SB Nation DC: All Posts by Kyle Weidie

Mississippi State Fans, Welcome To Dual Quarterbacks

2010-09-10T13:36:08Z

You must ask yourself, which late-game play more epitomized Mississippi State’s passing game (and its glaring lack of chemistry) on Thursday night, this one (Chris Relf to Leon Berry on 2nd and 10 with the game on the line):

Or this one (Relf to open space on 4th and 10 with the game on the line):

....Which, of course, raises a couple questions amongst Cowbell Nation. First, did playing two quarterbacks hurt State against Auburn? And if so, is that okay?

Sometimes Chris Relf looked like he was gaining rhythm. Sometimes he looked like a cross between Wayne Madkin and a poor man’s JaMarcus Russell. But he can sure run that option and really open up the field.

Tyler Russell, on the other hand, is the future Bulldog fans have been waiting on, and frankly, one they’ve never had. Some drunk just drooled the name Kevin Fant. Go back to sleep, buddy.

But Russell, the green piece of fresh fish that he still is, doesn’t yet have the decision-making that can compensate for the plays Relf makes with his feet. But it will come in time, and that's why he needs to be on the field along with Relf.

Quickly, don’t let me leave without calling out the receivers, who were the culprits greater than quarterback moxie, or lack thereof, on Thursday night, the first SEC head-to-head on the year. Under the big lights, the palms buried the fingers in sand.

Chad Bumphis set a tone early with a drop ... although Dan Mullen did go to him on the next two snaps, instilling confidence in on of his top play-makers. But from TE Marcus Green’s drop in the end zone (at least State ended up scoring) to WR Leon Berry’s drop close to the end, I’d say hands drills need to be the focus in practice for the next several days.

But in the end, it will be two quarterbacks until Dan Mullen decides that it won’t be. And Mississippi State fans, you’ll take it. This team is developing with hope, not hoping for a premature destination.

Besides, I’d rather Tyler Russell be welcomed to the SEC sooner rather than later.

Or this one (Relf to open space on 4th and 10 with the game on the line):

Lessons Learned From Mike Wise And Twitter

2010-08-31T17:17:42Z

Today on his radio show on D.C.’s 106.7 The Fan, Mike Wise announced that he will be serving a one-month suspension from the Washington Post for his actions on Twitter Monday. Wise realizes what he did was wrong, and certainly sounds a lot more genuinely contrite than Gilbert Arenas ever did. For the full story of what happened, check out SB Nation, the DC Sports Bog and Press Coverage

We should take the Wise Twitter incident as what it is: a lesson learned. Appreciate it and move on. Someone had to do it, and thankfully, Wise, as a local guy, brought it to the attention of the D.C. sports media community and then to the wider web of the world. Before moving on, let’s take a look at what we’ve learned from the whole ordeal.

1) Social media is not to be messed with as a legit platform.

Main stream media types, including columnists who relish living in a gray area, will certainly be tempted to test the merits of new media. But just because some call it the ‘Wild Wild West’ doesn’t mean they are outside of the environment. They’ve got their cowboy boots on too, but general standards should still be in their pocket. Everyone must tread carefully, from publishing your private life on Facebook to making professional claims on Twitter or other outlets.

2) The Wild West wasn’t a free-for-all, there were self-governing laws.

Twitter isn’t that much different from any other medium. For instance, since emotions and sarcasm can’t always be expressed in 140 characters, it’s probably best to make the intent of a message clear, perhaps with a #zing or a #syke hashtag. Wise didn’t get away with his hoax, he was raked over the coals, and quickly, on Twitter. He made his bed and sleeps in it as punishment. And when you think about it, it’s kinda cool to track the responses of other journalists to a mistake of one journalist.

3) The self-correcting 24-hour news cycle and learning fast.

Sure, Wise’s credible word spread quickly, duping several, but the correction and backlash spread just as fast. This isn’t a huge misprint in the morning paper on doorsteps, this is the web. And although permanent, as everything on the web is (and as Wise realized on his radio show Tuesday morning -- what you say, even on the radio, doesn’t fall into some technology abyss), a 24-hour news cycle that’s quick to publish is also quick to recognize when someone makes a doofus move.

See how quickly we learn lessons? Don’t hate the technology, hate the misuse of the technology.

4) So ... the "source" issue.

Does Pro Football Talk assume some blame for blogging a Tweet? Minimal. Reporters have been reporting on the reports of other reporters for years. It just happens much, much faster now. Does this really come as a surprise?

Think of it this way: if reporters/columnists/journalists did what Wise did all the time, there would be a lot of fecal matter hitting the fan. So don’t exactly blame PFT or any other site for being quick to relay a message.

Sure, Wise can play the "I’m just a silly ole columnist, I’ve never broken news via Twitter" card, but it’s not the means, nor the "failure of technology" (another reason/excuse given by Wise) which should be cited as a brunt of the blame. Previously, the only way to tell the difference, in nature, between what Wise Tweeted and a headline on the National Enquirer was that Wise stood with the Washington Post and the other stood with you in line as you wait to pay for your groceries ... transparency and credibility being the main differentiators. You're not that transparent when trying to stand behind the technology of Twitter instead of the standards of a media organization such as the Post.

5) "In 2010, one sentence from one writer is enough to create a cascade of news stories published without any real vetting or sourcing."

This sentence, as relayed by the DC Sports Bog, is representative of Wise’s "idea" that he’s been "interested in for months."

While "cute", the silliness of this idea is absurd. A sentence, formed of words, coming from a credible mouth (or fingers) carries the same weight, and meaning, no matter where it appears. Is it really necessarily to test the vehicle when it’s the words which make the difference? If you put milk instead of gas in a car, it’s not going to run. If you put poison out on the Twitter machine, and you are an established entity like Wise, the engine is going to sputter, smoke and attract unwanted attention. Mission accomplished if that’s what Wise wanted to do, which seems to be the case. He just probably didn't intend to achieve attention via the cost of a one-month suspension.

---

In the end, there are a number of better ways that Wise, perhaps, could have tested the responsiveness of one sentence thrust upon social media. Yelling "Fire!" in a crowded theater wasn’t one of them. The education is fast, and all that really needs to be done by the web world is to put Wise in a head lock, rub his hair noogie-style (if he had any), and send him on his way.

Now we all are just a little more aware. Thank you Mike Wise.

Steve Francis Doesn't Even Own The D.C. Courts. Just Ask Curt Smith

2010-08-10T19:36:39Z

OK, so Steve Francis is not entering Stephon Marbury territory, even though you could see his comments to SLAM Magazine as a desperate thrust for one last grasp at relevancy ... or him just being idiotically silly. To recap, Francis said:

"To be the greatest player out of the DC/Maryland area since Len Bias ... Kevin Durant can’t say that. Michael Beasley can’t say that. None of those guys can say that. I am the best player to come out of DC since [Bias]."

The SLAM article actually came out in April, as DC Sports Bog's Dan Steinberg has pointed out, but Francis also recently reiterated what he calls "true" statements to John Thompson on ESPN 980. Sure, most of Francis’ braggadocious words are just that ... talking smack ... as if acting like and thinking you are the best will make you better.

But too bad for Francis, not only is he wrong, but the game has passed him over. He is irrelevant and no past claims of greatness can negate that.

Oh yea, Francis also told SLAM that he was "the best point guard in the League from 2002 to 2005." Really now? It's times like this we should thank the database at Basketball-Reference.com. Taking those who played mostly guard from the 2002-03 season (when Francis played in 81 games and led the NBA with 299 total turnovers) to the 2004-05 season (filtering those who played more than 200 games during this time), weeding out those who didn't primarily play point guard, and organizing the remaining by PER (in parens), you are left with this list:

Sam Cassell (21.7)
Steve Nash (21.7)
Allen Iverson (21.5)
Stephon Marbury (20.8)
Jason Kidd (20.6)
Chauncey Billups (19.3)
Gilbert Arenas (19.0)
Mike Bibby (18.8)
Steve Francis (18.4)

Not too insinuate that PER is the end-all, be-all for measuring top players, but in using it as perhaps the 'best' measurement out there, Francis barely cracks the top 10 NBA point guards over that 3-year span. BTW, see who's tied for first? A guy, Sam Cassell, from Francis' own D.C.-Maryland-Virginia area. Also, a case could be made to include Iverson in the area too.

Simply put, trying to compare Francis to worthy others, whether it's done statistically or through accolades, he loses. Did you know that using the span of Basketball-Reference's database (from 1946-47 to 2009-10), only one player in NBA history, who primarily played guard, appeared in over 500 games during his first seven seasons in the league, had more than 1,900 turnovers and shot less than .450 from the field? Yep, Francis did that. Not exactly winning point guard numbers.

In his first seven seasons in the NBA, Isiah Thomas (wasn't he in the news recently or something) had 2,139 turnovers to Francis' 1,916 during the same time period, but Thomas also had 5,557 assists to Francis' 3,273, 1,205 steals to Francis' 796, and shot .462 from the field to Francis' .430. OK, I digress.

I still can't believe that LaVarr Arrington said (essentially) that Steve Francis vs. Grant Hill was up for debate, because insinuating so is insult enough to the talents of Mr. Hill. The only thing Francis ever had on Hill was that the Franchise had a Reebok shoe commercial with rapper Scarface. Meanwhile, Grant repped Fila in a commercial with Bill Laimbeer. Yuck.

But really, let's throw stats aside and consider that in the minds of D.C. basketball fans, the Goodman League being often at the forefront of the discussion, Steve Francis isn’t even close to being the most beloved. And to be number one in this area, you got to be loved by the masses. Just ask Marion Barry.

Sure, Francis may have dazzled with high point totals and crafty moves, eliciting ooohs and aaaahs from the crowd, (though likely more along the lines of ‘Oh sh*t!! Did you see that?!?.’) But none of that means he was a crowd favorite. Tales of how he used to act would be denoted as LeBronsian in modern day times. Just take this quote from an October 2006 story by the Washington Post’s Mike Wise about Gilbert Arenas playing at Barry Farms

Many of the locals spoke of how former Maryland star and Knicks guard Steve Francis was almost booed off the Barry Farms courts two weeks before because he settled for a few jump shots and left with his unfriendly posse of maybe 10 without hardly mingling. Arenas drove himself.

Of course, that same Wise piece includes this quote about Arenas:

"It started with the free throws," Arenas said. "Then the arrest in Miami. The whole Olympic team ordeal. This has been a rough, rough summer. But you know what? I read a passage that said, 'The fish that swims upstream knows how strong he is.' That's what I did this summer. I swam upstream."

Yep, that’s our Gil ... just felt like including his "rough" 2006 summer for good measure. But I’m also willing to bet Arenas is still in more favor with D.C. b-ball fans than Francis.

Then there’s stories about Francis getting shown up by famed local product Curt Smith. From a 2002 article by Chris Palmer that appeared in ESPN The Magazine:

Last summer Steve Francis walked into McDonough with a team he called Francis' Hitmen, sporting a lineup that included himself, The Wizard, Moochie Norris, Jerome Williams and Cuttino Mobley. And lost. Dropped a 121-120 decision to a group of D.C. playground legends who made their names against these very same players years ago. They still talk about the battle between Curt Smith, little bro' of former Celts guard Charles, and Francis. The Rockets point guard gave the street legend 59 points from all over the court. The treys from the hash mark, wicked crosses and cradle dunks were enough to make sure Smith would never show his face in the gym again. Except for the fact he scored 62 himself. With a deadly fall-away in the lane and a slick separation move while going to the hole, the rock-solid, 6-foot Smith matched Francis shot for shot. And there were no freebies either. I know this for sure -- I was there.

And more from a 2000 article by Matt Hahn from the now defunct HoopsTV.com (available via the Internet WayBack Machine ... so I am going to quote liberally in this instance):

One team that brought the fans out in droves was the Francis Hitmen. Stevie Franchise was the team’s feature performer, (You saw the ridiculous HTV video of him droppin 62) but his supporting cast was nothing to sleep on. Moochie Norris, Jahidi White, Jerome Williams, Obinna Ekezie, and Walt Williams were all on NBA rosters last year. Wink even flew in Houston Rocket teammate Cuttino Mobley for a few runs. Remember Lawrence Moten and Victor Paige? Those two former Big East wreckers rounded out the squad.

Common sense would indicate that this ensemble of big timers dominated the competition and won the championship with ease. It didn’t happen. Why? Have some of Curt "Trouble" Smith. T ran for All Daz and established himself as the #1 stunner at the Kenner.

Who the hell is Curt Smith? He’s an assassin with a tight handle and an arsenal of offensive moves - a playmaker who launches bombs from beyond the NBA arc and rains teardrops over the outstretched arms of defenders when he gets into the paint. He’s also your resident playground hero, a basketball God in DC, who balled for Drake University but hasn’t made the jump to the league.

In the first meeting between of the summer between All Daz and the Francis Hitmen, "Trouble" killed so many cats that many witnesses left the gym wondering where DC was going to get the cash for the memorial to honor his victims. (Dermarr Johnson, Laron Profit, and Coach Thompson were among those observers). Francis was his usual nasty self, pouring in 40 and throwing down highlight reel dunks on the regular, but Smith stole the show. He was insane, scoring from everywhere and on everybody - including Stevie Wonderful. When the final horn sounded, he had dropped 65 and his team scored an upset victory.

The championship game yielded the same result. In the highly anticipated rematch, the Francis Hitmen - minus the Franchise - couldn’t hold Smith. All Daz’s Moochie Norris must have realized Smith couldn’t be stopped, because he mysteriously walked out of the gym with 5 minutes left in the third quarter. In the end, Smith hung 42 and racked up 12 dimes, en route to a 129-122 victory and Kenner League MVP honors.

All that talent around him and Francis' team still got bested? (Smith is 5'11" and Francis is 6'3" by the way.)

Then there's legend that Francis once 'showed' Smith up (or maybe it wasn't Smith, internet record cannot confirm the relayed story) by digging out wads of money from his pockets, laying it on the court and/or giving it to fans, saying something to the effect of how he's so great because of money and finally exiting stage left (and this is after Smith supposedly out-dueled Francis on the court). Seems classy.

[For more about Curt Smith, check out this profile, supposedly from Slam but on www.freebasketball.netfirms.com, or this tale when Smith out-shined Kenny Anderson at the 1989 Capital Classic.]

Is Steve Francis really worth all these words? No, but D.C. basketball is ... and when someone with the basketball dependency of a Quinton Ross jump shot tries to claim they're the best, they need to be set straight. If Steve Francis is wondering where's the love, tell him because of things like this, D.C. has none for him.

This guy on the other hand? Different story.

[via]

WizzNutzz, Mike James And Benga: Social Media Across Continents

2010-08-06T12:07:20Z

The WizzNutzz used to be bloggers. Well, they still are, but very dormant ... yet still active members of the interweb via social media via Twitter. There are often times when the blog world and the media world intersect, the obvious example would be any of the local bloggers covering teams with credentials and interviewing players. It's a gray world, but sometimes lines are drawn. They're not letting Terez Owens into an NFL locker room. And our friends the WizzNutzz, well, they've been banned from the locker room since the stolen Jahidi White thong incident. But that hasn't stopped them from recently interacting with a Wizard, well, former Wizard ... and advising him on a musical selection ... continents apart ... all thanks to Twitter.

Recently, Mike James took a mission trip to Kenya ... went to orphanages, ministered some kids, taught them some b-ball. And he took Twitter with him.

@MikeJames7 - August 3

it was great ministerin2 these kids,and teachin them the game of bball.they didnt know how to hold the ball.they looked atme like iwas crazy

And ... - (same day)

itaught kenyans the game of bball at an orphanage,i asked the question who knows kobe bryant1 person raised hand.can u imagine how that went

It wasn't long until the WizzNutzz, all the way in Wheaton, Maryland (me thinks from the Circuit City graveyard) caught wind of James' good deeds and provided him with some musical consultation.

@WZZNTZZ - Aug. 4

.@mikejames7 buy benga CDs! u'll be dancin the funk rite off u hottt body. +good barter when CID arests u 4no reason

@MikeJames7 - Aug. 4

@wzzntzz what is benga cds, have u been 2 africa.

@WZZNTZZ - Aug. 4

benga is a style of Kenyan music. ask anybody there. it smokin! RT @mikejames7: @wzzntzz what is benga cds

And ...

benga jams for @mikejames7 http://youtu.be/yEmbDR_xyb8 http://youtu.be/O_PxAhG6-q0 http://youtu.be/k9c6d4QVd_A http://youtu.be/eWR_Cvwu8eI

And later on ...

@WZZNTZZ - Aug. 5

@mikejames7 gonna jam some benga today?

@MikeJames7 - Aug. 5

Already benga benga RT @wzzntzz: @mikejames7 gonna jam some benga today?

To conclude ...

@WZZNTZZ - Aug. 5

benga is a music style, not a place, but we share a benga state of mind w/ @mikejames7 RT @6_oconnor_7: @wzzntzz are you with mike at benga?

And if Mike James has been enlightened to benga, you should too.

Rob Dibble Approval Poll: Is The Dibble Charm Getting Old?

2010-07-06T05:30:49Z

To say you didn't see Rob Dibble coming is to say Danny Snyder has never ever interfered. Someone had dubious intentions of selling controversy when hiring Dibble as the "color voice" of the Washington Nationals for MASN. I can’t think of too many ways to describe the guy. He’s like an alternative Poochie from The Simpsons, and excuse me if that much too easy comparison has been made before.

When the former "Nasty Boy" was hired to replace Don Sutton in early 2009, the DC Sports Bog's Dan Steinberg wrote:

Rob Dibble might not have Don Sutton's hair, but he has like 15 billion tattoos and a history of being provocative, so I'm all for it.

And polarizing, provocative characters are what feed a blogger's delight. (I should know.) The Bog's fan approval poll on Dibble's hiring was pretty split: 39 percent approved, 40 percent disapproved and 20 percent had no idea.

It wasn't long before more bloggers feasted on the perceived inept tendencies of Dibble ... and he wasn't making friends either. By June 2009, Dibble was getting into Twitter fights with ESPN's Rob Neyer. In August, Dibble was blocking the famed Miss Chatter on Twitter. And in September, Kevin Reiss wrote on Past A Diving Vidro:

Dibble is a real-life Kenny Powers, viewing every baseball interaction through the tiny pinhole of his years as a late-innings reliever with a fastball in the high 90s and a penchant for throwing at people. What do the viewers get? Meaningless cliches like "Let them beat you with your best stuff," endless whining about hitters standing too close to the plate, and suggestions that the pitcher's best move might just be to throw at the batter.

Time passed, and Dibble was what Dibble does. Chris Needham (full disclosure: he contributes to SB Nation DC) put forth this FJM-worthy "Fire Rob Dibble" piece on Capitol Punishment in April 2010. In May, Dibble drew ire from Mr. Irrelevant for his "propensity for vehemently disagreeing with borderline calls only to be disproved by his own telecast’s Pitch Track strike zone thing-y." In late June, Dibble was in a classic, blog-worthy sparing session with MASN colleague Ray Knight. More recently, he was found to be mocking Twitter ... did I mention that Dibs is also on Twitter? (@rdibs49). Great.

Steven of Fire Jim Bowden e-mails:

It's no secret that I'm not a fan of Rob Dibble as the Nationals' color commentator. I watch a lot of out of town games on MLB.tv, and personally I would rate Dibble in the bottom tier of commentators across baseball. I don't actually mind that he's such a homer, which is the most common critique I hear. But I find him arrogant and dismissive of people he disagrees with. And I find his "old school" schtick predictable and boring. (For the record, Rex Hudler and Mark Grace are two of my other least-favorites, and Mike Krukow and Steve Stone are probably the two I like best, off the top of my head.)

Even Dibble's tattoos get attention. There is, of course, the name and number of Ichiro Suzuki in Japanese tattooed on his rear. Classy. And not long after the Washington City Paper's Dave McKenna took Dibble to task for covering up his forearm tattoos, Dibs unsheathed his ink for all to see, which is the picture you see above.

There is a certain charm about Rob Dibble, but his stand-off-ish nature overshadows the good qualities of his style. Sure, he may spout out the same passion as a fan, ironically keeping Dibble more in touch ... sort of like a blogger. But there should be a balance of genuine likability, where Dibble seems to fall short.

Admittedly I don't pay much attention to him. The times I do, all I can think of is a tired, slow bull filled with swords and just waiting to die at the hands of the matador. The bull, if it could talk while dying, wouldn't always sound like it knows what its talking about, delirious with the blood loss, and would likely be oozing fecal matter from both ends. Either that, or the scene in Old School when Frank Ricard took cat tranquilizer to the jugular. Hence, Nats games usually ride on mute in my household.

These are my brief impressions of Dribble, fair or not. He certainly seems insightful when it comes to the pitching genre. He's been there, done that ... seems like it'd be easy. But the rest leaves a lot to be desired. And it makes some flat-out angry ... or at least cringe at a quote of Dibble when he was hired:

"I'd like to be here for 10 to 15 years and ride off into the sunset. I don't plan on having another job after this."

So how do you feel? When he was hired, two-fifths disapproved. And don't let my comparing of Dibble to Poochie, Frank the Tank and a dying bull sway your opinion or anything.

Poll

Just about halfway into his three-year contract with MASN, how do you feel about Rob Dibble?

Approve: he knows pitching and his antics can be entertaining

124 votes

Disapprove: he's not fan-friendly and his comments don't add to the broadcast

139 votes

Don't care: Dibble is of no concern of me

24 votes

287 votes | Poll has closed

Media Sensitivities in a Sports Celebrity World: The Handling of John Wall's Story

2010-06-22T15:22:46Z

You come across sensitive information. Knowledge that will affect your job, and others. How do you handle that information? With courtesy to the information and those whom it affects? Or with courtesy to the job?

Well, you came across the information as a result of your job, so does that now make the integrity of the information at the behest of that job?

These are questions the Washington Post's Eric Prisbell recently faced when he came across information pertaining to future NBA draft pick John Wall while performing research for an in-depth profile on the future pro basketball star. Prisbell found out that Wall's now deceased father served time in prison for murder, among other crimes, before Wall was born. Wall knew of a robbery his father committed when he was barely one years old but had no clue about the other convictions.

Prisbell informed Wall of this fact during an interview and included the scene that unfolded in his story for the Post.

Before doing so, Prisbell consulted with Post editors and others. He felt unsettled, uncomfortable. He empathized with Wall and struggled with if and how he should reveal such sensitive information to the player.

Well, actually, there never was an "if", only a "when."

"I wanted to write the most comprehensive story ever written on John," Prisbell tells Bullets Forever's Mike Prada. Naturally this involves a review of the criminal records of Wall's father. If Wall mentioned his father serving time to the Post's Michael Lee who then relayed that information to Prisbell, that means the player opened the door for the journalist to be a journalist, to pry deeper into a previously unknown layer.

And once the archived microfilm of a Raleigh, North Carolina courthouse divulged to Prisbell the charge of murder, the father, John Carroll Wall, went from a key influence in his son's life life to becoming what Prisbell calls "THE" most compelling person of the story.

Yes, compelling because the shining star in a future No. 1 draft pick's life, one whose brief brightness still stands out in the faded, idealistic childhood memories of his son (Wall's father passed away just short of his ninth birthday), was perhaps compromised with the blood of an unknown victim.

Prisbell tells Prada, "Make what you want of him as a man -- and I am not here to judge -- but indications were that he was a good father. And given his criminal record between 1969 and 1999, I found that to be very interesting." And the elder Wall is painted as a repentant man in Prisbell's profile. Stricken with liver cancer and allowed to leave prison a month early, he did his best to leave his son with good memories and to steer him down a path that was different than his own.

Wall's mother, Frances Pulley, was not open to discussing the past. "We had a good talk," Prisbell writes in a chat on WashingtonPost.com, "But when I started to reach into that territory, her tone changed and offered a quick and terse 'I don't discuss that.' John was open about his feelings, and that's what mattered most to me. I chose not to press his mom; a decision I feel was right."

Prisbell spoke to Wall about his father's past murder before attempting to speak with his mother about it. "She was the one I really wanted to talk to before John," Prisbell writes in an e-mail. "I did everything in my power to do so, but it did not happen until two days after I talked with John."

And well, Wall is a grown, 19-year-old man. Maybe his mother need not give her blessing to reveal to her son what she has kept from him and his siblings for years. But was it Prisbell's place to let Wall know?

"If you're writing about a kid's background and you find that out, you have to write it. Better to tell him in person than in print," tweets Dan Steinberg of the Washington Post's DC Sports Bog.

Correct. Prisbell took the precautions and did his job right.

"While I was talking to him at length, I was not surprised that we were able to talk about such issues," e-mails Prisbell. "He was very good at articulating his feelings and understanding them. And it was clear that he had an unconditional love for his dad, so no matter what anyone told him it would not change his view of his dad. That says a lot about the person John is and about the relationship he cherishes with his dad."

So why are people still uncomfortable with the fact that a journalist revealed intimate information to a subject who says, "I was not curious," when it comes to his father's criminal past? It seems that Wall was perfectly fine not knowing.

But Wall was also stoic in his reaction, unwavering in his love for his father, or at least how that's how Prisbell conveyed his reaction. We don't know Wall's inner thoughts or the demons he might struggle with as a result of the implanted information which was forced upon him. Prisbell was only able to convey his immediate reaction, not necessarily feelings behind closed doors days or weeks later.

Prisbell did nothing technically wrong, but he was also party to a cultivated situation which transferred the property of the information to the job of being a journalist and away from the tight-lipped wishes of John Wall's mother. And it all happened as a result of Wall being a helluva basketball player.

Being a celebrity has its pitfalls. This is one of them. Once Prisbell came across the information, telling Wall was unavoidable. Here, there are no winning parties. That's life.

And that's why it just doesn't sit right with some people. But just like John Wall has moved on, grasping the positive memories his father has given him, you should too.

"He brought me onto this earth and, like everybody, makes mistakes," Wall told Prisbell. "Everyone is not going to be perfect. Sometimes people do some stuff because of certain situations they are in, or the people they are around."

To understand and accept ills of the past, but to not get entrenched in them as a fatalistic determinant of the future ... are we sure that John Wall is only 19?

When Ivan Carter Went From Journalist To Entertainer

2010-06-16T18:08:06Z

Kyle Weidie writes a weekly column on the local media every week. You can view past columns here.

When Ivan Carter left covering the Washington Wizards beat for the Washington Post to host his own show on Comcast SportsNet, most figured he was eschewing the archaic chains of print media and heading toward the greener pastures of television and the new media reach of Comcast Washington.

But did you know that Carter was also casting aside the journalism profession to become an entertainer? Maybe.

As the host of a television, Washington Post Live, Carter interviews local and national celebrities, usually of a sporting nature, and hosts round-table discussions, among other activities, which aim to keep tabs on the latest stories, trends and topics affecting the local D.C. sporting landscape. At times, he covers issues on a larger scale. Carter is in his position because he is a good host and a good face for the cameras. He is now a television personality.

One national scale issue which Carter recently discussed on his show is the 2010 NBA Finals, and a good guest interviewee for such a topic would be someone like TNT's Kenny Smith. Thus, Carter hosted Smith on Washington Post Live last Wednesday. Let's watch (Note: prior to the clip below, Carter interviewed Smith about the NBA Finals and immediately after, the two discussed the upcoming NBA Draft, specifically pertaining to John Wall and the Wizards.):

(Also worth noting: Smith paraded his sponsorship of Taco Bell in an interview with Trey Kerby of Yahoo's 'Ball Don't Lie' as well.)

Makes you hungry for Taco Bell, right? Or at least you might be envisioning the multiple bells pictured (between the logo on Kenny's shirt and the television monitor over his shoulder) ringing together to magically produce a burrito and some cinnamon twists in your lap. What you saw was essentially a commercial for Taco Bell ... oh, and a 'tongue-and-cheek' campaign to bring back the $2 bill.

I described the scene to Dr. John Watson, an associate professor of communication law and journalism ethics at the American University School of Communication, and asked him how sponsorship of a product within a body of work -- and the involved ethics -- varies between written word media (print or online journalism) and television personality media.

Because if anyone from Mike Wise to myself suddenly dropped a paragraph about Taco Bell in the midst of chronicling the anticipated sports patriarchy of Ted Leonsis, or if in a locker room interview video, Ike Austin suddenly started waxing poetic about Dunkin' Donuts and I said, "You're damn right, they have the best coffee in the world too!," it would be frowned upon as a sponsorship interfering with or compromising the credibility of the work.

"The pivotal issue is, was he functioning as a journalist or was he functioning as an entertainer?," Watson rhetorically asked in a telephone interview on Monday afternoon. "The ethics of journalism are clear, but if he's merely an entertainer, then the ethics don't really touch that issue at all because that's permissible for an entertainer to talk of his or her sponsors and talk up the sponsors of his or her guests."

"For example, if you watch Jay Leno or David Letterman, whenever some actor is pushing a movie, they come onto those shows, and Letterman and Leno will show clips, they'll talk about the movie and the talk is virtually always positive in promoting the movie."

"But because they're not journalists, it's not an ethical problem. That's why the pivotal issue is, was this guy, this sports personality who was hosting or moderating the program, is he a journalist? If he is a journalist, then the described behavior unethical," he concluded.

Okay, Carter is entertaining, but sometimes he'll report the facts of recent news too ... and his profile on the Comcast website lists him as an "Anchor/Reporter."

When asked about balancing the two roles, Carter responded via e-mail, "Yeah, television is a different animal pretty much. A lot of times we'll do those types of interviews knowing that they are promoting something. Newspapers for obvious journalistic reasons, do not do that. However, I still think very much like I did when I was a newspaper guy. Now, a serious news show like 60 Minutes operates the way papers do. They wouldn't pay a guest or promote some product for a guest. "Entertainment" news is a different animal. It's still possible to wear both hats as you say but the viewer should clearly see the promotional aspect."

I asked Watson if people are allowed to walk the lines between reporting actual stories versus being an entertainer as a television host. I imagine switching between reporting on a game, to being an opinion columnist, to being a radio or podcast host can be like treading on blurred lines.

"This is where it becomes a problem for academic ethicist like myself," Watson said. "I used to think Matt Lauer, on the Today Show, I used to think he was supposed to be a journalist. But apparently he's not. That's why a lot of what he does, doesn't really have to follow the code of ethics. Apparently, that show is primarily an entertainment show that has some news and journalism in it. So it's really a tough call."

Seemingly, the conclusion is that Carter is no longer a journalist, in the traditional sense, but rather is a media entertainer along the lines of a Lauer or a Jon Stewart.

Upon further reviewing the actual clip, Watson reiterated his points and gave his conclusion.

"Journalists ethically cannot be in the business of advertising products or services while they are practicing journalism. This sportscaster did not appear to be practicing journalism at the moment, but it was an entertaining piece. Some sportscasters do journalism, others do not. Some try to switch back and forth, but journalists don't do that. Everyone who provides information -- even accurate information -- is not a journalist."

And there you have it. With a media market that's becoming more saturated, thanks to bloggers (but then again, losing some outlets such as the Washington Times sports section as well), and thus, the battle for sponsorship dollars increasing, you'll see more members of the media, such as Carter, switching between hats in order to be the salesman out of necessity, but also the personality audiences can trust to bring them the information they desire.

In other words ... keep the entertainment coming, Ivan.

The Reach Of Stephen Strasburg's Media Domain

2010-06-08T14:16:56Z

Happy #Strasmas! Or should I congratulate you on some sort of #Strasgasm? Whatever you want to use to express your elation over Stephen Strasburg's Major League Baseball debut with the Washington Nationals this evening, please feel free to do so.

This offer doesn't just extend to fans of the hapless Nats franchise, casual to intense baseball observers or fantasy warriors. It extends to the media as well, from the MSMs, beat reporters and columnists of punditry alike to the bloggers hacking away as they see fit. The media benefits from the frenzied love of Strasburg, hence, they (we) love them (us) some Strasburg too.

"I think what media members from mainstream newspapers or mainstream TV stations or mainstream blogs (and you guys are obviously that now) are stories that people care about," e-mails Dan Steinberg of the Washington Post's DC Sports Bog. "People have cared about Strasburg from the beginning, and they'll care about him for years, even if he bombs. But a lot more people will care if he succeeds, and if he helps jolt the franchise into relevancy. To the extent that the objective part of our operation is rooting for anything, that would be it."

And if you don't love Stephen Strasburg or don't even care about baseball for that matter? Nonsense. There are ways to make you care, or at least ways to bring you along for the ride.

A fan of Japanese poetry? Why not enter the Strasburg Haiku contest? (Or, Strasku ... )

For those more into politics, there's still no escape. Strasburg is all over the cover of Politico.

Towns are changing their name to Strasburg. Well, a town already established as "Strasburg" is offering to put "Stephen" in front to be named Stephen Strasburg, Virginia -- should the pitching phenom make the 90-mile trek from D.C. to visit. The offer to name a little league team after Stephen is, however, no longer on the table.

The Canadians are also starting to notice.

Strasburg even has his own Google Search story:

Ok, I made that one up.

But while his debut is frenzied, the overall hypebeast of Stephen Strasburg still rides in the backseat.

If the Redskins regular-season opener against Dallas was pitted against Strasburg's debut, bet that a majority of the DVRs in the DMV would be set to MASN or the Network MLB.

"My own observation is that a big Redskins story still gets more local web traction than a big Strasburg story," says Steinberg. "The Redskins' fanbase is immense, and nationwide, and based in history and tradition, and encompassing a lot of different demographics. It would have been impossible for anything Nats-related to conjure those sort of emotions just five years in."

Still, in comparison to other D.C. sports, Strasburg has a leg up.

The debut of Alex Ovechkin, as great as he is now, pales in comparison to Strasburg's. The media was barely taking a whiff of the Russian before he proved himself. Plus, it's baseball vs. hockey. Right now, only an NHL playoff game seven for the Caps (in any round) would possibly usurp Strasburg's major league debut in the D.C. sports pecking order.

And John Wall going to the Wizards? Forget about it. Wall's just an 'any-given-year' darling. Strasburg is being sold as once-in-a-lifetime. The Washington Post Sports Twitter account (@PostSports) agrees:

"Not quite #Strasburg, but will be big. RT @WizardsInsider: John Wall to work out for Wizards on June 17 (via @MrMichaelLee)."

The majority of the DMV would likely only watch the Wizards in an NBA Finals game seven over Strasvaganza.

Whether Strasburg lives up to expectations or not, tonight is an event of epic historical proportions because the hype is so easy to buy into. Washington has a sensational baseball appetite, and the media is here to feed the city with perhaps the greatest sensation ever.

If anything, you'll be able to approach random people on Wednesday and simply say, "Strasburg," and get an interested opinion instead of a quizzical look. Because as Steinberg puts it best, "There's damn sure more tangible results for writing about Strasburg than writing about Craig Stammen."