TBO and the Brett Favre hype
August 7, 2008 at 12:19 pm by Wayne GarciaNow that No. 4 is officially not coming to the Tampa Bay Bucs, let’s take a quick look at just exactly how we came to think such a thing was in the works anyway. Because throughout this “story,” there was never any solid sourcing done, especially by the Tampa Trib-Newschannel 8-tbo.com nexus.
Consider this from the morning’s account on TBO, annoucing Favre’s Jets deal:
Though the Bucs were once believed to be the favorites to land quarterback Brett Favre … [emphasis added]
Who once believed that? The story doesn’t say. It, in fact, uses the waffle-word “believed” on four occasions, believing what the Bucs may have offered for Favre, believing what the Jets did offer for the QB, etc.
Even as the trade was being completed with the Jets, the Trib’s sports reporters were posting up a video of themselves circle-jerking about the notion that Favre could be coming here. Ira Kaufman says, “I expect Favre in pewter.” That vid drew stinging responses within two hours of its posting last night, as shown in these two comments:
Posted by Steve, on 08/06 at 11:54 PM
So much for that report, Trib. Jay Glazer of FOX Sports just trumped you with the story about Favre traded to the JETS … not the BUCS.
Hey clowns … still think he’s coming to Tampa?
Posted by James Thomas, Seminole on 08/06 at 11:45 PM
Well said James, Cory and Steve.
The Tampa Tribune is a laughing stock.
We all knew Cummings and Kaufman were a couple of dueches but now the whole country gets a taste of the sour puss we’ve feed all this time now.
These flakes should both be fired as well as the editor.
And on the 11 p.m. Newschannel 8 telecast last night, before the Jets deal hit the news wires, one viewer tells me the anchors were touting the number of hits that tbo.com was getting on its Favre coverage.
That followed this from yesterday’s TBO coverage early Wednesday:
LAKE BUENA VISTA – His feelings seemingly too hurt to return to the Green Bay Packers, iconic quarterback Brett Favre was close to finalizing an agreement Tuesday that could make him a Buccaneer as soon as today.
A deal between the two teams was nearing completion after Favre had substantive talks with the Bucs, a source close to the negotiations said.
Today, we come to find out that is hooey. The Times reports:
General manager Bruce Allen said the Bucs never made an offer for quarterback Brett Favre because the Green Bay Packers refused to trade him to an NFC team.
Allen acknowledged that the Bucs did receive permission to talk to Favre, but said they were one of 18 teams that were granted that right.
“”There was no negotiations,” Allen said. “There was never any substantive talk about what they would take to trade him. So all of that was speculation. From the beginning, I think it was clear it was a bad situation in Green Bay and they had to deal with it any way they could.
“Green Bay never told us what they were even interested in trading him for,” Allen said.
Here’s how TBO justified the hype: trade rumors were “fueled” by the absence of the Bucs GM from training camp earlier this week and the fact that backup Brian Griese was given the day off as well. He was rumored to be trade bait. And, of course, there was Jon Gruden’s refusal to comment on the whole mess, which, of course, was taken as a confirmation:
Also fueling speculation was the Bucs continued refusal to quell the Favre-to-Tampa rumors. Coach Jon Gruden even went so far as to say early last week that a proclamation of that nature would be “unfair to Brett Favre.”
The Times, in contrast, consistently played the “possibility” that Favre could become a Buc more appropriately. The story of Favre not coming wasn’t even featured high atop tampabay.com; it occupied one of the rotating images well down the screen.
I know, I know, I am Monday morning quarterbacking (pun intended), but this is sloppy and hyped journalism from the company that is “Pewter Partners” with the Bucs, whose sports reporters appear alongside football players in TV commercials pimping the team and the newspaper’s coverage. So a lack of objectivity and distance from the story isn’t surprising at all. Just embarrassing as hell.
August 7th, 2008 at 12:41 pm
Bungled, sloppy reporting aside …
If all the reports were bogus, then why didn’t Gruden or someone else with the Bucs org simply step in and say so?
How many times did Gruden respond with a non-denial denial?
Could it be that the Glazers were happy to get this blast of free 1A publicity at the start of ticket-selling season?
Remind me again: How much does ti cost a family of four to attend a single Bucs game?
August 7th, 2008 at 2:17 pm
Right on, Wayne. I mean, you could give the Trib some latitude on the “believed” part, since ESPN and the sports talk shows were putting the Bucs out there as a leading candidate for Favre’s services. But just a little latitude, since there’s something rather unsavory about the media using its own speculation and wishful thinking as a “source.”
And Buc$$$: A “non-denial denial” is one of those unfortunate media tropes the press uses to keep a story alive. Even in the Times, Gruden’s comments on the Favre situation were given the context of, “Ooh, isn’t he being coy?” Uh, no, he was doing the right thing.
August 7th, 2008 at 3:13 pm
Depends on what the meaning of “the right thing” is.
IMO, knowing the truth but purposely refusing to tell the truth in order to promote an agenda isn’t doing the right thing.
Then again, sports-team owners aren’t exactly exemplars of ethical behavior.
August 7th, 2008 at 4:01 pm
Wayne … this is the BEST coverage I’ve seen on this yet.
Seeing the new statements from Bruce Allen that Green Bay wasn’t even CONSIDERING the Bucs because they were an NFC team really irks me because the way the Trib was talking, not only was this trade to Tampa a done deal, but they were shocked that Favre wasn’t flying to Tampa at that moment. When in reality, Tampa was never in the running.
This was not sloppy journalism … this was deceptive journalism. Is that what this industry has turned into?
August 7th, 2008 at 4:40 pm
We do have to hand out some big ol’ grains of salt for consumption with Allen’s statements, agreeing with for those who make that point about the veracity of NFL GM’s involved in secret trade talks or contract negotiations.
August 7th, 2008 at 4:43 pm
The ghost of Tom McEwen lives.
…the Trib’s sports reporters were posting up a video of themselves circle-jerking about the notion that Favre could be coming here.
Anwar Richardson: (Brett Farve) will pump money into the economy.
Comedy gold.
Anwar Richardson: sports writer and economist. The Brookings Institution needs to hire this great economic mind. We need to start a petition so Anwar’s true talents go to waste.
August 7th, 2008 at 5:59 pm
A few years ago, I wrote an April Fool’s “story” in CL (then Weekly Planet) about Charlie Sheen coming to St. Pete to make a baseball movie. There were plenty of signals that this was a spoof. A St. Pete Times writer called up and was properly suspicious of the joke.
The Tampa Trib didn’t call. But they ran a story the next day as if this was a big scoop. They even used my made-up quotes as if they had been given to the Trib.
I had a great time point out the Trib’s traditional lack of journalism ethics, and its gullibility. Last time I checked the story on Lexis-Nexis, it was still there with no explanation that the Trib was, indeed, a fool.
Looks like the Favre story had about as much substance as my Charlie Sheen story, and the Trib was just as eager to bite.
August 8th, 2008 at 10:31 am
Steve Duemig had a point on his show yesterday … he said that the media seemed to know exactly what the New York Jets were offering, but no one knew what the Buccaneers were offering. To him, despite his distrust of Bruce Allen, he believes that if the Bucs really were in the running like the papers claimed, there would’ve been SOMETHING leaked out about it.
So he tends to believe that the Bucs were never really in the race.
I think this was something concocted to try and pull in some of the extraordinary traffic that was being generated online about Brett Favre. It’s sensationalism, yellow journalism at its best.
August 8th, 2008 at 10:17 pm
Bucs were wrong for not putting the whole thing to rest early on. Trib was wrong for thinking they had scoop and overhyping it three ways: in print, online and on TV.
One question I bet never came up in all those News Center discussions: “You sure about this, Ira?”
Pewter Partners, indeed.
August 11th, 2008 at 9:19 am
I “believe” the Trib should do us all a “Favre” and give it up.