I think you are about to see espn pull back

[SkanSU]

ESPN cannot afford to pull back ... they are all in.

 

[dash-30-dash]

it's an otl production. Watch and see how the rest of the world wide leader covers this.

 

[dash-30-dash]

espn is not close to all in. They are a very smart business operation. If this starts to go bad on them they will flip flop so fast Mitt romney will be impressed.

 

[OttoMets]

One of my roommates at SU is a lawyer so I texted him asking if he thinks Bernie would have a case; his thoughts are that ESPN has two "sources," they waited until they had corroboration to report on it, and it's impossible to prove ESPN knew that the allegations are false, so he doesn't believe the case has a lot of legs.

He's a smart guy, working for a pretty high profile law firm, so I take his opinion on this very seriously.

Just throwing it out there with all of the talk of lawsuits. It definitely sucks if he can't sue ESPN, but at least if proven false he can likely take action against Davis.

Your buddy's right, but one additional note.

While Bernie could take action against Davis, I think we all know what kind of award he'd get from the drug addict who still owes him $5,000.

We call that judgment-proof.

 

[Cusefan95]

espn is not close to all in. They are a very smart business operation. If this starts to go bad on them they will flip flop so fast Mitt romney will be impressed.

Even well-run businesses led by smart people do really, really dumb things sometimes. I think they pushed way too hard last night, Which has left them almost no flip-flop room - and possibly none if Syracuse/JB decide to go on the offensive in an effort to minimize the damage to Fine.

This could have been a case where they could have walked away if nothing came up, but there's no way for them to say "Oops, our bad. Sorry..." and walk away from this with no repercussions. That ship sailed when Schwartz forgot that there was a word in the English language that reporters often use, "allegedly".

 

[dash-30-dash]

If no other kids come forward, and the police annouce they are dropping the matter, espn will state that and never talk about it again. That is not the act of all in. Someone stated that is off the headline news on their radio network.

 

[longtimefan]

The front page headline now says:

'Chancellor vows to find truth'

That is significantly different than having 'Syracuse sex scandal' in headline.

Would love to see the internal ESPN politics of this story right now.

Van Pelt, on his show today, said that there was a lively discussion at ESPN yesterday about whether they should run with the story.

 

[Cusefan95]

If no other kids come forward, and the police annouce they are dropping the matter, espn will state that and never talk about it again. That is not the act of all in. Someone stated that is off the headline news on their radio network.

It's a good thing they are the only media outlet in America and they can just walk away. Like Pravda.

Their problem is that other media outlets can make hay with stories on the overzealous reporting of the story by ESPN, which then forces them back to the table. Or they can do what Nancy Grace did with the Duke lax story after pushing it so hard and take a vacation when the story fell apart. Unfortunately that'll mean they are letting Jason Whitlock set the narrative, which is probably not a great strategy.

 

[armory]

Does anyone else get the bad feeling that this is all just a lead in to even more evidence that basically ends it? I mean, the more I think about just how little ESPN had to go on, the more I think like "there has to be more to this or they wouldn't have gone on the air".

I mean, this being false would be devastating to ESPN. They're not that stupid. Right?

 

[DomeStranger]

Does anyone else get the bad feeling that this is all just a lead in to even more evidence that basically ends it? I mean, the more I think about just how little ESPN had to go on, the more I think like "there has to be more to this or they wouldn't have gone on the air".

I mean, this being false would be devastating to ESPN. They're not that stupid. Right?

It does seem weird, especially attacking a "business partner"

 

[dash-30-dash]

When the news broke, I thought, he must be guilty. They wouldn't go to press without the goods. I am starting to wonder if they are that dumb.

 

[JOC44]

If they had better stuff, why would they hold it back? I can tell you, though, that they are furiously looking for better stuff now.

 

[Upstate]

SU is incredibly lucky that the news has to also cover: 1. Tebow 2. OSU Plane Crash 3. Joe Pa Cancer 4. NCAA involved with PSU now

 

[jimsonjunction]

All on the heels of the Penn State stuff too. If it truly is a baseless accusation, ESPN looks like a really amateur news organization.

 

[phil77]

Does anyone else get the bad feeling that this is all just a lead in to even more evidence that basically ends it? I mean, the more I think about just how little ESPN had to go on, the more I think like "there has to be more to this or they wouldn't have gone on the air".

I mean, this being false would be devastating to ESPN. They're not that stupid. Right?

Normally I would say YES and wait for the ball to drop. But SVP said there was a big time struggle within ESPN weather or not they should run the story or not. This leads me to believe they are pretty much done. I don't know what else they could bring up that wasn't brought to live in 2003/05. There will be no new evidence no eye witness. Nothing like that.

They only thing they have is if more people told them they were abused and they would have lead with that in the story you wouldn't hold a big piece like that back.
Plus did Davis even say there was other boys? I mean lets say Fine is guilty and Davis is the only person he committed the crime against is there actually any way to prove that now?

 

[DoctorBombay]

No way they leave any stone unturned at this point! This is NOT going away.

 

[OrangeXtreme]

Plus did Davis even say there was other boys? I mean lets say Fine is guilty and Davis is the only person he committed the crime against is there actually any way to prove that now?

During the 2005 investigation, Davis provided SU with the names of four people that would "corroborate" his story. Unknown if these four people were witnesses, or other alleged victims.

All four people claimed that they were unaware of any abuse.

 

[dash-30-dash]

Do you really think that espn is going to leave a team in syracuse in search of more? For a short time, sure. but pretty soon they cut their losses and move on. The bigger risk would be the Post Standard. They are already here. But they don't have the resources to stay on a story that didn't yield results 5 years ago and hasn't yielded any to this point. If nothing breaks over the next week or so, the worst is over. Not for bernie. He will have to live with this for the rest of his life.

 

[rstone7727]

ESPN just waiting now for someone else to come forward. If no one does, the story is over and they basically destroyed BF for a "possible" story.

 

[Bornorange]

Not so sure ESPN is legally in the clear, that step-brother does not constitute another source, it looks more like conspiracy. Where was brother in the previous investigation.

 

[jekelish]

As long as no one else comes forward, I have to believe SU and Bernie are in the clear. If someone else comes forward...it's over. No matter how credible said person is.

 

[Whitey23]

ESPN went for Yahoo! Sports type Shock and Awe. Let's hope they were wrong.

 

[pearl31]

One thing I'm fairly sure of: Had there been no PSU scandal, they would not have aired this—yet. The powers that be apparently were OK with running it hastily now due to the current atmosphere in the wake of PSU. All indications—especially after seeing/hearing Schwartz's tone and the performance of the 2 accusers—are that it was quite a gamble on their part.
Time will tell.