degenerate into the tout gutter. Wait. OMG. The AP, too? Before the Preakness Stakes, which was complicated by the positive drug test of Bob Baffert’s Medina Spirit, staff writer Tim Reynolds advised wire readers how to gamble on the race. He wrote, ‘‘Here’s what it means for bettors now: Absolutely nobody knows if past performances from Medina Spirit — the data that will be pored over time and again before people plunk cash down to bet on Saturday’s Preakness — were on an equal playing field with other horses in those races. … The smart play is to look elsewhere, and there are options.’’ An NBA reporter in his day job, Reynolds wrapped a top three of Midnight Bourbon, Crowded Trade and Medina Spirit, in that order. Rombauer, at 11-1, was the winner, followed by Midnight Bourbon and Medina Spirit. So he wasn’t totally clueless … but he was wrong on what mattered most. Consider it Exhibit A of why gambling companies, interested in hiring seasoned sportswriters, shouldn’t assume they know how to pick winners. It isn’t part of the traditional job description, nor is it a crossover that any self-respecting sportswriter should attempt. Worse, in a story about the NBA postseason, the AP highlighted this portion in blue on its app: ‘‘The Lakers are still the second choice to win the NBA title, according to FanDuel, behind only Brooklyn.’’ I don’t care what FanDuel thinks, nor should the AP.
Teddy Greenstein, PointsBet senior editor — Masquerading for 24 years as a college football, golf and media writer, with a few unmemorable columns in the mix, Greenstein now confesses he liked gambling angles as much as pure sportswriting at the Chicago Tribune. Such pretenders are best off leaving the business and heading to the creepy side, where they can dabble in odds and prop bets and let real journalists break stories and take on sports owners. In the aforementioned ESPN story, Greenstein says he has ‘‘the perfect job’’ — in which he ‘‘hosts PointsBet's golf preview show, ‘The Range,’ with social media influencer Paige Spiranac, produces written content and potential prop offerings, entertains VIPs in Chicago and makes regular media appearances that differ in subject matter from the TV and radio spots he did while at the Tribune.’’ Basically, he’s a casino host. This is just right for Teddy, who didn’t always care to get his facts straight as a newspaperman, such as the day I was receiving threats in the new online comments section of the then-rival Sun-Times. The paper’s security director wanted to purge the comments; the managing editor did not. Someone in the newsroom leaked their disagreement, and, of course, Greenstein wrote that I was afraid of criticism. Next day, the Tribune invited its readers to write comments about me and promised to publish them online, which became my triumphant, Twilight Zone moment in that wacky-ass market … the competition was promoting ME? I could go on about his recklessness, but the point is, PointsBet is the ideal landing spot for one with his priorities. He went to Northwestern. Should the journalism arm be renamed the Medill School of Bookmaking?
Halls of Fame — Am I the only one uncomfortable when the NBA, or any sports league, inducts media members? It suggests a favorable relationship between the league and the media person, which shouldn’t exist if the media person is committed to professionally scrutinizing the league and not softly promoting it as an extension of the public-relations department. Imagine if the White House or your local City Hall had a Hall of Fame that included a media wing. Wouldn’t any independent reporter be embarrassed by a nomination? I cringed when Naismith Memorial Basketball HOF inductee Michael Wilbon, an outstanding columnist in his day, was introduced as ‘‘my main man’’ by host Ahmad Rashad, who, as we all know, is the longtime confidante of Michael Jordan and a four-decade friend of the league. Know this: Any media member who attacks a league’s leadership or a team owner even once, regardless of his or her prominence, isn’t getting into Springfield, Cooperstown or Canton. I guess it’s an effective way of separating the Real from the Rashads — Ahmad, by the way, still hasn’t been inducted.
Jay Mariotti, called ‘‘the most impacting Chicago sportswriter of the past quarter-century,’’ is the host of ``Unmuted,’’ a frequent podcast about sports and life (Apple, Spotify, etc.). He’s an accomplished columnist, TV panelist and radio host. As a Los Angeles resident, he gravitated by osmosis to movie projects. Compensation for this column is donated to the Chicago Sun-Times Charity Trust.