Laremy Tunsil and the Clown Show at ESPN

Artist rendering of draft meeting at ESPN

So, I had the weekend to think about it and I'm now going to give my take on the Laremy Tunsil slide in last week's draft. As you may know by now, Tunsil was the only player in this draft that I had any expectations for. I figured that he was the most ready and best prepared to be a pro football player. The whole bong gas mask and text message debacle between him and his coach have not changed my view on Tunsil, the player. I still think that he is going to be an all pro caliber offensive lineman that will be a quality to great starter for many years in the pros. He is a humongous road grater, and smoking weed and getting 300 bucks from a coach does not deter my views on that.

Do you know some other players that slid in the draft because of off field weed issues, Warren Sapp and Randy Moss. Sapp had a much similar slide to Tunsil. Sapp was projected as a top five pick, but then some people said he was a weed smoker and he failed a drug test prior to the draft. So, instead of being picked very early, he slid to the middle of the first round, 13 if I remember correctly, same as Tunsil. I think both Sapp and the Buccaneers were extremely thrilled and couldn't have cared less about him smoking pot. Sapp was an all time great defensive lineman, who put in work, and is now a hall of famer. Randy Moss had an even bigger tumble after a failed drug test, and many people letting the NFL know that he liked to get high. Moss slid all the way out of the top ten, teens and ended up in the 20's, 22 if I remember correctly, to the Vikings. Remember his rookie year? Remember his time in New England? Remember his career? Sure, he could be a headache, but he too put in work and he was dominate. Moss may be the best deep ball threat the NFL has ever had. Moss made Daunte Culpepper a pro bowl QB. Moss revived Randall Cunningham's career. Moss was part of the last decent Oakland Raiders team. Moss and Tom Brady were one of the most lethal threats of all time. So, yeah, I don't think Randy Moss' affection to marijuana really made him any less great at football. He too, if he isn't already, is a hall of famer.

So, if I were a betting man, I'd say that Tunsil will have a career that will be at least comparable to a long time starter in the NFL, with Warren Sapp on offense being his best case scenario. I don't care at all about the video that surfaced and the text thread that surfaced, it was the timing and the way the "experts" at ESPN and the NFL Network handled the whole situation. The NFL Network did a "better" job, kind of burying the story and not making it out to be a humongous deal. But, ESPN took the exact opposite direction. They talked this story to death. They showed the video over and over and over again. They constantly put the text thread on TV for all to see. They continually questioned Tunsil's maturity with how he handled the situation. And, do you know who they blamed? They put it all on Laremy Tunsil. They didn't say one bad thing about Ole Miss, or any of the adults that were involved in this whole thing. Yes, Tunsil is now a professional, but I feel like he handled this whole thing as well as one could imagine. He didn't deny or confirm anything. He didn't blame anyone but himself. He owned up to his mistakes. Yes, he said he took money from a coach at Ole Miss, but I didn't read that as him passing the blame, I read it as him telling what he believed to be the truth.

ESPN did not see it that way. This further makes me so sure about the demise of this network that I wrote about last week. They had their "experts" bad mouthing Tunsil left and right. Chris Berman called him out as being immature. Trent Dilfer, who is reportedly leaving ESPN, said he didn't seem ready for professional life. Jon Gruden, who if you aren't a QB, he doesn't care about you, said that he wouldn't have picked him at all, which is insane. But, the most repulsive and sorry excuse for a reporter was that dip shit Todd McShay. McShay basically said that, since he told the truth, he clearly wasn't ready to be a pro. He said that his people didn't have him well enough prepared to handle a press conference of this magnitude. He called him immature. All of this because Tunsil told the truth. McShay seems to think that, if you come out and tell the truth, you are unprepared to be a pro football player. He'd rather Tunsil lied than said anything at all. This is absolutely terrible "reporting" and "journalism" from a guy that is clearly an amateur, AKA, the future of ESPN. This makes McShay look like the complete and udder moron that is most definitely is.

Naturally, Roger Goodell had to give his two cents. He said, and I quote, "this is what makes the draft so exciting. It's unpredictable". What a god damn idiot. I'm sure that Tunsil was thrilled and excited that every time he got passed on, he lost another million dollars. I'm sure he was so happy with the "unpredictableness" that cost him over 6 million dollars. I'm sure his family loved it as well, seeing one of their loved ones suffering and having a panic attack. God, Roger Goodell is such an idiot. Why is he not fired yet?

I don't understand the personal attack on Tunsil from ESPN basically. He's a kid. I know he's a pro, and stuff like this shouldn't happen, but they spent a thousand more minutes on this than they did on D'Angelo Russell secretly filming a teammate. They have not once talked about all the Peyton Manning allegations. They spend little to no time on the fact that last years number one pick, Jameis Winston, had many, many more criminal charges before last years draft. They barely, if ever, blame that piece of garbage Johnny Manziel for all the crazy stuff he does everyday. Basically, ESPN will only talk about Tunsil's "immaturity" and "deflategate".

ESPN sucks.

Really quick, why is no one going after Ole Miss? They have clearly done something wrong and possibly illegal, according to the NCAA. The bong gas mask thing isn't their fault, that's just a dumb kid making a very dumb decision and letting someone film it. Also, why was there a confederate flag in the background during that video? That's terrifying. And no one is talking about that either. But, clearly Ole Miss was giving a player money, and that is against the rules. That is not allowed, but apparently, they were giving Tunsil's family money every year that he was playing football there. Also, they got really good, really fast. And it was all of the sudden. One day Ole miss was an also ran, the next, they were pulling in five stars and competing in the hyper competitive SEC. Ole Miss has clearly broken several rules, but don't go to ESPN for any coverage of that because they feel the need to scold Laremy Tunsil some more. This is a joke.

So, I think, after all of this, Tunsil is still going to be a very good to great pro player. I think he has handled this whole thing the best way he knew how and he did a decent job. I'm not too worried about his love for pot because I think he will put in the necessary work to be a good pro, much like Sapp and Moss. ESPN and their panel of "experts" are the bad guys here. They are terrible "journalists" and "reporters". They clearly have no clue what they are doing and they are a mess. Just remember how ESPN, Mel Kiper, Jon Gruden, Trent Dilfer, Chris Berman, Todd McShay and Roger Goodell treated Tunsil when we look at him in five years. Tunsil will be an all pro and all the stooges at ESPN will either be fired, the network will be gone, or they will all have moved on to some lower level of the sports journalism world. I guarantee it.

Ty

Ty is the Pop Culture editor for SeedSing and the other host of the X Millennial Man Podcast. He remembers the golden years of ESPN, back when Chris Berman stuck out as being the lone idiot in the crowd. Now Berman blends in with the rest. Ty is on twitter and you should follow him @tykulik.

The Final Days of ESPN

ESPN headquarters circa 2020

I think I need to take a moment today to talk about the mass exodus that is happening at ESPN right now.

I've been known to bash on ESPN on this site, but that's because they are an incompetent network that hires stupid people. They also act like they are the biggest and best thing since sliced bread. That was true about 25 years ago, but times have changed and ESPN refuses to keep up with that. They have barely changed anything about themselves since the internet has basically taken over the world. The only big difference that I have noticed, yes I still watch, but it's an anger watch, is the new set. They also have people hosting their own versions of "SportsCenter", but it's still pretty much the same. The higher ups at the company are either oblivious, or they just don't care, about the changing culture.

Nowadays, almost everything is done on the internet. I wouldn't be able to write if it weren't for the internet. In fact, a lot of people wouldn't have made it without the internet. But, ESPN doesn't seem to care. I wonder if they think it is a fad, or something that will just disappear. Sorry to break the news, but being the millennial writer and podcaster on this site, the internet is no fad and it will only continue to get bigger and bigger. I can't even fathom what it will be like when my kids are my age.

That's another thing, ESPN refuses to get with the times, what with live streaming now. Hell, if I want to watch a Michigan football, basketball or even a baseball game, I can see it in real time on the BTN2Go app. ESPN claims to have a live stream, but you have to pay for the stream, or they just have the "live" stream that is just some random person writing down what happens on each play, waiting what seems like an hour to write it, and the game is so far behind when they finally give you the info. For example, after my daughter was born, I had to watch a Michigan-Northwestern football game on my phone and I started with the ESPN "live stream". It was incredibly bad. I was getting zero updates. I couldn't find out which team had the ball or what they were doing. My dad asked me how the game was going and I could not give him a proper answer. After dealing with this nonsense for almost a half an hour, my older brother told me to go to the BTN2Go app. I downloaded it, searched the game, found it immediately, and was even able to watch it on my iPhone in a hospital room. Side note, Michigan thumped Northwestern that day. When I finally got to see the game, the first quarter was just about over and they were up 21-0. So, why does a channel, BTN, that has only been around for about 15 years have a better app and better internet capabilities that a company, ESPN, that's been around for 35 plus years? That is absolutely insane.

I think the "talent" at ESPN is starting to realize that the company will not get with the times and they have no chance of advancing any further than they already have. Sure, they fired Bill Simmons after he deservedly crushed Roger Goodell, but I guarantee that, had HBO came in and made an offer before he was let go, he would have left in a heart beat. Simmons outgrew that place, so instead of letting him leave on his own terms, they decided they would save face and fire him. That completely backfired on ESPN. Simmons has throngs of fans, me included, that will follow him to whatever network he goes to. They also decided, after letting Simmons go, it was time to shut down Grantland. Another huge mistake from ESPN. They lost a ton of great writers after doing this. Most of those writers are back with Simmons now. Grantland was huge for ESPN, but they wanted to rid themselves of everything Bill Simmons, and that was idiotic. Simmons and his staff write for the younger generation and, as I've said, we will follow him and his writers anywhere. I'm pumped for his show on HBO, I'm an avid listener of his podcast and I have subscribed to and follow The Ringer, his new site, on Twitter. 

Then, there was the news that Mike Tirico was leaving to go to NBC. This is a huge problem for ESPN. While Mike Tirico may not be the nicest, most pleasant person to be around, he was a crucial member of their staff. He was the co anchor on "Monday Night Football". He called big time college football games. He called NBA games. He was huge in college basketball. I mean, the guy is a jack of all trades. And the people at ESPN just lost him. I was legitimately shocked when I read that he was leaving. I don't know who they will replace him with, but I will bet it will someone who is incredibly under qualified.

Hell, they are even losing "journalist" that are not even mediocre, they are terrible. Last year they lost the racist piece of human garbage, Colin Cowherd. And now, the most moronic, nonsensical, I think I'm right because I'm the loudest, idiot Skip Bayless is leaving to join Cowherd at Fox Sports. This gives me a newfound hatred for Fox Sports, but damn, they can't even keep terrible people over at ESPN. Skip Bayless is a flat out dummy. The guy says some of the dumbest things I've ever heard on TV. Some, wait, everything he says is filled with stupidity and an arrogance that he should never, ever have. He is so dumb and so out of his mind. This is a guy that has said that Tim Tebow is an all time great QB, if you need a reference at how truly moronic he is. But, he too is leaving ESPN. I cannot believe they couldn't keep him on board. I wouldn't be shocked if the equally stupid and equally loud Stephen A Smith is the next to go. Yeah, they let Lou Holtz go, but he is about a million years old, so not a very big deal. Sure, they let Mark May go a year ago, but he is so much better off where he is now. They let Robert Smith go, but he was pretty good on TV and I'm sure he will find a job soon. And, after repeated racial slurs and racially insensitive things he put on the internet, they finally let Curt Schilling go.

Therein lies a huge problem for ESPN. If you bad mouth the NFL, a la Bill Simmons calling out Goodell, you get fired immediately. But, it took Schilling being incredibly racist, homophobic and mysoginistic many times before they actually fired him. Bill Simmons says one bad thing about the NFL, boom, he's gone. But, it's not until Schilling takes the side of the backwards ass people in North Carolina, he agreed with them that transgender people shouldn't be able to use the bathroom with the gender they now identify with, to fire him. Schilling is a horrible excuse for a human being. It's a travesty that it took ESPN that long to fire him. And what a crock from people that claim to be forward thinking.

It's just a matter of time now before everyone leaves ESPN, or they just shut down because they refuse to keep up with the change in the world. ESPN is an inept network and that ineptness will soon catch up to them.

Ty

Ty is the Pop Culture editor for SeedSing and the other host of the X Millennial Man Podcast. He does not remember the early days of ESPN, but he sure remembers the last days. The network ended in 2006 if he recalls correctly. Ty is on the internet, follow him on twitter @tykulik.

Why does Roger Goodell hate the NFL?

The newest NFL mascot, Lady Justice

Here at SeedSing we have commented many times on recent scandals in the NFL (here, here, here, and here). The general consensus around our virtual office is that NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell is not very good at his job. Players like Tom Brady, and teams like the New England Patriots, may not be totally innocent, yet the ineptness of Goodell masks any improprieties. With the season only days away, many thought that Goodell's never ending follies would take a back seat to some real football action. That is what we hoped.

ESPN occasionally stumbles into actual journalism from time to time, usually with the people associated with Outside the Lines. Today looked like one of those stumbles with the piece Spygate to Deflategate: Inside what Split the NFL and Patriots Apart well researched and written by Don Van Natta Jr. and Seth Wickersham. The article goes through a history of deception by the Patriots, and the cover ups orchestrated by Commissioner Roger Goodell's office. Nothing really new was introduced in the piece, it was just confirmation of the Patriots rule bending and Roger Goodell's complicity in the spying scandals. Now at the start of the NFL season, the media and general public are once again debating on how badly Roger Goodell managed another crisis.

Many people think that ESPN piece once again condemns the New England Patriots to the branding of being cheaters. I was living two blocks from the St. Louis Rams stadium during the 2001 - 2002 season. I would never say that I was a huge Rams fan, but as the scholar David Puddy says  "Gotta support the team". I was shocked, but not surprised, that the Patriots beat the Rams. All of these years later I honestly think not giving Marshall Faulk the ball more is what cost the Rams, not an illegal videotape of practice. Maybe the Patriots did cheat. It does look like there is a long paper trail to help indict the team. Many Patriot defenders (like some of our heroes, Bill Simmons and our very own Ty) will go on and on about how every team tries to get an edge. That may be true, but then why do we not hear about the San Diego Chargers spying. It would be nice to have the Cincinnati Bengals implicated in some beneficial cheating if it means we could win a playoff game. My point is that the Patriots level of cheating was well beyond that of an average team. The bigger the operation, the more likely you will get found out.

The Patriot's alleged cheating is minor compared to the cover up instituted by the NFL in relation to the spying allegations. The ESPN piece insinuates that many of the owners were aware of the issues with the Patriots, and those owners did little to stop the indiscretion. Why would any owner allow any other team to break the rules and achieve greater success. I would hope that all the owners want to maximize the income their teams can bring in. The idea that the owners want to "defend the shield" seems very counterproductive. If the Patriots were getting a leg up in multiple Super Bowls because of cheating, the cheating will be exposed. It takes a lot of people to pull of a major cheating operation, people will talk. People did talk. The Patriots made extra money while the other idiot owners were complicit in hiding the truth.

The Patriots and the other owners may look like cheaters and enablers, but Roger Goodell is the jester in the NFL's court of idiocy. The commissioner has been fortunate enough to be in power during an era of unprecedented revenues, this is not due to Roger Goodell. Since day one, Goodell has looked vastly over matched and has an ego that is far ahead of his competency. The ESPN piece paints a picture of a guy who can kiss the asses of his billionaire bosses, but cannot handle basic human conversation away from the comfy confines of his echo chamber. Every organization has scandal, Goodell seems surprised by the reactions to his ineptness in dealing with the scandals related to America's most popular sport. That is not the mark of a leader, it is the mark of an out of touch dictator. Roger Goodell has had the support of his billionaire bosses, and the loyalty of a sycophantic sports media. With all of these benefits, he still makes any minor crisis into a big one. Many have thought that ESPN decided to run their article to make Goodell and the NFL brass look good in light of the setback they had in federal court with the Brady suspension being thrown out. This article does not make Goodell look good, it makes him look worse than the incompetent stooge many already take him for.

If Roger Goodell is so smart, and so good at his job, why does he act in this manner. Sports media personalities I respect, like Dan Patrick, seem to go out of their way to defend the business of the NFL over the players. Goodell has people everywhere trying to make him look competent. I understand that these media personalities (I can not call them journalists) need access in order to get ratings. It is better to lose your integrity to the commissioner than it is to any player. I can not help to shake the idea that Roger Goodell hates the NFL. If he is so great, and so smart, than his actions must reflect the desire to bring football down. The ESPN article shows a paranoid, desperate, non-thinking man. Roger Goodell is either an incompetent danger, or a subversive one. The Patriots may have bent the rules, the owners may have turned their heads, but Roger Goodell has kept it all alive. Why is he still the NFL commissioner?

Why does Roger Goodell hate the NFL?

RD Kulik

RD is the Head Editor for SeedSing and host of the X Millennial Man podcast. He is available to be the next NFL commissioner. His Playstation 2 memory card has quite the resume on it. Come tell RD why he is wrong by writing for us.

Ty throws some serious shade at some ESPN talent

With the Colin Cowherd, Jim Harbaugh interview being basically a train wreck today, I'd like to talk about the blowhard, moronic, douche bag, never done anything athletic in their lives ESPN commentators.

I am going to specifically talk about three in particular, the aforementioned Colin Cowherd, Stephen A Smith and Skip Bayless. Colin Cowherd is a straight up douche with no talent at all. The only reason why he is on the air at all is, the fact that he can talk with no one in the studio or on the phone. Basically, he's good at talking to himself. I don't see how that's a talent. To me, that just means that he likes to hear the sound of his own voice, which is pretty egotistical. He thinks he's the smartest guy in the room, but it's pretty easy to be the smartest guy in the room when you're the only one there. He's an asshole that likes to hang up on callers. I mean how much of a dick move is that? A caller may have a different point of view than him or they may point out facts that prove his side wrong and what does he do? Does he talk to them and debate them like a gentleman? Nope, he just hangs up the phone. That's about as low class as you can get. How he still has a job is baffling to me. He's also a racist that, to this day, still attacks John Wall for being a thug because he likes to dance. He brought it up during Wall's rookie season and he still harps on it to this day, regardless of the good things John Wall does. Stuff like giving out free shoes to a bunch of kids in the DC area just to name one. Cowherd is a joke.

Next, Stephen A Smith might be the most sexist, holier than thou commentator on all sports television. As recent as a week ago, ;he said, for all intents and purposes, women are no good at sports and nobody wants to watch them play. How can someone, in this day and age, get away with saying something like this on social media and face no consequences. God forbid you call out people like Roger Goodell(Bill Simmons) or a sponsor like Toyota(Tony Kornheiser), because, if you do that, you will eventually be fired(Simmons) or suspended without pay(Kornheiser). All Stephen A Smith does, while on air, is yell at the camera, because when you're the loudest, you must be the smartest, right? I mean, this guy should have no career on TV or as a writer but, since he made friends with some famous people(i.e. Allen Iverson and Carmelo Anthony), he gets to be on shows and rant and rave like he's the best sports commentators of all time. He's not even the best person on ESPN let alone all of television. He'd be hard pressed to get a job on local Philadelphia radio(that's where he is from) because he is so awful at his job. I guess, in ESPN's case, it pays to have rich and famous friends. Stephen A Smith is an atrocity to sports TV and, more specifically, the NBA, the sport he primarily covers. He is truly, truly awful at his job.

Last and most certainly least is the biggest dildo of them all, Skip Bayless. This is the idiot who thinks that Tim Tebow is still a serviceable NFL Quarterback. I heard him on a program say that he'd rather have Tebow over Peyton Manning when the Broncos where trying to acquire Manning. He'd rather have TIM TEBOW OVER PEYTON MANNING! ARE YOU KIDDING ME! He also more recently said that the Golden State Warriors aren't true champs because they didn't beat the Cavs at full strength. Never mind the fact that they won 67 games, had the best overall record in the NBA, ran through the brutal Western Conference and beat the Cavs in six games. That's not good enough for Skip Bayless. According to this moron that has never played a competitive game of basketball in his life, the Warriors aren't true champions. And what exactly are you a champion of Mr Bayless? If you said, being the worst, most unlikable piece of garbage person on ESPN, I'd have to agree with you there. But, that's the only "championship" you deserve you human equivalent of a garbage dump. Skip Bayless is by far the worst "talent" that the horrible people at ESPN have kept on the air. He's a walking, talking piece of trash that doesn't deserve anything he gets. Skip Bayless, you SUCK.

The fact that these three guys still have a job at ESPN and Bill Simmons doesn't is terrible. Bill Simmons questioned Roger Goodell, a thing all sports fans should and need to do, and ESPN let him go. That should tell you something about the morons running things over there. They clearly have no eye for talent and only want idiotic blowhards on their TV shows and radio stations.

Get your shit together ESPN.

Ty 

Ty is the Pop Culture editor for Seed Sing. Not everything gets his coveted 37 thumbs up seal of approval. Follow him on twitter @tykulik

ESPN does not care about courage

(Ed. note:   We think Caitlyn Jenner is being very brave, and  respect her courage.  This is not about her, this is about people at ESPN not caring for the transgender community and only interested in ratings. The actions at ESPN are not fair to sports courage or transgender people. The executives over there have said and covered nothing leading up to Caitlyn Jenner's Vanity Fair article.  They saw the mostly positive response from the public, and ESPN typically decided to see ratings only.  They never looked for athletic courage, and it is all around them. The award may seem silly, but if ESPN really cares about supporting everyone associated with sports,maybe they could start making transgender athletes struggles part of the regular sports conversation.  When will ESPN talk about a current athlete dealing with a bigoted community?  We are not holding our breathe.)

Why are the ESPY's giving the Arthur Ashe Courage Award to Caitlyn Jenner this year? Why does she deserve a courage award? What she is doing, coming out as transgender is brave, but what about all the other transgender people out there that don't get awards? How do they feel about this? Are they happy or would they rather she go on and live her life as a female now? Why does she deserve an award for this? I'll say it once again, what she's doing is very brave, but more brave than Lauren Hill?

Do you guys know who she is?

Lauren Hill was a  young girl with inoperable brain cancer that just wanted to play in a game of college basketball. Not only did she play in a game, but she scored buckets and inspired the players on her team. That's bravery. Going out there, incredibly ill and playing basketball. She didn't do it for a heart warming story, or to show people that she could do it, she did it for herself and her family and her teammates. She has unfortunately passed away, but dammit what she did took incredible courage and bravery. Lauren Hill was so incredibly sick and when you saw her on the court, there was nothing but smiles coming from her face. That's bravery. That's courage.

How about the double amputee war vet, who has turned his life around with running and exercise?  You lose two body parts, pick yourself up and give yourself as much a normal life as possible. I can't imagine what I'd do if I lost a fingernail, let alone body parts. Once again, that takes courage and bravery.

I guess the thing that upsets me most about Caitlyn Jenner getting the award is, it's a clear ratings grab from the awful, awful executives at ESPN. They see the opportunity that a former Olympic champion, who's now coming out as transgender will bring them. They see tons of new viewers, but I do not think they care for those viewers. It also saddens me that the people who will watch her accept the award don't know who she was when she was Bruce Jenner. They only know her from the horrible monster family known as the Kardashians. That's so sad, especially for a sports based show. Fans of the Kardashian show don't care about sports, but the higher ups at ESPN obviously don't care about that. They just want viewers. I also feel like this is taking advantage of Caitlyn Jenner. She's been in the limelight for awhile now due to her horrible ex wife and her terrible children and I think she wants to keep the story on her as much as possible so she can stay famous. It may not be a popular opinion, but it's mine and it's pretty sad what they're doing at ESPN. With that being said, let me reiterate, what Caitlyn Jenner is doing is brave, just not on the level of a double amputee or Lauren Hill. Not even close. ESPN could've done the right thing and given this honor to the double amputee or, in my opinion the truly brave and courageous one, Lauren Hill. But, they don't care about honoring those two, they only care about the ratings.

Once again for shame ESPN

Ty 

Ty is the Pop Culture Editor for Seed Sing.  Give him a follow on twitter @tykulik