ESPN First Take, Scoreboard mishap:mistake or cheating?

[West Philly Patriot]

Re: Skip Bayless says he's 'suspicious" about scoreboard mistake

What in the world are you talking about ESPN hates the Pats?!?! They love every Boston team. They are located in Bristol and a third of the anchors on Sportscenter are Boston die hards, and another third are Ex Boston players! Wow...

Skip is a moron though. So is Steven A Smith, Colin Cowherd (Who is a huge Pats fan), and many many others. I try to stay on NFL network and MLB network.

Colin Cowherd isn't a pats fan, he's more of a Brady fanboy. His prediction is:

Giants 33
Pats 20

 

[Ron Sellers]

The thing you have to remember with Bayless, Parker, Wilbon, Page, and all the other that fill in the time between the morning SportsCenter that is on before you leave for work and the evening SC that is on when you come home, is that nothing a single one of them say should be taken seriously. It's about as real as a reality show, and just as scripted. I doubt these guys remember half of what the said that's more than 24 hours old, and they probably don't believe 99% of what they have ever said.

Their job is to entertain the world wide leader's core audience: the casual fan who is just as likely to tune into E! as he or she is likely to tune into ESPN. They have used the same formula for decades at this point, and they're not going to change it because it works in delivering them the ratings they desire. Find a gossipy topic where people can go tsk, tsk, speculate, blur the lines between fact and opinion, rinse, lather, and repeat.

Unfortunately the reality is that (a) hardcore fans will watch no matter what, because, well, they're hardcore NFL fans, and (b) the gossipy no-substance fluff will attract far more casual fans than and deliver the ratings that corporate headquarters demands in order to satisfy investors than quality interviews or X's and O's analysis would. Need proof? Consider that TWWL's best X's and O's show, NFL Matchup, airs at 3:00 am; then compare what time Bayless, Wilbon, Parker and their ilk are on.

 

[Ivan]

There is more negativity amongst Patriot fans and Boston media than there is on ESPN. I hope the media picks the Giants it only fuels the Patriots. I'm actually looking forward to the spin when the Patriots prove the haters wrong.

 

[BradyFTW!]

cheatriots gonna cheat!!!1 This team has probably been cheating the whole time.

Somehow, they're probably cheating at this very second

 

[BradyFTW!]

The thing you have to remember with Bayless, Parker, Wilbon, Page, and all the other that fill in the time between the morning SportsCenter that is on before you leave for work and the evening SC that is on when you come home, is that nothing a single one of them say should be taken seriously. It's about as real as a reality show, and just as scripted. I doubt these guys remember half of what the said that's more than 24 hours old, and they probably don't believe 99% of what they have ever said.

Their job is to entertain the world wide leader's core audience: the casual fan who is just as likely to tune into E! as he or she is likely to tune into ESPN. They have used the same formula for decades at this point, and they're not going to change it because it works in delivering them the ratings they desire. Find a gossipy topic where people can go tsk, tsk, speculate, blur the lines between fact and opinion, rinse, lather, and repeat.

Unfortunately the reality is that (a) hardcore fans will watch no matter what, because, well, they're hardcore NFL fans, and (b) the gossipy no-substance fluff will attract far more casual fans than and deliver the ratings that corporate headquarters demands in order to satisfy investors than quality interviews or X's and O's analysis would. Need proof? Consider that TWWL's best X's and O's show, NFL Matchup, airs at 3:00 am; then compare what time Bayless, Wilbon, Parker and their ilk are on.

I dunno that that's true. None of the hardcore NFL fans that I know, myself included, bother with ESPN. Still can't figure out why anyone on this board does. If they're not broadcasting a live sporting event (MNF), I'm not watching. Why would you? You can get better sports coverage just about anywhere else.

 

[bostonbuzz]

Great article on the 'score board' non-mishap...


Miss-information on Billy Cundiff kicks around - BostonHerald.com

 

[upstater1]

I've already said this about 3 or 4 times this week, but ESPN should really look into how the clock stopped when Boldin was tackled in bounds in the final minute. Tackled at :44, then ten seconds past, the clock restarted finally, Flacco took the snap at :38.

 

[Deus Irae]

I dunno that that's true. None of the hardcore NFL fans that I know, myself included, bother with ESPN. Still can't figure out why anyone on this board does. If they're not broadcasting a live sporting event (MNF), I'm not watching. Why would you? You can get better sports coverage just about anywhere else.

Mike & Mike simulcast in the morning > Local AM shows...It's ESPN2, I think, but it still counts in my book

 

[LivinLovin&Breathin_Brady]

ESPN, I don't care where they are located, are Patriot haters. The referees carried the Saints into the SB in the championship game they had against the Vikings. The referees carried the Steelers to a SB victory and I haven't forgotten the infamous INT Manning threw to Polamalu that was taken away by the refs. But ESPN doesn't even acknowledge it, but if it were the Patriots they would be all over it and calling it "ref-gate" or something just as stupid like they are doing the "tuck-rule". The Jets were filming on the sidelines some time ago, ESPN failed to mention that as well. If Mike Vick, either Manning, Rodgers, Raptistberger and Rodgers, were playing in NE, ESPN wouldn't be talking about this scoreboard incident. I think alot of this hate ESPN and some players is producing has much to do with Tom Brady, who has proven them wrong time and time again, rather it's he's too skinny or too slow to him being too old or distracted by fame/Gisele.

Rob Parker is a racist who the hates Patriots and especially Tom Brady because they are as "white" as it's gonna get in the league. Rob Parker is the same racist moron who assumes people(mostly blacks) hate Tim Tebow because he is a white man playing like a black man, when that is far from the case.

If the Ravens were confused about the downs, Harbough would've at least called the TO for the kicker or to at least straighten out the so-called confusion on the sidelines. The scoreboard was not an issue, ESPN and their dreams of a Ravens/Giants SB can go to hell.

 

[thenepatsrule]

I am not so sure as to which is more FAKE- WWE or First Take.
I have come to realize that their job is to stir up controversy and Skip Bayless knowing that he will not get a job anywhere else acts like a puppet in the hands of the producers of the show.Yesterday there was a topic somewhere along the lines of "Did Skip Bayless deserver to be called a dbag by Suggs" and Steven A smith was all over Skip on that topic, Man Skips face was all red with embarrasment, I wont be surpsied if someday someone on that show or maybe on the street gets into a fist fight with the man.

 

[PatriotsReign]

Somehow, they're probably cheating at this very second

We even cheated back in the 3-11 days of the 70's!!! Wonder why it didn't work....

 

[PatriotsReign]

Rob Parker is the same racist moron who assumes people(mostly blacks) hate Tim Tebow because he is a white man playing like a black man, when that is far from the case.

Even black NFL players don't play like "black men". There is no such thing as playing white or black...that's just idiocy.

 

[Sparetire]

Isnt the scoreboard handeld by an NFL official? :bricks:

 

[thenepatsrule]

Isnt the scoreboard handeld by an NFL official? :bricks:

No, the NFL has confirmed that the scorecard is handled by the home team

 [url=http://profootballtalk.nbcsports.com/2012/01/25/scoreboard-is-operated-by-home-team-but-ravens-still-shouldnt-complain/]Scoreboard is operated by home team, but Ravens still shouldn’t complain | ProFootballTalk[/url]

 

[BradyFTW!]

Going into the game on Sunday, I was confident of two things:

1) the Patriots would win

2) the Ravens would find someone else to blame for it.

Done and done.

 

[Sfpat]

That's why I would have preferred the Pats to have won 45-0. Ravens would have nothing to complain about

 

[TriplecHamp]

Belicheat should be fired for this.

 

[TBradyOwnsYou]

Re: Skip Bayless says he's 'suspicious" about scoreboard mistake

Everyone knows Bill Belichick controls the scoreboard with mind control.

 

[highlander2190]

honestly its funny how the media creates conspiracy theorys for the the fans and people who don't think too much. The situation seems easily explainable and doesn't need a cheating or foul play tag next to it.


When the fumble happened, the ravens needed a brief explanation to the spot of the ball, and the refs told Haurbaugh that it was marked where the player went down, not where the ball went out. Now if an NFL coach needs this explained i'm sure a scoreboard worker does to, but he can't talk directly to refs. So this guy has 2 options on what to display on the board since he's not sure of what the deal is down there. Display the spot of the ball that favors the pats, or the spot of the ball that favors the ravens. He chose to mark it as 1st down which clearly is the ravens favor in this situation. Now when it comes to 4th down everyone near the chains knows the situation, but the kicking assistant and Cundiff are off practicing. The assistant would be watching the scoreboard for Cundiff, which is why he thought it was 3rd down. This is where the breakdown in communication really happened. No one had came over to tell him that the scoreboard was a play behind, so when it turned 4th down, he still thought 3rd. Now Belichick and crew would be watching the other side of the field at this point, monitoring what the Ravens were going to do. Bill had timeouts to kill and if the Ravens looked like they were going to try something he was ready to use one. From the other side you could probably easily see the panic when everyone went to go find Cundiff since he was still practicing and wasn't ready for the kick. This is why when someone asked Bill if he was going to ice him, he decided to let it play out since he knew the kicker had not been prepared to go out immediately and was being rushed. They hike the ball he misses his kick and the rest is history.


The scoreboard worker actually gave the ravens the benefit of the doubt and gave the down and position he thought was right, and wasn't corrected in time by someone. The errors from this entire thing lie on the coaching staff and Cundiff. The coaching staff did not communicate the situation well enough for everyone to be on the same page. Harbaugh rushed his kicker rather than taking a timeout to settle it down. And Cundiff missed a chip shot. Plain and simple no conspiracy what so ever.

 

[Ron Sellers]

I dunno that that's true. None of the hardcore NFL fans that I know, myself included, bother with ESPN. Still can't figure out why anyone on this board does. If they're not broadcasting a live sporting event (MNF), I'm not watching. Why would you? You can get better sports coverage just about anywhere else.

Yeah you're right, I probably should have left that out in my mini-rant. It's more that they are looking for total numbers for their ratings, so if they lose 1,000 hardcore fans but add 1,000,000 casual fans in the process, it's a huge win for them. It's all strictly business, which is based on the sheer volume of viewers, readers, listeners and web clicks. The babbling fools are more likely to get people talking about them, whether it be amongst co-workers on a break or fans on a message board than any serious X's and O's show ever will, and that buzz is the free advertising they need to bring people back to watch again and again.