Amazingly, a prediction piece from FOX’s Jay Glazer continues to be the top story at ESPN.
And Glazer isn’t thrilled about it.
ESPN’s Chris Mortensen said earlier this hour on OTL First Report, a less ADD-affected version of SportsCenter, that Jay Glazer left Mort a voice message today regarding the perception that ESPN has been “blowing out of proportion” Glazer’s prediction that the Vikings and quarterback Brett Favre will renew communications.
Glazer, per Mort, was “incredulous.”
As pointed out earlier in the day, we’ve also spoken to Glazer. We’re not so sure we’d call him “incredulous.” Instead, he seemed to be “tactfully pissed off.”
The reality is that, throughout the day, the SportsCenter hosts have characterized Glazer’s prediction in various and sundry inaccurate ways. At one point, Cindy Brunson represented that Glazer’s item described Favre’s arrival in Minnesota as “all but a done deal.”
So if the anchors can’t properly parse through Glazer’s language and understand that he merely is offering a prediction that Favre will land in Minnesota, how can anyone expect the viewers to appreciate the nuances of Glazer’s report?
As we said earlier, the ambiguity will allow someone at ESPN to later throw stones at Glazer if Favre doesn’t join the Vikings. (That said, we don’t want Glazer acting like he just closed out a $50 “Cover All” if/when Brett dons a purple jersey.)
It’s also a bit troubling because ESPN’s curious decision to embrace so loudly and prominently a prediction from the lead NFL insider of a rival network overshadows Adam Schefter’s first day on the job.
Then again, maybe there are some at ESPN who welcome that distraction to the arrival of Schefter.
