It’s a shame that “The Daily Show with Jon Stewart” doesn’t ever satirize sports journalism. Now, I know the good people at Comedy Central aren’t going to ever be able to put an end to shoddy tabloid journalism. After all, Jon Stewart would need a new gig.
But if there was just some sort of way to keep the sports journalists honest by showing the absurdity of their work much in the same way that “The Daily Show” parodies cable news, then maybe we could restore some semblance of professionalism to sports broadcasting.
There’s a recent example that shows the conflict of interest major sports media outlets are facing and the hypocrisy they employ that keeps them from even admitting it themselves.
In an Aug. 15 episode of HBO’s “Real Sports with Bryant Gumbel,” the reporter was interviewing Roger Goodell, the newly hired NFL Commissioner who is replacing the long-tenured and financially shrewd Paul Tagliabue.
Gumbel, who was notorious in his days with NBC’s “Today Show” for being a controversial yet highly effective broadcast reporter, asked Goodell perhaps the most loaded question ever proposed by a journalist, Fox News not withstanding:
“Before he cleans out his office, have Paul Tagliabue show you where he keeps Gene Upshaw’s leash. By making the docile head of the players’ union his personal pet, your predecessor has kept the peace without giving players the kind of guarantees other pros take for granted. Try to make sure no one competent ever replaces Upshaw on your watch.”
Gumbel was referring to the NFL’s contract policy that doesn’t guarantee a base salary to its players. Despite being arguably the most physically traumatic sport of the four major North American sports, football is the only one that doesn’t have guaranteed contracts for the players. Since Upshaw has been the players’ union representative and Tagliabue the commissioner, the league has also implemented a widely popular salary cap and revenue sharing system.
Gumbel has been torched in the media for being unfair, unethical and just plain classless with Goodell, who never really had a chance to defend himself.
After all, Gumbel has been hired by the NFL Network to do play-by-play for its games on satellite with Chris Collinsworth. Gumbel’s critics say he can’t do his job for HBO with full disclosure if he is getting paid by the NFL.
What? How can he be unethical on both sides of the fence? What this little media explosion really shows is that too many people are ignoring the bigger problems with the football media.
Make no mistake. Gumbel’s aggressive interview was not an accident or a lack of tact. He knows he has a reputation for being a cavalier sports journalist who is also collecting a paycheck from the NFL. So, what’s the first piece he does as football season starts? He touches a taboo subject that the NFL would rather ignore.
The fact remains that football players are risking injury the way few athletes in the world are willing to do, and there’s no ethical reason why they shouldn’t be paid accordingly. Nobody’s asking for a handout, or even more money. Just draw up the contracts similar to that of MLB or NBA or NHL.
Too often an NFL player signs a contract with a front-loaded signing bonus, gets injured in the first couple years of the contract, and is released by the organization. The player will still receive his signing bonus, often guaranteed over the length of the contract, but doesn’t get any of the base salary.
This is a system that unfairly rewards management and penalizes labor. It’s a dangerous sport and players get hurt, so owners don’t want to keep paying employees who are unable to perform at their highest level.
However, injury-prone players are often physically limited later in life, especially in their golden years; yet, they cannot legally sue the NFL for having both hips replaced. Therefore, it is only fair that the players get what is rightfully theirs.
As for Gumbel, he is a journalist, which some naive people still think should represent an independent voice.
Gumbel wasn’t unethical. He would have a conflict of interest if he decided not to ask Goodell about the contracts. Meanwhile, ESPN and every other sports broadcasting show have gotten into the trend of hiring former players as analysts. Talk about conflict of interest. This is what ESPN’s Joe Theismann, former Washington Redskin quarterback, had to say about Gumbel’s interview:
“That’s not the sort of person we want representing our product.”
Product? Do you work for a media outlet or the NFL?
For critical news on sports, I’ll take my cues from a self-righteous reporter before a Neanderthal masquerading as an analyst.
I hope Tony Kornheiser enjoys the fine work of Theismann on the new Monday Night Football broadcasting team.
E-mail De Jong at adejong@media.ucla.edu if you are a former UCLA football player looking for a job as an analyst.