I really think this is a non-story, but for some reason, people are still talking about Tim McCarver's comments in regards to Manny. Yesterday the FOX analyst was making the rounds on ESPN and was on Outside the Lines to talk about the postseason and to clarify his comments. McCarver stuck to his guns, and when given the chance to maybe replace the word despicable, he said that he's fine with the word and was fine when he first said it.

Manny also commented on the situation to media yesterday and here are both clips in case you missed them....

McCarver in the booth is one of the most maddening people I've ever listened to, but out of it....he just makes me laugh. Not only when he flashes that little grin at the end, but also when he almost calls Sports Center, "Sports Channel". I just can't stay mad at the guy.

McCarver Calls Manny's Behavior In Boston, "Despicable" (Awful Announcing)

When the first E:60 press release came out and I remember thinking that the incarnation of this show meant the end of the road for Outside The Lines. Contrary to my thoughts ESPN decided to keep OTL and even added a time slot during the day for Outside The Lines: First Report. As E:60 went through it's first run of shows and the Lisa Salter's Parkour controversy went down, it was clear that E:60 wasn't going to be run by the same standards as OTL. When the second set of shows kicked off with the Miguel Tejada ambush we found out just how bad those standards were.

Le Anne Scrieber (the ESPN Ombudsman) decided to make her latest article about these two shows and the different way they tackled two important stories. I don't want it to seem like I link to everything she writes (I don't), but this seemed especially important to pass along.

When "E:60: segments, "Outside the Lines" reports or ESPN Film documentaries work, it is because the weaving of individual cases within the larger context of issues that surround them is tight. Several segments in the latest round of "E:60" reports accomplished that. Several did not. It is crucial that E:60's management team place as much emphasis on perspective and thoroughness of reporting as they do on packaging.

The enterprise unit that worked on the "Outside the Lines" report on O.J. Mayo faced the opposite challenge. The density of reporting and research that went into the piece made it difficult to shoehorn so much complicated information into a lucid, compelling TV story. More emphasis was placed on core evidence and its corroboration than on context or dramatic storytelling.

I still find it questionable that ESPN would pit two of it's reporting shows against each other in such a fashion when HBO can do it perfectly fine with Real Sports and Costas Now. At the end of the day controversy and rumor still sells (see: TMZ) just as much (sometimes more) than great reporting like the OJ Mayo story. With that said, I don't think E:60 is going anywhere and we should just get used to it (or just ignore it).

ESPN journalism: The ups and downs of coloring outside the lines (ESPN Ombudsman)

I guess it's just taking the "Leader" a little bit of time to gather all of their info before they delve into the issue. I don't know what they can tell us that's already been figured out by everyone, but we'll see.

Outside The Lines, First Report- 3pm, ESPN

I'll be sure to try and get some video up, or a synopsis of the program later this afternoon. And for those of you interested on one of the best takes so far please read this article from the Baltimore Sun's Richard Steele linked below....

In the prime of youth (The Baltimore Sun)

Update: I don't even have words to describe how short and uninspired that report was. Bob Ley even cut Redskins' Radio Host Larry Michael short, so he could move on to a piece about the Players Union and an interview with Kyle Turley. I'm just sick of this whole thing and it's tough to know what would be the appropriate amount of coverage. I'll post both th OTL and a piece that aired on Comcast immediately following the Bob Ley piece at around 3:15.

In a way only a douchebag could, Cowherd responded to Simmons' column with a bunch of nonsense and approximately zero facts. Here's the rundown...I was typing as fast as I could, so some of these are paraphrased....

"I’m being attacked and I need help from the Herd"

“Vengeful Missile attack at me, just terrible.”

Reads Bill’s quote.....

“Reaaaaly Bill Simmons. I lazily skim other people’s work. Because you have two factual errors....my show is 4 not 3 hours, and I have 3 breaks per hour not 4."

"I find it mildly ironic that Simmons thinks I’m lazy, but doesn’t take the time to check his facts. He didn't take the 8 seconds to go to the website and see that the show is 4 hours."

"You didn’t listen to the segment Bill"

"We didn’t mock Bill Simmons, we said he’s smart and he gave the trades a great deal of thought. We just said when you take the best trade scenarios, they are just absurd."

"This horrible hurtful attack sent me back this morning, and I would hold off on saying I’m embarrassed when every column you write is about the Celtics."

"We never mocked him we mocked the idea of trading Kobe."

"Bill to you, no offense....we still like you. But Celtic columns....no one cares.

"How would you like to wake up in the morning and have a blog attack you."

"Olbermann is after me, Bill Simmons is after me..."

"There’s a kinship with Bill Simmons much like Al-Jazeera and the NHL. He went out on his own, and tries to be different like us."

So there you have it.....it's just plain laughable at this point. He doesn't back up his claims at all....takes cheap shots about the Celtics stuffs (which I'm not innocent of)....and is smug and a dick about the whole thing.

(Just a quick aside here....Hey Colin.....how did that Missing Link thing work out for you? Okay, just checking.)

RUTS says.... "Simmons isn't perfect, but he knows the NBA. Cowherd's just going to embarrass himself again, similar to when he was cracking jokes on Keith Olbermann. Maybe he's operating under the "any publicity is good publicity" model, but when all you ever get is bad publicity..."

Yep, that about sums it up. He's getting exactly what he wants by attacking The Big Lead, Simmons, and the like. Oh, and if you're interested the ass is going to be on Outside the Lines later today for a segment about the brashness and fair-reporting in the media. That should be interesting....it airs at 3:30 I believe.

UPDATE: Just remembered this. Colin's magically "4th hour" of the program is actually hour number one that is aired from 9-10am on a handful of ESPN stations. It's not even a real hour of the show and the only large market that airs it is L.A.

Bill Simmons Is Pissed at Shrutebag and a Cleveland Writer I've Never Heard Of (Awful Announcing)