Press Coverage: When You Don't Believe Your Own Sources

Allen Iverson is retiring. This information was reported late Wednesday afternoon by Stephen A. Smith and created a ripple of not-that-surprised-to-hear-but-never-expected-to-see-the-day shockwaves around the sports world. And right before a holiday weekend, no less.

Locally in Philadelphia, the news was broken by Smith with a call to his old chatting partner Mike Missanelli, who hosts the top-rated afternoon drive sports radio show on the ESPN-affiliated 97.5-FM The Fanatic. Later, Smith had a "StephenA.com Breaking Exclusive" with a full statement from Iverson. This exclusive also appears as the lead story on Iverson's personal website.

If only any of it were true.

Within hours of the announcement the rumors started to come out that teams may have interest in bringing Iverson back. In fact, less that a week before the announcement, Larry Brown was on radio with Missanelli and said that he didn't have plans to bring Iverson to Charlotte at that time, but that he didn't want to see him depart the league in this way, leaving the door open for a potential reunion later this season. And then there's this whole Sixers rumor, which if you put your ear to the ground for half a second, you'd know that it's more than just sports talk banter at this point.

And who first reported that the Sixers are "seriously considering" bringing back Iverson? Stephen A. Smith, in a column for FOXSports.com. This, parenthetically, is the same Smith who sued his way back on to the staff of the Philadelphia Inquirer and has now broken two stories – or the same story two different ways – on local Philly radio (a station he has worked for in recent weeks) and a national sports web site (for which he obviously has some state of employment), yet has zero by lines for the paper or Philly.com since his return two weeks ago. Insiders at the Inquirer must be so pleased to have him – and his salary – back with the company.

This is the part I cannot wrap my head around. Smith reported that Iverson was retiring, yet when challenged about the quality of his information, shot back (via Twitter) with this defense:

Um, just to set the record straight for those who think I LIED about Iverson: I do have a statement from him about his retirement. If Iverson changes his mind -- which I predict he will -- that's his business. But it doesn't change what I reported. Or that I stand by it.

And then there's this reply, which is perhaps the most journalistically troubling:

@sportsbabe001 Didn't you read my column or hear me speak. I said I didn't believe him either. But that doesn't change the statement he issued to me. I report what's going on. It's not my problem/issue if he changes his mind. That's for ya'll to deal with.

So a reporter who breaks a story is telling the reader that it's "for ya'll to deal with" if the story ends up not being true. And on several occasions in response to his followers (note: Smith has yet to reply to several messages seeking comment) Smith pointed out that he was reporting what Iverson told him, and that while he was reporting it, he didn't believe it to be true.

Then why report it? If a reporter talks to a player who gives him information he's certain is bad, why would that reporter go with the information? Why report the information then write a follow-up on a national website explaining all the reasons you think the information you reported was bad?

When asked by a follower if he was on some sort of media blitz (one might say Stephen A.'s days since leaving ESPN have been nothing but) he replied:

@LHNetwork Not really. Doing my job. This is what Columnist are suppose to do: Express an opinion, then don't run from it.

I'll agree that a columnist's job is to express opinion and, in most cases, not run from it. But with this Iverson story, is Smith a columnist or a reporter? Was his reporting only done to set up his column? Or was Stephen A. Smith the columnist ripping holes in Stephen A. Smith the reporter's work? It's a one-stop-shop with Smith, especially if that shop has something to do with Philadelphia, the Sixers or Iverson. You just have to wonder when that shop is going to make one stop inside the paper for which he reportedly works. That is what columnists are supposed to do ... right?

The Favre Coverage Has Reached a Meta Level
During the Vikings 36-10 rout over the Bears on Sunday, Joe Buck and Troy Aikman spent most of the game talking about the season Brett Favre is having. It's a Vikings game so what else are they going to discuss, especially when Favre throws for 392 yards and three touchdowns?

As good as he's been, it seems that the FOX broadcast crew is well aware of how annoying their coverage of Favre has become. On more than one occasion, Buck and Aikman discussed how every crew that covers a Minnesota game says the same things, but, as Aikman explained, what Favre is doing at his age really is the story of the season.

And it is. It's just interesting how even when talking about the biggest story of the year, the FOX crew rightfully acknowledged that they are aware the storyline they are highlighting has been over-highlighted time and time again before them. Favre has been covered so much this season that even those in the booth are starting to cover the coverage of the Hall of Famer, which makes this, in a way, coverage of the coverage of the coverage. If anyone links to this or quotes from it, I'm convinced the internet will implode.

For All Your Tiger Woods Gossip News
There are two stories that swirled around all weekend with the name Tiger Woods attached. First was the news Saturday afternoon that Tiger was in a one-car accident just outside his house and that he was transported to the hospital with injuries including facial lacerations. Nobody seems to dispute that part. The second story has to do with the circumstances of this accident. Was Tiger on pain medication? Was he fleeing a fight with his wife, Elin, or was she using the golf club to try and save him. Per Tiger's official statement:

This situation is my fault, and it's obviously embarrassing to my family and me. I'm human and I'm not perfect. I will certainly make sure this doesn't happen again.

This is a private matter and I want to keep it that way. Although I understand there is curiosity, the many false, unfounded and malicious rumors that are currently circulating about my family and me are irresponsible.

End of story. So who, then, is Rachel Uchitel? That's what the internet's underbelly is for. In this case, it's been the National Enquirer, but for our purposes, the leg-work goes to Brooks. If Sports by Brooks is good at one thing, it's finding every single photo of a woman associated with an athlete potentially stepping out on his wife.

And while we're here dolling out public service announcements for other websites, if you're on Twitter and you aren't following Jason Whitlock, you're wasting the time you're wasting by being on Twitter. Who else would give you such gold as:

El broke the back window out with a golf club in an attempt to "save' Tiger. this is getting good. good thang i'm on a diet. im ready baby!! My thoughts and prayers are with El and her young child as they struggle to get through this troubling time.. I'm here if you need me.

And perhaps the best of them all:

TMZ reporting: After hearing of El's golf club, Lorena Bobbitt is filing appeal saying she was trying to "free" her husband with a knife.

Earlier in the weekend, Whitlock put up a simple line: I love twitter. Twitter loves you back, big guy.

Ending Sadly
There's no smooth transition for this story. L.A. Times sportswriter Mike Penner is dead at the age of 52, with suicide suspected as the cause. Penner famously changed his name to Christine Daniels and announced he was a transsexual in 2007. In 2008 he began using Mike Penner as his byline again. From the L.A. Times:

Penner was pronounced dead Friday evening at Brotman Medical Center in Culver City, a Los Angeles County coroner's official said.

The cause of death has not been determined but was believed to be suicide.

"Mike was a first-rate journalist, a valued member of our staff for 25 years, and we will miss him," Times Editor Russ Stanton said. "He respected our readers a great deal, enough to share with them his very personal journey. Our thoughts and prayers are with his family."

Those thoughts and prayers are echoed here.

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