Sports

Lupica: How Can Obama Make 'Noble' Obamacare a 'Triumph?'
By Mark Finkelstein | February 19, 2015 | 9:18 AM EST

New York Daily News columnist Mike Lupica ought to stick to sports. When he wanders into politics he says silly stuff, as on today's Morning Joe.  

With HHS Secretary Sylvia Burwell being interviewed about Obamacare, Lupica unctuously wondered out loud: "how did something that was this noble an idea become something over time that the other party uses against this president constantly? And is there a way, over the last two years of his presidency, for him to throw some sort of Hail Mary pass and make this look like the triumph he thought it was going to be?"

Lefty Sports Reporter Calls NFL ‘Brain Damage For Profit’
By Jeffrey Meyer | February 2, 2015 | 11:57 AM EST

On Sunday, MSNBC’s Melissa Harris-Perry program previewed the upcoming Super Bowl with a panel of liberal commentators including notorious lefty Dave Zirin of the Nation magazine, to bash the sport of football. Speaking during a panel discussion, Zirin blasted the NFL and insisted that “if we lived in a sane world this sport would not exist. This is brain damage for profit, that's what it is. Science is not this sport's friend.”

Rich Lowry Shuts Down Liberal ‘This Week’ Panel Over Holding NFL ‘Accountable’
By Jeffrey Meyer | February 1, 2015 | 3:46 PM EST

On Sunday, ABC’s This Week previewed the Super Bowl by discussing the tumultuous year the NFL has gone through, from child abuse charges to Deflategate. During a panel discussion at the end of the broadcast, Gwen Ifill, anchor of PBS NewsHour, lamented the fact that millions of Americans “may know, the evidence may be in front of them, but it's almost sad that many Americans just don't want to be bothered with it.” 

Super Bowl Softballs? Obama's Seventh Big Game Interview
By Scott Whitlock | January 31, 2015 | 5:30 PM EST

For the seventh straight year, Barack Obama will be interviewed prior to the Super Bowl. Just before the kickoff between the Seahawks and the Patriots, the President will talk to NBC's Savannah Guthrie. This will be the third Super Bowl interview with NBC. Back in 2009, Matt Lauer gushed to the new president: "Has there been any surprise in terms about life in the White House? Is there something at the White House that you didn't think they had or doesn't have that you thought they did have?" 

TV News Priorities: 68 Minutes for Under-Inflated Footballs, Mere Seconds for Obama's Release of Terrorists
By Scott Whitlock | January 22, 2015 | 2:20 PM EST

The three major networks have, so far, devoted a staggering 67 minutes and 49 seconds to obsessing over every aspect of whether the New England Patriots cheated in their AFC championship win on Sunday. Yet, only ABC allowed a scant 34 seconds to the Obama administration's release of five terrorists out of Guantanamo Bay and back to areas connected with extremist violence.

ABC, NBC Eagerly Promote Governor Christie’s ‘Football Controversy’
By Jeffrey Meyer | January 11, 2015 | 10:10 AM EST

On Sunday, Governor Chris Christie (R-N.J.) will attend the Green Bay Packers/Dallas Cowboys playoff game with Cowboys owner Jerry Jones. Christie’s decision has drawn the ire of many football fans in New Jersey for not supporting either the Philadelphia Eagles or New York Giants, both of which have large fan bases in New Jersey. During their Sunday morning broadcasts, ABC’s Good Morning America and NBC’s Today did their best to play up the alleged football controversy, giving the story nearly six minutes of coverage. NBC’s Kristen Welker went so far as to insist despite Christie’s long support for the Cowboys “fans in the New Jersey region are crying foul. Some even saying the presidential contender has lost their vote.” 

CBS Guest: Tearing Down NFL Stadium Is Racist
By Jeffrey Meyer | January 8, 2015 | 10:12 AM EST

The NFL’s San Francisco 49ers moved out of famed Candlestick Park in 2014 after more than 40 years, leaving the stadium with no permanent tenant. As a result, the city of San Francisco announced that the stadium will be demolished but not without criticism from many in the community regarding the environmental impact of destroying a structure built with asbestos and lead paint. On Thursday, CBS This Morning highlighted the ongoing battle surrounding the stadium’s future and featured one San Francisco resident insisting that it would be racist to demolish Candlestick Park. Speaking to CBS reporter John Blackstone, Marlee-I Hand argued that “it's black matters, black lives matter situation. I think that environmental justice is something that they don't consider in poor black neighborhoods.” 

Networks Have Fun with Obama Golf Outing That Forced Army Couple to Move Wedding
By Curtis Houck | December 30, 2014 | 3:46 PM EST

Between Monday night and Tuesday morning, the “big three” of ABC, CBS, and NBC covered the news that a golf outing by President Obama at a course in Hawaii forced a Army to move their wedding location after planning to have it on the 16th tee. 

While they covered the news, each network made sure their were plenty of laughs and golf-related puns throughout their 12 minutes and 4 seconds of coverage that included “golf diplomacy,” “no one was teed off,” and “the golf club owner really missed the fairway.”

CNN’s Chris Moody: Optics of Obama Forcing Army Couple to Move Wedding ‘Hilariously Bad’
By Curtis Houck | December 29, 2014 | 5:24 PM EST

On Monday afternoon, CNN’s Wolf covered the controversy surrounding President Obama’s playing of golf on a Hawaii golf course that forced an Army couple about to be married there to move their wedding during which CNN’s Chris Moody called the optics of the move “hilariously bad.”

Following a panel discussion on the 2016 presidential campaign, substitute host Brianna Keilar introduced the topic and after some background on what happened, Keilar and Time’s Zeke Miller did their best to defend the President and the White House, pointing out that there was “no way that the President” or the White House knew of this decision beforehand by the golf course. 

Barkley Doubles Down on ‘Tribe Mentality,’ ‘Racial BS’
By Geoff Harbaugh | December 3, 2014 | 8:00 AM EST

“It’s disingenuous for too many people with hidden agendas, especially lawyers, and people who love racial BS to go on, to act like white cops are out there killing black folks.”

CNN's Lemon Wonders If 'Hands Up, Don't Shoot' is A 'False Narrative'
By Matthew Balan | December 2, 2014 | 5:39 PM EST

On Monday's CNN Tonight, Don Lemon refreshingly pointed out a problematic component of the Ferguson protests. Former police officer David Klinger pointed out that "all the forensic evidence indicates that it wasn't [Michael] Brown with his hands up standing still. All the evidence indicates that he was coming back at Officer Wilson." Lemon replied to his guest by wondering, "So the question is, this 'hands up' rallying cry has – is it a false narrative that people are using to fit their own agenda?"

Chris Rock: Obama’s the Shaq, Not the Michael Jordan, of Presidents, But ‘It’s Still a Hall of Fame Career’
By Tom Johnson | December 1, 2014 | 2:47 PM EST

In an interview with New York magazine, the comedian-actor commented, “It’s not that Obama’s disappointing. It’s just his best album might have been his first album.” Rock also dealt with topics including huge improvements in American racial relations and his belief that “Ellen DeGeneres [is] the gay Rosa Parks.”