With a tad under two weeks before Superbowl XLV and a lack of sports news to report, ESPN finds some time to get their new w-brand some readers.
Without much breaking news to report, the easiest answer is to create some, right?
That is the only justifiable answer for why ESPN had a statement made by New York Yankees GM Brian Cashman about team Captain Derek Jeter scrolling on its news tracker all day. Oh, ESPN did plug it as reported by ESPNw.
Slick move, but ESPNw slogan is ESPN's “Online Destination for Female Sports Fans and Athletes.”
Guess that is going well for the company, as all of a sudden ESPNw is reporting on men’s sports, which completely contradicts the need to be gender separate.
Regardless, every news outlet is reporting on Cashman’s statement, which was a response to a question asked at his annual breakfast during the Q & A.
Cashman was asked about Jeter playing shortstop for the next four seasons.
Cashman’s answer was this:
"I like corner outfielders and corner infielders who have power, so for me, if he's ever gonna move, it's probably gonna be a Robin Yount situation. But we don't have to deal with it at this point. We'll deal with it when we have to."
Cashman made it clear following that by saying, "Jeter's our shortstop, period."
What is the big deal about this statement?
Nothing, because like anything in life, it is a possible, but to take this statement and turn it into a circus because the Yankees want to generate listeners is pathetic.
Why? Read the following, which is the second paragraph from the ESPNw article:
This morning, after hitting the snooze button a few too many times, I made sure my Blackberry was fully juiced, threw my recording device into my purse and headed to Times Square. I anticipated sending a few live tweets here and there from the event, hoping that Cashman would say something interesting, especially as baseball fans grow increasingly desperate for spring training to get underway. Little did I know that a few hours later, a tweet from the breakfast would be breaking news across the sports pages and blogs.
Is this the kind of reporting ESPNw is producing in order to get attention to a seemly dead website?
Wait, I thought the site was for female athletes and sports?
Did the geniuses behind the new women-only ESPN finally realize that product-w is not going to sell?
Obviously, because there have been launched since October 2010, and already are resorting back to the men to get an audience.
Ironically, all it is doing is making women look ridiculous and saying that we have no business reporting about sports. See, ESPN can get away with making a mountain out of an anthill because it has a loyal audience that has proven to come back again.
In defense of the story, what is the point to take a hypothetical answer and change it into something factual? Obviously the reason is because Derek Jeter and the Yankees is a popular topic, but to try and cause unwarranted friction is weak.
Even more so it is unmerited.
As a women myself, I hope ESPNw practices what it has preached from the start, as stuff like this effects all of our creditability and it is doing more harm than good.
As for Jeter, the Captain will not take the bait because he knows that today is today, and what the future beholds will be dealt with when the time comes.
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