The WhitlockFest on 610 Sports Radio did not disappoint. As expected, Whitlock aired out his grievances with previous employers ESPN and the Kansas City Star…but especially the Kansas City Star. There were admissions of deception, a whole lot of bitterness…oh, and a bizarre tidbit that forced the station to temporarily yank the program from the air.
UPDATE: Whitlock has tweeted the following:
@mediaite I did not say mike fannin and I got drunk and high together.
Let me repeat: I did not say I got drunk and high w/Mike Fannin. I quit smoking weed the day I left college. I drink 20 times a year tops.
I realize it might be an innocent mistake. But it is possible to correct a mistake. U don’t have to repeat it just bcuz someone else did.
In addition, he retweeted someone else who said Whitlock “clearly said” it was others who had gotten drunk and high with Fannin. The person also asked if people were even listening. We were, but apparently misheard that line. Our mistake.
The rest of the original post is as follows.
Most of it was simply what you’d expect – Whitlock said he was underpaid at ESPN, so he eventually left. He also said he disagreed with the direction of the Star’s sports section for many years, but stayed on because he felt it was his duty to help keep the newspaper business afloat.
But when he started talking about the Star’s current editor, Mike Fannin – well, that’s when Whitlock really gave the people what they wanted. Suffice it to say:
1) Whitlock said Fannin promoted supposedly-underqualified Holly Lawton to sports editor because of…well, because they were doing it. According to Whitlock, it was a well-known fact around the newsroom, and Fannin would even brag about it.
2) Supposedly, Whitlock’s kind words about Fannin in his infamous Big Lead interview were complete lies designed to try and get another media outlet to hire him away. Seeing as how Fannin now runs the Star, this did not work.
3) To hear Whitlock say it, Fannin sounds like a party guy – they’ve “gotten drunk and high” together, and supposedly, Fannin gets so drunk that he starts kissing guys on the neck. Though Whitlock said it was in a non-sexual way, the station couldn’t yank the program from the air fast enough.
Other tidbits since the show resumed include Whitlock ripping ESPN for being in bed with the major sports leagues, and that they’re holding Bill Simmons back creatively.
Whitlock, though, had nothing but kind words for FOX, saying he couldn’t talk trash about Rupert Murdoch like he might be expected to because his experience there has been so positive. Well, supposedly Whitlock has a 3-year, $ 2.1 million contract with FOX – we wouldn’t say anything bad about them either, if we were him.
All in all, Whitlock getting cut off by the station mid-show meant this entire undertaking more than met our expectations – and made endeavors like this worthwhile. We do, however, think these Gregg Doyel tweets sum things up pretty well:
After ripping LeBron for his tone-deaf “Decision” on ESPN, Jason Whitlock is spending 3 HOURS on KC radio explaining why he left the KC Star
Lookit, I love me some Whitlock. Probably my single most must-read guy in the business. But that’s some strange s–t.
If he says any other crazy stuff – always a possibility – we’ll throw that in here as well.
Photo via
SportsGrid
