Home Blog Page 2219

Lawyer For Brett Favre: Case Against Pat McAfee ‘A Slam Dunk’

BSM Staff
-
0

The war of words between Pat McAfee and lawyers for Pro Football Hall of Famer Brett Favre doesn’t look like it will be ending anytime soon.

During an interview earlier this week, Eric Herschmann, a lawyer for Favre, commented on the current legal battle between the former Indianapolis Colts punter turned sports host and Favre.

“We think it’s a slam dunk,” Herschmann told The Daily Wire’s Crain & Company. “Shannon Sharpe — since he’s been sued — has been quiet. Pat McAfee keeps talking about it and in all of my years as an attorney and being a prosecutor previously, I don’t think I’ve ever seen a defendant build a case against themselves.”

Herschmann then took aim at McAfee’s defense, or in his eyes, lack of a defense.

“His defense was, ‘Oh, I threw in the word ‘allegedly’ but two things is; the things that we cite, he didn’t throw in the world ‘allegedly,’ and secondly if he did any research or had a lawyer looking, that’s not really a defense.”

The attorney also said they are “starting” with McAfee and Sharpe, while monitoring what other pundits have said about the former NFL quarterback after he was alleged to have spearheaded a campaign to misuse Mississippi welfare funds to build a new volleyball arena on the campus of the University of Southern Mississippi. Favre — an alumnus of the university — denies any wrongdoing in the scheme.

The statements from Herschmann come after McAfee joked about being served papers in the official legal filing by Favre’s team.

“I don’t fully comprehend how any of this happened,” McAfee said earlier this month. “I’ve reached out to a lot of different law people…I’m gonna have to hire a lawyer, ’cause there’s so much f—ing shit that goes into it, which I don’t love about the American process. Somebody can just file a fugaze lawsuit, now automatically I have to hire this lawyer, I have to go through this whole process, but I have to. I’m gonna have to do that.”

Sal Licata ‘Embarrassed’ By Viral On-Air Outburst

BSM Staff
-
0

In May of last year, WFAN host Sal Licata proclaimed the NL East race was over, the division race had been won by the New York Mets, and there was nothing the Atlanta Braves could do about it.

Unfortunately for Licata, there was something the Braves could do about it, as the team charged back to win the division, and commenters haven’t let him forget it. He has continually caught barbs from Atlanta radio hosts — like Chuck Oliver and Matt Chernoff of 680 The Fan — for his definitive prediction going sideways.

That’s why Licata lost his composure on a WFAN caller last week in a clip that garnered nearly 300,000 views on the station’s Twitter.

On his program Wednesday morning, Licata admitted he wasn’t happy about the way the interaction took place.

“Legitimately, I was embarrassed by that,” Licata said. “I tell you guys this all the time, I don’t like yelling at callers…I blew a gasket. When I said ‘I don’t need to take this. I’ll quit’, I swear to you that was real. That — I think — is why people liked it. Because there’s nothing better than reality. Immediately afterward, I went to the producer…and said ‘Do me a favor. Don’t post that segment’.

“And the next thing I know, I wake up and I’m getting texts saying the morning show was talking about it for a half-hour, I saw the FAN account tweet it out, and it got a ton of views…it’s incredible to me, that that — of all things — is what blows up. People love it. I hate it and am embarrassed by it, but that blows up.

“It’s crazy to me, but all I can say is I’m being myself. Somedays I’m in a great mood and happy and don’t feel like yelling, and I’ll just be like ‘Ahh get lost’ and hang up, other days I feel like ‘Alright, you’re barking up the wrong tree. You picked the wrong day to call up and start busting my chops about the NL East.’ And that’s what you got.”

Stephen A. Smith: ‘I Don’t Wanna Be At The Top By Myself’

BSM Staff
-
0

ESPN’s Stephen A. Smith has proven to be a polarizing figure. Many will disagree with Smith simply because he is who he is, and many will charge him with accusations of failing to be critical of his so-called friends. But during a recent interview, Smith shared how he truly views himself.

While appearing on The Mike Missanelli Podcast on the BetRivers Network, the former Philadelphia sports radio host shared that he and Smith have been friends for years, and is often asked “What’s Stephen A. like?”, so Missanelli asked Smith to define the answer.

“This is perhaps the cockiest thing I’ll ever say about myself,” Smith said. “I’m a good dude. I truly don’t mean harm against anybody. I’m not somebody that wants to succeed but I want it to be at your expense. I want you to succeed, too. I don’t wanna be at the top by myself. I don’t wanna look at people and see them at the bottom. I don’t want people unemployed, I don’t want people struggling. I don’t want that.

“That’s why I’m so big on compassion, I’m so big on ‘Own up to your mistakes when you make them and let’s move forward’ as opposed to living in this cancel culture world we’re living in where people want you to lose your job and for you to be fired.”

Smith argued that his upbringing has shaped him, but he doesn’t view topics or people through a lens centered around race.

“I’m a Black man that understands that racism and prejudice exists but I’m talking to one of my boys who’s as white as they come, but I’m cool with him, because I know that Mike Missanelli’s a good dude…you can’t come to me if Mike Missanelli makes a mistake and you want me to ignore years of friendship and you want him fired. ‘Did he apologize? Did he acknowledge he made a mistake? Don’t you make mistakes? Can’t we move on from that?’ I’m that guy…fairness and compassion come first with me, always.”

Missanelli concluded by jokingly stating he’s never made a mistake, which Smith rebutted “I know you’ve never admitted one”.

Mike Greenberg Teases New Book ‘Got Your Number’

BSM Staff
-
0
Mike Greenberg Teases New Book ‘Got Your Number’

Mike Greenberg has done it all during his illustrious career. Whether it’s radio, television, podcasts, or movies, Greenberg has been a fixture. The longtime ESPN personality is preparing the latest book to his stable.

Greenberg is set to release Got Your Number: The Greatest Sports Legends and the Numbers They Own on Tuesday, April 4th.

In a tweet, Greenberg shared the excitement he felt getting his hands on a physical copy of the upcoming book.

“As a writer, there is no better moment than when you first see your work in actual book form. For us, today was that day,” Greenberg said. “So proud of this book and all that went into it.”

The book — which Greenberg wrote in conjunction with producer Paul “Hembo” Hembekides — decides “which legends flat-out own which numbers”.

Each number, from 1 through 100, will be covered by short essays from the pair who host #Greeny on ESPN Radio.

“Thanks so much for all the encouragement and support,” Greenberg added.

It will be the fifth book authored by Greenberg. He previously released Why My Wife Thinks I’m An Idiot: The Life and Times of a Sportscaster Dad, which was nominated for a Quill Award for best sports book in 2006. In 2010, he co-authored a book with then-radio partner Mike Golic before embarking on a 15-city book tour. He released other books in 2013 and 2015.

XFL Games Moving Off FX Amid Low Ratings

BSM Staff
-
0
XFL Games Moving Off FX Amid Low Ratings

At some point, someone is going to realize that there just may not be a public appetite for the XFL. The league’s ratings are struggling through three weeks of the season. ESPN is making adjustments to the schedule in hopes that meeting viewers where they are will make a difference.

XFL games have aired on ABC, ESPN, ESPN2, and FX. All of the networks are owned by Disney. That gives Disney the power to change what is not working. 

The company is hoping that by moving games originally scheduled for FX to the ESPN networks, they will find a bigger audience.

On March 6, the Houston Roughnecks and the Seattle Sea Dragons will play on ESPN. On March 27, the Roughnecks will visit the DC Defenders on ESPN2. Both of those games were originally scheduled for FX.

Week 3 action in the XFL averaged 571,000 viewers. That is a 13% drop from Week 2. It is also a significant drop from the initial attempt to reboot the XFL in 2020. Games in Week 3 of that season averaged more than 1.6 million viewers.

Ratings in 2020 left many optimistic. Pat McAfee, who was part of the ESPN broadcast crew, has gone on record saying that Covid is the only thing that stood in the league’s way.

FX has not aired sports since the first decade of this century. When FOX still owned the cable network, some NASCAR races and Major League Baseball games were hosted there. Disney believes that part of what has the XFL struggling is that people are not used to going to FX to watch football.

Doris Burke: ‘My Career is a Happy Accident’

BSM Staff
-
0

For tonight’s Mavericks-Pelicans NBA game on ESPN, it will be an all-women-led broadcast with Beth Mowins and Doris Burke on the call and Cassidy Hubbarth as the sideline reporter on National Women’s Day. Burke has had the opportunity to be a game analyst for many years and she is thankful for the repetitions she got when she started in the business.

Burke was a guest on The Marchand and Ourand Sports Media Podcast as “the big get” this week and she said that her career was a “happy accident” and that a decision one college made helped start to get her where she is today after she was no longer an assistant coach at Providence.

“My career is a happy accident. Basketball has always been the most important driving force in my life since I was 7 years old. Picked up a ball, it’s responsible for an education my parents would never have been able to afford. I’m the last of 8. The year I left coaching at Providence, they decided to put Providence women’s college basketball on radio. That was literally my first foray into this business.

“Thankfully, no one was listening when I started. You got lots of repetitions before anyone could hear your mistakes. Sometimes, life is about timing and opportunity. Women’s basketball coverage was starting to explode and it’s just been a gradual progression from 1990 moving all the way to where we are now.”

Burke mentioned that one of the pivotal moments in her career arc was when the WNBA was formed because it allowed her to be a part of a women’s professional broadcast in one summer and do a women’s college basketball game in the winter.

“One of the pivotal moments for me was the formation of the WNBA. I’m always indebted to women’s basketball. I’ve played it, I’ve coached it. In 1997, that was the first time a woman could make a living between the 30 games I’d do in the summer and the 30 games I would do in the winter.”

Towards the end of the interview, Marchand asked Burke if she ever thought of going back into coaching, and while Burke said one organization asked her if she considered doing it again, she loves what she does now.

“I’ve had some feelers out there. People have asked. I’ve actually had one organization ask ‘Would you ever consider the other side of things?’ I just said no, I’m very fortunate to be where I am. I love what I do, I love the preparation of it, and the live action of it.

“There was a time when I left coaching to be honest with you that I missed. There is something very special about working collectively towards a goal and sort of experiencing the highs and lows of winning and losing. There is nothing probably as special as that. I’ve always believed that broadcasting imported me a greater balance between parenting than coaching did.”

Michael Irvin: ‘How Can I Defend Myself When I Don’t Know What I’m Defending Myself Against?’

BSM Staff
-
0

NFL Network analyst Michael Irvin remains off the network after an incident with a woman at an Arizona hotel while covering the Super Bowl led to his removal.

Irvin has launched a $100 million lawsuit against the woman who has alleged misconduct against him, with a court ruling in February that Marriott needed to release security camera footage to the Pro Football Hall of Famer. The hotel chain has yet to do so, with Irvin likening the situation to a lynching during a Wednesday news conference.

“This sickens me,” Irvin said. “Because in this great country this takes me back to a time when a white woman would accuse a Black man of something and they would take a bunch of guys that were above the law, run in a barn, throw a rope around his foot and drag him through the mud, and hang him by the tree. Not a thought about what would happen, not an investigation, not after repeated attempts of people trying to go ‘Guys, here’s what really happened. Here are witnesses that will say this, here are witnesses that will say that’, they say ‘We don’t wanna hear it. We do not wanna hear it’.

“How can I defend myself when I don’t know what I’m defending myself against? They ask me ‘Do you remember this girl you met in the lobby?’ I work. I live and stay in hotels all year long. I meet people walking in and out of the lobby every day. I couldn’t even tell you what she looked like. I don’t know!”

According to Michael Gehlken of The Dallas Morning News, Irvin’s attorney was allowed to watch the video of the interaction between Irvin and the accuser, but has not been given a copy of the video and was not allowed to record it or show it to Irvin. Levi McCathern — Irvin’s attorney — has filed an emergency motion to acquire the video, and has called the allegations “nonsense”.

“It just blows my mind that I have no opportunity to defend myself. I don’t even know what I’m defending,” Irvin continued. “To not listen to the court, Marriott is above the law. I still haven’t seen this tape.”

Warner Bros. Discovery Sports Boss: ‘We’re Super Invested’ In NCAA Tournament

BSM Staff
-
0
Warner Bros. Discovery Sports Boss: ‘We’re Super Invested’ In NCAA Tournament

Many observers, both in the industry and outside of it, are trying to make sense of the future of sports at Warner Bros. Discovery.

On the one hand, the company told the teams whose media rights it holds that they are done with the RSN business. On the other, reports say the company is dedicated to retaining broadcast rights for the NBA despite CEO David Zaslav saying the company could live without it.

Later this month, the NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament begins. Games will be seen on TNT, TBS, and TruTV for the 13th year. It is a contract that pre-dates Warner Bros. Discovery taking over the networks, so it is fair to ask how much the company values the event.

“Very committed, I mean very committed,” Luis Silberwasser, the company’s chairman of sports and CEO, said when asked on a media conference call on Tuesday. “We have a very longstanding partnership since 2011. We have a deal with the NCAA and with CBS that goes for many more years. It is one of our premiere events. Our strategy on sports may be slightly different, we don’t have a sports network, per se, so we need to be disciplined and very choiceful about the things that we agree to do and want to do. But once we do, once that becomes part of our portfolio, we go all in.”

The stories of Warner Bros. Discovery trying to manage its tremendous debt are well-known. It has included shelving movies already completed to take tax write-offs, eliminating several positions, and more.

Silberwasser says those issues will not affect the way the company covers the NCAA Tournament.

“It is something that we value tremendously. It is part of our premiere and premium sports rights portfolio, and we see it as one of the best things we have. We look forward to our partnership, and we’re super invested, and we’re all in.”

Sean McManus was also on the call. The CBS Sports Chairman noted that the partnership between the cable networks and CBS was made before Warner Media merged with Discovery. Still, he sees stability. He expects the opening round play-in games to remain on TruTV, with the channel, TNT, and TBS continuing to air games in the first and second rounds, TBS to carry Sweet 16 and Elite 8 games, and every other year, for the network to have the Final Four.

“We’ve had some discussion about possibly altering that so we get the championship game every year and Turner gets the Final Four every year or vice versa, but those discussions have never come to fruition and they’ve never been all that serious,” he said. “I think the pattern that is in place works really well for the partnership. And I don’t see it changing in the future.”

Chad Withrow: Kendrick Perkins Isn’t A Racist, He’s Just Not Smart

BSM Staff
-
0

ESPN NBA analyst Kendrick Perkins has recently taken heat for his insinuation that White players in the league are more likely to win MVP due to the overwhelming majority of voters also being white. OutKick360’s Chad Withrow doesn’t believe Perkins is racist — which many have accused Perkins of being — but believes he’s simply not intelligent.

“He’s implying that white voters for MVP are racist and they moved the goal posts for white players when they’re really good, and they have a higher likelihood of winning MVP,” Withrow said. “Now, I disagree with that stance. Here’s the thing though: I don’t think that this makes Kendrick Perkins a racist. I think what we consistently see from Kendrick Perkins is that he’s just not very smart.”

Withrow then commented that he believes ESPN is partially responsible for Perkins being in his current predicament.

“He’s not an intelligent guy, and when you put a guy in this format every single day — who’s not particularly smart — you’re going to get outcomes like this. They’re putting him in an awful spot because he’s not very intelligent. I don’t think he’s an evil guy, I don’t think he’s a racist guy, I don’t think he’s very smart and when he goes head-to-head with JJ Redick — Duke-educated JJ Redick — or even Stephen A. Smith, he’s going to appear dumb next to these guys.

“There’s this idea oftentimes in media that ‘We need to put someone on camera that’s like our viewers’. You gotta also think about there’s a reason people are on TV sometimes. It’s because they can deliver a really good point, or they can argue something, or they’re good on television. You don’t just put anyone on TV because you think ‘Our viewers are like this, so it will be good’…Kendrick Perkins is the perfect example of this. I’ve thought this throughout his media career. He’s not smart. That’s my biggest problem.”

The comments from Withrow come after Perkins and Redick sparred over the comments during First Take Tuesday, which Redick claiming the insinuation is what is wrong with the program.

Mike Gallagher: Tucker Carlson Protected Family of Brian Sicknick

BNM Staff
-
0
Mike Gallagher: Tucker Carlson Protected Family of Brian Sicknick

During a segment that he claimed “demolished” the narratives surrounding the January 6th Insurrection, Fox News host Tucker Carlson claimed Capitol police officer Brian Sicknick died of causes unrelated to his role in the riot. The claim received pushback from many pundits, but conservative radio host Mike Gallagher believes Carlson did the Sicknick family a favor.

During The Mike Gallagher Show, the host pondered why Carlson wouldn’t discuss Sicknick appearing to usher those who had broken into the Capitol. He questioned if Carlson was doing the family a favor.

“It is hard to admit that not only was Brian Sicknick — the officer that they all claimed was killed by the protestors — not only was he up and appeared healthy and walking around the Capitol, he was enthusiastically directing people protestors through the Capitol. Tucker didn’t even mention that for some reason,” Gallagher said, “but your eyes can see it. Maybe Tucker didn’t want to disrespect the family. I don’t know why he didn’t just say it. Maybe he thought you can see it with your own eyes and it was just too painful to say it.

“This is supposedly after the time where he was assaulted with some kind of spray whether bear spray or mace. The New York Times falsely claimed that he was bludgeoned to death with a fire extinguisher. Anderson Cooper on CNN repeated that bald-faced lie. It turned out to be completely false. He died of a stroke the day after the riot. The medical examiner ruled that it was a death by natural causes.”

Sicknick’s family does not view the encapsulation by Carlson as a friendly one. In a statement released Monday evening, the family claimed it was “outraged at the ongoing attack on our family by the unscrupulous and outright sleazy so called ‘news’ network of Fox News who will do the bidding of Trump or any of his sycophant followers, no matter what damage is done to the families of the fallen.”

“Carlson’s ‘truth’ is to pick and choose footage that supports his delusional views that the Jan 6th Insurrection was peaceful,” the statement continued.

“Leave us the hell alone and instead of spreading more lies f rom Supreme Leader Trump, why don’t you focus on real news?” the statement concluded.

1...2,2182,2192,220...2,774Page 2,219 of 2,774