The University of Oregon's recent troubles found their way onto the headlines on ESPN's Outside the Lines.
Now, I am not into conspiracy theories but does anyone find it curious that over the past couple of years the OTL has done stories on Penn State, USC and now Oregon...and they hit Oregon barely a month since the alleged Masoli theft case the first rock to fall.
Interestingly ESPN has hardly made a peep about the 27 or so arrests at the University of Florida over the past 4 years...
The Sun's survey also revealed UF's arrests are in line with those of its traditional rivals. Georgia football players have accumulated 30 arrests during the same four-year period. Tennessee has tallied 21 arrests, while Florida State has totaled 13 arrests.
Miami, a school that experienced somewhat of a renegade status throughout the '80s and early '90s, has had two players arrested since 2005.
Meyer did not agree to an interview request with The Sun on the topic. In a statement released through UF sports information, Meyer said he has tried to make players aware of the consequences of their actions.
So, the 30 or so arrests at the University of Georgia the past 4 years, the 21 arrests at the University of Tennessee and the 13 arrests at FSU during the same time period aren't important?
I am not one who goes snooping around looking for deepthroat but even that intrigued me.
I am not looking to single out UF...on the contrary I am singling out the WWL because of their selective reporting on schools who have issues. It certainly surprises me that there have been no reports on any of the SEC schools that were mentioned in the above article. Even the article tries to to justify it away...asking if the criticism of UF is justified.
Not surprising coming from a home town newspaper.
Sure ESPN has contract with both the SEC and the Big-10 but it does seem that ESPN wants to protect the SEC at all costs. Bad publicity could harm viewership I suppose.
I remember the report on PSU...I was embarrassed at the way OTL portrayed Joe Paterno. I am not a big fan of JoPa but you cannot argue the good he has done for the sport. The way he was portrayed made him look like an old fool who was out of touch with his players, program and university.
Certainly not his best day.
It isn't just the TV side of things either...
You see it on the internet side as well as with this garbage...
During the past four years, it's been a shady little parlor game to wonder what could finally knock the catch-us-if-you-can smugness out of USC athletic director Mike Garrett and university president Steven B. Sample. Scandals kept popping up around them even as USC geared up for three long-scheduled days of hearings in front of the NCAA infractions committee last week in Tempe, Ariz.
I will stop there and ask a simple question.
I have read Howard's crummy writing before here in NYC when she was at Newsday (I think). I see she has "moved up" in the world.
This article has a number of errors that makes me wonder if anyone at ESPN fact checks or proof reads their work before submitting it.
While USC's issues that are before the NCAA should not be ignored or swept under the rug They aren't in the same league as some of things that players have been arrested for at any of the schools I mentioned above. Cheating to get a few extra bucks like Bush and Mayo are alleged to have done is wrong and if USC is complicit then USC should be punished but they are hardly equal to the arrests listed in the article above...no one is physically harmed or endangered for taking money.
Firing an automatic weapon into an apartment is.
Choking and beating your girlfriend is.
I am not looking for USC to get a pass but Jesus can we some balanced reporting?