What do you get when you combine ESPN, Twitter, and an overzealous reporter
who wants to be credited with a "scoop" that pretty much the entire sports world
had already known about? A pathetic Rick Reilly.
During ESPN's post-game coverage of the Steelers-Chief Monday night game,
the talented writer, but brutal on-air talent, was caught begging Stuart Scott to give
him credit for breaking the Ben Rothlisberger injury "first on Twitter." Reilly didn't
know he was on camera with microphone on, but the everybody watching did, and
it was really, really an embarrassing moment for Reilly.
It's not unusual for reporters to pound their chests and let the world know, at least the
world they think that has people that cares about this stuff, that it was their superior
reporting skills that allowed them to "break" a story. But it doesn't usually happen
where they get caught on national television begging like a 5-year old child does to
him mommy when he wants the big stuffed Barney animal at FAO Schwarz.
Reilly is 54-years old and was acting like he needed that "scoop" to strengthen his
bargaining position in his next round of negotiations with ESPN. He was acting like
he was trailing ESPN "insiders", Adam Schefter and Chris Mortenson, by two
"scoops" on Twitter. He was acting like he's obsessed with seeing, "Rick Reilly
reports on Twitter..." scroll across ESPN's bottom line at 3:30 in the morning.
Totally ridiculous.Rick, NOBODY cares.
Reilly appeared to be as desperate as a homeless man trying to get his next meal.
And what exactly was he "breaking" on Twitter. Everybody saw that Rothlisberger
was injured. Other journalists at the game reported it on-line and via Twitter. Oh,
they weren't with ESPN, so they must not have counted.
Here was one of Reilly's "breaking news" tweets:
"Asked Roethlisberger as he was leaving how bad his shoulder was. He just
shook his head. Was wearing sling on right shoulder. Left w/wife."
Man, this kind of reporting is worthy of an ESPY! It would make Kenny Mayne
proud. Reilly broke nothing, but he wanted credit for the scoop of the world,
woo-hoo.
Reilly is just another sports "participant", I say participant because that's what
the business has become. Every writer, reporter, producer, cameraman, blogger,
and production assistant in sports television has a Twitter account and tweets
everything about the games they are covering or watching on television, including
the weather.
Some "particpants" like Brad Steinke use Twitter to make a shrine to themselves.
https://twitter.com/bradsteinke. The shameless participant from Fox Sports Arizona
who promotes his nine "regional" Emmy-Awards as if he won the Pulitzer Prize,
has pictures of everything he's won in his life, including the free-throw contest he
won as a 9th-grader. Like Reilly, Steinke is 50-something, who acts like a 5-year
old.
It's amazing how Twitter has suddenly become more credible than the New York
Times. Reilly not only uses it to "break" his news, but to test out his comedy
routine. Here's one that a radio show in Chicago, which was so incredulous about
the stupidity of his jokes, took to a comedy club and tried out on an audience:
“Played 18 with Michael Phelps Tuesday. Has a nice swing, plus when he
drives into the water hazard, he just dives in and gets it.”
Crickets, nothing but crickets.
But to Reilly, it was funny, and he broke it first on Twitter.
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