In light of Tiger Woods’ recent “transgressions,” I figured it was a good time to revist another sports  scandal from last month that went relatively unreported and was a good example of why networks should police themselves. ESPN’s own Steve Phillips, former GM of the New York Mets and anchor of “Baseball Tonight”, was caught having an affair with a production assistant at the network. An avalanche of criticism rushed through the internet, cluttering blogs and rival websites. Here, finally, was a chance to take potshots at the mighty behemoth that is ESPN.

However, ESPN remained tightlipped on the subject and did not leap to their own defense. ESPN’s own ombudsman, Don Ohlmeyer, wrote a scathing column about the network’s coverage of its own scandal. “The item was posted on the front page of ESPN.com, but was mentioned only once in the entirety of the evening’s ‘SportsCenters.’ It was carried once on ‘Baseball Tonight,’ once in the late afternoon ‘SportsCenter’ and once during the afternoon on ESPNEWS. The coverage on ESPN’s air was similar to a major newspaper covering a scandal involving one of its columnists by putting it in a small box on page A37 of the Saturday edition.” Ohlmeyer’s column was ironically relegated to very small tab at the bottom of ESPN’s home page.

In this age of media pundits, who polices them? Is it a network’s job to hold themselves accountable and own up to mistakes? By essentiallly pretending the Phillips  scandal doesn’t exist, ESPN is opening itself up to harsh criticism that it could easily dispel if it simply weighed in on the subject itself.

Excuse me while I back up. Since I’m less than a week old, there will be some old stuff here.

I see now why ESPN replaced Le Anne Schreiber with Don Ohlmeyer as their ombudsman. Whereas Schreiber brought a reporter’s instinct and work ethic to her columns, answering tough questions about ESPN’s decision making, Ohlmeyer seems more like an off-the-record PR man. The off-the-record PR man never stops being a PR man. He’ll still ra-ra his employer, but in his desire to be friends with the reporter (not really friends, but a sympathetic figure) he will make a slight admission of imperfection about his employer. So it is with Ohlmeyer.

After a horrendous debut column which seemed to be dictated and transcribed by an ESL student, Ohlmeyer returned last month.

Schreiber was good at talking to the ESPN executives and on-air talent. You could tell her questions were tough and they pushed people to their limits as far as how much they were going to say.

Ohlmeyer, a former television producer (and ruiner of Saturday Night Live) shares neither the interest in reporting or pushing the suits at ESPN. Instead he relies on old anecdotes – all 25 years old or more – about himself or people he has worked with. For example,

- He lauds Don Meredith, Frank Gifford and Howard Cosell, who last worked together as a three-man team in 1978.
- He lauds Dick Enberg, Al Maguire and Billy Packer as a three-man broadcasting team who started together in 1978.
- He even lauds the Jets-Dolphins game in 1980 which aired without announcers.

What do all of these things have in common? Don Ohlmeyer presided over all of them.

When he’s not giving examples of his own accomplishments he drones on about what we should look for in a three-man announcing team. Jesus, Don, how long does it take you to explain this shit?

Anyway, Ohlmeyer’s September column is in three parts.

He likes Jon Gruden, though Dan Levy at The Sporting News disagrees.

He likes the Little League World Series coverage (way to pick the hard-hitting stuff, Don!)

He does not like Sorority Row, the slasher movie set on a college campus which came and went out of theaters quicker than the Tri-Lambs got in and out of Pi Delta Pi.

His e-mailers, whom he must have taken with him in his journey back to 1978, remind him that Ted Bundy killed some sorority sisters that year at Florida State.

So he calls up the advertising dude and says, “Yo, why did you run ads for that movie during a Florida State game?”

The advertising dude says, “We gotta pay the bills dude and it’s not like little kids are watching this shit.”

Then that’s it. No sort of Schreiberian follow-up. Does Ohlmeyer blame ESPN for airing ads of a movie about sorority girls getting killed during a game being played by a school where one of the world’s most famous serial killers killed sorority girls?

You can’t help but feel sympathy for those who were unexpectedly catapulted back into what was so clearly a traumatic event. A serial killer should be the furthest thing from a viewer’s mind when watching the Seminoles play the Hurricanes. However, it’s difficult to fault ESPN for not catching the Bundy-Florida State connection. The tragedy happened more than 30 years ago and wouldn’t necessarily be a top-of-mind consideration for someone reviewing a commercial for air.

Would you say, Don, that something that happened 30 years ago would still be memorable? Like fucking Cosell-Meredith-Gifford-Maguire-Enberg-Packer-Jets-Dolphins-Ted Bundy?

So, ESPN is off the hook in Ohlmeyer’s book?

Put the “Sorority Row” spots in “SportsCenter,” NFL, MLB or other such programs, but a campus slasher movie strikes too close to home in a college football game.

So, it’s the old it’s-not-your-fault-but-don’t-it-again routine.

Let’s review. E-mailers liked Jon Gruden. He did too. E-mailers liked Little League. He did too. E-mailers didn’t like Sorority Row. He didn’t either. But, it wasn’t ESPN’s fault.

And, he ruined Saturday Night Live.

Don Ohlmeyer: New MNF trio deft at dance of a three-man booth – ESPN

There’s a real tension between the public’s right to know and the media’s right to prosecute

This line caught my attention while reading ESPN Ombudsman Don Ohlmeyer’s column, Serve the Audience.  This was Mr. Ohlmeyer’s thoughts on SportsNation’s criticisms of ESPN’s decision to not initially report on a civil suit filed against Ben Roethlisberger.

I agree with Mr. Ohlmeyer’s conclusion on how ESPN should have handled the situation; however, the line about the media’s right to prosecute is really disturbing.  I have no experience in media; I am simply a sports fan who enjoys watching a good game and tries to stay abreast of current events. I believe news reports ought to be accurate and informational.  I am not sure where prosecution fits into the equation.  Ever.

DON OHLMEYER

ESPN’s new ombudsman is a man once described as O.J. Simpson’s “best friend.”

No, it’s not Al Cowlings. Or Kato Kaelin.

Longtime television executive Don Ohlmeyer has been named the network’s new ombudsman. The former executive producer of Monday Night Football will write a monthly column on ESPN.com.

An ombudsman is a neutral party who observes and monitors media organizations. ESPN has previously employed two ombudsmen. They were George Solomon (a 20-year sports editor of the Washington Post) and veteran journalist Lee Anne Schrieber. Both were, at times, critical of The Worldwide Leader. More importantly, both had impeccable journalistic credentials.

Ohlmeyer, on the other hand, is a talentless, ass-kissing, Hollywood celebrity sycophant. He is famous for:

1.) Getting his buddy O.J. a MNF announcing gig

2.) Constantly defending a murderer to the press

3.) Getting Norm Macdonald dropped as the Weekend Update anchor on Saturday Night Live after he dared to tell too many O.J. jokes

4.) Being the genius who came up with the idea of hiring Dennis Miller for Monday Night Football

An ombudsman is supposed to have integrity. Ohlmeyer was responsible for one of the biggest scandals and unethical firings in television history. He dropped Mcdonald simply for criticizing his buddy. This was even though Chevy Chase called Mcdonald the best Weekend Update anchor that ever worked at SNL and “the only one who got it right.”

Why in the hell would ESPN hire such an ethically-challeged stooge for the position of “watchdog?”