By Jeff Moss
DetroitSportsRag@GMail.com
February 1, 2014
There are very few moments of raw honesty in the Detroit sports media and they are virtually nonexistent on sports talk radio. But Saturday morning on Detroit Sports 105.1, there was a brief, upfront discussion about “journalism” in this town.
But as soon as talk show host Rico Beard had expressed his true feelings about the bought-and-paid-for nature of this town’s media, noted douche bag Ryan Ermanni stomped all over Beard’s honesty.
This all occurred in response to a conversation about the local media’s handling of Brendan Gibbons’ alleged sexual assault — a total embarrassment even for this neutered group.
Anyone with access to the World Wide Web knew back in August that the police had been investigating the Michigan kicker for assault and his friend, Taylor Lewan (a potential first-round pick in the 2014 NFL Draft), for allegedly bullying the accuser back in 2009.
The website Washtenaw Watchdogs had done a thorough job of exposing this allegation and all the mainstream media had to do was to take the story and run with it.
But did Angelique Chengelis of the Detroit News write an article when all she had to do was left click her mouse and pull up the police report? Nope.
Did the Detroit Free Press and Mark Snyder broach this subject? Of course not. Because this issue clearly wasn’t as serious as when Snyder and Michael Rosenberg went “Woodward and Bernstein” on Rich Rodriguez a couple of years back.
Look, in the grand scheme of things, practicing for a few more minutes than what the NCAA allows is of much greater importance than a college student allegedly being raped by a college football player and then allegedly being threatened with ANOTHER sexual assault by a future NFL first-round pick.
Anyway, NOBODY did anything after the Washtenaw Watchdog did everyone else’s dirty work. I was so disgusted by the situation that I mocked Gibbons all season long whenever he missed a key field goal by Tweeting out that he was an alleged rapist. I even asked Brian Cook of MGoBlog about the subject during a Podcast we taped back on December 4th.
Which brings us to the Beard and Ermanni discussion from this morning. I would HIGHLY ADVISE that you listen to the audio in its entirety because in it Ermanni provides us a window into the mindset of the lazy and non-confrontatial media shitbags in this town.
Ryan Ermanni Makes a Total Fool of Himself …. AGAIN
Just in case the sound of Ermanni’s voice causes you to have epileptic seizures, I will transcribe some of the “highlights” from this man’s demented brain.
But first, here are Beard’s brutally honest words. I have written similar sentiments on this website since we launched it eleven years ago, but it’s nice to have an actual Detroit media member confirm my suspicions…
Here is the problem with investigating a story like this … The sports media, or just the media in general, have kind of blurred the lines [so] that we kind of become a pseudo … we’re like the PR for different teams and organizations. Instead of just asking the hardcore questions, a lot of us are partners with the team in shows. You have access. You have the Ford Lions Report. […] You are kind of connected with the team in certain areas and they give you the access […] If you rock the boat then they are going to cut you off.
If you go after a major organization like this, you have to be ready for all of the fallout, all of the repercussions and you’re not going to get any help because everyone is going to be against you.
EXACTLY. Thanks, Rico, for stating something that is apparent to any Detroit sports fan with a freaking brain. The media landscape is so awful and corrupt these days that reading a site like this one is mandatory for any thinking sports fan.
And Not Rod Beard only scratched the surface with this comment. It’s an epidemic. Do you know why the Free Press couldn’t post a scathing article about William Clay Ford, Sr.’s ownership on the 50th anniversary of his purchase of the franchise and instead went with a puff piece penned by Dave Birkett?
The newspapers are DYING. They haven’t figured out how to monetize their websites to the fullest and ad revenue is WAY down. If Birkett writes a truthful and accurate portrayal of Ford’s bumbling stewardship over the last six decades as opposed to a sympathetic piece, the paper runs the risk of retaliation from both The Ford Motor Company and the Metro Detroit Ford Dealers.
With advertising dollars being as scarce as they are in this recession-riddled town, the Detroit Free Press cannot alienate a major client over a subsidiary business.
Just imagine for a second that Lady Jane’s Haircuts for Men started advertising on the DSR. Do you think I could allow someone to come on the site and write a blog about their shitty barbers? So what makes the Freep and News any different when their entire business model is crashing down around them??!?!?!
Then you have the external pressure from the organizations. Take the Tigers, for example, when known fuckstick Brian Britten was still in charge of Media Relations for the team. I have been approached by THREE different media members about the harassment they endured from Britten because they were asking Jim Leyland questions the Tigers organization didn’t like.
This stooge would actually pull credentialed media members to the side after a Leyland media scrum and scold them about their inquiries.
I have also been advised that in the past, the Lions’ Senior Vice President of Communications, Bill Keenist, was known to pull the same crap on the media members who covered that team for a living.
And don’t even get me started on the team-run websites, which have completely destroyed any remaining claims of objectivity when it comes to sports reporting in this town. In the aftermath of “William Clay Ford, Sr.” filing a criminal complaint against me a few days ago, I have heard from various people regarding the Lions tin-eared approach to journalism, Including a former employee of DetroitLions.com. This individual told me that the team encouraged headlines like “Calvin Johnson scores two touchdowns versus Falcons” even if the real lede was Atlanta beating the hometown team 42-14, and that even the slightest bit of criticism was “frowned upon.”
So, that’s the current level of toxicity in our city …. IN OUR CITY …. And that is why everyone dropped the ball on both the Gibbons situation and the allegations that MSU basketball players Keith Appling and Adreian Payne were involved in a similar incident.
As Beard so eloquently stated, ya can’t piss of your sugar daddy, or he will cut you off “at the knees.”
Which leads us to Ermanni’s incredible take on this topic from Saturday. It is amazing that someone in the media could be so clueless, but we are talking about a man who once DEFENDED a friend of his on Facebook who was using the term “spearchucker” and the N-word. Ermanni also once called some DSR fans in a Joe Louis Arena restroom “a bunch of fags.”
There isn’t a more reprehensible character in the Detroit media world — and that is saying something. The following comments only add to the legend ….
Rico, you and I heard about this story a LONG time ago ….. We did drop the ball. Not you and I, but the media did drop the ball by not pursuing, this I believe.
In one sentence, he admits to knowing about the Gibbons incident for a LONG time. The dolt actually emphasizes the word LONG and then, two sentences later, exonerates himself from any blame in the story’s cover-up. Can you imagine the lack of self-awareness? But “The Gambler” wasn’t done ….
The days of investigating stories like this doesn’t benefit anybody. You don’t benefit. You don’t gain anything from investigating a story like this, in my opinion.
It’s not a beat writer’s responsibility. It’s not a radio talk show host’s responsibility … Remember when Michael Rosenberg broke the Michigan story that they practiced for 15 minutes too long? .. He got death threats over that .. Okay … Guy just reported … He got several death threats over that .. If you’re a newspaper guy, if you’re an investigative journalist, you have absolutely nothing to gain by digging into a story like this, and everything to lose … You have to pick your battles.
If you are wrong about this, your career, your livelihood is over.
If you are right about this, people hate you for bringing it out to the point where they send you death threats. What is there to gain, if you’re a media member, to investigate a specific story like this?
These are the words of a supposed broadcast JOURNALIST. Not only does this imbecile draw a check from Greater Media for his work on the radio, he is an employee of Fox-2 and has absolutely ZERO clue regarding what the profession of journalism should be about.
This guy is talking about death threats from fans like they are something to be taken seriously. Can you PLEASE provide me with the name of one SPORTS reporter who was ever killed by a rabid fan of a team. The last time I checked, Michael RosenNebbish is still walking the streets of Ann Arbor, eating at Zingerman’s and making awful jokes on the website of Sports Illustrated.
Sports journalists are in absolutely no danger of physical violence and the act of being critical towards professional and collegiate sports teams is not heroic.
“You don’t gain anything from investigating a story like this, in my opinion.”
Can you imagine? There are REAL media members out there who put their lives on the line every single day. People like Daniel Pearl, who got decapitated for attempting to report on Al Qaeda. Broadcast journalist Bob Woodruff was maimed by an IED in Iraq. There are countless other stories of journalistic heroism as well.
But Ermanni doesn’t think there is any value in sports reporters exposing teams’ malfeasance because there is nothing in it FOR THEM.
Well, how about earning your god damn paycheck? Or having a modicum of credibility in the eyes of your readers, viewers and listeners? JUST DOING YOUR JOB!!!!????
“What is there to gain, if you’re a media member, to investigate a specific story like this?”
HOW ABOUT JUSTICE FOR A GIRL WHO WAS ALLEGEDLY SEXUALLY ASSAULTED AND THEN ALLEGEDLY BULLIED FOR REPORTING THE ACT TO AUTHORITIES?!?!!?!?!?!
You fucking child. You company man. You human piece of excrement.
How does this total buffoon still have a gig? Hey, Dan Miller, are you not humiliated that this THING is under your employ?
Fred Girard must be rolling over in his grave.