The Press Box - ESPN Does Journalism (of a Sort), Last Year’s Media Screw-Ups, and a Report From the Rose Bowl Press Box

Episode Date: January 2, 2025

Happy New Year media consumers! It’s a new year and it’s time to return to J-School. Joel discusses a few topics from this week, including the performance of Boise State’s Ashton Jeanty against Penn State (1:02).. Then they discuss ESPN reporting the act of terror in New Orleans on New Year’s Day (14:51). Later, Bryan gives a report from the Rose Bowl (31:42). They close the show reacting to Semafor’s “what we got wrong in 2024” media round-up (53:33). Hosts: Bryan Curtis and Joel Anderson Producer: Brian H. Waters Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Hey there, humanoids. It's the Maskman David Shoemaker. It's a new era in professional wrestling, and that means a new era here at the Ringer Wrestling show. Kaz here, every Monday and Thursday hang out with me and my guys' shoes on the Masked Show. And Ben Cruz here. Come kick it with me, Cal and Brian on Tuesdays for Ringer Wrestling Worldwide, where we hit on the most interesting headlines and even react to some of Maskedmans and even your hottest takes. Don't tap out. Tap in to the Ringer Wrestling show feed now on Spotify. or wherever you get your podcasts. Worldwide. Media consumers. And welcome to Press Box.

You got Brian Curtis, Joel Anderson, and producer Brian Waters. We start this pot every week with Joel's take on the week that was. Please note that your essays will be due back the day after winter break because this is J-school. Please just give me a little bit of time to get your papers back to you, though, about the way. Yeah, because you're that kind of professor. New Year for the for the professor too. Yeah. You're the professor that when you go to office hours, the doors locked. Hey, look, you know what? One time I stood in over at USC, a friend invited me to like teach there for like a week.

I had real office hours. I very, very much enjoyed it. So that it was very legit. It was actually J-school and I come to think of it. So it was really cool. That was a prototype for this whole thing. There was. That right. It got me got me going in this direction. Anyway, I'm glad to be back. And I, I've neglected to mention. And I brought this thing up a couple weeks ago where I got to start by East Palo Alto police guy. I get a warning for a traffic infraction of dubious substance. But anyway, at the end of it, I got a $200 visa gift card that was a part of some program allegedly. Okay. And I mentioned that I was going to give an update on this, Brian.

You did not get a ticket. But you got a gift card from the cop. I did. And I'm so glad because I was going to ask you about this on Monday and then I didn't want to catch you off guard here. So I am so eager to hear the update. Okay. Yeah. So my wife and mother-in-law went to use it somewhere. Just, you know, I can't remember the context. I believe it was the post office. And it didn't work. What? Yeah. It didn't work. The car did not work. It didn't have any money on it. They could not use it. There was no money on it. There was no money on it. No. So I don't know what the hell is going on here.

I don't know if maybe they decided to get me or something. But who do you even, who do you even raise this complaint with? Like, do you think internal affairs would take this complaint seriously? Like, I don't even, I don't know what happened here. This would be the worst case in internal affairs history. Yeah. I mean, I remember one time my car got broken into in Houston and I, you know, did the tent, turned in the report, you know, all the valuable items in there. And I'm like, I'm wasting my time,

and they know that I'm wasting my time. And this is sort of the same thing. I can't. So this is my way of airing. This is sort of the tail end of festivist. I'm airing my grievance here. I got pulled over by the police. I don't know why. He gave me a $200 gift card. I thought maybe it was to make it up. And then they fooled me. So there we go. Happy, happy. I'm glad 2024 is over. What an effort at community relations that was. I mean, come on, man. I mean, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, probably could have been bought off too. I mean, for like something, you know, I mean, they, they, everybody has a price.

Maybe they could have done a little more than $200 and then at least it worked. But anyway, let's move on. So I know we're going to talk about college football a little bit today, but one of the things that kept coming up, and I didn't get to see all of the Heisman trophy ceremony, but I know that there were a lot of Boise fans and were very upset about Travis Hunter winning the Heisman. And what was the, did you hear the,

I mean, the sort of the catch-all phrase coming out of Boise about Travis Hunter that week, Brian. Which was snaps or not a stat. Ooh. Yeah, snaps or not a snap. And so you would kind of be inclined to be like, come on, that's not classy Boise State. You know, I don't, I don't, I don't be doing that. But I had realized I had not really seen a whole game of Ashton Genty this year.

So I wanted to kind of see for myself, I was very much Travis Hunter. He's the guy that should win. I don't have any argument with that. What he did was incredible. And as a former running back, I'm, you know, sympathetic to them, but I'm like, come on, how good. And guys get yards all the time. Like, you know what I mean?

Like Melvin Gordon was a great college running back because I mean, he was a great pro. Is he going to be legendary? It's just no way to know. But anyway, did you watch Boise State versus Penn State, Brian? I sure did. Yeah. What did you think of Aston Gentile at the end of it? Well, it was an interesting one because it was like probably one of his more pedestrian

games in the season. Yeah. Yeah. We've been hearing about the legend of Ashton Genty. Right. Then he goes up against a Penn State defense that is absolutely keyed on him. And daring that quarterback, whose first name was Maddox? Yeah, Maddox.

Yeah. I mean. To throw on him. So it was one of those games where I didn't come out thinking like, this guy stinks. But I also thought like I've kind of missed the best of Ashton Jens. There you go. That is a very, I mean, that is a very generous take. And much more than what I saw on the internet.

But on social media that night, because that's how I tend to watch the game. And there were a lot of people, oh, Genti's been exposed, Boise State's been exposed. I don't know how often this has happened in my life, but I had even more respect for Aston-Gentee after those 104 yards on 30 carries against Penn State. And let me just tell you, those stats don't really quite tell the story of the game. apparently, according to ESPN research, Genti had 29 yards on nine rushes when Penn State had seven or more defenders in the box.

So, I mean, obviously, as you mentioned, they were geared up, they wanted, they were daring Boise State to like, will you please just try? Like, if you try, give us something to respond to, then we won't do this to your boy. But they just could not, they just could not do that. But if you watched the actual game

and you watched all of Ashton Genties Carey's, He was unreal, man. He had a 10-yard run early in the fourth quarter where six Penn State guys got a hand on it, man. You know what I mean? And it's just like, okay, he did not live up to the Barry Sanders-esque billing or anything like that. Like, we didn't get to see,

he didn't have his Reggie Bush moment. But I don't, if you're going to judge that guy with his G5 offensive line against one of the best offensive lines in the country, I just don't know what to say. Like I think if you think Gentie got exposed And I can only assume that as the kids say today You don't know ball

So they sent it up for Lewis Riddick at the beginning of that game With some Emmett Smith tape Yeah To compare with Ashton Jenny tape And for me that is running back sacred ground Because I feel not only is Emmett Emmett Emmett is kind of misremembered As like oh you know he had a bunch of carries right

Behind a good Cowboys offensive line Like oh you don't remember Emmett then Tell me you don't remember Emmett without telling me you don't remember Emmett. I know. I was going to ask you if you think he's kind of not made of the NFL running back Mount Rushmore because of it. Like, I just don't feel like he has a weird misremembering. Yeah. And partly Barry canonization, which is also all deserved because Barry is also awesome.

Right. And they were kind of put against each other. And then Emmett had rings. So I feel people kind of overcompensated that on Barry a little bit on the other side of it. Right. But so I'm watching this tape and I'm just already in the frame of mind to be like, okay, this guy's not going to be Emmett Smith. Yeah.

But there are moments where you understand the comp because of the way he comes off contact. And you're like, oh my gosh. And I know that 10-yard run you're talking about because I thought the same thing. I was like, oh, wow. I got it. Now I understand. And it was late in the game, man.

Like this is after getting beat up all game long and he still had that sort of strength and power and like balance to do that. Also, don't forget, Penn State's best player on the whole damn team got hurt trying to tackle Ashton Gentie in this game. We saw him on the bike on the sideline. I mean, so like, Boise State may have lost. I don't think Ashton Gentie did. I have one other thing, and I'm not going to go too long on this, but I had, Brian,

I've been thinking about high school basketball this weekend. Do you keep up with high school basketball anymore? No, I really don't. So go for it. Okay. You didn't go to the King. Clown. Do you never, you weren't one of the enthusiasts that went to the King Cotton

in classic and Palm Bluff or anything like that. I cannot say that I did. Okay. All right. I'm a old throwback. I saw Corliss Williamson play Jason Kid in high school and Palm Bluff, Arkansas in 1991. Like, that's how real, that's, I'm trying to establish my bona fides, if you will. By the way, consider that accomplished.

Bonifides are in for those two names right there. Yeah. So in that era of my life, you know, there were these high school rankings of basketball teams, and I love to reap them in the agate section of the sports section, right? So it would be like Dave Kreider at USA Today. He did like a weekly national rankings thing in the 80s. And then there was the national prep poll with Doug Huff in the 1990s. Max Prep started doing them.

And then really, you know, as you know, like ESPN, Fox rivals, student sports. They also did their own thing. But back in the day, you'd see these schools, Damatha, right? Compton Dominguez, the Dunbar in both D.C. and Baltimore, Camden. in New Jersey, you know, St. Anthony's, Jersey City. Schools that were recognizable, like, things that I'd ever heard. I was like, oh, I could, if you mentioned St. Raymond's in the Bronx to me, I can even come up with an image of the school almost, right?

Like, I'm like, okay, this is a school in the community, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. And then really, it was like the last decade or so that you started seeing, like, it wasn't just like Oak Hill and Mount Zion. It was like Finley Prep and Mont Verde. And I even covered IMG Academy in, like, 2013. So, like, I kind of saw the flourishing of the trend I'm about the name here. But, like, have you seen the rankings for the boys' high school hoops this past week? I'm sure you have not, Brian.

I'm guessing they may not be made up of some of the more traditional names. No, you are not going to see St. Joseph, Notre Dame Alvada, Meele, California on there. You're not going to see Old Palm Bluff High of Arkansas. Number one, IMG Academy. Okay, how you give that? Number two, prolific prep. Have you heard of that? I have that

it's an old seventh day Adventist school in Napa, California that just happened to go big on hoops in recent years they're probably their most prominent alum is Jalen Green of the Houston Rockets Number three Link Academy have you heard of that Link L-I-N-K Academy Uh no

So boarding school just outside of Branson It was the Branson Branson yeah That Branson Branson, Missouri, believe it or not. It won the 2023 men's Geico National Championship. And cursory look at the website.

Most of its students appear to be athletes, okay? Number four is Columbus. It's an all-boys prep school in Miami. I think I've heard of that school, right? Number five, Montverde. You've heard of Montverde Academy by this point now, right? Number six, have you heard of dynamic prep? These don't sound like schools.

Right. You sound like either tutoring services or places where I get my muffler fix. I mean, and this is in Dallas. Dynamic Prep is in Irving. It's technically at Irving. On its website, it says, its mission is cultivating the dedicated student athlete to become the CEO of their brand,

mentally, physically, and emotionally on and off the court. So, very ambitious. Number seven, Utah Prep. kind of generic kind of it's a boarding school but i can just i'll give you a hint you can order your a j de banster jersey on the school's home page okay uh number eight brewster academy maybe you've heard of that it's an old boarding school in new hampshire right number nine st john bosco number 10 but the point is i mean i mean do you do you how can these be considered high schools i don't understand like i understand that we're doing rankings and these

high school age kids playing against other high school age kids. This might be the best basketball team if we're just talking about basketball teams. You don't have to set up a school to get into the rankings. You know what I mean? Like just, just who? Just do the AAU thing. I know they have to go get radio, you know, whatever. But like, I don't, I just, we don't, I don't think media has to play that game with

these schools. Yeah. As it's times, you're saying it might be time to just retire the rankings. I just, I mean, how do you think? Pascal would do against old dynamic prep. Having sat on the bench for a couple years of back, I don't think it would have gone too well. Yeah, man, I just, I don't, that these are not, they're not doing the same things at the same level. And that's fine. I just, we can get rid of the theater that that's, that those are

real schools playing against normal American high schools, you know what I'm saying? Well, agotype has pretty much disappeared from the American consciousness. Yep. In American newspapers at the same time. By the way, if anybody's young, and listening to this podcast, that's the tiny type that would appear on the last one or two, sometimes more pages of the newspaper where you'd get, basically it was the internet in the 80s and 90s. It was like, I don't know what the standings are. I don't know what transactions happened because there was no woge bombs. They're all printed in the tiny type. And the more

important local news, ha ha, remember that in sports, that was up front. Oh, yeah. That's what people wanted to read. You're talking to the guy to put together Agate on Friday and Saturday is at the Star, Fort Worth Star Telegram in 1988. I'm sorry, 1999 and 99, man. There we go. $8 an hour. $8 an hour. $8 an hour. That's a lot of money in college, man. I did all right. I hope you got the Pascal score in. I did. Oh, man. People would call in and ask for scores too back. I'd have to do that too. So, yeah. That was right. You were a tip line as well as a newspaper reporter.

A couple of headlines I want to talk to you about from the last couple of days. All right. first ESPN being called to do some journalism. So as everybody knows, on New Year's Eve, a man drove a pickup truck into pedestrians who were celebrating in New Orleans French Quarter. It's an act of terror, according to authorities, that left 15 dead and more than 30 injured. I think one of the most heartrending parts of this is reading through all the quickly drawn obits in the newspapers.

Yeah. And I mean, I don't know about you, but it's almost always when people find little details that are just the most normal details in the world that somehow make these stories even more heartbreaking. I was reading one in the Times, New York Times, about Reggie Hunter, 37, who was down celebrating in the French quarter. And they talked to his younger sister. And she says he was known for dressing up. And New Year's Eve was no exception. he sported a pair of black and white Nike Jordans and a black polo shirt. Always wanted to look nice, she said.

I mean, somehow the simplicity of that sentence is utterly, utterly gutting. That's bad. You know, one of the victims there too was related to a kid that played football at TCU, TC's best receiver this year, Jack Beck, his brother. was one of the victims there. And actually just for a second, have you been to New Orleans on New Year's Eve? Last year.

Oh, it's fantastic. It's, I mean, I actually, as it happened, I was like, oh, man, when I heard about the news, I was like, oh, that is a place where a lot of people would be. Like, it's a great city to ring in the New Year, man. Absolutely. Yeah, yeah. And I just, yeah, the little details,

you can just imagine, you could see the Reggie hunters on Bourbon Street. Like, you know, I've been Reggie Hunter on Bourbon Street and on New Year's Eve. Hurricane in your hand, wandering from bar to bar, just kind of there, which is part of what being in New Orleans is about at any time,

but especially on New Year's. Wandering. Wandering. Wandering. Exactly. Yeah. So ESPN was in full college playoff mode. And all of a sudden,

the network had to do some journalism. Tacks were mentioned on Game Day and on E. ESPN's broadcast. And then during the first game on Jan 1, which was Texas, Arizona State, we find out that the Sugar Bowl in New Orleans, which is Georgia versus Notre Dame, had been rescheduled. For 4 o'clock Eastern Time Thursday, that is today. Here is game days Reese Davis making that announcement. Reese Davis is with you from the Rose Bowl in Pasadena.

Tonight's game in the Sugar Bowl scheduled to be played between Georgia and Notre Dame has been postponed for 24 hours in light of the horrific happenings in the morning hours in New Orleans when a man drove a pickup truck into a crowd of people at the corner of Canal and Bourbon Street, killing 15 people and injuring at least 25. Officials in New Orleans, including Sugar Bowl officials, just spoke a few moments ago and said that the game would be postponed as they continue to try to make sure that the area is as safe as possible. We'll have more on this at halftime, Joe. Joel, what struck you about ESPN switching modes like that?

Well, yeah, I mean, one, that they don't have Bob Lee or Jeremy Schap or, you know, some of the, you know, like those names just aren't there anymore. And so to sort of see Laura Rutledge slide into that role, but was really interesting to me. I was like, oh, is that, is that just how it happens? Like, all of a sudden you come to accept, okay, this is the person that when ESPN has a very serious moment, they're going to be the person with the ground. to bring you the news from a place. Well, she just happened to be in New Orleans, obviously, right? She was in New Orleans and in the Superdome itself. Right.

Then the authorities were doing extra security sweeps on because there was this idea early on. Maybe this is this bigger plot, which authorities came out today and said it's apparently not the case. It's work of one person. But anyway, continue. Yeah, but it's somebody like this, like, I don't think of Reese Davis as that guy either. You know what I mean?

But it just, to me, it just revealed, and this is not really anything you're thinking about too hard during the course of a tragedy. But it just occurred to me, I was like, oh, I don't know if ESPN has like that boom voice from on high from the anchor desk anymore. And it just is not saying, I thought they did a fine job yesterday, you know, relaying the news and, you know, sharing the gravity of the moment down there and everything. I thought they did fine with that. But it just, it just, I felt its absence. Did you?

Yeah. And I think it's, it's been a change since ESPN has downsized over the last. decade now that it used to be you would point at somebody and say, okay, that is capital J journalism guy. And when there is an occasion that calls for that, that person is going to be on the set or going to be on television pretty soon talking about this and explaining it. The new ESPN, it's more like let's go to one of our trusted sports anchors and get them in the moment if the moment requires it to become that guy or to become a version of that. guy, Scott Van Pelt when

Tamar Hamlin, right, goes into cardiac arrest on the field. He's like, this is it, right? Scott Van Pelt, here we go. Yesterday, it's Reese Davis, who's reporting from Pasadena and then it's Laura Rutledge from New Orleans. I mean, I didn't, and we did think is, you don't, I guess, you don't know that somebody

has that into a toolkit until they have to do it. And they're very talented, right? I mean, they're very talented journalists and good talkers who are on the microphone, so it stands the reason that that professionalism. And, I mean, There is some, like, I remember working local news sports, and then you'd have to slide over to new news,

and they'd be like on election night, they'd just be, the whole newsroom would be seized with terror. But in sports section, we'd be like, well, there's election every night in sports, bro. We're ready to go. So, like, maybe that's what they're sort of counting to come through. And to their credit, I don't think that they missed any beats yesterday, I don't think, with the way that they're doing it now.

No, I don't think so. either. I mean, I think part of that job in that moment is to come on and, you know, use the right tone of voice to say the right things, to not just try to outkick your coverage and do and say stupid things on the air, honestly, especially when it's something like that where the new president of the United States is, you know, putting stuff on social media that's not right, right? You're, you're coming on there and you're saying, here's what we know, here's what's going on. Here it is. We're not going to pretend like this is, you know, part of the celebration of the 12th team playoff today.

You know, we've got to just change modes and do this differently. And that's a skill, right? Like that is, that is a television skill as old as time. I think if you and I want to draw a distinction here that's interesting, it's like ESPN in a previous age would have treated this a little bit more like a television news division would have treated this thing. Well, they would have gone to it. They would have had somebody in.

Crystal that was sort of the hub for news, right? And then they would have used that person to sort of dish out and not have somebody that was already in the field at like the Rose Bowl. Is that what you mean? Well, I also just think they would have put together TV news style pieces in New Orleans. Yeah, fair point. I have been rereading Chris Myers' book recently. Remember Chris Myers was there in the 80s and 90s before he goes off to Fox.

And he covered both the 89 earthquake. He happened to be there for ESPN and the bombing in Centennial Park in 1996 at the 11th. at the Olympics in Atlanta. And ESPN in that moment is like, we're out in the street. We've got cameras, putting microphones, what happened? What did you hear? You're a witness to this. And putting together pieces and packages.

And I'm watching the late sports center last night. And it's more like, here's a reaction of the coaches. Here's Marcus Freeman. Here's some tweets we're going to read from Zion Williamson and Tyron Matthew. and people like that who have a vested interest in New Orleans. And again, that's all fine and interesting, but that's a different thing than old school television news gathering, which I think ESPN would have done once upon a time.

Is that, I mean, oh, God, maybe this is the wrong way to say it. Is that them being cheaper, or do they just not have the infrastructure to do it anymore? I think it's, I would say that it's a reaction to the, end of the cable bundle, that that ESPN that has an army of millions doesn't exist in the same way anymore, but it's also a series of choices. That what's going to take us into the future is not that, but something else. That's what they've decided.

I think it's, I think it can be both things at the same time. Yeah. And, you know, actually, now that you mention it, there was really no attempt. I mean, there's not been a lot of pieces or a lot of news segments that I've seen. seen so far talking about how this has affected the players. Now, I've heard that I've heard a coach say, who is what we do, you know, Marcus Freeman say, hey, we're doing this. We're going to do that. But I don't, I feel like usually you would see like a little video of the players being shuffled around some someplace, you know, being taken from bus to some other place. And then

there'd be somebody, well, I've spoken to somebody within the team and they say this, this, this is this. I feel like there was a little less of that to go around. But I'm open to the idea that, you know, coverage happens all day and maybe I would have missed the time of day when it came on. I just heard Relitch say that they were locked down in their hotel yesterday as a security procedure. So that B-roll may not have existed. There you go. Okay. And I know it's college players, so it's harder. You're not necessarily going to be tweeting or available like pros. You know, if it was a pro team, if this was the Super Bowl, just imagine that, right? Like, I think Diana and Rossini and people are probably getting players on the horn to talk about it in some kind of way,

or at least getting kind of sense of the team in a way that may not be quite as doable with college players? Yeah. Yeah. Although I mean like this is the NIL era, you know, they're a little bit more available. They're a little bit more professional than they used to be. But yeah, no, you're right. You're right. I mean, there's some dividing lines there. Yeah. I mean, I guess like we'll get a better sense of it today. Like, right? Because this will sort of tell you how serious ESPN is about covering it's about security measures going around, who they talk to, you know, because there's going to be a scene there, right? Sure. Absolutely. And it's going to be a lot more happening. that what's going on inside the stadium.

And I guess we'll get a sense for like what this version of ESPN is willing to do and capable of doing by its coverage tonight leading into the game or this afternoon. And I think just what this version of ESPN is sort of built to do. Because I think, you know, again, watching Sports Center last night, I'm just so struck by Old Sports Center. And I don't want to romanticize this too much. I think I can look at this anti-romantically. But Old Sports Center was like, here are our highlight guys.

guys who have lots of funny lines. This was not, you know, Edward R. Murrow doing SportsCenter in 1988. Though Keith had his moments, Olderman, that is. But this was not that, but they were doing their funny things. But then you were going to news packages, even when they were like, Chris Mortensen for around that had lots of B-roll and lots of reporting. And here's a locker room interview. And here's another locker room interview.

And here's this and here's that. It just had a different grammar. Sports Center now and most ESPN show now are here's a host. And sitting next to me is an answer. analyst who is going to talk about the game that just happened. And by the way, that analyst is going to talk about the game that just happened in a way that is extraordinarily more complex than ESPN in 1990.

Like they are going to get to a place that is way different than that. But that is a different form of television than ESPN was in a different age. Yeah. I mean, I saw Pat McAfee throwing it to Laura Rutledge and they're talking about, you know, what it happened. And then they got into a little bit of, how it might affect the game and they sort of moved on

and I was like oh wow they're not going to go to anybody else there's not going to be video of Laura talking to anybody else it's just hers you know doing a stand-up at the middle of the of the Superdome yeah yeah I mean it was it was little things like that like even when they went to Reese at halftime

Texas Arizona State they talked about a press conference that had just happened where they had announced that the game but they didn't have a clip from the press conference like old ESPN I think here is what they just said here's what the authorities just said again do you need that necessarily? I don't know, but there's just a certain kind of like TV grammar that is like, we're a news

organization. Here is the official announcing the thing. We've talked about this before, but like that is, journalism is expensive, man. And that is one of the first things to go at any news outlet. Like I was at BuzzFeed that, you know, they were like, when we need to cut some fat, like, we'll cut the news gathering organization. The people that go out to the field, you got to pay for all that equipment, hotel, all that sort of stuff.

it's much easier to have a host in one place. And hey, you've already got a reporter here. Like, let's just flip them into something. Like, we don't have to dispatch anybody else. They didn't have to be a news reporter on site. Like, the person that was going to work the sideline of the game tonight can also do this, too, right? So, yeah, I just think that I don't want to, I'm not trying to impugn ESPN. They're having to make decisions in a very difficult climate, but they just don't do as much journalism anymore.

Yeah, it's just different. It's just really different. And it's things like this. that you can really tell the difference. You know, should it have been targeting Arizona, State, Texas, that looks like ESPN is fully functioning. We're ready to go, right? We're going to do it on get up, and we're going to do it on first take,

and we're going to do it here, and we're ready to go. Like, we got that. But this is the kind of thing that's a little different. And it's also the way the world's gone, you know, in fairness to them, right? like let's be conscious of you and I talking about this into podcast microphones. You know, we didn't get on a plane yesterday to New Orleans with our notebook in our back pocket and start walking around the French quarter and asking people what happened. Oh, that's true. This is the way the world has gone in a lot of ways.

I would actually love to know how many national outlets sent reporters there to New Orleans today now, too, because there can't be this. I mean, if you think about it, there's just not a lot of people that are going to send people to New Orleans anymore, which is, I mean, this was being classified as terror attack. And think about that. I mean, you think the LA Times sent somebody there for this? That's a good question. I know the New York Times had a bunch of bylines,

and I was pretty struck by the number of bylines they had on the ground there. Yeah, they got a lot of people in the South, too. They got a lot of people in the South. And they're maybe one of the organizations that can really put people on an airplane, put people in a car if you're already close by. Right. And be like, this is your job for the next three, four days until this thing, we get a handle on this thing.

Absolutely. Absolutely. Man, it's just, I just, I mean, there's a lot of sad, a lot of sad things about what happened in New Orleans the other day. But like, this is another piece of it, man. We just don't have, you know, just fewer people, fewer jobs. We're going to know less, too, I think, in the whole. Like, in the aggregate, like, we probably won't know as much as we could know

is if there was a robust media there, not only at ESPN, but also to challenge ESPN. I think so. And I think it's maybe we would know less in kind of unusual ways. Like we will probably know a lot of details about the suspect. And we do in fact know a lot of details about the suspect already. But it's like the scenes from New Orleans, right? Things the way it affects people's lives, perhaps burrowing into the to the lives that were lost. Yeah.

On New Year's Eve. Like those little things, you know, I mean, those are the kind of things that are the things to go, right? that the things that get, those are the stories that get cut when staff gets reduced. Brian, this happened in a town. They lost their daily newspaper, the Times picking them, man. That does not exist anymore.

Now, I think there's no, nola.com still exist. The advocate, yeah. And the advocate expanded over into New Orleans from Baton Rouge. But like, I mean, it's, yeah, it's just, I mean, there's a lot of other stories around this about how, you know, how things are different from the last time we've had

what people might consider a terror attack. that affected a sporting event like this. I spent my day yesterday at the Rose Bowl in sunny Pasadena. I'm so jealous, man. Did you see that Chamber of Commerce weather? Oh, my God. I mean, it never looks more beautiful than first quarter kickoff at the Rose Bowl. Like, there's not a more beautiful place in America, I think.

It's unbelievable. Yeah. And it's actually the weather here has been kind of gross and kind of foggy and kind of smoggy. through Christmas. I did not know. But for whatever reason, like a switch is flipped. Yeah. Because the parade must look perfect on New Year's Day on the morning. And then the game, the kickoff must look perfect in the afternoon.

Look, I told my little son, I was watching, I was like, I was like, Desmond, this is the most beautiful. I was like, this is a beautiful place right here. Because I'm trying to attune him to, you know, natural beauty and things. He said, it is not beautiful. It's ugly. Nobody is there. And I was like, so do I check back with him in third quarter. I was like, now there's final people understand as Desmond.

But I didn't really get an answer. He had moved on. But at any rate, I'm trying to pass on the beauty of the Rose Bowl and like appreciating it to the next generation. I think what Desmond is channeling is a little bit of the Rose Bowl pushback. I was feeling on Twitter yesterday because people are now like in Augusta national mode where they're like, okay, you've now told me this for so long. And I'm like, here's my thing. I am not romantic about sports stadiums. You and I have been to a ton of them.

And first of all, almost every pro stadium and every sport is a stadium. Right. You and I can point at Dodger Stadium. And it's a couple of others, but like it's just a thing. And they all kind of look the same. Like the fans are cool.

The games are awesome. But the stadium itself is a stadium in most cases. College is better. But I also think that college is about the people in the place, the crazy fans, the songs, the bands, the crazy brand of football that's being played on the field, see Texas, Arizona State yesterday.

I mean, man. Yeah. But the Rose Bowl, I mean, the Rose Bowl is different. I mean, it's, first of all, there's no upper deck for the uninitiated. The second thing, and I know you appreciate this, and the Coliseum in the LA is the same way. So you're standing outside the Rose Bowl.

Okay, I am outside the Rose Bowl. I enter a tunnel, which is a, a very narrow tunnel. And when I emerged from the tunnel, I am in the stance. Yes. There's no concourse where I can buy hot dogs or take a piss. It's just you're either outside the stadium or you are in your seat. Those are the only two options.

Is that what the cotton, actually now I'm thinking, is the cotton boat like this too? Because I feel like when the fair is happening at the cotton bowl, it feels like that. If that's, when I'm going to the Rose Bowl for the first time, felt like the Texas State Fair. Because it's like all the stuff is outside. You're either watching the game or eating a corn dog. Yeah, right.

Those are two options. I believe the cotton bowl does have concourses. I'm pretty sure I've gone to the bathroom with the cotton bowl without leaving the stadium. I've been in a while. So, okay. Yeah. Yeah. But it's just, it's just different.

Oh. And the other, and the other key part of this is, it's January 1st. Like, this is, this is an important detail to this. So it's not just, oh, yeah, it's pretty. Yeah. It's beautiful. Yeah, the mountains and the sunsets and all that stuff.

It's January 1st, folks. When I walked into the parking lot, it was 69 degrees yesterday. And the sun was shining. A day of renewal, man. a day of renewal. What better way to spend it at the Roseball? Well, here's the only hits, Joel. Texas, Arizona State was the early game.

Texas is my alma mater. And let me tell you something, I'm already a little iffy about walking away from this game and walking into a different game. But I got to go because I got to get situated, got to beat the crowd, all that stuff. So I take off, I park, I make that oppressively bucolic wall.

to the stadium and up to the press box. And I get in and it's 24-day Texas. And I'm like, hey, this is great. I can go visit with people. I can go talk to fellow sports writers. This is fantastic. Well, Arizona State, powered by the unbelievably named Cam Scataboo. Cam Scataboo, man.

Legend. Speaking of running backs, they get a touchdown on the two-point conversion, touchdown in another two-point conversion. suddenly it's 2024. A touchdown that he throws, by the way. He throws. Yeah, throw, yes. The first running back throws.

And suddenly I'm like, oh, my God, this is going to be one of the epic choke jobs in Texas history. And now I am in a bottom five place on earth to watch the rest of this game. Oh, man, that's right. Oh, you were hurt. I mean, what did you? How did you? What did you do then? You just.

It was weird because I'm like, you know what? Nicole Araback from NBC's here. Chuck Cole Pepper from the Washington Post is here. Alex Kirshner, split zone duopod. Palo O'getti, late of the ringer now ESPN. Yeah. Luca Evans. I saw him covers SC for the OC register.

I'm like, these are probably my favorite people on earth to talk college football with. I don't want to see any of them right now. Oh, my God. You got so tied up in your emotions that you couldn't. not of joy. I mean, for not only the simplistic, well, actually the splendor of the Rose Bowl, but then you got, I mean, you couldn't even enjoy the absurdity of the Fiesta Bowl, huh? No, I don't like, I don't know about you, but if there's a game I really care about, I mean, I kind of like to be alone. I'm giving you, oh, yeah, I mean, I just, I'm, I'm,

I'm an insane person. If it, if it's a TCU game that I care about, then yes, I don't, I don't want, yeah, it's actually painful. It's a painful experience to have your favorite team in a tight game and be around other people, right? And be around neutral parties. Yeah. Yeah. And I'm imputing this belief to all the people I just mentioned, but I'm like, if these people want anything, it's an Arizona state upset.

Like Texas winning is like whatever. Arizona State and Cam Scataboo. Oh, yeah. Knocking off at SEC team. That's fun. I'm like, I just don't want to. You know what I did? I went to the last row of the press box where all the ops guys are.

The guys with the walkie talkies. And I just stood next to them. Like, they didn't mind. Oh, good. Is that the far end near the elevator too? Yeah. Just right over in the corner. Oh, in the corner.

Yeah, okay. Yeah, man. That's a good place to do it. You were in, you, did anybody? Did you have any familiar faces around you? Nobody? Nobody. And I'm just sitting there watching the game.

And of course, then the Rose Bowl starts and the whole press box is standing for the national anthem and I'm kind of craning my neck so I can still watch the game. Oh, man. Yeah, because also that's not even really a comfortable way to watch a game. Like you want to watch Texas at home, like, you know, with food and, you know, comfort and everything. The doors closed, the volume just right. I mean, I've had, I've had some of the worst moments I've ever had with my own mother during like close football games. You know, she was asking me a question. I'm like, not right now, mom. And then I just feel terrible afterwards. Like, gosh, you know, he snapped at your mother over a football game. A couple more notes for me for the press box. Okay. How about this as a condition of being a sports writer? You get.

sent to what you think is the big game, but the big game turns out to be elsewhere. That'll happen. That'll happen. Because, I mean, yeah, you were supposed to have been covering, like, I mean, the game of all, you know, like, probably the two best teams left, you know, by most. Ohio State Oregon. Yeah. And in that place, yeah, man. But you didn't want to.

You could not. have even no matter how good that game was in Tempe there's no way you would rather be there than in Pasadena yesterday uh oh you mean would I would I rather than the Texas game yeah no I would have rather been in Pasadena yeah I mean that's you know I mean just like we're good oppressively becolic I keep coming back to it yeah I mean but yes the the game the game in Tempe was so much I mean that was the game of the day and it's probably if the ESP and classic still existed it'd probably be running today. But it's funny,

like sports writers sometimes you're just guessing. Yeah, man. This is where this is where the action is. And then you wind up watching the TV and the press box. Man. Because the action is somewhere else. Here's another thing I want to get you on. Press box etiquette.

Okay. So I heard somebody in there having a personal conversation in the first quarter. And then, you know, personal conversations will happen. This was not about the game. On the phone with somebody or personal conversation? with somebody else in there. In person.

Okay. In person. And this is not a terribly personal matter. Just like a life, you know, like shooting the breeze conversation. Oh, yeah. And this is not like is Jeremiah Smith. Would he be the number one pick if he came out this year? This is just stuff.

Oh, man. It goes on for one drive. It goes on for two drives. It goes on for three drives. Nobody. Yeah. What's the point where you're like, I know we can talk in here. I know the press box is not like a library or a nunnery.

Yeah. But we have not taken a valid. of silence, but we're here to watch the game, right? Yeah, I look, I'm not nearly as popular as you are. You know what I mean? Absolutely the opposite of the truth. And it's a miracle that I have any friends at all. But I don't want anybody talking while the game,

because I have a hard time keeping up with stuff. I don't know about you. Games are hard to follow. Yeah, verify you got, there's a lot of stats. I'm trying to chart this and I'm writing about something. I'm taking notes. Like, there's a lot of stuff going on. So, like, you, we can, I feel like you can.

I feel like you can only start talking when we're all into a groove. Like maybe around the third, maybe late in the second quarter and then again, like, you know, midway through the third. And then we can start commenting together. But like, no, don't. I did not like people talking to me in class because I had a hard time paying attention. And so, like, no, I don't want anybody talking to me. I'm annoyed.

As you were telling me what was going on, I was increasingly annoyed. Yeah, right? I mean, it's like, and again, this game became a blowout pretty fast, which I think is then then it's kind of okay at least to talk about but mostly you want to talk about the fact that it's blowout

and make jokes about it yeah yeah man I mean I just oh man I'm sorry but you know man I don't know I mean the press box

is pretty wide open now was it somebody that you recognize you don't want to give you want to give it no I didn't actually recognize them if ever I think shaming would have been totally appropriate if I'd recognize it

but I didn't and I didn't want to chase them down and be like hey who are you what's your name I'm sorry I was fascinated by your conversation you were having some other notes for you the songs they play at the Rose Bowl during commercials

okay so you know they have the bands of course but then they play some songs on the PA yesterday I wrote down Tutti Fruity Oh man I love L.A. by Randy Newman What? Hang on

Sloopy because it's Ohio State Okay shout because it's Oregon I mean I felt like I could have been sitting next to Jim Murray it's some undefined year in the past watching that game. I mean, what in the back to future hell? I mean, didn't that, didn't that just sound? That's Marty McFly-ass music, man.

It was unbelievable. What? I mean, they didn't play not like us? No. I mean, I just tell you what, you know stadiums like, they're trying to be so aggressively modern because we like, we got to get the kids to like sports. We got to make this.

I mean, this was the opposite. Oh, my God. I played Tudy-Fruti. to get a reaction out of my son, you know, because it's like kind of goofy. Like, I just, it never occurred to me that people were playing it. Like, it was a revelation at the time. I'm certain, you know, I don't want to denigrate the great late, uh, little Richard. But come on.

What? What kind of musty-ass lounge act music? What is happening? Rose ball. It's a little bit of an aesthetic piece of with the Rose Bowl parade with the Studebakers and it floats. It is. Now that you mentioned it, we should, it is kind of, like, California is kind of weirdly old.

And I don't know how to explain it to people, but like, it is. It is like they, we remnant, we, I guess we live right here, romanticize the old and way. Like in Texas, we'll just tear something down and build something new. Like, that is very Texan. Here, everything, you know, every building has been around since 1906 under a redwood tree. Well, yeah, the ones that, I mean, there's a lot of tear down and especially in Southern California. Southern Drive. But the things that did survive, those are just romanticized.

Like Southern California is kind of a Mel's diner, right? Like everything is like, oh, my God, let's put some beach boys on. Let's put some 60s music on. Let's do this. Hollywood is like kind of, I'm not trying to, but it's kind of not creepy, but you know, it just seems very musty. Like, you know, like Vincent Price should pop out. You know what I mean?

Ed McMahon. Back to the future was perfect because that is exactly what it is. And also, we'll take Vincent Price as well. So here's a kicker for you. Okay. I leave the Rose Bowl. I'm walking through the crowds, back to my car. And, you know, we got sad duck fans who've, you know, God bless them, spent thousands of dollars to come down for airline and tickets and everything else and just watch their team get completely annihilated.

Final score was 41, 21, and it did not seem that close. And then I got all these happy Buckeyes fans, which feels like its own kind of. subset of college football humanity. Oh, yeah. And they're excited and they're going crazy. And one of them who's wearing a satin jacket that I was a little bit jealous of, actually.

Yeah. I was envisioning it. Okay. Yeah, like a cool satin jacket. He looks at me. Now, again, I'm like carrying a bag. I'm dressed in neutral colors. I do have some credentials hanging from my neck.

So I look like somebody semi official or at least not a fan. And he looks at me and he goes, woge. Whoa. Oh, no. Oh, Brian. I'm not making this up. Oh, God. And so I,

and he keeps walking, like, and I stop him because I'm like, okay, number one, I just want to say, I am not Wojj. No. Number two, you are not the first person

who has ever suggested that. Really? Oh, man, really? And the first person was, wait for it. Sage Steele, one time when I was interviewing her, I was like, you know who you look like?

And I was like, uh-oh. This story is just, why would, don't do that? I mean, what if that's an insane thing to do? Go ahead. No, I thought you thought it was like, Wojj is here. What? And my take on this show has always been like, if, if people think this, either I need a new stylist or Woj needs a new stylist.

I'm not going to say which, but one of us just needs to, to zag. You are, you, both of you, handsome, swaggy guys in your own right. But if you're going to tell me that I look like, well, it's like, what is the response, like, what are you hoping to elicit for me when you do this? I'll give you an example. And I'm not saying that either one of you, again, you know, handsome men, you know, fine. I went out to a Chinese restaurant and somewhere in PG County, Maryland. about seven, eight years ago

with my then-girlfriend and my wife and her friend and her boyfriend. And out front, I thought I saw the rapper Biz Marquis. Okay. And I was like, man, that looks like Biz Marquis. And I really wanted to go up and say, are you Biz Marquis? But I was like, what if I'm wrong?

What if this is not Bismarkey? And I've just told this person that they looked like Bismarkey. And like, I mean, I don't think anybody was aspiring to look like Biz Marquine. So I'm saying, unless you're going to, like, if you're going to tell me I look like somebody, like aim high, like, don't, don't aim like, okay, you're kind of on the level with this person.

Like, just keep it to yourself. Like, don't, you can, I mean, I mean, I guess like, say still, whatever. But just, that's terrible, man. I'm sorry. Don't do the woge thing to people. I mean, I don't like that. I don't like that. I don't like you cheat it like that.

No. Well, let me tell you the moral of story because there's kind of a happy ending to this. Okay. So I stopped the guy and I'm like, I'm actually not woge. Though I have been told that before, but I said, if you like sports, I mean, I'm presuming this person as a sports fan. If they have just having a woe-citing after an incredibly exciting football game, I'm like, I work at the ringer. And he looks at me and without missing a beat goes, Brian Curtis, press box, do you have one of those campaign buttons? So now we have just in this unbelievable U-Tur.

Oh, my God. Where he knows who I am, what podcast I host and what promotion we did last year. for the show. Oh, man. And now I'm feeling incredibly honored. Man. That anybody would, A, just even pull my name out of the year. Oh, man.

So I got his number. We've been texting today. Okay. I'm going to send him a campaign button because it's the least I could do. Is it too late for me to apologize? No, there was no apology. It was no, I didn't. You're not too late for me to apologize.

I feel bad. Oh, absolutely. And by the way, he did write and say that he, his only regret was that the Joel enchilada was not using. And I'm not making that up. This is a super, this is a super fan. Man, he really. Well, look, first of all, guy, I'm, baby, uh, I've,

his name out of this just in case. Brian, well, Brian will tell me your name later. I'm sorry. I mean, look, I know that it can happen. And actually, you know what? I'm saying all this. Oh, man. I did this sort of job interview a year and a half ago.

And I see a woman behind me. And I cannot help myself, Brian. And I look at her and I say, has anybody ever told you you look like Gloria Allred? And she and, uh, or actually, you know what it was? I asked her if she was Gloria Allred. And then she was like, yeah, a lot of people sit and think I look like her. And I put out, well, I'm an attractive woman.

I don't think. But again, like, if you don't want to look like Gloria Allred, I could understand how that could be a thing. So anyway, I apologize, guy. I'm sorry. I responded too strongly, but I was being, I was defending my boy, man. I was defending Brian. And so I just didn't want, you know what I mean? Like Shaq, you weren't familiar with his game.

I was not familiar with his game. I'm just sorry, man. So, yeah, and Joel Enchalata, sometimes I fretted about not using it as well. But we have to move on. One last thing from the Rose Bowl was sitting there when I was, when I was bothering the sports riders asking questions. I think it was maybe whatever the score was, did we get up to 34 to nothing? 34, was it 34, was it 34, was it 34, at halftime.

I think it might have been. I think it was a touchdown like right at the end, right at the buzzer. So it's like 34 Zip. And I was like, okay, what's the first question you ask Oregon coach Dan landing in the post game? Oh, man. It's like office didn't work, defense didn't work. Nothing didn't, nothing worked.

You get completely embarrassed. What's question number one for this press conference? I mean, man, that's a great question. What happened out there today, coach? There's that, right? Yeah. I was almost thinking of doing that as like a little. starter phrase like tough afternoon out there come up and then ask whatever you want to ask yeah yeah

do you kind of acknowledge things would you call coach would call them dan um so coach has been the one honorific that has never bothered me that much like when i hear people call NFL owners mister i go crazy oh i wouldn't i'm like that's terrible but a coach to me is just it's such a funny title that calling a coach coach i can't stop calling people coach and i know that maybe people think i just think i'm a suck up or whatever, but it's just, it's a same. You've got a different association with it, too. You had actual coaches. That's fair. Do you want to hear the actual opener to Dan Lanning?

Oh, please. Let's roll this. This is postgame. Dan Lanning faces the media. Our first question comes from the front right here. Mike's coming to you. Ryan Clark with the Oregonian, Dan. Your thoughts on just how the long layoff between games between now and the Big Ten championship game impacted the guys in terms of, you know, how the game started.

Oh, man. I mean, it's nobody wants that. I don't not like having the mic in those circumstances, Brian. But I mean, come on. Don't give it. Don't give it. Don't let him get off the hook already, man. And it was into landing's credit, he was like, that's not a factor.

We just, I'm not going to blame it on anyway. I thought that was pretty funny. Oh, man. Ryan Clark. There are a lot of Ryan Clarks out there in media, man. Turns out. This is my favorite line of the whole press conference. This is Bill Oram, the columnist at the Oregon.

But with a very good line. It's more of a tope, really. Dan, sorry, Bill Oram with the Oregonian. Dan, that's what got me. I was like, oh, man, what khaki shirt.

Oh, my God. And he got a big laugh from the sports writers and Lannning and Dylan Gabriel, the Oregon quarterback, just completely stonefaced. They weren't having any of it, huh? They didn't fit in front of it. Bill and Gabriel at that moment

in his professional life did not think. think tope was, uh, but didn't get to something to smile at. He had a long afternoon. It's all it. He had a big afternoon. He did. All right. Real quick, before we get out of here, did you read semaphores, what we got wrong in 2024 roundup the other day? Yes. Yes, man. Yeah. Yeah, what did you, what did you think of this thing, man? So people didn't see it. They basically called up media thought leaders and said, tell us one thing you got wrong. And there were a couple of mildly interesting answers, but mostly it was like a window in how media people admit error.

Oh, I love it. Or don't admit error? Yes. Yes. Yes. It's like I failed to predict that the success of my publication, I failed to predict that we would take off as much as we did relative to all the other losers in media. Things like that. That was my big miss.

Yeah, that was my name is. I couldn't predict how great I was going to be in 24. There's some really funny ones too because a lot of people talked about the election and it went a different way than I thought it would or various versions of that. And I'm always like, have we not just come to the conclusion that reporters are bad at predicting events? Yeah. I mean, you just can't do it. Like it's not, and to me, you could be a great political reporter and not understand, you know, on October 13th that Donald Trump was definitely going to win the election.

I mean, yeah, man. Predicting is so easy, though. It's so seductive because either you're terrifying one group of people or you're electrifying. You're like, you're calming them. You're giving them a nice balm to feel good about going into election, right? Totally. So, yeah, especially that prediction. Yeah, yeah.

And it's easy. But I'm always like, you've got to call me about it. Getting that wrong is kind of like the least interesting thing that you could get wrong. Yeah. Yeah. That's actually right. Yeah. Well, that's why the president of NBC News went in another direction, right? Did you see? Give us the scoop on that one. Okay. This is Rebecca Blumentstein and I, like, I didn't mean to disrespect people or whatever, but it's a, but why not? Her thing is, is the enduring power of inflation on politics. Even as unemployment rates were historic lows and inflation subsided, many voters simply do not share a sense of optimism. the high prices of grocery, housing, higher education, health care. That profoundly affected the presidential race this year. One of the most memorable segments we did was about how people in Nebraska often drive two hours round trip to a bakery in Omaha to save $2 on a loaf of bread.

Okay, there's another sentence, but I can end it there. First of all, I mean, if they did do that, and I know there was a link to a segment showing there's a particular kind of bread in Omaha, the people were going out of the way for, but like I don't think you're saving a lot of money if you're driving two hours round trip to get to get some savings on some bread. But also where was the thing part where she admitted that they did something wrong? Right. The first part of that sounded like the Harris people on Pod Save America.

Yeah. Let me just make a statement about the way people think. I mean, yeah, I guess it could not be follow up. Like, could you, like, I don't think that's really a prediction. Could you like would actually, you know, give them a chance to answer your question. But I guess I'm sure they just sent out emails and took whatever response they could get, right? Yeah. Sometimes people say, hey, well, how can you cover the media?

Aren't these people like so like hilariously self-regarding? And my answer to that is exactly. Yeah, man. I mean, exactly. There we go. It was just really funny to see that they circulating on the internet. And people like, I was like, oh man, no wonder people don't like us. All those.

And remember New York Magazine did that big media? package those are all done and i believe consciously ben smith and max tanny can disagree but like done at least partly as hate reads oh yeah absolutely you you are going to absolutely hate this but you are going to read the hell out of it i mean it's read every part of it they got us right we fell forward right yeah absolutely they got us here we are talking on a podcast uh-huh he is joel anderson i'm brian Curtis, productive magic by Brian Waters. Shoemaker's back from his vacation, rested and ready. I think he and I are going to have something very special on Monday

that I'm waste too superstitious to talk about. But look for that on the press box Monday. Joel, I will see you again next Thursday. Look forward to it, man.