Jump to content
  • Welcome!

    Register and log in easily with Twitter or Google accounts!

    Or simply create a new Huddle account. 

    Members receive fewer ads , access our dark theme, and the ability to join the discussion!

     

Primer on the ESPN Scandal


Mr. Scot
 Share

Recommended Posts

So for those who've been hearing about the ESPN award scandal but don't know the details, here's a basic explanation:

If an ESPN show like College Gameday (focal point of the drama) were to win an Emmy, the actual award statuettes were supposed to go to the show's producers. 

The National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences would get the info on who those producers were from ESPN after the fact (a procedure that apparently didn't require much verification).

What the ESPN employees behind the scam were doing was giving the Academy phony info, names of people who didn't really exist but whose monikers might sound similar to actual on-air personalities.

Those trophies would then be re-engraved to make it look like they were won by the on-air people, thus allowing the actual producers (and the network itself) to brag about their "award winning talent".

Examples cited by The Athletic included:

Kirk Henry (Kirk Herbstreit)
Lee Clark (Lee Corso)
Dirk Howard (Desmond Howard)
Tim Richard (Tom Rinaldi)
Steven Ponder (Sam Ponder)
Gene Wilson (Gene Wojciechowski) 
Chris Fulton (Chris Fowler)
Shelley Saunders (Shelley Smith) 
Erik Andrews (Erin Andrews)
Wendy Nickson (Wendi Nix)
Jenn Brownsmith (Jenn Brown)

Not terribly imaginative if you ask me, but I digress... 😕

To be clear, the report states that the on-air people who received the fake awards were actually not in on the scam. They'd just be told they won an Emmy and think "Oh cool, didn't even know I was up for one".

The goal was to add prestige to the network and its programming, especially those run by the producers in question, by artificially inflating the number of awards won.

One executive (who was not involved) provided the following quote:

"(S)ome company leaders were obsessed with the Emmys, using the numbers of wins each year to prove their dominance over competitors.“

Obviously that's backfired, and even the recipients of the phony awards are pissed about it.

So now, "The Worldwide Leader in Sports" has award winning egg on its face...and Pat McAfee has plenty of new material (as well as reason to laugh hysterically) 😄

Full story here:

ESPN used fake names to secure Emmy awards for College Gameday stars

  • Beer 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

5 minutes ago, Mr. Scot said:

Something that ignites an explosion 🫥

(or a basic intro/summary of a particular subject)

I thought this was a Deion reference. Thus why I retracted said statement after I read this had nothing to do with him. 

Edited by Harbingers
Link to comment
Share on other sites

4 minutes ago, Harbingers said:

I thought this was a 

Amazon Education GIF by NFL On Prime Video
 

reference. Thus why I retracted said statement after I read this had nothing to do with him. 

Nah, not him 😄

I know we've got some big ESPN detractors on here who probably find this story pretty funny, but it's also a little confusing so I thought I'd break it down a little bit.

Might also help explain why Aaron Rodgers is suddenly back on Pat McAfee's show after he'd apparently been pressured to take him off.

Edited by Mr. Scot
  • Pie 4
Link to comment
Share on other sites

2 minutes ago, The Lobo said:

Wow interesting. So what’s the purpose of producers to brag about their talent, is it to look good to advertisers? I guess what I mean is, why wouldn’t the producers want them? 

Prestige, career advancement, pay raises, etc.

What's goofy is I'm pretty sure College Gameday earned a lot of that sort of thing organically.

This turns all of that into a laughingstock.

Edited by Mr. Scot
  • Pie 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Just now, Pejorative Miscreant said:

Have been away and not following any news happenings. This sounds like an article from The Onion. 

Too bad they don’t put this much thought and creativity into content.

Don't remember if it was ESPN, but there was a story a short time ago about a sports site using AI to write articles attributed to either actual or non-existent writers (don't remember which).

I thought that was silly. This is even more ridiculous.

  • Beer 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

9 minutes ago, The Lobo said:

Wow interesting. So what’s the purpose of producers to brag about their talent, is it to look good to advertisers? I guess what I mean is, why wouldn’t the producers want them? 


It wasn’t to brag about talent. It was to massage the egos of that talent. 
 

Another theory is ESPN thought it was dumb that only producers received awards if a show won something, so they decided to get a few extra trophies (via phony names) to give to the on air people.

Edited by Tbe
  • Pie 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

4 minutes ago, Mr. Scot said:

Don't remember if it was ESPN, but there was a story a short time ago about a sports site using AI to write articles attributed to either actual or non-existent writers (don't remember which).

I thought that was silly. This is even more ridiculous.


I think that was sports illustrated.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

 Share


  • PMH4OWPW7JD2TDGWZKTOYL2T3E.jpg

  • Topics

  • Posts

    • They know within 15 mins.  Many moons ago skins drafted Heath Shuler at like 5th overall and Gus Frerotte in the late rounds. You know the plan, its Heaths team. Old OLman stink said within 15 minutes they knew Gus was the better QB.  I didn't need 15 or players on the same field, I just knew like Bill said "he better walk on water", which he hasn't. I do blame tepper mainly for it, he spend the greater part of 2 year telling everyone Watson would be a panther......and fail....but a great fail...then Stanford turned panthers down.....tepper was beyond pissed and wanted a QB. He forced the trade and picked BY......and now by .....some grace of the gods formed a team with 4 QBs of no hope...... insane given the other roster spots.....
    • He definitely knows nothing about the Panthers, but there’s no denying he’s a pioneer in this whole draft grading and mock draft field.
    • I actually say wait five years since that's long enough to know if a player  became something worthy enough for a long term contract, whether with their original team or someone else. Therefore... 1 (8): Jaycee Horn - Has been questions about his durability but when he's healthy, he plays at a high level. Should we have drafted Pat Surtain or Micah Parsons, however? Arguably could’ve done better, but he's still here so that's a W pick. 2 (59): Terrance Marshall - Yet another classic Panther WR bust. I don’t recall seeing anything in his college tape that made me excited about drafting him in the first place.  3 (70): Brady Christensen - Proved to be a versatile player on the O-line.  As of now, we haven’t signed him back and I feel that we should. That's enough to say he was a solid draft pick. 3 (83): Tommy Tremble - Hasn't emerged as a consistent productive player, but he's had his moments here and there. We can certainly do better, but we haven’t found that guy yet so he still has some utility. W because he's not Ian Thomas. 4 (126): Chuba Hubbard - Surprise of the draft. It took time, but he's now our lead back.  5 (158): Daviyon Nixon - Had a half a sack with us and... that's it. I think I liked what I saw but it didn't pan out. 5 (166): Keith Taylor - Another guy I liked but only stuck around for two years. Played for a few other teams but nothing really to note. 6 (193): Deonte Brown - I really thought this guy was going to be a steal. He might’ve been the guy that had weight issues and never really got a handle on it. 6 (204): Shi Smith - He scored double the touchdowns that Marshall did in his short time here; it was two. Yeah, the Panthers wide receiver history is rather bleak. 6 (222): Thomas Fletcher - I had to look it up but he was a long snapper. JJ Jansen is immortal, so it was a wasted draft pick. 7 (232): Phil Hoskins - Actually recorded a sack here in his short career. Wish I could remember it.   Surprisingly not a bad draft when you have two good/great starters and a JAG that's still here, plus a good rotation guy most would like to keep. 
×
×
  • Create New...