Wednesday, August 8, 2007

SI.com is on my Bill O'Reilly Notice list

They've outdone themselves tonight. Or done themselves in, however you want to look at it.

I don't post much but they pissed me off.

WHY IS THERE AN ASTERISK IN PLACE OF THE "O" IN BONDS ON THEIR FRONT PAGE?!?!!?

I thought ESPN had the market cornered on bad sports journalism, but then I looked at SI.com after Barry Bonds passed Hank tonight. It started nicely with a picture of Babe Ruth with 714 next to his name, then one of Hank Aaron with 755 next to his name, and finally Barry's picture filling the screen with 756. It was a well-conceived graphic acknowledging a historic moment. Then it went awry. The picture had Bonds' back and name on his jersey facing the viewer. Suddenly the "o" changed to an asterisk - and I went ballistic.

What dumb dumb editor thought this was a good idea? This is the most irresponsible shit I've seen a reputable news source do, regardless of the medium. Where's the objectivity? The journalistic integrity? The common sense?

Maybe it's not such a big deal, but I'm still mad. And in the midst of all the anti-ESPN opining from the sports blogosphere, I tried to give that site a shot, too.