Returning the favor

It’s been an interesting week in Bristol Connecticut, way out on the edge of the prairie of reason and rational thought… Let’s talk a little about what’s happened since the last time we chatted.

• Our part in the party- First, as loyal readers know, the network decided to get all legal and stuff with their investigation into Ohio State, which allowed us to take a closer look at their potential motivation.
• Buckeye takes to the air- As we shared earlier, LeCharles Bentley also went on the Cleveland area ESPN affiliate to share his perspective on the matter. The phrase “Corporate thuggery at it’s finest” is prominently involved.
• Suspended belief- Then, the defecation struck the oscillator, as SbB reported that ESPN had suspended college football writer Bruce Feldman for his role in assisting Cap’n Leach write his scathing tome on life and, most interestingly, his termination due in part to the situation involving the son of ESPN commentator Craig James. Feldman was approved to work with Leach prior to beginning the task; yet now it seemed that the mindset had changed given the actual allegations within the book.  The Twitterverse leaped to the issue, and after 24 hours of “#freeBruce”, ESPN published a statement. It said that

“There was never any suspension or any other form of disciplinary action. We took the time to review his upcoming work assignments in light of the book to which he contributed and will manage any conflicts or other issues as needed.   Bruce has resumed his assignments.”

It’s interesting that he could “resume” something that hasn’t been suspended, and that this major media source would choose to not allow comments on their statement.  Brooks goes on to point out that Feldman has not tweeted or written since this issue (something he was prolific at), and that not only was his future with the network threatened, but the ripples were even felt among student athletes, at least one of whom was afraid to comment and risk ESPN jeopardizing their draft status.

As usual, Gerd’s perspective on this was dead on, both before the “statement” and afterwards

Check out what might have been so controversial, and our “conversation” with a hall of fame ESPN Analyst after the jump

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Tags: Desmond Howard, ESPN, LeCharles Bentley, Longhorn Network, Mark May, Mike Leach, Texas, Texas A&M
Categories: Analysis, Conference Expansion, Miscellaneous, NCAA Investigations