John McCain Gets His Turn On ESPN

Monday, September 15, 2008


Back near the end of August, Stu Scott played a little one-on-one with Barack Obama, and after that you knew it was just a matter of time before John McCain got his turn on the network. According to MDS at Fanhouse, Bob Ley sat down with the Republican Presidential candidate and the interview will more than likely air sometime this week....

ESPN's Bob Ley interviewed Republican presidential candidate John McCain today at the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Sylvania 300 at New Hampshire Motor Speedway, as the Worldwide Leader attempts to give equal time to both candidates after Stuart Scott interviewed Barack Obama last month.

The problem, though, is that Scott gave Obama a puff piece, complete with a game of one-on-one that ended with a hug. Somehow I can't see Ley and McCain hugging it out at the NASCAR track.

ESPN tells me they don't know yet when the interview will air, but I'm betting that when it does air, we'll see that Ley asked tough questions, because he's a good journalist. And I'm sure the McCain campaign will use Ley asking McCain tough questions and Scott asking Obama softball questions to bolster their claims that the media is biased against Republicans, because that's been one of the key McCain talking points in the last couple of weeks.
It is really odd that ESPN decided to use a different interviewer for each candidate when you think about it. If Ley does grill McCain it will obviously come across like ESPN set it up that way (whether they did or didn't), and about six months back that's the reason they originally said they weren't even going to bother with interviews. I'm not sure what changed their mind but one thing is for sure. They really should have thought this out a heck of a lot more.

On a side note, I'm also wondering who picked the locations. If it was McCain's choice, picking a NASCAR race is a pretty transparent move. We couldn't have just conducted both in Bristol? Guess not.

ESPN's Bob Ley Interviews John McCain, How Will It Compare to Scott-Obama Puff Piece? (Fanhouse)
Video: Obama's Sit-Down With Stuart Scott (Awful Announcing)

Posted by Awful Announcing- at 9:11 AM

18 Comments:

This has been a running theme that Obama gets softball treatment from the media and the McCain gets it tougher. On the surface it does appear the same thing is happening here since Bob Ley is an actual journalist and Stuart Scott wouldn't know good journalism if it slapped him in the face.

Anonymous said...
Sep 15, 2008, 9:36:00 AM  

Good God. Do you really think sports fans care anyway?
Next thing, you'll be saying they should count the number of boo-yeahs in each piece.

Anonymous said...
Sep 15, 2008, 9:46:00 AM  

I wish Bush was running for re-election. He'd get my vote since he didn't pardon Marion Jones.

Anonymous said...
Sep 15, 2008, 9:47:00 AM  

One only has to look at the difference in how Charlie Gibson interviewed Obama vs how he interviewed Sarah Palin to see that it's more than an appearance of what's happening...

Having said that, I don't see why either one should be interviewed on ESPN.

dgwphotography said...
Sep 15, 2008, 9:56:00 AM  

dgwphotography,

The difference between Obama and Sarah Palin is that he knows what he is talking about, she doesn't.

Anonymous said...
Sep 15, 2008, 10:37:00 AM  

I think Ley's a Republican, so it would probably be a more professional puff piece than Scott, not because of their political affiliations but because of their skills as reporters.

Eddie Bajek said...
Sep 15, 2008, 10:40:00 AM  

I can't wait to hear McCain talk about Honus Wagner and Otto Graham.

GMoney said...
Sep 15, 2008, 10:52:00 AM  

I bet the conversation will mostly be about boxing, UFC and shit like that.

Not what kind of tree he would be, if given the chance.

"The difference between Obama and Sarah Palin is that he knows what he is talking about, she doesn't."

LOL, you go on believing this...Barry is sort of like VY, he's pushed out here way before he is ready, and it shows. I remember the ABC debate, he looked like a chump.

E Buzz said...
Sep 15, 2008, 11:17:00 AM  

That abc debate?
The one with questions like,
"Why don't you wear a flag pin?"
"Do you think Rev. Wright loves this country as much as you do?"
Those questions?
And you're comparing possibly the next president of the U.S. to the worst quarterback in the NFL?
AA, please keep politics off the site.

Anonymous said...
Sep 15, 2008, 11:47:00 AM  

This is ESPN, not CNN. An interview should not be all that serious. Leave that to the news networks.

Anonymous said...
Sep 15, 2008, 11:49:00 AM  

I really wish we could completely keep politics out of sports. This was an awful idea a few months ago and it's an awful idea now.

Sep 15, 2008, 1:05:00 PM  

I couldn't really care less about politics, but Stuart Scott is a sycophantic little bitch.

Anonymous said...
Sep 15, 2008, 1:27:00 PM  

Politics and sports go together like A-1 sauce and cauliflower. Stop it already. If I want to hear political commentary, I'll tune into Anderson Cooper and Paula Zahn on CNN.

Brad James said...
Sep 15, 2008, 1:29:00 PM  

Cindy McCain is a "gearhead". She is actively involved with her son in drafting. The McCains are involved in NASCAR for years. More to do with their son.
Ask the tough questions....Obama is soon to be exposed during the debates.

Anonymous said...
Sep 15, 2008, 1:42:00 PM  

paula zahn hasn't been on CNN for months.
ever heard of campbell brown? she replaced zahn.

Anonymous said...
Sep 15, 2008, 1:59:00 PM  

So let me get this straight. They bring in Stu Scott, Sportscenter's primary African-American anchor, to interview the black candidate, and during the interview they play basketball. Then, they bring in Bob Ley, an old white dude, to interview the old white candidate, and the interview takes place at a NASCAR event.

Yeah, they way people look at race has really changed a lot during this election.

Anonymous said...
Sep 15, 2008, 2:30:00 PM  

He should ask McCain about his wife's alma mater drubbing the largest public university in perhaps the most important swing state this weekend. It's just not a good campaign move.

Unknown said...
Sep 15, 2008, 4:29:00 PM  
Chus said...
Sep 24, 2008, 6:02:00 PM  

Post a Comment