NY Observer > ESPN Inc. http://www.observer.com/taxonomy/term/25082/feed Articles from Observer.com en Angry Sportscaster Keith Olbermann Has Piazza's Bat—And Is Keeping It! http://www.observer.com/node/36932 As spring training turns serious and the Mets and the Yankees limber their hamstrings in the Land of  read more »]]> http://www.observer.com/node/36932#comments Sports ESPN Inc. Keith Olbermann New York Mets New York Yankees Sun, 18 Mar 2007 20:00:00 -0400 Jason Gay 36932 at http://www.observer.com The Crash: Update http://www.observer.com/node/30319 From ESPN:

New York Yankees pitcher Cory Lidle was the pilot of a small airplane that crashed into a 50-story condominium in Manhattan, and Lidle is one of two confirmed dead.

UPDATE: A witness tells the Times, Lidle: "was on an incline, accelerating as he passed. Then he hooked around the corner, he hit the north side of the building, and you heard a tremendous explosion."

Ben has more stories here. And the AP adds:

On Sunday, the day after the Yankees were eliminated from the playoffs, Lidle cleaned out his locker at Yankee Stadium and talked about his interest in flying.

-- Azi Paybarah]]> http://www.observer.com/node/30319#comments Politics Sports Cory Lidle ESPN Inc. Manhattan New York Yankees Wed, 11 Oct 2006 13:03:00 -0400 Observer Staff 30319 at http://www.observer.com ESPN Promotes Violence in Football http://www.observer.com/node/33526 The Halftime show on Monday Night Football on ESPN is featuring something called "Jacked Up," showing the five biggest hits of the previous weekend's action and asking people to vote on which was the best one. The hits are blindside collisions, typically, cornerbacks hurling themselves at receivers, linebackers slicing into quarterbacks. Football is violent enough without this shameful promotion of its worst feature. What's so funny about spinal injury? I'm not surprised that goofball Chris Berman is yucking it up through this crap, but what excuse does Steve Young have? Tony Kornheiser needs to say something, now.]]> http://www.observer.com/node/33526#comments Chris Berman ESPN Inc. Steve Young Tony Kornheiser Tue, 10 Oct 2006 04:27:31 -0400 Observer Staff 33526 at http://www.observer.com Zidane's American Achievement http://www.observer.com/node/33416 Last night during the Triple-A All-Star game on ESPN, Buck Martinez and Jon Sciambi talked about Zinedine Zidane. Today I turn on Cold Pizza on ESPN and Woody Paige is talking about the head butt heard 'round the world. Zidane did more in that moment to bring soccer to the U.S. than Pele did in years.

But everyone I talk to about the World Cup agrees with me: the rules have to change before it can go wide here. Consider that in the 15 games after the first round, the teams scored 26 goals—a meager 1.7 goals a game, leading in four cases to the farce of penalty kick shootouts. And the foolish limit on substitutions, three, meant that Germany and Argentina could play for two hours without us seeing the teenager considered one of the best players in the world, Lionel Messi. Bo-ring.

Hey we know what we're talking about, we invented some pretty good games. Soccer could take a rule from baseball—substitute your way down through the whole roster;another from basketball—when a player fouls out you can still replace him; and another from football—keep playing in a tie till one team scores.]]> http://www.observer.com/node/33416#comments ESPN Inc. Jon Sciambi Woody Paige Zinedine Zidane Thu, 13 Jul 2006 12:01:19 -0400 Observer Staff 33416 at http://www.observer.com NYC to Soccer Fans: Drop Dead (Pulls Plug on Little Italy Jumbotron) http://www.observer.com/node/33403 There we were jammed on to Spring Street in the 26th minute, watching the Adidas-sponsored Jumbotron, along with I don't know, 5,000 other soccer fans, when the screen went black. We all waited for it to spark back on. Nothing. A guy with glasses and a headset climbed onto the thing and made an inaudible announcement, versions of which were passed through the crowd: There were too many people in the street, they hadn't counted on this crowd, it was considered a danger, the police had ordered it shut down.

At least that was the word on the street, as we sprinted for cabs to watch the game elsewhere.

And throughout the rest of the game, ESPN offered us shots of City Hall Plaza in Boston, crammed with what looked to be 20,000 fans. I know, everyone loves Bloomberg. But does the city have to be so goddamn efficient all the time?]]> http://www.observer.com/node/33403#comments adidas AG Boston ESPN Inc. Sony Jumbotron Sun, 09 Jul 2006 14:42:56 -0400 Observer Staff 33403 at http://www.observer.com Racism in Soccer on ESPN http://www.observer.com/node/33366 "Racism in Soccer" was the teaser line ESPN kept putting on the screen to hold its audience for the halftime show of the Brazil-Ghana match. When we got to halftime, it turned out to be a report about comments made in 2004 by Aragones, the Spanish coach, when he baited his players to beat "the black," Thierry Henry. 2004? That's bait and switch. Let's talk about racism right now. Where was the satellite feed from Accra, Ghana, during today's game? ESPN has given us crowds in Buenos Aires, Mexico City, and Sydney, Australia. But from Africa, where a whole continent was hanging on the bold boys from Ghana, nada.]]> http://www.observer.com/node/33366#comments Brazil ESPN Inc. Ghana Thierry Henry Tue, 27 Jun 2006 08:57:24 -0400 Observer Staff 33366 at http://www.observer.com Gabe Shanoff http://www.observer.com/node/38998 May 16, 2006 4:05 a.m. 7 pounds St. Vincent’s Hospital    read more »]]> http://www.observer.com/node/38998#comments Brooklyn Heights ESPN Inc. Margery Shanoff Peter Leisure Sun, 18 Jun 2006 20:00:00 -0400 Daisy Carrington 38998 at http://www.observer.com Franco-Gate http://www.observer.com/node/33091 Julio Franco's oldest-man-ever home run last night for the Mets has set off fresh controversy about his age. The Times stands by the official version, 47, today. But commentators on ESPN, notably Tony Rome, have been insisting that Franco is 50. This is not a trivial discrepancy for middle aged men, notably moi. We are pulling for the high number. Are there any investigative reporters in San Pedro de Macoris?]]> http://www.observer.com/node/33091#comments ESPN Inc. Julio Franco The New York Times Company Tony Rome Fri, 21 Apr 2006 18:01:21 -0400 Observer Staff 33091 at http://www.observer.com Dissing Jackie Robinson http://www.observer.com/node/33074 ESPN celebrated Jackie Robinson day by having no blacks at the desk for Baseball Tonight. 0-4.

The oversight was especially glaring because minutes before the network had (re)aired its splendid documentary on the high school career of black basketball player Sebastian Telfair, Through the Fire . The documentary horrifies by showing how much emphasis there is on sports in poor black neighborhoods. It ends, tragically, with a father drilling his young son over and over on the court, so the kid can some day follow in Telfair's footsteps. Fat chance.

ESPN could honor Jackie Robinson by getting the ratios behind the desks closer to the ratios on the field. And by promoting more black commentators without requiring that they be star athletes first. Harold Reynolds, Kenny Smith, and even Joe Morgan have all proved to be more impressive as commentators than they were in action.]]> http://www.observer.com/node/33074#comments ESPN Inc. Jackie Robinson Joe Morgan Sebastian Telfair Sat, 15 Apr 2006 17:00:54 -0400 Observer Staff 33074 at http://www.observer.com Times Tenants http://www.observer.com/node/34484 Lois Weiss says Forest City Ratner may have a couple of serious prospects to take space at the new Times HQ: ESPN and the Dechert law firm. -Matthew Schuerman]]> http://www.observer.com/node/34484#comments Real Estate ESPN Inc. Forest City Ratner Companies Lois Weiss Thu, 30 Mar 2006 06:46:29 -0500 Observer Staff 34484 at http://www.observer.com