If Bernie Fine is found cleared of the accusations of sexual abuse, Jason Whitlock’s explosive piece¬†will be the first major indictment of ESPN’s role in a false allegation. The Fox Sports opinion maker laid a bone-jarring hit on Mark Schwartz and OTL, for its “rush to judgement” story. Full disclosure: I worked alongside J-Dub for years as a host at 610 Sportsradio in Kansas City. Generally, we got along well. I don’t always agree with his takes, and sometimes I’ve felt Whitlock was guilty of kicking a nest simply because he likes fighting hornets. But the one thing I respect about him is being unafraid to shine a harsh spotlight within the always incestual media world, even if it means risking his own opportunities.
J-Dub had a relationship with ESPN for years and was a regular contributer to Sports Reporters, but left on bad terms. He has routinely taken shots at the network and its media tentacles. Maybe this has some of that lingering bad blood in it. Even so, his piece has an important nugget of truth. 
It’s difficult to marginalize the Fine accusations as a Syracuse fan. You run the risk of being labeled a hypocrite or having selective morality. Orange Nation wanted to immediately throw the book at Penn State, but many of us are dubious (to varying degrees) of Davis/Lang. Whitlock’s piece speaks to how most of us feel: Bernie Fine might be guilty, but ESPN seems to be playing too fast and loose.
“Mark Schwarz, Andy Berko and ESPN remind me of Paterno, Mike McQueary and Penn State in one respect. When confronted with a difficult choice, they all did the bare, legal minimum to protect their self-interest. They failed their moral obligation.”
“This column is not meant to exonerate Bernie Fine… I do not know Bernie Fine. I do not have any insight into what did or did not transpire between Fine and his two accusers. I‚Äôm not exonerating Bernie Fine. I don‚Äôt know him. I don‚Äôt know what he‚Äôs capable of doing and/or hiding.¬†What I know is you don‚Äôt destroy a person‚Äôs reputation with two highly flimsy accusations.”
I have no idea about Fine’s personal exploits. If he’s found guilty of relations with an underage boy, no matter whether the statute of limitations has expired, Fine must be removed from Syracuse immediately. The program should hang its head in shame if it has housed a sexual predator for four decades. Jim Boeheim should feel humiliated if his friend has these types of deranged skeletons in his closet. No Orange fan would be okay knowing the athletic department could be intertwined with this horror.
The irony is a school which prides itself on teaching the proper tenants of journalism and sends scores of students to work in Bristol, may have been undone by media sloppiness. Is ESPN going to give a forum to every woman who claims an NBA player is her baby daddy? Is every accuser that says Big Ben cornered them in a bathroom going to get “5 Good Minutes” on PTI?
“In the brief snippet of interviews ESPN has aired of Davis and Lang, why didn‚Äôt Schwarz ask any probative questions? Davis and Lang are grown men who mustered the courage to go on national television and talk about being fondled by another man two decades ago but they can‚Äôt handle a few clarifying questions?
It‚Äôs morally criminal what Schwarz and ESPN did to Bernie Fine. Even if other, more credible accusers against Fine surface, it does not justify what Schwarz did to Fine. This can‚Äôt be the standard. The mainstream media can‚Äôt simply throw out crippling, salacious rumors and then let the proof of those rumors filter in.”
Again, let’s clarify – no one is lumping child sexual abuse in with other crimes. It is the worst, the bottom of the barrel, the scummiest act in society. And Fine may be guilty of this, so no one should give him a free pass. If evidence surfaces supporting Davis/Lang, Orange fans should be disgusted with the basketball program they have supported with fervor for so many years. But can you go forward on a story which potentially unravels a program and ruins a coach’s reputation because two people are willing to point fingers on camera?
“After being embarrassingly slow to react to the legitimate Penn State story, ESPN decided to ‘own’ the Syracuse story.”
That’s the real fear here. ESPN was criticized for being beaten on the PSU scandal by every other major new outlet, especially CNN. The largest sports media entity in the world had been last on the biggest college sports scandal of all-time. Even ESPN’s ombudsman expressed disappointment at how the network handled the two-week maelstrom in Happy Valley. It would be incredibly unfortunate if ESPN tried to make good by being overly aggressive with the Fine allegations, especially if the network knowingly took shortcuts in its reporting.
Maybe the ends justify the means. If Fine is guilty, it took bringing this to light by some questionable journalism to start the wheel of justice turning. But there’s always the flip side: That ESPN’s overeagerness to be first on the story compromised the integrity of the report, the university, the program, and at least one man’s lifetime of work.
Posted: D.A.
293 responses to “Jason Whitlock’s Evisceration of ESPN Reflects Syracuse Fans Emotions”
Well said DA This is your best post in a while. ESPN rushed to this… shoddy reporting. As a current SU newspaper student I was shocked how ESPN handled this ( verification,just saying.) Love this site keep it up!
Thanks M&M. It’s impossible to openly dismiss the accusations – but it’s fair to question ESPN’s decision-making in this.
The biggest indictment against ESPN is that they had no facts to backup Davis’ and Lang’s story, yet decided to run the piece anyway. I have to respectfully diasgree with D.A. that the ends may justify the means if it can be proven that Fine is guilty. As Whitlock said, even if Fine is guilty, this cannot be the standard for reporting. It is reprehensible and maybe even punishable in civil court to publish such salacious and reputation destroying allegations without any proof. Why do we need ESPN reporters if this is the standard? Why not let every Joe Blow have a half hour on TV to report any allegation or rumor he wants to?
DA Why do you and other media types always say first that Bernie could be dirty at a high percentage of time. Not one article any of you media types reverses that and gives Bernie the benefit of the doubt(except Webb’s). I guess to you and other the accusers their novel is more colorful. Well so far many don’t see that because no one and we mean no one has said they saw anything. I really don’t know whats going to happen. But one thing is for sure Bernie is not getting balanced attention from the media. Maybe if he looked like Tom Cruise he’d get more positive attention.
My one area of disagreement with the post, which is good, is the effect on the SU program. SU has (unlike Penn State) already investigated the allegations and spoken with both alleged victims. There is no evidence that Boeheim knew something and failed to alert the authorities. That’s even according to Davis himself. JB has also made that most salient point. As a result, although, if true, this happened within the confines of the SU basketball program, there was no effort by either SU or the basketball program to cover up and this give cover to a pedophile. Arguably, that is what Penn State did from 2002 until Jerry Sandusky’s arrest. This is a very different situation, and even if true (I suspect that the authorities will find a lack of probable cause to prosecute, statute of limitations notwithstanding), will not bring down either JB or the program.
Spoke too soon, Jon W.
Turns out ESPN has been sitting for 10 years on explosiviely corroborating statements from his wife.
Quite to the contrary of jumping the gun, ESPN is guilty of sitting on immensely important evidence, thereby allowing Fine an extra 10 years’ worth of opportunity to commit further sex crimes.
ESPN’s competitors should eviscerate ESPN over this. ESPN didn’t even bother to have the voice of Fine’s wife verified until just now. Unbelievable moral failure on ESPN’s part. In essence, they did the exact same thing they’ve been ripping JoePa and others for (i.e., for just doing the minimum required by law and failing to do more out of sense of moral obligation).
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