Press Coverage: Selling Tweets, Getting Fired, Simple Math and Paying Respects

Does ESPN's Twitter Policy Include Ads?
I probably follow far too many people on Twitter (by the way, if you'd like to follow me on Twitter ... ) but 'sports media' is a rather nebulous group and trying to follow everyone in that group can become quite daunting. Sometimes we get stuck following people because their names drive us to the feed, and when we read it – expecting the usual insight you read from them in their blog/column or hear from them on radio/TV, it doesn't always pan out.

Take Tom Jackson, for example. TJ has always been one of the best studio analysts in the game of football. In any sport, really. So when TJ showed up on Twitter in mid-September, I was hoping to get something close to what he's provided for decades on TV.

Instead, we get this:

stay in touch and remember to go to the gmc web site to win prizes and possibly win new 2010 gmc

Of his 52 tweets, seven have been ads for GMC. Jackson has tweeted just six times since October 30 and two of them have been ads for GMC. If you read the wording, it seems like someone else is jumping onto his account every so often to post about how wonderful GMC is or plug the GMC website. When asked if ESPN has an issue with one of their lead analysts using his ESPN-sanctioned Twitter feed to plug sponsors, ESPN spokeman Bill Hofheimer replied, "While GMC does work with ESPN overall, it does have some individual deals beyond that with our commentators. I understand TJ does PSAs for GMC. This is probably tied into that."

This is obviously rather innocuous for Jackson to do, and not unlike something similar to what Howie Long does for Chevy with those constant TV spots, but it does open to the door to look at ESPN's Social Networking policy. ESPN.com EIC Rob King confirmed on Friday that the company suspended Bill Simmons from tweeting for two weeks for saying something derogatory about WEEI radio in Boston. Could talent get suspended in the future for talking poorly about a sponsor? And, according to ESPN's policy, "If you wouldn’t say it on the air or write it in your column, don’t tweet it." Does that mean we should expect Jackson to start dropping in GMC references to the highlights: "Did you see the block by the H-Back right there, Boom? And speaking of Hybrids, have you seen the new GMC Sierra Hybrid? 6.0 liter V8 with 22 miles to the gallon ... "

Showing Up On Deadspin Can Get You Fired
I suppose while we're on the topic of ESPN policies we should link to this. Does this count as Deadspin creating the news it reports or is there a greater good situation at work here? Either way, if you work at ESPN (past or present), you might want to think about keeping your office relationships strictly professional for a while. That, or just funnel information to Deadspin about bigger fish in the pond. Information is protection, after all.

Simple Math With Professor Dierdorf
Coming out of the half in the Colts-Ravens game, Greg Gumbel and Dan Dierdorf talked about the fact that the Ravens really needed to find the end zone if they were going to win the game. Here's a math lesson from Dierdorf:

Gumbel: "I keep going back to what you said early on in this game about how sometimes it catches up with you if you're kicking field goals instead of scoring touchdowns. If you kick enough of them, you're doing fine, but you have to wonder if the Ravens have that in the back of their head."

Dierdorf: "Well the old question – when are two scores better than four scores? Yeah, if the two are touchdowns and the four are field goals, that's how."

I actually think Dierdorf does a good job and was a bit surprised when he didn't make the Sporting News Top 25 football broadcasters list announced last week (assuming the demographics of the voters). Sure he says a lot of things (like the above) that are blatantly obvious. But it's football. It's not rocket science. Usually.

McDonough Shows Class in Tough Moment
Speaking of the SN Top 25 broadcasters, veteran play-by-play man Sean McDonough proved this weekend why he belongs on that list. During the Ohio State-Michigan game, ABC zoomed in on the SS helmet sticker the Buckeyes were wearing in honor of Stephanie Spielman, the wife of Ohio-State Hall of Famer Chris Spielman, who lost her battle with breast cancer this week.

In most cases, broadcast teams do their best to pay respects during a telecast in a situation like this, throw on their 'solemn voice' for a moment before moving back to the gridiron action. But McDonough seemed audibly chocked up – if you could hear tears, he had a hard time holding them back – when talking about the family of his friend and colleague at ESPN and ABC. This was certainly not, "we're sorry for your loss" and get back to the game. It was thoughtful, respectful and really a wonderful moment by McDonough and ABC.

This post originally appeared on the Sporting Blog. For more, see The Sporting Blog Archives.