Dan Denies It All

Last week or so, I posted about Dan LeBatard saying, "ESPN is full of sexual harassment," and making some disparaging comments about Harold Reynolds. Because the post was picked up on Deadspin, Dan addressed the situation on his radio show. There was really nothing to say. The audio was posted. His words spoke for himself. Yet, Dan claimed he was quoted out of context and that the blogs insinuated that he found sexual harassment funny. Nobody said that. I did suggest that he was a hypocrite for airing out Harold Reynolds and the Deadspinners mostly mocked him for having ever had a girlfriend. Nobody found Dan's claim of having two girlfriends, much less two girlfriends that were "creeped out" by Reynolds, to be the least bit believable. But there was no indication that anybody assumed Dan to be generally amused by sexual harassment. Nice try though, Dan. The Worldwide Leader appreciates it.

Here's the audio, which also includes the original comment (or here).

On the same show, Dan spent more than 1 segment discussing how tall and fit and non bloaty and non sweaty he is in real life. Nobody believes that either. Again, nice try, Dan. I prefer to keep my fantasy intact.

Although we "aren't held to the same standards of journalistic integrity," Dan still loves the blogs and I still love Dan too.

"ESPN Is Filled With Sexual Harrassment"

I guess Dan LeBatard will be testifying for the defense if Harold Reynold's suit against ESPN goes to trial. He has no sympathy for Harold Reynolds and his allegations of wrongful firing from ESPN.

On Dan's radio show in Miami on Friday, LeBatard gave a little speech about Harold and what he thinks of the allegations. Dan said:

"ESPN is filled with sexual harassment. It's actually funny."

"For Harold to be claiming that he was wrongfully fired.. I don't know how he says that with a straight face."

Dan goes on to say that Harold hit on and "creeped out" not one, but two, of Dan's girlfriends. Consequently, Dan is doubtful that Harold is not a sexual harasser. You can listen to the minute long audio here (or here).




For the record, hitting on people and/or creeping them out is not necessarily the equivalent of sexual harassment from a legal perspective.

Dan felt smug enough to criticize Harold right in the middle of a game he was playing with the callers - "Given the accusations of sexual harassment against Woody Paige and Jay Crawford, First Take should've been called _________." And when Dan picks up women at work, they're "girlfriends." That designation presumably expempts LeBatard from being an ordinary sexual harasser, as impressive as it may be that Dan is able to score multiple girlfriends from the same pool of women as Harold when Dan is only in Bristol part time. Not to mention that Dan aired out a married man on the radio. The same Dan that cried that journalistic integrity had died the day pictures of Alex Rodriguez cavorting with a stripper were printed on the cover of the New York Post.

I have to wonder, given that ESPN has invested so much time and money in joint ventures like ESPN the Phone, why the worldwide leader hasn't paired up with a dating service. At this point, it's looking like a natural fit. ESPN and Eharmony.com could do something...Oh, wait...ESPN may not be Eharmony material. They're selective. Maybe Craigslist?

Dusty Baker is No Harold Reynolds.

The NY Post is reporting that ESPN is eyeing Dusty Baker to replace Harold Reyonlds on Baseball Tonight. Boooooooooo! Even 30 years younger, Dusty couldn't replace Harold Reynolds. And does ESPN even watch their own tapes? Dusty Baker's analysis is as riveting as watching paint dry. And he's dumpy. I like my baseball analysts fit, well-groomed and filling me the dirty, dirty excitement of possibly knowing I could be sexually harassed at any moment.

The same article also discusses that ESPN has forbidden it's employees from appearing on the NY radio station WFAN. Yep, that means Peter Gammons and Kirk Herbstreit will have to defy the Worldwide Leader if they want to go on that station. I guess that means more air time for Michael Strahan. WFAN, join Deadspin in the doghouse.

Harold Reynolds Apparently Has a Publicist.

Harold Reynolds has been making the media rounds ever since he filed his wrongful termination lawsuit against ESPN. However, will everyone's best interests really be served by his aggressive litigation? I doubt it and the NY Daily News is co-signing on my theory. It doesn't really matter how many favorable articles he gets published in the Seattle Times or The Sporting News, it won't change the fact that potential employers are going to think twice about hiring him now that he has taken this adverse and extremely public stance against the World Wide Leader.

Is it fun to get behind someone who's taking on ESPN? Of course.

Is it fun to point out how hypocritical ESPN is when Michael lrvin gets to keep his job? Sure, but Irvin has adeptly used his hotline to T.O. to fuel his prominence at ESPN. T.O. is the air that ESPN breathes. Irvin is not getting fired for anything less than serial killing. Get over it

Will it make us feel good about ourselves to harbor on ESPN's sexual harassment policies? Sure, but we all know ESPN doesn't give two shits about gender equality. Suzy Kolber continues to shiver on the sidelines while Sean Salisbury skyrockets to being the #1 NFL analyst at the network. Sad, but true.

Not to mention, when Harold goes on a Madonna like media blitz advertising how wronged he was, how much support he is receiving, how "happily married" he is and about all the things that he stands for, it definitely makes me think that there is more to this story.

I just want him back in the booth. And now I hope that his supporters don't end up with egg on their face.

Harold Reynolds Fights Dirty!

The NY Post is reporting that Harold Reynolds has hired a private investigator to dig up the dirt at ESPN. ESPN still maintains that the suit is "without merit", but they have reportedly had a meeting with employees on how to handle the private investigator. Part of Reynolds' strategy reportedly includes exposing ESPN's hypocrisy in the handling of his situation as compared to other employees that have experienced "transgressions." That means you, Michael Irvin.

Part of me... Okay, most of me continues to enjoy the entertainment value of this feud, but I still don't know if this is Harold's best option.

Have You Thought This Through, Harold?

In theory, it's great that Harold Reynolds is standing up to the Worldwide Leader. It would be fun to see ESPN get knocked off its pedestal, but what I want most is for Harold Reynolds to be back on the air. I'm not sure that suing the Mouse is the best way to go. I hope that Harold exhausted his future employment options before pursuing this course of action. Being branded as "litigious" is not the best way to go about enhancing your job prospects. Fox and other large companies will probably be more concerned about that more than anything that may or may not have gone down at ESPN. But on the bright side, deadspin.com may be able to get him for a bargain.

Also, it's Harold's fault that he had a crappy contract, which he did by all indications from the court documents. ESPN shouldn't be able to fire him without a hearing or otherwise egregious and specifically set forth circumstances. But if Harold didn't demand in his contract, ESPN may have been perfectly within their rights to drop that dude on a whim.

Oh, Harold. I miss you... and I may be missing you for awhile.