Why ESPN Sucks

Tim Legler and the other "NBA Fastbreak" guys were talking about Shaq's vintage performance the other night against Milwaukee . Then they were talking about whether or not Shaq would play on the next night against the Lakers. Typically, Terry Porter (the Suns' coach) rests Shaq on the second game of back-to-backs. Then Legler and the gang ripped Shaq and Porter, saying that he needs to start playing both games of back-to-backs. The thing is, I knew about his grandmother dying, so I was waiting for them to talk about it. But they never did. They just went on about Shaq saying he wasn't going to play last night.

The Suns played without Shaq (family funeral)

Thanks to dime for staying up on this stuff and talking about it before the Milwaukee game even happened. But what's more concerning? Well that a b-ball blog/magazine with obviously less resources keeps up more with the news than ESPN, which is the largest sports news network (this is no discredit to Dime. I love the work they do. Always amazing and geared completely towards the user. And there was the time they dropped subscriptions for 81 cents after Kobe dropped 81 on the Raptors). It's the fact that ESPN may very well have known about Shaq's grandmother dying and chose to ignore it. Or they just didn't know. Either way, that's pretty sad, considering they're supposed to have all of these insiders in the NBA. That's pretty big news to overlook.

Oh, then there was the Plaxico Burress shooting himself incident. ESPN was covering it, bringing you "breaking news" about the incident. But they were quick to tout their analysts out saying how bad it was for Plax to do this, and how he's got such a bad public image. They reported on his possible gun permit that he had, how it had expired, how there were problems with the hospital reporting on this, Antonio Pierce being subpeonaed, yada yada yada. What they didn't chose to bring up amongst their commentary? Oh maybe the part about teammate and fellow WR Steve Smith was robbed at gunpoint about a week before. Gee, I wonder why they were toting guns around. Oh, and where did this happen to Smith at?

Giants receiver Steve Smith was the victim of an armed robbery in front of his home on Monday, Nov. 25. But contrary to a published report, the alleged perpetrator is not Smith's driver.

No kidding? But when the story first broke on Plaxico, ESPN wasn't trying to put two and two together. That's what irks me. Report the whole story. And when you offer these commentaries on television, think logically.
Example:

Analyst 1: Well, Plaxico Burress shot himself. And he will likely be in serious trouble.

Studio Guy: Is there any indication of why he was carrying a gun that night?

Analyst 1: Good question Studio Guy. On November 25, his teammate, Steve Smith, was robbed at gun point outside of his home in New Jersey. One can expect that it was a motivating factor in why Plaxico had a gun with him.

Simple. It's not like Roger Fedderer was robbed in Switzerland at gun point while treking through the Alps. This was a teammate. On the other side of the river. Not hard to figure that one out guys. In conclusion. ESPN, not really that great at reporting.