Rex Ryan could be set to join rarefied air. However, it’s not air that would be visible for at least a couple years down the line. It’s a very exclusive club that Rex Ryan would be joining though. As of now, only retired L.A. Galaxy Forward Landon Donovan and Ohio State Coach Urban Meyer are in this special club, the “kid gloves” club.
Considering it the sports equivalent of the revolving door between congress and lobbyist groups. Congressman often leave government to then go work in the private sector, often in the very industry that were once “regulating.” The door often swings the other way too.
ESPN has the exact same practice with athletes/coaches turned analysts. Again the door can swing back the other way too. The ESPN/sports world revolving door does to journalistic ethics what the congressional/lobbyist revolving door does to ethics in governance.
Here’s how it works.
This past June, Landon Donovan met the media following the Galacy’s 1-1 draw at the Chicago Fire for a ridiculously brief period of time, literally under two minutes. This was only after reporters were instructed two topics: the World Cup and the U.S. National Team were both off limits for discussion. This, despite the fact that the controversial decision to leave him off the national team was dominating discussion at this time.
Actually it was a manufactured controversy and storyline. Bristol then banged us over the head with it for weeks leading up to their broadcasting of the World Cup.
The story was “OMG! How could Jurgen Klinsman cut the GREAT Landon Donovan from the national team?” What a great debate point for the talking heads to banter about endlessly. The actual truth was….the decision to cut him was rather cut and dry and ESPN over-milked it, and kept Donovan from even discussing it until they brought him back as a TV analyst. (Hence the Galaxy PR, obviously under orders from ESPN, sheltering Donovan) The network kept the player under wraps for weeks so they would have their precious exclusive, and then market it as so; in the run up to the World Cup.
After Donovan finished his analyst work for ESPN (which was widely panned by critics everywhere) he want back to finish off his playing career. ESPN “covered” his final days with their “news” programming spotlighting Donovan as the Galaxy won the MLS title.
They treated him with “kid gloves” the whole time. Actually, it wasn’t just “kid gloves,” ESPN made Donovan out to be THE GREATEST SOCCER PLAYER IN HISTORY.
The next example is Ohio State Coach Urban Meyer. He actually did say on the media teleconference previewing the 2013 B1G title game that he has very close friends who are high up on the ESPN food chain. So that partially explains the free infomercial ESPN gave him yesterday during the Ohio State-Illinois basketball game.
That was truly DISGUSTING of you ESPN, you turned a broadcast of a basketball game broadcast into a commercial for a football game that you’re broadcasting in 9 days time. The Urban Meyer propaganda disguised as an interview actually over-took the live action of the basketball game. SERIOUSLY? Couldn’t you have just done it at halftime?
The Big Ten Network worships Urban Meyer incessantly, there’s no doubt about that. The BTN does not “cover” Meyer, they just promote him. However, ESPN totally 1-upped BTN there by that unwatchable act yesterday.
So yeah, Rex Ryan you go boy! Take a break from coaching. Be an ESPN talking head for a little while (like Urban did). Then when you return to coaching, ESPN might abandon any semblance of journalistic standards in their “coverage” or you.
Rex Ryan, you could be in the same club as Donovan and Meyer, where ESPN does not report on your coaching. Instead they act as your publicist.
Paul M. Banks owns, operates and writes The Sports Bank.net ,which is partners with Fox Sports. Read his feature stories in the Chicago Tribune RedEye edition. Listen to him on KOZN 1620 The Zone. Follow him on Twitter (@paulmbanks). His work has been featured in hundreds of media outlets including The Washington Post and ESPN 2