ESPN: Covering Everything Involving Sports...

When people think of sports people go to ESPN for the coverage. For news on crimes and things that happened in court people go to their local news stations. However, what if I told you that ESPN’s coverage extends further than just what athletes do on the field? ESPN also covers crimes that involve athletes off of the field. An example of this is the current OJ Simpson incident.

For those who don’t know what happened, OJ Simpson, one of the greatest NFL running backs ever, was accused of holding up memorabilia dealers in a hotel room at gun point. He was accompanied by another man who was assisting him. When this case came out, many of the ESPN television personalities had their own opinion on the case and were free to address it. Jim Rome certainly did this:



To go further with the legal topic, ESPN even has its own lawyer to provide analysis on certain topics like this. His name is Lester Munson and he acts as a journalist and a former Chicago lawyer. Anything that you would want to know about this case has been probably written by him and it can be found on ESPN.

ESPN also has there own legal analyst, Roger Cossack, who provides in-depth analysis of the case and other court cases that athletes may find themselves in. The only difference between him and Munson is that Cossack usually appears on Sportscenter to provide his analysis of the case.

Another thing that I like about the coverage is that it is unbiased. When I was reading an article from the Associated Press posted on ESPN.com about the OJ Simpson case I found that the dealers had a web cam and recorded when Simpson entered the room. The AP reporter also said that the Las Vegas police were heard saying at the end of the recording that Los Angeles didn’t get him (OJ Simpson) but we (the Las Vegas police) will. This hinted that maybe OJ was set up all along.

In the past ESPN just covered sports and highlights and maybe would just mention an athlete’s legal woes but now it’s different. ESPN just doesn’t give you the news on the case but now provides in depth information that can’t be found on your local news station or even one of the big four news stations (CBS, ABC, NBC, and Fox). And this just doesn’t apply to the big cases like OJ’s. They’ve done it for most of the athletes who are accused of committing a crime. Some of these athletes would only be mentioned briefly on a news channel.

This is why ESPN is the worldwide leader of sports. Not just of highlights, games, or in-depth interviews with athletes. It is also the place where you can find in-depth news on anything that involves sports. Even if sports finds its way into the court room.