Or is Shawn Kemp the Black Scott Skiles? While not posing either of those questions in those exact terms, Sports On My Mind’s MODI watched ESPN’s “Outside The Lines”‘ interrogation of accused domestic abuser / Denver Broncos WR Brandon Marshall, and wonders, “where are the faces that look like the overwhelming majority of OTL™s viewers?”
This weekend™s show featured an African-American football player and the domestic violence claims against him. ESPN investigated the story, interviewed the alleged victim, interviewed the alleged victim™s family, and Bob Ley vigorously questioned the alleged NFL abuser. In isolation, there was no major problem with the show. Domestic violence is a very serious issue that should not be ignored. And yet, I have never seen such a format applied to a star white athlete. (If I missed it, I™m open to being enlightened). If ESPN is really concerned about domestic violence, then why has the network avoided discussing the allegations against two-time Padre All-Star Brian Giles. Unlike the show that I watched, there is actual videotape of that incident that supports the pending lawsuit filed against him. How does that not make better TV? How about some updates on alleged domestic abuser Brett Myers of the Phillies? Why not invite Debra Marshall the formerly abused ex-wife of œStone Cold Steve Austin. She can tell you just how rampant domestic violence is. What is wrong with any of these candidates?
D.K. Wilson recently wrote about ESPN™s Outside the Lines doing a show on œout-of-wedlock births and how all three off the main profiled individuals were African-American. Why would OTL investigate two similar stories of black players who have had multiple children with multiple women? Instead of being completely duplicative, how about a fresh angle? How about a coach ! His name is Scott Skiles and he coaches the Milwaukee Bucks. There are Internet reports circulating that Skiles has between six to eight out-of-wedlock children. How many is it? I don™t know. How about an OTL investigation to clear up the matter. Perhaps OTL can even cover Skiles’ troubled college past. And after the first two profiles of black athletes, why did Larry Bird, Tom Brady and Matt Leinart just receive token passing mention, while Dwight Howard received a full profile? Why was there no one in the studio saying, œhey, something is wrong here, let™s mix it up a little bit. What about you Bob Ley?
Just be perfectly clear, claims of Skiles’ er, vast legacy, are not merely limited to internet reports.
Tom Brady knocked up a glamorous model, so he’s a stud by society’s standards.
I’ve been having the same complaint about Brett Favre since waaay before he started annoying everyone with his retirement nonsense. The man abused his wife and abused substances and got a clean pass from the second that he had that press conference in Green Bay years ago. Or how about Brett Myers draging his wife around after beating her in public. The only people who cared about that incident were the (white) folks in Boston (and their media outlets)…but what about you Bob Ley?