ESPN's Top Blunders of 2006

[preppyak]

Since this is the time of year for lists and reflection, what better way to do it to reflect on ESPN's hilarity in the past year.

Here's a few I remember:

1. TO attempts suicide
This is my favorite, just because they were the first news source to break it, and they felt they needed all the coverage before CNN and other stations did...and when it turned out to be basically nothing...and they realized they had wasted 2 days coverage on it...well, we all know.

2. Comparing USC to great Championship teams
ESPN spent weeks hyping the three-peat for USC, comparing and saying they were better than any previous championship team, ever, including recent teams...and then Vince Young ran the scramble that shot those weeks of coverage to hell

3. Firing Harold Reynolds
So, during the season that all they have to cover is baseball, and their main guy (Peter Gammons) is out of action, they fire Reynolds for sexual harassment. Also, just briefly before LLWS play. In turn, their LLWS #'s are down, and they have to scramble to find joke coverage for

4. Giving Stephen A Smith his own show
So, that wasn't in 2006, but, it's still in existence, so I'm claiming it a blunder in 2006 as well

http://www.deadspin.com/sports/espn/quite-frankly-theres-no-one-watching-your-show-129710.php

This is all I can think of at the moment...but I know there are many more...so, I'll hopefully get around to more

[xbrokendownx]

i dont care what anyone says, i like stephen a smith haha

[The Matt Kaufman]

I miss harold reynolds

[mikeford]

if you sexually harrass someone on the fucking job you deserve to be fired. i dont know why the morons on this board have a hard time understanding this.

[The Matt Kaufman]

if you sexually harrass someone on the fucking job you deserve to be fired. i dont know why the morons on this board have a hard time understanding this.

I dont disagree with you. I miss his commentary on baseball tonight and his broadcasting. If what he did is true, I dont go for it either. I lose respect for anyone who does something stupid (such as sexual harassment) on the job. As much as I dont have personal respect for him I still respect his knowledge and his ability on broadcasts.

[preppyak]

if you sexually harrass someone on the fucking job you deserve to be fired. i dont know why the morons on this board have a hard time understanding this.
And you have proof of this harassment where? In the words of a woman who claims it...correct.

The reality is that right now, it is a PR cover-up for ESPN, and it is easier to fire him that stand by him....and I'm sure the Duke Lacrosse team loves that theory.

Unless I am missing something, an important article perhaps, it is a "she said/he said" kind of thing right now, and for a man to lose his job over that is wrong, until it is shown he committed wrong-doing.

What confuses me is how you "morons" don't understand "innocent until proven guilty".

[The Matt Kaufman]

:popcorn:

[livethesounds]

maybe Vince Young is the greatest college football team ever?

[preppyak]

maybe Vince Young is the greatest college football team ever?

yeah...but he'll never be good in the NFL ;-)

[preppyak]

:popcorn:

I'm not saying Harold Reynolds is right here...when it comes out that he is guilty of harassment, I will applaud ESPN for doing the right thing. But, he isn't wrong right now, not from the reports I've seen, no to the point that ESPN should fire him for a misunderstanding...especially not because their very reasons were to just hope the issue would go away. Fire him when he is proven guilty...

[The Matt Kaufman]

I'm not saying Harold Reynolds is right here...when it comes out that he is guilty of harassment, I will applaud ESPN for doing the right thing. But, he isn't wrong right now, not from the reports I've seen, no to the point that ESPN should fire him for a misunderstanding...especially not because their very reasons were to just hope the issue would go away. Fire him when he is proven guilty...

I agree and know where you are coming from. But the point of the matter is ESPN just didnt want him with that over his head for some reason. Plenty of announcers have committed crimes and lost their job and then came back. Marv Albert got fired and then came back because he bit a woman or something because she wouldnt have sex with him. Something of that nature. Michael Irvin got arrested with a crack pipe and still announces on the Monday Night Pregame show (I think?).

I think there is more to it that ESPN isnt saying..maybe hes done this a lot before or there was a warning and this was the last time. Who knows. Only the people who work at ESPN know and I am sure they wont let any more information out.

[Drew Beringer]

maybe Vince Young is the greatest college football team ever?

Vince Young is a team? I can see it now, Vince Young University, where we have the lowest academic standards!

[preppyak]

I think there is more to it that ESPN isnt saying..maybe hes done this a lot before or there was a warning and this was the last time. Who knows. Only the people who work at ESPN know and I am sure they wont let any more information out.
Yeah...I'm really beginning to hate the way ESPN approaches things...
Vince Young is a team? I can see it now, Vince Young University, where we have the lowest academic standards!
haha, where is JDig and his Wonderlic

[Trainsaw]

Vince Young is a team? I can see it now, Vince Young University, where we have the lowest academic standards!

was he the one w/ those horrible scores?

[Drew Beringer]

was he the one w/ those horrible scores?

Probably not, but since he is a high profile player, his was put in the spotlight.

[livethesounds]

yeah...but he'll never be good in the NFL ;-)

probably right.

Vince Young is a team? I can see it now, Vince Young University, where we have the lowest academic standards!

but i bet they kick ass. ;-)

[mikeford]

my proof that he did it is that he didnt fight it. he didnt take em to court over it or nothing. and whats he doing now? nothing. so basically he let them ruin his career over something he didnt do? yeah, i somehow fucking doubt that.

aight, after further inspection it looks like dude is tryin to take them to court so i guess we'll find out

[justinevans]

if you sexually harrass someone on the fucking job you deserve to be fired. i dont know why the morons on this board have a hard time understanding this.

agreed, but I am pretty sure he has tried to fight it.

[justinevans]

I'm not saying Harold Reynolds is right here...when it comes out that he is guilty of harassment, I will applaud ESPN for doing the right thing. But, he isn't wrong right now, not from the reports I've seen, no to the point that ESPN should fire him for a misunderstanding...especially not because their very reasons were to just hope the issue would go away. Fire him when he is proven guilty...

who is the girl in your avatar?

[mikeford]

yeah...but he'll never be good in the NFL ;-)

he still isnt.

69.7 QB Rating.

[The Matt Kaufman]

my proof that he did it is that he didnt fight it. he didnt take em to court over it or nothing. and whats he doing now? nothing. so basically he let them ruin his career over something he didnt do? yeah, i somehow fucking doubt that.

aight, after further inspection it looks like dude is tryin to take them to court so i guess we'll find out

where did you find out that hes taking them to court?

[justinevans]

he still isnt.

69.7 QB Rating.

he'll probably get hurt next year.

[preppyak]

where did you find out that hes taking them to court?
Deadspin had it a few weeks back or so...it was posted in the forum
who is the girl in your avatar?
Dunno, some chick Greg Oden is dancing with...we had a long discussion about her after the OSU v Florida game.

The one kid who goes to OSU is going to check to see if he can find her

[livethesounds]

he still isnt.

69.7 QB Rating.

8-4 w-l record. with a "bad" team.

guess that doesn't count though.

[justinevans]

Deadspin had it a few weeks back or so...it was posted in the forum

Dunno, some chick Greg Oden is dancing with...we had a long discussion about her after the OSU v Florida game.

The one kid who goes to OSU is going to check to see if he can find her

bigger picture?

[justinevans]

8-4 w-l record. with a "bad" team.

guess that doesn't count though.

yeah, it worked a few years for Vick too...but if you don't become a good passing qb in the NFL, they'll take the runs away over time. A few of those wins he had absolutely nothing to do with.

[tambo41187]

8-4 w-l record. with a "bad" team.

guess that doesn't count though.

Did he have anything to do with the win over the jags, i think not. He did kill the bills though, but i put more of that on Travis Henry and Bills poor run defense since he did with his feet not arm.

[Split2nd]

Harold Reynolds was an idiot anyways. Good personality, no knowledge. Sounds like every other ESPN "analyst"

[mikeford]

8-4 w-l record. with a "bad" team.

guess that doesn't count though.

whos he beat?

a downward spiraling colts team?

houston? buffalo? the eagles the day mcnabb got hurt?

big deal.


beat the patriots this weekend and i'll stop making fun of him for being shitty. till then.... dude sucks.

[LeftWideOpen]

8-4 w-l record. with a "bad" team.

guess that doesn't count though.

Tennessee isnt nearly as bad as they are made out to be. It doesnt hurt that Vince Young has a RB who has rushed for over 1100 yards and with the exception of the Buffalo game, the defense hasnt given up more than 21 points in a game. He has plenty of talent around him and for all the highlight reel plays he has, theres 3 mistakes that they don't show you.

[preppyak]

bigger picture?
http://static.flickr.com/58/203507516_1a132cb179_o.jpg

[livethesounds]

yeah, it worked a few years for Vick too...but if you don't become a good passing qb in the NFL, they'll take the runs away over time. A few of those wins he had absolutely nothing to do with.

if you have watched his passing progression from the first game to the last at buffalo you can visibly see he has gotten MUCH better. you can see it game to game. what other wins did he have absolutley nothing to do with besdies the jags game?

Did he have anything to do with the win over the jags, i think not. He did kill the bills though, but i put more of that on Travis Henry and Bills poor run defense since he did with his feet not arm.

um...that's only one win out of 8 that he didn't have an impact on. and he probably would have if he had much of a chance to get into an offensive groove. And VY had only like 4 or 5 rushes against the bills, he beat them with his arm (2 tds 0 int). but that was probably because the bills d backfield was bad too.

whos he beat?

a downward spiraling colts team?

houston? buffalo? the eagles the day mcnabb got hurt?

big deal.


beat the patriots this weekend and i'll stop making fun of him for being shitty. till then.... dude sucks.

The colts wernt exactly downward spiraling at the time the titans beat them. and they nearly beat them early in the season when they were dominating teams. Buffalo is a good team, the Eagles are still a good team, maybe it would have been more of a game if they didn't crumble like girls when McNabb went down.
They also beat Jacksonville, the Giants & Redskins. And only lost to the Ravens because of a blocked game winning field goal down by 1 point.
if the titans make the playoffs this week, they will have played every team in the AFC side.
I think they will beat the Pats. But you probably will discredit it because Brady will only play a half or something like that.

Tennessee isnt nearly as bad as they are made out to be. It doesnt hurt that Vince Young has a RB who has rushed for over 1100 yards and with the exception of the Buffalo game, the defense hasnt given up more than 21 points in a game. He has plenty of talent around him and for all the highlight reel plays he has, theres 3 mistakes that they don't show you.

they arnt, but it seems like that's the consensus around here, and was at the start of the season.
It seems the critics want to hang the guy and say he wont be a good pro when he has those "3 mistakes a game" and forget about all the highlight reel ones he has. He is still a rookie. I'm pretty sure Matt Lineart is making mistakes still, and i KNOW Jay Cutler is.

[tambo41187]

I used to Jags game as an example because it was recent. And the fact that the bills could not stop anyone rushing the ball opens up the pass.

[livethesounds]

I used to Jags game as an example because it was recent. And the fact that the bills could not stop anyone rushing the ball opens up the pass.

well name a couple other games he had NO hand in winning.

You're right, but are you trying to discredit him because of it?

[mikeford]

cool someone just said buffalo is a good team. no more talking about football on this site for me.

[The Matt Kaufman]

http://static.flickr.com/58/203507516_1a132cb179_o.jpg

:-p

[mikeford]

also there is no way that brady doesnt play the whole game, we still have something to play for. we could still get the 3rd seed and play baltimore in the 2nd round instead of san diego.

[livethesounds]

cool someone just said buffalo is a good team. no more talking about football on this site for me.

I think they are a pretty decent team :shrug:

[livethesounds]

also there is no way that brady doesnt play the whole game, we still have something to play for. we could still get the 3rd seed and play baltimore in the 2nd round instead of san diego.

yea, i read an article that said the pats were basically in the same position now as last year, and they rested starters last year....and lost to the dolphins i think. So correct me if I'm wrong.
But i would MUCH rather have everyone play the whole game. even if the titans don't make the playoffs, beating the pats at the end of the year at full strength would make this season even better than it already is.

[LeftWideOpen]

also there is no way that brady doesnt play the whole game, we still have something to play for. we could still get the 3rd seed and play baltimore in the 2nd round instead of san diego.

yeah the pats need to play balls out as if their season depended on it. the ravens are such a better matchup for this team than san diego, as are the jets compared to the broncos. Our road is a lot easier if we manage to steal that #3 seed.

[mikeford]

yeah no shit

when i saw that our first round matchup right now looked like the Broncos i had a heartattack. fuuuuuuuuuck mike shanahan. must win game on sunday as far as i'm concerned.

we can beat the broncos... i know we can. we just cant beat the broncos and the refs. and it seems like thats always who we're playing in those games.

[livethesounds]

yeah the pats need to play balls out as if their season depended on it. the ravens are such a better matchup for this team than san diego, as are the jets compared to the broncos. Our road is a lot easier if we manage to steal that #3 seed.

Well, has there been any word of if the pats will rest starters? I've been hearing they will. don't know if the sources were reliable though.
and if that's the case then this game should have been on Sunday night instead of the packers-bears by a long shot.

[preppyak]

Speaking of blunders...let's all watch Dan Wetzel flip-flop with issues:

http://sports.yahoo.com/mlb/news?slug=dw-rogers102206&prov=yhoo&type=lgns
hmmm...he condemns the man for being a part of the system
"It is why the old boys club – and La Russa and Leyland are old boys in every sense of the phrase – always protects itself.How else can you explain La Russa, who has a long, rich history of gamesmanship and checking for gloves and foreign objects, just allowing the umpires to ask for a washing of the hand as a favor and then letting it end there?"It's not important to talk about," La Russa said."

http://sports.yahoo.com/mlb/news?slug=dw-larussa102306&prov=yhoo&type=lgns
and then applauds him for his action within it?
"In the short term, he just showed a world of confidence in his team, just showed them he thinks they are good enough to win straight up."

Wow, I am officially done with Yahoo sports columns...that flop was done in one day, it's amazing. I was reading Yahoo!'s games of the year, and I saw the links to Wetzel's "Best articles", and this has made me crack up.

[Scott Weber]

Harold Reynolds was an idiot anyways. Good personality, no knowledge. Sounds like every other ESPN "analyst"
I wouldn't call a fairly good baseball player somebody with "no knowledge." I thought he was relatively insightful compared to some other jokes they have on that network.

[iihungrieii]

well name a couple other games he had NO hand in winning.

You're right, but are you trying to discredit him because of it?

seems like we're the only titans fans in here bro.

[livethesounds]

that doesnt bother me.

its all the merrill hodge wanna-bes in here that bother me haha

[justinevans]

if you have watched his passing progression from the first game to the last at buffalo you can visibly see he has gotten MUCH better. you can see it game to game. what other wins did he have absolutley nothing to do with besdies the jags game?


8-22 101 yds against philly. All Travis Henry and Pacman Jones.
He had an amazing 4th quarter against the Giants, but it should have been a loss because Kiwianuka is a fucking retard. But Tennessee's defense had to make plays to even give him any opportunities.
He had a passer rating under 75 in the next 3 games.
He played well against Buffalo.

Their defense has stepped up their game.

[leftstranded]

biggest blunder.....keeping shawn sallsbury on staff

that guy is fucking retarded

[livethesounds]

8-22 101 yds against philly. All Travis Henry and Pacman Jones.
He had an amazing 4th quarter against the Giants, but it should have been a loss because Kiwianuka is a fucking retard. But Tennessee's defense had to make plays to even give him any opportunities.
He had a passer rating under 75 in the next 3 games.
He played well against Buffalo.

Their defense has stepped up their game.

8-22 is really just not that good, but he did have 101 yards...i dont recall if he had any tds, and im too lazy to look it up, but still. he had games with bad numbers but still made an impact on the games.
and you cant play the "if" game, ive gotten my ass chewed out because of it.
i mean, yea of course the titans have played well as a team, but VY has had a pretty big hand in the teams success. the team believes in him, and he makes players want to play better.
idk...i dont even remember what we are talking about..im drunk.

[Split2nd]

I wouldn't call a fairly good baseball player somebody with "no knowledge." I thought he was relatively insightful compared to some other jokes they have on that network.

I don't know... from what I remember, he brought relatively little insight.

[preppyak]

8-22 is really just not that good, but he did have 101 yards...i dont recall if he had any tds, and im too lazy to look it up, but still. he had games with bad numbers but still made an impact on the games.
and you cant play the "if" game, ive gotten my ass chewed out because of it.
i mean, yea of course the titans have played well as a team, but VY has had a pretty big hand in the teams success. the team believes in him, and he makes players want to play better.
idk...i dont even remember what we are talking about..im drunk.
Hahaha...

I see what you are saying though...I remember reading this about taht Rose Bowl game. On their last drive, when USC went for it on 4th down, it was because they knew if they gave the ball up, even at the 1 of the Texas side on a perfectly downed punt, Vince Young was going to win the game for Texas. The Texas defense knew that if they made one stop on 4th down, they were National Champions.

Now, in a similar vein, in the 4th quarter, Titans defensive players know that if they play hard, Vince Young can win them games. He may have played the statistically worst game ever in NFL history, they still believe he can make that game winning drive. So, compared to how they probably felt with Kerry Collins at the helm, of course they are playing harder, and in turn better.

My point is this, for anyone to say Vince Young alone turned this team around is naive and short-sighted, it has been a true team turn around, but, to deny that perhaps the biggest impetus of it all was Vince Young's winning mentality is just as short-sighted. Does that mean he should be OROY, I dunno, I have no idea how they vote on that, if its stats or wins, or what, but the Titans definitely have a QB the team believes in...which is more than some teams can say

[justinevans]

8-22 is really just not that good, but he did have 101 yards...i dont recall if he had any tds, and im too lazy to look it up, but still. he had games with bad numbers but still made an impact on the games.
and you cant play the "if" game, ive gotten my ass chewed out because of it.
i mean, yea of course the titans have played well as a team, but VY has had a pretty big hand in the teams success. the team believes in him, and he makes players want to play better.
idk...i dont even remember what we are talking about..im drunk.

he's doing well because teams don't have a gameplan against him. Good teams will develop a gameplan against him. Why do you think Vick never does shit against the Eagles or Tampa? If they make him pass he is still a 75 rating qb. 101 yards passing in a game? big wow.

And 8 for 22 is fucking terrible. It means he completed only 36% of his passes.

[preppyak]

And 8 for 22 is fucking terrible. It means he completed only 36% of his passes.
Hey, it shows improvement...he didn't get that many questions right on the Wonderlic