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ESPN Bias and the Oakland Raiders

Lord knows the Raiders don't need me to defend them against the 'Bristol buffoons, otherwise known as ESPN--nevertheless, after reading and watching most of their NFL Draft coverage, (on the internet too) espn.com, it needs to be pointed out ESPN has a blatant bias toward the 'Silver and Black.

This is not a recent phenomenen. It goes back several years, and while much of the ESPN criticism is legitimate, much of it would be far more credible if the characters in this little story didn't have such an obvious vendetta against the Oakland football contingent.

Let's begin with the Raiders' selection of Darrius Heyward-Bey as their first-round draft-pick in the NFL draft.

The selection drew almost universal derision, from ESPN's draft analysts to the NFL Network's contingent. That's not the point, nor the story here.

ESPN's core football team tonsils, including lead analyst Chris Berman, draft honcho Mel Kiper, ex-NFL player Keyshawn Johnson and Steve Young all lamphooned the pick. Chris Mortensen did everything but a five-minute stand-up comedy act in response to the Heyward-Bey selection. That's not surprising given "Mort's" previous dealings and reporting of everything Raiders.

From a football standpoint, the pick was indeed curious, but maybe the Raiders and Al Davis know something we don't know. Maybe we all know more than they do--who the hell knows? It's the NFL draft, mind you, where pundits and "experts" make a living out of telling all of us how great said player is and isn't, and so on and so on, but again, that's not the deal here.

ESPN has never been a friend of the Oakland Raiders and when I say "friend", I'm not talking "buddy-buddy" friendship/camaraderie.

I'm speaking more about the premise of credibility. Berman's love affair with the SF 49ers and Giants is notorious. He's even mentioned it several times in interviews on the network itself. The "Raiduhs" shtick was cute about ten years ago, but Berman continues to think it's funny, a la, "back-back-back". He's never been a particularly objective guy when it comes to Oakland, and his partner on "Countdown", ex-NFL player, Tom Jackson, was a former Denver Bronco. Jackson didn't work the draft, but his anti-Raiders bias is well-known and documented. In his playing days, he once refered to John Madden as a "fatman".

Mortensen is in a league by himself. His distaste for Al Davis and the Raiders organization has been legendary, but when it gets to the point where it affects his reportings, then there's a credibility issue. After all, "Mort" supposedly is deemed by ESPN as an "NFL reporter/'insider". His "commentary" is, for the most part, first-rate and fairly accurate, but he needs to strengthen up the "objectivity" box in his Raiders file because no one takes him seriously when he opines about the Raiders.

To be fair, I've taken shots at the Raiders over their on-field relevance, (or lack there-of) and some of those shots were valid. The coaching antics. The perpetual losing these past six years. Mr. Davis' recent lack of football finesse. The whole shebang. But I'm a commentator, (for the most part) and most certainly don't have the cachet of an ESPN--we all know that; but does ESPN? The "World-Wide Leader"? When it comes to the reporting of the Raiders, nope.

By: Rich "Big Vinny" Lieberman