ESPN

Filling in for Alex Wagner on her MSNBC show Wednesday, Luke Russert had a segment on NFL player and defensive end Michael Sam, who was signed earlier in the day to the Dallas Cowboys after being released by the St. Louis Rams on Saturday. Russert opined that the reason there was a delay before Sam was signed by another team was not because of any media “distractions" or that he was not a good…

Leaving no over-the-top comparison unused, ESPN's Bob Ley on Tuesday denounced the Washington Redskins name. Outside the Lines devoted an entire hour to a new poll showing overwhelming support for keeping the nickname. Unhappy with the result, Ley compared the word "Redskin" to slavery, Watergate and opposition to Jackie Robinson's entry into Major League Baseball. After a discussion of how…

The ESPN-affiliated, Bill Simmons-run website Grantland, which specializes in sports and popular culture, claimed on Friday that Fox News Channel is a major source of what Simmons calls “unintentional comedy” (or maybe "subconscious comedy" would be more accurate). In a feature about the history and influence of Saturday Night Live’s “Weekend Update” segment, Grantland staff writer Brian…

It’s open season. Since the media attacked former NFL coach and NBC sports analyst Tony Dungy for saying he wouldn’t have picked openly gay player Michael Sam during the draft, the sports media now has its pitchforks and torches out for anyone in the NFL guilty of thought crimes. ESPN and CBS  are going after David Tyree, a former New York Giants wide receiver (who’s miraculous “helmet catch”…

What do you suppose it costs to run a 60-second ad in major markets during the NBA playoffs on ABC? And can you think of something better to do with the “significant investment” a California Indian tribe has made than to register disapproval of a sports mascot? The Yocha Dehe Wintun Nation isn’t saying how much it paid for the spots, airing in New York, D.C., Chicago, Dallas, L.A. San…

I guess the PC sports press was hoping for a high-tech lyching of sorts, wherein Donald Sterling, the owner in limbo who is soon to be former owner of the National Basketall Association's Los Angeles Clippers, would be frog-marched out of his office and dumped onto Skid Row, never to be heard from again, for his undeniably racist remarks to his now ex-girlfriend about how he didn't want her…

On Monday's CNN Newsroom, ESPN senior writer L.Z. Granderson compared those who decried Michael Sam's kiss with his boyfriend after he was drafted by the St. Louis Rams to a racist organization that lynched minorities: "Yes, some of the objection is part of the storyline, but we didn't celebrate the KKK during...the March on Washington." Anchor Carol Costello praised Sam's "courage," and…

If an NFL team ends up taking Michael Sam in a late draft round – or not at all – don’t blame the media. The Missouri defensive end came out of the closet to near universal media adulation (coincidentally timed with the NFL Combine in February). Now, with the draft looming on May 8, ESPN and ABC are doing their parts to make sure Sam is picked. ESPN announced May 7 that it’s bestowing Sam…

Oh the irony. On CNN March 30, openly gay ESPN journalist LZ Granderson asked  “Will Christians condemn persecution of gays?” in an article that’s whole point seemed to be a condemnation of Christians’ views on homosexualty. While Granderson asks why Christians don’t condemn gay persecution (they do), it’s funny how the gay community is never asked to defend the open persecution and slaughter…

ESPN’s Tony Kornheiser decided it was appropriate to make a disgusting analogy when discussing the now-vetoed Arizona SB 1062 bill during his daily “Pardon The Interruption” program on Wednesday February 26. During the segment, Kornheiser and co-host Michael Wilbon railed against the Arizona bill, with Kornheiser arguing that the bill mirrored how the Nazi’s treated Jewish individuals during…

Feel that? Something “historic” and “important” just happened. It might even be a “teachable moment,” and it’s certainly therapeutic. Why, liberals will be able to like their country just little bit more. Come on people, feel the love!  A potential fourth round NFL draft pick has declared his “own truth,” and come out as gay. Having taken the “courageous” step of joining society’s most trendy…

During most segments of First Take, a weekday program aired on the ESPN sports network, the discussion focuses on a wide variety of topics ranging from football to basketball and even golf. However, on Friday morning, co-host Stephen Smith addressed the subject of race-related politics. Responding to a feud between Cleveland Browns running back Jim Brown and Los Angeles Laker Kobe Bryant…

People who cover sports for a living can easily tell the difference between “running out the clock” and “running up the score,” but a recent story stating that eight living National Football League players had tested positive for a disease that can only be detected during an autopsy demonstrated that these reporters shouldn't dabble into matters of science without verifying their information…

Just when it seemed that the biggest controversies in football consisted of the Washington Redskins being criticized for having a “racial” team name and the Miami Dolphins dealing with accusations of bullying by suspended guard Richie Incognito, along comes ESPN analyst Kevin Blackistone, who charged on Wednesday that the “Star-Spangled Banner” is nothing short of a “war anthem” that should not…