ESPN can muster the courage to hammer John Beilein and Manny Harris for an inadvertent elbow to Chris Kramer’s nose, which it deemed worthy of an all-out blitz against Michigan led by Jay Bilas and followed by Pat Forde. But last night, a Kyle Singler elbow to Tyler Hansbrough’s face barely merited a discussion during the telecast or in the studio by Rece Davis, Hubert Davis or Jay Bilas. And, of course, no candor from Duke.
It’s hard not to have watched last night’s Carolina-Duke game and not come away reaffirmed in the belief of ESPN’s inherent conflict of interest. It’s even harder to argue that ESPN is an objective bastion of journalism, particularly when it comes to Duke. From its tentacle reach into every aspect of major college sport, it’s clear ESPN is a commercial empire first and foremost, and its college basketball icon is Coach K. Hold Duke accountable, let alone view them through an objective lens, and ESPN plays against its commercial self-interest.
From North Carolina’s News & Observer:
ANOTHER RIVALRY MOMENT: It wouldn’t be the Duke-Carolina rivalry without some sort of shove, push or elbow.
This time, it was the latter.
With 19:44 left, Duke’s Kyle Singler was laying stomach-down across Hansbrough lap in a scrum for a loose ball when Singler slung his right elbow back into Hansbrough’s face, earning a technical foul. Green buried both technical free throws to cut Duke’s lead to 52-46.
Asked if he thought the elbow was an accident, Hansbrough said: “You know how things are when you get up there in a pile, and that’s all I can really say.”
Said Singler: “I didn’t think I hit him. It wasn’t intentional. I was just trying to pop the ball out of his hands.”
One problem with that, um, explanation: The ball wasn’t in Hansbrough’s hands; it was in Singler’s.
Here’s the post-game commentary from the ESPN studio:
Jay Bilas: There’s no place for elbows in the game.
Rece Davis: Correct.
That’s it. During the game, Dick Vitale causally called it a “no-no” and Mike Patrick even suggested that Duke could argue that Singler’s hand slipped off the ball.
Perfunctory.
In a world where loads of injustice exists, ESPN’s failure to hammer Duke as it did Michigan doesn’t constitute a tragedy. But a Duke bias is a reality, from ESPN to game officials, and it’s one that creates an uneven playing field. Last week, DeQaun Jones was ejected for his forearm shiver to Greg Paulus last week, which was replayed on the Cameron Scoreboard to the incitement of the Duke fans. Earlier this season, Jack McClinton was ejected for swatting Ohio State’s Anthony Crater. Devan Dumes was ejected and suspended indefinitely by Tom Crean for attempting to elbow Tom Herzog.
Gerald Henderson’s elbow to Hansbrough’s nose two seasons ago elicited from Coach K a perfunctory Gerald’s not that kind of player and Duke’s not that kind of team. These four incidents, and there are surely more, including Zack Novak’s elbow to PJ Hill’s neck, were all intentional. But where Duke is the culprit, no contrition.
It’s hard to determine what was in Singler’s mind. It did earn a technical foul. What merits an ejection? What would have happened if Singler really connected, intentional or not? It seems clear enough that Singler wasn’t being honest when he claimed he was just trying to “pop the ball out” since he had it. It’s also clear that he could have hurt Hansbrough. And finally, it’s clear that again, there was no contrition from the Duke bench or much real concern from Bilas or ESPN.
Bilas is a smart guy and usually does a nice job, but he is way too compromised by his friendships and grudges. Mgoblog has ably documented Bilas’s ridiculous grudge against Michigan for firing his painfully incompetent buddy Tommy Amaker (has any non-cheating, non-psycho coach ever so richly deserved the axe?). Last year, he spouted a bunch of nonsense about “due process” that was intended to fool non-lawyers into believing that IU was railroading Kelvin Sampson, when actually IU was carefully affording to Sampson the process he was due under the contract. This is the second time in three years that a Duke-UNC game has been marred by late-game headhunting by Duke. Does need to “get control of his program”?
With so many idiots on TV, it’s a shame to see one of the truly bright and insightful commentators go down this road.
Left by John M on February 12th, 2009