ESPN’s Jon Kosner Ought To Be Concerned
February 7th, 2011
Last week Joe brought word of an interesting column typed by Nicholas Carlson of BusinessInsider.com who sat down with ESPN.com honcho Jon Kosner to discuss the future of delivering news to hungry sports fans on the Internet.
Carlson went so far as to suggest he only reads Bucs news if Joe has it on this here site, which humbles Joe to no end. Later in the article, Kosner, slipping out of his Soviet thought control practice that the Disney mouse outfit has perfected in hoodwinking so many unsuspecting innocents — that if something is not broadcast on BSPN that it is somehow inferior — Khrushchev Kosner actually admitted he’s “concerned” about guys in a “garage.”
Joe knows what he was referring to, a couple of guys starting a company in a garage, like Steve Jobs and Steve Wosniak did when they developed Apple Computers. To be blunt, Joe started this site in a second bedroom turned office of his modest St. Petersburg condo amid photos of Rachel Watson, empty beer bottles and discarded pizza boxes.
Well, Joe’s going to go off on a tangent here, so buckle up.
If BSPN was even a hint of what it once was — a must-watch channel for all sports fans — where fans would be informed about the day’s events via games that matter along with honest analysis, not from teams that the Soviet Disney mice deemed important, and if that Stalinist outfit would cover the NFL like it was college football and focus on the true stars and teams that merit coverage, and not like BSPN covers baseball where only two teams matter, Joe — and all right-thinking sports fans — would appreciate, respect and look up to ESPN as a beacon of light.
But long ago when it comes to the NFL, NHL and MLB, BSPN threw standard, common journalistic practices of fair and equitable reporting out the window and instead tried to shove down people’s throats what they deemed important such as the Yankees, Red Sox, Patriots, Cowboys, Tony Romo, Tom Brady, MuchoStinko, Terrell Owens, Lakers, Celtics, Luh-BRON, Ko-BEE and the biggest slap in the face to sports fans, poker!
(After football season, Joe used to go to his watering hole and, for reasons unknown, poker was on TV. There, guys playing poker were shown stoically wearing sunglasses — indoors like (?) a bunch of dorks no less! — yawning, some leaning their faces on their shoulders as if they were in an 8 a.m. algebra class. If the participants in this, ahem, sport, can’t even show remote interest, why the hell should Joe watch such tripe?)
Why should anyone turn to BSPN for Bucs news when they have little to no news and the four-letter outfit sees fit to hire a blogger who not only doesn’t go to all games, he doesn’t even watch all Bucs games — a fact said blogger confessed locally on live radio. And this blogger stoops to such a level as to quote Doug Williams’ barber — if one can imagine such a thing — to post unflattering items about Bucs management, only to delete this content when Joe brought it to public light?
(Joe’s been biting his lip for a long time about the following, it’s time to get it out: Said blogger above Joe broke bread with a year ago, along with two other local scribes. Said blogger was nice enough to Joe in person, and confessed he never heard of Joe. Hey, Joe doesn’t have an ego. If Pete Prisco, Bob Papa, Pat Kirwan, among other national football scribes and media types know about if not read Joe, but that doesn’t mean a BSPN blogger should. Joe gets it. Said blogger even gave Joe his (alleged) personal e-mail address to correspond with, which Joe thought was a kind gesture. A couple of weeks later, Joe hears from more than one reliable source that said blogger is going around openly hoping Joe goes out of business. When Joe tried to e-mail said blogger to offer an olive branch to find out why said blogger was so filled with hate about Joe and what Joe could do to resolve any issues, all Joe heard back was crickets. Friends, that’s not a fraud, that’s a coward. Joe knows not everyone in the MSM likes him and Joe is not concerned with winning any popularity contests. But two local scribes in particular Joe knows that have no love in their hearts towards Joe have actually e-mailed Joe from time to time — confidentially, of course — and have been civil to Joe. Hey, at least they don’t hide and are willing to communicate with Joe, even to iron out any differences. Oh, if said blogger wants to e-mail Joe, the olive branch is at the ready.)
And Joe’s not even going to get into how a BSPN anchor hurled slurs at Raheem Morris this past season, only to offer some unbelievably weak excuse about the incident that a father wouldn’t believe coming from his 11-year old son.
What does all this rambling mean? Well, one of Kosner’s comments was that BSPN likely would not have a Tampa Bay Buccaneers television show.
In a matter of a few days, Joe will.
Until or unless that Bolshevik outfit in Bristol changes its ways, offers Bucs fans more responsible daily content from respectable scribes who actually can use a DVR to watch Bucs games and not use unnamed barbers as sources to post distasteful things about the Bucs and avoid anchors from shamefully ridiculing a Bucs head coach, and with the advent of JoeBucsFanTV, you damned right BSPN should be concerned about Joe.
Unlike BSPN, Joe has no agenda, with the exception of one day meeting the lovely Ms. Watson.
Now that Joe got this off his chest, he feels better.
February 7th, 2011 at 10:13 am
ESPN is good i enjoy it…do wish they talked about bucs more but that will come..so really no beef with them…cant wait till 3d ESPN next week fight..just got a new 50” 3d tv…go bucs
February 7th, 2011 at 10:26 am
Come on Joe, stop teasing and tell us what this TV show will be about! What kind of content?
How will it be delivered?
Just please remember that you have loyal readers outside FL who would love to see this new thing you got coming.
February 7th, 2011 at 10:49 am
Start the revolution Joe! I’m with ya all the way!
February 7th, 2011 at 11:11 am
What the hell are you talking about? What was that rambling waste of bytes? Nobody cares about your media machinations. Talk about football.
February 7th, 2011 at 11:30 am
Gary:
The Bucs.
February 7th, 2011 at 11:32 am
Damn, Joe still has standard-def.
3DTV is not in Joe’s future.
February 7th, 2011 at 11:54 am
@ Joe. Well said. I used to watch ESPN every morning before work now I almost never watch it with the exception of college football.
February 7th, 2011 at 12:12 pm
Chris:
As much as Joe bags on BSPN, its college football coverage is the gold standard. Proves when BSPN wants to, it can do things correctly.
February 7th, 2011 at 12:19 pm
1)Not that well written, I gotta say(in the execution of it). If you’re going to be the Major League of Bucs Coverage(& you’re right on the doorstep), these things matter.
2)Your credibility keeps taking a hit with the Radio Raheem thing. Radio Raheem is a character in a seminal(albeit, not that mainstream, according to you)movie that the ESPN anchor cited as a personal favourite, & a beloved character(to him). I ask again—you honestly believe the go-to anchor(sans Berman)on the Big Sports Network out & out called Raheem Morris a mentally challenged person? This again proves you know nothing of national credibility & decorum—which is tragic, because this HAS become the Place to Check Bucs News, essentially.
3)It IS sad that this “great” National Network can only find a Yasinkas to be a main football blogger, when his chats consist of one-sentence answers that almost anyone with a passing interest in football could provide.
February 7th, 2011 at 12:39 pm
Christopher:
If anything, it strengthens Joe’s credibility.
February 7th, 2011 at 12:52 pm
Final warning Joe, one more run on ramble about your lust with ESPN and you will be banned.
Stop embarrassing yourself brotha.
Lastly, the Bucs dont warrant the viewership timespots that big market teams do based on advertising… something even your outfit understands since that’s who you cater to anyway… much like you cater to the interests just so can keep your press pass.
Now don’t go deleting this or you yourself will be considered the commie trying to control the information as you strongly accuse ESPN of doing.
February 7th, 2011 at 1:02 pm
Joe here,
Look Guest #27, one of the cardinal sins in the comment section here is lying/misrepresenting Joe.
Joe does not “cater to the interests so he can keep his press pass.” This is absolute hogwash. Joe was just fine without his press press, and if the Bucs see fit to take it away, Joe will keep on rolling. It’s not relevant to any success here … Don’t lie about things you know nothing about.
Second, Tampa Bay is a in the UPPER half of TV markets in the NFL. Feel free to look it up. Your ignorance isn’t pretty.
You will not get another warning.
February 7th, 2011 at 1:16 pm
@ guest #27 banned? Joe is right on with his ESPN takes. Thats part of the reason i come to this site.(besides being an avid Bucs fan) and yes the Bucs should get more national games! for example, tell me why the friggin’ Texans or Redskins would get monday night games? skin’s haven’t done jack in long time and the Texans never have. but yet that happens,hell even the Raiders still get prime time games if you want to get people to watch, spread the wealth,more teams should be shown,maybe someone who doesn’t get to see the Bucs because of where they live, will, and become a fan! Instead of ESPN cramming who they think you should like down our throats! ESPN is to sports what Mtv is to music!!!! GO BUCS!!!!
February 7th, 2011 at 1:21 pm
@ admin – Nice!
What’s with all the haters? Keep up the great work Joe!
February 7th, 2011 at 1:26 pm
@ joe, love JBF! sadly i pay for “the other site” and this is the first place i go for Bucs news! actually it’s the first thing i do everyday, my wife doesn’t understand.
February 7th, 2011 at 1:58 pm
Joe, I think referring to yourself as the “guy in the garage” is a little misleading. We’re the guys in the garage, You and the Pewter Report actually get access and credentials. That being said, keep fighting the good fight. And Go Noles!
February 7th, 2011 at 2:50 pm
Pewter Plank:
Joe deciphered the term “guys in the garage” — that’s a quote from Kosner, not something Joe concocted — as someone who starts their own site, not a member of the MSM.
Thanks for the kind words.
February 7th, 2011 at 2:59 pm
Joe, please just tell me this JoeBucsFanTV will be accessible via the interweb.
February 7th, 2011 at 3:01 pm
Of course!
February 7th, 2011 at 3:04 pm
Christopher…Ever heard of a guy named Jimmy the Greek?
Guest 27…Not sure what you have been reading, but the Joe’s have never been known to kiss the Bucs brass arses. I would say they recently accepted the fact that JBF is here to stay, and in my opinion the #1 place for Bucs news. I come to this site multiple times a day. They have the most material, and I do not have to wade through the TBO and TampaBaydot com crap, it is all organized right here for me. Keep it up Joes!
February 7th, 2011 at 3:27 pm
Lets talk about your baseball comment: “… instead tried to shove down people’s throats what they deemed important such as the Yankees, Red Sox”
Well, you surely don’t expect them to cover a Rays team that can’t even sell out a stadium? If the Rays attendance is so poor, then surely their television market is garbage. ESPN will show coverage to teams that have the biggest markets. It makes complete sense to me. They have to cover every team in all the leagues, what do you expect? It’s not local coverage per team.
It’s nice to have local coverage of your favorite team, that’s why many Buc fans come here, to read the local coverage of their team.
You say you don’t cater to your advertising? I don’t see that, of course that is my opinion, I can elaborate but that’s not important.
You say you don’t cater to the Bucs to keep the press pass? That’s not what it seems to be. After every Buccaneer loss during the season, and before the 10-6 record played out, you were very negative about Raheem and the Glazers. I can go find all the posts and link to them. But now, post 10-6 season, you have been extremely nice when you talk about the organization, so much so, that you have cleaned up all of the guys that even comment in a negative way. I wonder why? Who’s pressuring you Joe to keep it positive? Sure looks like you are trying to keep your press pass to me. Of course, just like Capt Tim thinks having Raheem as a coach is better than Bellicheck and that the Bucs are going to win the Super Bowl in a year or two, just like that’s his opinion, mine is of you, catering to the Bucs to keep your press pass.
JOE INTERJECTING HERE — This comment post is BS and misinformed on so many levels, Joe can’t even address it all. First of all Joe certainly and proudly caters to his advertisers. Joe never said otherwise. Joe is probably the only medium around that puts advertisers front and center in the news flow routinely.
As is pointed out below, Joe has defended many a negative commenter, even YOU! …As for negativity on the Bucs. Joe’s commentary trended very negative when the Bucs were 3-17 since the December collapse of 2008. Then Joe trended more positive when the Bucs started winning. What the hell did you expect?? Again, Joe couldn’t give a crap about his credentials. This is why Joe doesn’t rely on them for the bulk of the writing here. Daily readers with their eyes open could see that.
*Again, this is a final warning. What you wrote mis-respresented Joe’s relationship with his advertisers. That goes back to the cardinal rule of commenting here. Don’t misrepresent Joe. Disagree accurately, or you’ll be punted.
February 7th, 2011 at 4:18 pm
I know Joe needs no help here, but Guest 27…did you miss all the Thomas 2.2 talk? All sorts of people wanted him banned, but Joe refused to do so because he has not broken Joe’s rules. Of course Joe caters to his sponcers, they keep the site free for all of us. I still say Joe does not suck up to the Bucs, in fact I bet they see him as a thorn at times, just like any media outlet.
February 7th, 2011 at 4:27 pm
I still read JBF everyday, even on Sat and Sundays. But I don’t think Joe gets a free pass either calling out ESPN like some weird, deep seated jealously binge.
February 7th, 2011 at 4:31 pm
Guest 27…just an FTI. The Tampa Bay TV Market includes Tampa, St Petersburg, and Sarasota. Al off the small towns as well between each. They are ranked 14th in the country. Baseball is a sport of tradition, it takes teams that are a bit young like the Rays a long time to build a true fan base. We also live in an area full of transplants. Of course NY, Chicago, and other areas have a larger market. Let’s look at green Bay though. We have a much larger market, but they have a long deep tradition with the NFL. They tend to get more coverage. I will say that back when GB sucked, they did not get much attention either. The Bucs will get there due, when they have more than one winning season in a row. Now, Dallas and NY get attention win or lose.
February 7th, 2011 at 4:33 pm
G27…I hear ya, but ESPN has gone down hill in a huge way ever since Disney took over. I do not see how you can dispote that, unless you are young and do not remember how good it was. You can’t miss what you never had I guess.
February 7th, 2011 at 4:46 pm
Hey, almost on que, Joe has a Disney add! I guess that shoots the Joe sucking up to his advertisers thing.
February 7th, 2011 at 4:55 pm
Joe here,
See Joe’s comments in above inside Guest#27’s jibberish.
February 7th, 2011 at 5:30 pm
@ guest #27, if they’re in the league, COVER THEM!!!!!!!
February 7th, 2011 at 6:45 pm
I will say this, Joe you have honored your end of the bargain, not deleting comments or banning me (just yet).
God forbid someone questions you though, ban threats.
LMAO!!!
February 7th, 2011 at 6:50 pm
Joe here,
@Guest#27 – Again, you are misrepresenting Joe. This is NOT about disagreeing with Joe. You can disagree with Joe all day long. Joe welcomes that. But nobody can misrepresent facts as they relate to JoeBucsFan.com, which you are doing repeatedly. It shouldn’t be that hard to understand.
February 7th, 2011 at 7:11 pm
I have information that Guest #27 is an espn operative.
The sun is high in the forest sky…repeat…the SUN is high in the forest sky
February 8th, 2011 at 12:12 pm
STRENGTHEN your credibility? How so, big guy?
You *admit* you’re better versed in the movie “Radio” than “Do the Right Thing”, so you’re saying your perspective is skewed. Yet you DISMISS Trey Wingo’s perspective, since he clearly enjoyed “Do the Right Thing” more than “Radio”, which of course makes sense, since one “Do the Right Thing” is miles more respected than “Radio” amongst film buffs, & I dunno, *adults*.
Someone mentioned Jimmy the Greek. That was a remnant of an old-school line of thought, something that doesn’t really rear its ugly head anymore(in mainstream thought). We can agree ESPN is absolutely mainstream, yes?
Please answer the question—you honestly believe(the both of you?)that Trey Wingo went on national TV & flat-out called Raheem Morris a mentally challenged person…& then expected 1)his job not to be gone the next day…2)to ever be hired again.
This is why this is brutally serious, & why I mention things such as “credibility”. I wonder about your thought process if this is where your thoughts realistically go. & as you guys(mostly rightfully)climb the ladder as the default Bucs Coverage Site…I think such skewed & faulty thinking is going to diminish the respect your voice will receive. I.E, *stop bringing the Wingo “controversy” up*!
February 8th, 2011 at 12:21 pm
christopher:
Joe has explained himself more than enough times for anyone with an IQ over 70 to digest about the Wingo slur. If for some reason you still cannot understand or don’t want to understand, that’s your problem.
As far as you telling Joe what to write, Joe will write what he damned well pleases. Don’t like it? Then stay away.
February 8th, 2011 at 12:35 pm
Awesome. Essentially name-calling. About as classy as one could expect, given your actions(actually thinking Wingo said what you THINK he said).
We HAVE gone over this, to the point you made the 72-level IQ leap to think it was racist to compare Raheem to a respected character in the black community.
& I notice you didn’t answer the question.
& I didn’t tell you what to write(another specious leap in “logic” for you). I just offered the opinion that if you keep bringing up such a LAME line of thought with the Wingo thing, the respect your voice will have in a mainstream discussion addressing adults will diminish every time. But clearly you’re enjoying the grown-up fratboy persona this site emanates(I guess I can do name-calling too, though I think you’ll find truth is this description). & only a grown-up frat boy would think it was righteous & true to say that “Radio Raheem” actually means “Radio, Raheem”, ignoring all the ramifications such a claim brings with it.
If you keep bringing it up, you have to defend it, which was my point in the original post up there. But your defense was “You’re stupid, I’ve already talked about it, go away”. Strong…
February 8th, 2011 at 12:52 pm
Other Joe here,
Look, Christopher. You’re more than welcome to your opinion. Why you’re so angry is your business.
Joe’s explained many times before that Wingo and his writers and producers are responsible for what comes out of his mouth and how it is perceived by his core audience, and how it might offend a reasonable portion of his audience.
That was the core issue.
ESPN’s coveted and primary target demographic is of the Radio generation. And many of those, especially Bucs fans abreast of the national story about the insulting comments of “Radio Raheem” toward Raheem Morris in 2009, were watching and listening to the recent SportsCenter highlight call in question.
Wingo’s intent is not relevant. You can still insult/slur someone without intent. It was insulting regardless. Shaun King was on the radio with this take before Joe wrote about it and made some excellent arguments.
Again, think what you like. That’s what makes the world go round.
Why Wingo didn’t apologize to those offended is inexcusable.