Good article from ESPN Ombudsman

Le Anne Schreiber with a great article on how ESPN blew the Sean Taylor story. I really like her work.

http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/columns/story?columnist=schreiber_leanne&id=3148853

Edit: She also calls out Colin Cowherd.

Good find. There's no doubt that most of the country, media and fans alike, had the same knee-jerk reaction. We have a long ways to go.

The best antidote to a week of speculating about Taylor's life and character was the live telecast of his funeral on ESPNEWS on Monday, Dec. 3. Those who knew and loved Taylor got to speak of him and for him, publicly, directly, unmediated. That was probably the first time some viewers learned that the "girlfriend" of news reports, who huddled under the covers with their 18-month-old daughter while Taylor went to fight off intruders at their bedroom door, was the prep school sweetheart, fiancé and now single mother who had shared her life with Taylor for six years.

If you haven't already, please connect those dots with the ones you gathered here and there from news reports and punditry.

Le Anne Schreiber with a great article on how ESPN blew

Fixed your post - covers whole network now.

The relevant Cowturd part, for those too lazy to clink links and read is:

With the notable exception of ESPN Radio's Colin Cowherd, ESPN's commentators did better than many in the mainstream media at reining in the impulse to speculate, pontificate and prematurely assign responsibility for Taylor's death. Cowherd, however, trusted his "gut feeling" to guide him to "the truth." His gut told him that Taylor's "history of really, really bad judgment, really really bad judgment" had caught up with him, and even if the emerging reports that Taylor had "cleaned up his act" were true, "Well, yeah, just because you clean the rug doesn't mean you got everything out. Sometimes you've got stains, stuff so deep it never ever leaves." Most other ESPN commentators seemed to understand that when it comes to race, crime and sports, the last source to be trusted is one's gut, which tends to be lined with bilious stereotypes and prejudices. Some commentators, including Michael Wilbon of "Pardon The Interruption," admitted to not being surprised by the shooting, of suspecting a link to Taylor's past associates or enemies, but they aired their presumptions tentatively, with sadness or anger at the "senseless death" of yet another young black man, not in the gloating, know-it-all voice that many of Cowherd's listeners called "appalling" and "indecent" in their e-mails to me.

Thanks for that. Good read but I've found that it still hurts to think about it.

Honestly, I think Cowherd needs to be removed. While most of the media brought up his past, which is somewhat understandable, he took it to another level. Also he never apologized.

His show sucks, he knows nothing about playing a sport, and knows nothing about any sport period. He needs to be removed period!

I sent her a comment thanking her to holding someone to some sort of standard. The coverage of his murder was absolutely awful!

I dont know about you guys but Im so disgusted with both Wilbon and Cowhurt, if i stumble across any of their broadcasts or columns, I move on right away. Cant stand either anymore