ESPN has not been bashful when covering the Tiger Woods saga the past two weeks.
They have covered everything from his affairs, his new tainted image and which new sponsors are dropping him.
But earlier this week, ESPN went a little too far. Just before an episode of SportsCenter the introduction read like so:
“New developments in the Tiger Woods case! See what happened that brought ambulances to his house!”
The real story was that an ambulance came to pick up Tiger Woods mother in law who had food poisoning from going out to dinner the night before. But still, ESPN decided it was newsworthy. Probably because they thought it may have some connection with his recent sexcapade.
But to me, and some others, ESPN is venturing outside of its borders. They do not need to cover this story to the extent that they have. They are ESPN, not TMZ.
Perhaps that is the problem. Because entertainment publications like TMZ, People Magazine and especially The Post, have covered the story to the extent that they have, ESPN might be feeling pressure. They do not want those other outlets to beat them to the punch. There are too many people, sports fans and non sports fans, who care about this story.
When Tiger Woods’ mother-in-law, Barbro Holmberg, rushed to the hospital in the wee hours of the morning, I happen to be up doing some late night homework. I took a break, went on ESPN.com and saw that they had they story at about 6:00 a.m. In other words, no rest for the Tiger saga.
But doesn’t ESPN have better things to do? The NFL is heating up. College football is getting ready for bowl season and the NBA is still relevant. Yet, I can’t spend one second on ESPN radio, television or its website without being bombarded with Woods this and Woods that.
Rick Reilly has written two columns on Woods. Two. ( ok, so one was like a mini column which Reilly calls “ Go Fish, two small for a column,” but still) ESPN radio guys can’t get enough. And SportsCenter is now leading off its segments at times with this garbage.
I am not saying that ESPN shouldn’t be reporting this story. But it has to stick to the sports aspect and chill with the excessivnes of it. It’s ok to report that Woods’ mother in law went to the hospital, but do not lead off SportsCenter with it.
Colin Cowherd dedicated part of his show last week about the pressures athletes feel when they travel and women who throw themselves at them. Rick Reilly’s “ Go Fish” column said Woods should come clean to save his image. Those angles are all great but there is no need to go overboard. I do not need a second column from Reilly, that read like a hallmark greetings card. Michael Kay does not need to announce on his radio show that The Post has come out with more women that Woods slept with. And ESPN should not put an Associated Press story on its website that Jack Nicklaus, a former golf legend, said he wouldn’t comment on Woods because it is known of his business. Come on, is that even a story?
Like I said, ESPN is in this business for ratings and money. The Woods story is very juicy and it does sell viewers. But there is a limit that WE ask ESPN to abide by. Give us sports news. Give us a different angle. Give us something to think about when it comes to this whole Woods thing. But please, do not give us TMZ. We already have enough of that.
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