Posted on 08/23/2016 2:28:19 PM PDT by drewh
Tuesday morning, the front page of ESPN.com which has long been the most valuable piece of Internet real estate in all of sports featured a story on the baseball exploits of ex-NFL quarterback Tim Tebow.
According to the article, more than two-thirds of all MLB teams apparently have at least some interest in the Heisman Trophy winner, who last played baseball in high school where he was an all-state selection in Florida.
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Just how did ESPN manage to land this scoop? Lets break it down.
Heres the first line of the report:
Tim Tebow is scheduled to hold a workout for Major League Baseball teams on Aug. 30 in Los Angeles, a source told ESPNs Jerry Crasnick.
The very next line cites a (different?) source talking to another ESPN reporter.
More than 20 MLB teams are confirmed to attend the workout, a source told ESPNs Adam Schefter.
Two paragraphs down, a third ESPN reporter gets in on the anonymous source fun.
Tebow had a tryout with the Los Angeles Dodgers before this season, sources have told ESPNs Darren Rovell. A scout was present for the workout, and the team showed interest in Tebow afterward, the sources said.
Three anonymous source citations from three different reporters in five paragraphs is already problematic for a report that hardly qualifies as being Watergate-level in terms of the publics need to know. What further complicates matters is that Tim Tebow is currently under contract with ESPN. And this report, save for one brief mention of the mixed reaction surrounding Tebows desire to play baseball, basically reads as PR fluff.
The Rovell-reported passage is clear in what it implies. A major league team actually saw Tebow play baseball, and is still interested in him. That anonymously sourced information is very clearly communicating that Tim Tebow can still play baseball. And its placement on the ESPN homepage makes it essentially a commercial to the MLB teams not already ticketed to attend Tebows workout on Aug. 30 (which exists, a source told Jerry Crasnick, and will have 20 teams in attendence, a source told Adam Schefter).
Hey, youd better get in on the frenzy. Tim Tebow is here, and he can help sell a bushel of tickets for your Double-A team!
And ESPN is looking to capitalize on Tebow-mania too, which it, of course, is helping to create. They want people tuning in to whatever broadcast he pops up on during the baseball offseason. As it stands now, ESPN will almost certainly profit off of Tim Tebows baseball exploits. Hes back in the news, at the top of peoples minds.
Tim Tebow is immensely popular. Theres no getting around that, whether one is a fan of his or not. So the revelation that hes pursuing a baseball career is news, and ESPN is justified in running it, and featuring it high up on the website.
But when ESPN gets an anonymously sourced scoop about an employee, then runs a puff piece off of which they will profit, theyre wading into murky journalistic waters.
At the very least, ESPN should sever its ties with Tebow for as long hes pursuing his baseball career. Otherwise, ESPNs journalistic integrity may take a hit.
Yep. The train has left the station. And well, that’s it for Tebow because the next train won’t be coming.
Do your ember Jim Morris who went to a tryout camp, he was a high school coach, and made a major league team at 35 around the year 2000?They actually made a movie about it.
Not saying Tebow will even be signed butt it is possible.
Yeah, but Chuck Conners did the sports thing before he went into acting. Not the other way around.
Also Kirk Gibson, as well as a few others.
Morris could throw a 98 mph pitch. Morris had somewhat of a natural arm and was quite the novelty because of his age. He was drafted earlier in his career when he was much younger and played some minor league ball without much success. His entire “career” consisted of less than 20 MLB appearances and his career pitching stats were 0-0 with a 4.80 era and only 13 total strikeouts.
Read his Wiki entry to see that he was kind of a major publicity stunt for the TB Devil Rays at the time because of his age, Morris was no phenom, he could just still throw in the high 90s at an old age, hence he helped sell tickets late in the season of a non contending ball team. They finished last in the AL east that season.
Christianphobe ? I thought it was changed to Istanbul ?
Way to go there pastor.
Supposedly his teammates used to call him ‘the Thespian.’ As in he would give these amazing double takes on supposed outside pitches called strikes that his manager couldn’t see. The idea was to make the manager think the ump made a bad call on an outside pitch when Chuck couldn’t pull the trigger on a strike on the black. Pretty funny!
Freegards
He could have played in the NFL if but he refused to switch positions.
Now, don't compare the athletic ability of Jordan to Tebow!
To be fair, baseball has not *nearly* as much to do with athletic ability as it does skill...
My point was just that Tebow has shown athletic ability specifically for baseball. I’m not about to compare them on general athletic abilty. I’m not even sure how you could try to.
He might make a minor league team, but he will never make a major league team.
That is very true, but those skills have to be refined over the years, not neglected.
“No - word is that Tebow is looking for a corner outfield slot, not a pitching role. He will have holes in his swing, and not a lot of time to close them, given his age.”
Not a smart move if Tebow is trying to make it as an outfielder.
As a left handed pitcher Tebow can be there in two years or less for the Dodgers. There are 24 pitchers on the major league active and inactive roster; 12 of them are on the disabled list and only two left handers on the 25 man roster.
>>Not a chance. Id never let him take up space on one of my minor league rosters. He might be nice guy, but this is business.
Still have the same opinion? The Mets don’t!
on the other hand, he is dating Miss Universe
"Lady, I'm not an athlete. I'm a professional baseball player."
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