Tag Archives: Backlash

Michael Wilbon Has Himself A Shout Over Boise St. Media Backlash (Video)

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Michael Wilbon disagrees with this supposed Boise State media backlash business, and he’s not afraid to shout about it.

During “Pardon the Interruption” yesterday, Wilbon and Kornheiser discussed a column by Dan Wetzel, which discussed the growing sentiment among fans of BCS teams that Boise State’s status as a “plucky underdog” means it has an outrageously easy path to a title.

Here’s what Wetzel wrote on Yahoo! Sports:

As the 2010 season kicks off this week however, fans of teams from major conferences, especially ones with realistic championship chances, increasingly see Boise as something other than a plucky underdog. The Broncos are a team that, based on a favorable schedule, may have found an inside, and potentially unworthy, route to win a national title.

Wilbon respectfully disagrees with said fans’ opinions. Here’s the segment from PTI, and at one point it does indeed appear that Wilbon is about to open-hand slap Tony Kornheiser across the mouth:

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Jay Mariotti Backlash Discussed On “Around The Horn;” Panelists “Saw This Coming” (Video)

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The vitriol directed at Jay Mariotti was a topic of discussion during a segment of “Around the Horn” today, with Kevin Blackistone, Woody Paige, and Bob Ryan weighing in on the backlash felt by their co-sports shouter in the wake of his arrest on domestic disturbance charges.

In case you’re just joining us, Mariotti was pointed and laughed by the entire internet after his arrest, then suspended by AOL Fanhouse, the website he works for, and psuedo-suspended by ESPN, the network for which he commentates for. Today, the whole ugly business was discussed on “ATH.”

It’s important to note the way host Tony Reali framed the discussion: they weren’t talking about the charges themselves (“that’s one thing”), but the disdain aimed at Mariotti following the arrest.

Both Blackistone and Paige agreed that pretty much everyone saw this coming (the disdain, not the charges), and that for someone who specialized in being a “provocateur” (TV-speak for “this guy was an asshole”), such a reaction was not surprising.

Nor was it surprising to Bob Ryan. But what was interesting about Ryan’s response was that there was a definite tsk-tsking at work – that Jay Mariotti, because of his habit of provocateuring, had dug himself a grave in the sports media community, and would not be getting any type of support from those within it.

“I only regret that Jay does not enjoy that [type of] support,” said Ryan. “But he’ll have to start rethinking how he goes about his business.”

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