Miffed at Sports Illustrated .....

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mountainman

Miffed at Sports Illustrated .....

Postby mountainman » Mon Jan 15, 2007 9:47 pm

I've just got to get his one off my chest ......

With the permission of a fine scholar and gentleman of a person, I posted this article as written by Mitch Vingle, Sports Editor for the Charleston Gazette ..... Thanks Mitch.

Sports Illustrated slurs WVU

Magazine runs with hoax about vulgar fan in Gator Bowl stands.

The latest edition of Sports Illustrated includes two mentions of West Virginia University sports.

One is a flattering piece on the Mountaineer basketball team and coach John Beilein.

The other isn't so flattering.

In the popular Scorecard section, SI features a weekly item called a "Sign of the Apocalypse."

This week's sign:

"A West Virginia fan was photographed defecating on a seat in the Georgia Tech band seating area during the Gator Bowl."

The problem? No Mountaineer fan did such a thing.

The Web site thewizofodds.com first caught the mistake, saying, "Sports Illustrated has been duped."

The site said the story originated from a Georgia Tech message board that had a link to a series of photos. A post claimed a fan went to the Tech band section while the band performed at halftime, dropped his pants and defecated. But there was no photographic evidence or arrest of a fan afterward, or proof that any alleged person involved was a West Virginia fan.

A reader than alerted thewizofodds.com that the name George P. Bordel was associated with the photos.

According to online encyclopedia Wikipedia, George P. Burdell "is a fictitious student officially enrolled at Georgia Tech in 1927 as a practical joke. He remains enrolled today."

SI, however, passed along the story as fact.

On Friday, the magazine owned up to the mistake.

"We realize it was a hoax," Rick McCabe, who works in Sports Illustrated's communications department, told the Gazette. "And we're pleased to find out the incident never occurred. We apologize for the error."

McCabe said he didn't know whether a retraction will be forthcoming.



I can certainly understand a prank pulled off by a bunch of college students ... heaven knows, back in the day, I've been in on my share of them. But, when Sports Illustrated prints a disgusting and derogatory piece without first verifying the truth of the matter and then says they "don't know whether a retraction will be forthcoming" is just as disgusting and derogatory as the alleged act itself.

Shame on you, Sports Illustrated.

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Sports Illustrated Isn't Much !

Postby Swamp Daddy » Mon Jan 15, 2007 10:24 pm

I never have cared for Sports Illustrated, not in decades. Now they are not even very sports oriented anymore. Their pro coverage is all fluff pieces and predictions which hardly ever pans out.

Their college coverage is a total joke. And, as they, along with much media favor 'yellow' journalism over fact they will always jump on something negative or controversial regardless of fact.

They lost what remaining credibility they had with me in 1980 when UL did not make their top 20 preseason list; and, most of us know who was #1 at the end of the year. :oops: for them

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Postby Spence » Mon Jan 15, 2007 10:28 pm

Unfortunately that is how the media works. If you are ever close enough to a story to know what is going on, what the media reports and the actual truth are two very different things. I don't know if it is on purpose or they are just incompetent.
"History doesn't always repeat itself but it often rhymes." - Mark Twain

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Postby bama_girl » Tue Jan 16, 2007 12:27 am

i wonder how mike price's lawsuit against them is coming along :?

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Postby Spence » Tue Jan 16, 2007 12:34 am

That's the thing, they don't have to reveal sources and all they have to do is get a source to make an allegation and someone to confirm and they have a story. It could be a bum laying in an alley and his buddy. Doesn't matter. They are covered.

Although, in the scheme of things sports is small potatoes, all of the media works this way. They almost never get the story right and they are too busy writing the story they want to write to try and get it right. (that is a lot of rights/writes) :lol:
"History doesn't always repeat itself but it often rhymes." - Mark Twain

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Re: Sports Illustrated Isn't Much !

Postby Derek » Tue Jan 16, 2007 6:42 am

Swamp Daddy wrote:They lost what remaining credibility they had with me in 1980 when UL did not make their top 20 preseason list; and, most of us know who was #1 at the end of the year. :oops: for them

Swamp Daddy 8)


That was GA that year, not UL.

They did the same thing in 1981 with GA, the defending NC and most of the team returning, including H. Walker, and SI ranked them #11 in the preseason polls. By the end of the year, they were #1 again and back in the Sugar Bowl..Only to lose to Pitt. :roll:
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Postby donovan » Tue Jan 16, 2007 9:56 am

Sports Illustrated is a lot like McDonalds...you may not like the hamburgers....but I would rather walk to the Bank with the McDonalds guy than than the guy from Bobs Better Bigger Buffalo Burgers...no matter how yummie..or is that yummy they are...

PS....Mike Price settled for an undisclosed amount with SI
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Postby billybud » Tue Jan 16, 2007 12:59 pm

SI? They do that a lot..

Everybody in the country believes that FSU's AJ Nicholson was arrested before the 2005 bowl game when Bowden suspended him...not true. He was questioned and released and was never arrested. And the case against him was dropped. SI had it wrong.

Everybody in the country thinks that Sebastian Janikowski was arrested while a FSU player...he never was. His infraction, while on scholarship, was being late for curfew New Year's Eve before the bowl. He was arrested after his time as an FSU player. But you wouldn't know that just reading SI.
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mixing topics on Sports Illustrated

Postby Swamp Daddy » Sat Jan 20, 2007 5:05 am

Sorry Derek: I was mixing SI's inept 1980 preseason basketball poll into the football mix (without saying I was doing that) only to illustrate that they are a fluff outfit and, in general, haven't the faintest idea of reality. I doubt UL was in the top 100 in football that year. Sorry folks.

As someone else said, 'writing the stories they want to be true' without much bothering with facts or other reality is the way they; and, much of the rest of the media works, football and non-sports subjects as well.

I'll try to be clearer next time I jump in.

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Re: mixing topics on Sports Illustrated

Postby Derek » Sat Jan 20, 2007 5:52 pm

Swamp Daddy wrote:Sorry Derek: I was mixing SI's inept 1980 preseason basketball poll into the football mix (without saying I was doing that) only to illustrate that they are a fluff outfit and, in general, haven't the faintest idea of reality. I doubt UL was in the top 100 in football that year. Sorry folks.

As someone else said, 'writing the stories they want to be true' without much bothering with facts or other reality is the way they; and, much of the rest of the media works, football and non-sports subjects as well.

I'll try to be clearer next time I jump in.

Swamp Daddy


Ain't no thang...You were absolutely right on the point of your post.

I just didnt know you were talking about Basketball. 8)
They’re either going to run the ball here or their going to pass it.

The fewer rules a coach has, the fewer rules there are for players to break.

See, well ya see, the thing is, he should have caught that ball. But the ball is bigger than his hands.

- John Madden

mountainman

Postby mountainman » Thu Feb 01, 2007 1:11 pm

Here's how the issue has been brought to closure. My thanks to SI for deciding to do what they could to correct their error.


"We've clarified everything in the issue that closed Monday," SI Executive Editor Terry McDonnell said in a phone interview from his New York office Wednesday. "We're very happy to apologize. We were wrong, and very embarrassed. We were just wrong; it was stupid, a horrendous mistake. People got into trouble (at SI). We regret all of it."


Bill Nevin from WVU said, "While it's unfortunate that this erroneous item ran without proper sourcing, WVU plans no official action against Sports Illustrated -- other than asking that the information be corrected. While the error is regrettable, SI remains a quality publication and has recently carried some very positive stories about WVU ... "

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Postby Spence » Thu Feb 01, 2007 5:28 pm

The big prblem with retractions is that most people don't see them. You will have people tellomg this story for years as fact. That is why the press should be more responsible. The damage is done. This story isn't a huge one in terms of life, but the media has written false stories that are taken as fact that have ruined lives. Then they print a little retraction. It really doesn't cut it.
"History doesn't always repeat itself but it often rhymes." - Mark Twain

mountainman

Postby mountainman » Thu Feb 01, 2007 5:40 pm

One cannot put the genie back in the bottle or un-ring the bell .... so to speak. :roll:

Oh, well .... got it off my chest, time to move on. :wink:

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Re:

Postby Cane from the Bend » Thu Feb 01, 2007 7:30 pm

':evil:' Alright, if we're letting it go, we're letting it ':roll:'

Man':!:' Just when I was about to go on another one of my "I Hate The Media" rants, too.'8)'

Ah well :wink: , guess I'll just get 'em in their next indiscretion :twisted:
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mountainman

Postby mountainman » Thu Feb 01, 2007 7:44 pm

Darn ..... wish I hadn't made that post if that was the case.

We need a good rant and the dag-gum media has earned and surely deserves one. 8)


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