Thursday, January 11, 2007

'Journalist' Kirk Herbstreit Strikes Again

If you're wondering, yes, that is "Journalist" Kirk Herbstreit behind Ted Ginn and Troy Smith after Ginn returned the opening kickoff for a touchdown in Monday night's BCS title game. And yes, Herbie is smiling, all right. Looks like he's ready to run out on the field and hug Ginn. Credit Jim Davidson of the O-Zone for the shot. ... Now this isn't the first time Herbie has been caught in a celebratory act at an Ohio State game. You might recall the photo below, with Herbie jumping on the back of former Buckeye Eddie George to celebrate an Ohio State interception in the 2003 Fiesta Bowl. George, of course, was the Buckeye cheerleader for Fox on Monday's telecast. Fair and balanced! Thanks to Marty.

20 comments:

Anonymous said...

To be fair, Emmitt Smith did represent Florida opposite Eddie.

Anonymous said...

Herbie is not a jorunalist, he's a commentator. He's not supposed to be objective.

Talking heads does not equal reporter.

Anonymous said...

As an FYI - Herbstreit attended and played for OSU. Herbstreit also lives here in Columbus. He actually has a radio show on the sports station here in Columbus and, believe it or not, actually spends time talking about nothing but OSU football. He's hidden none of this information. Not exactly groundbreaking. Next thing you know, someone will be reporting that Rocket Ismail is partial to Michigan or Dick Vitale loves Notre Dame because his daughter went there. (I can't explain the Vitale-Duke lovefest.)

Anonymous said...

Why would Rocket Ismail be partial to Michigan? If I'm not mistaken, he went to Notre Dame, no?

Anonymous said...

I am concerned that Rocket Ismail is now cheering for Michigan. Does he have to return those 2 punt returns for the Irish against Michigan now?

Anonymous said...

The Rocket would be as partial to Michigan as Desmond Howard was to Notre Dame this year.

Anonymous said...

Herbie is an analyst. Not a journalist.
You are a blogger. Not a journalist.

Anonymous said...

Herbie is not a jorunalist, he's a commentator. He's not supposed to be objective.

He's also an AP voter. Which makes these antics a problem.

Anonymous said...

Just to confirm what everyone else is already saying. Herbstreet is supposed to cover the games, far as I can tell he covers both teams even when Ohio State is involved. He was not comentating the game, he has no responsibility to stand like a rock on the sidelines showing no joy when a good thing happens for the team that he WAS A PLAYER FOR!

I hate Ohio State brother...but your arguement makes as little sense as possible.

Anonymous said...

I guess I really don't see the big deal, especially in the first picture. He's just smiling!! He's a sports fan, and has never made a secret of his preference for Ohio State.

And, while I am the farthest thing from an OSU fan out there, I think Herbstreit is the least biased ESPN commentator there is. Which I realize isn't saying much, but still. He seems like a pretty good guy.

Anonymous said...

I don't know why I'm surprised that, except for the OP, there's not even one person who thinks this is wrong. Kirk Herbstreit can celebrate on his OWN time. He was employed by ESPN to cover the BCS Championship with his 'expert' analysis. If he has any interest in his own credibility, much less his employer's, he should detach himself from any allegiances he has while covering the game, not cheering on the sidelines. I beg all of you not to go into broadcasting, because your see-no-evil homersim will probably take you right to the top!

Anonymous said...

"If he has any interest in his own credibility, much less his employer's, he should detach himself from any allegiances he has while covering the game"

So exactly when, during his coverage of the game (which I believe was only during the pre game and post game on ESPN), did he show any bias towards Ohio State?

I know pretty much everyone hates ESPN & almost everyone who works there. But there are much more deserving ESPN targets out there.

Anonymous said...

FOX did the game, not ESPN. FOX hired Florida AND Ohio State "cheerleaders" for their game coverage, Emmitt Smith and Eddie George.

Herbstreit works for ESPN, he was not on the job, he's a former Ohio State player, so what if he was cheering for them on the sidelines?!

I could care less about both Ohio State and Florida, but I still don't see the point in nitpicking at one of the few genuinely good commentators on ESPN.

Who cares what college football team he roots for? And even when they're on the air, ESPN allows it's talking heads to be partial to their former teams. As long as it's just playfull cheering and not outright misinforming the public about things, there's no problem with it.

Now, if Kirk used OSU bias to go on College Gameday and wrongfully accuse Michigan of cheating, that would be wrong. If he's just rooting on his former team, it's harmless.

Anonymous said...

Both of those pictures are poor photoshop jobs.

but by all means carry on...

Anonymous said...

You see him cheering on the sideline, and you take his "unbiased" analysis with a grain of salt, whether that's fair or not. He should have stayed off the sideline.

Anonymous said...

Herbie's really not that bad. If you're going to rip on any college analyst for being a homer, why don't you go after Holtz?

Anonymous said...

How do you expect him to act when his alma mater scores. He wasn't annoucing or doing anything for espn at the time so why does it matter how he acts when he becomes a fan.

Anonymous said...

ESPN/ABC has no problem with former players openly cheering for their alma mater at games they are NOT covering. Ref- Doug Flutie at BC games as another example.

Anonymous said...

I'd like to hear how humble herb will be, now that the undeserving Kansas Jayhawks have won the Orange Bowl. BTW - is herb bucking to be Chase Daniel's NFL agent, or are they just 'casual' acquaintances?

I think you can tur teh KU switch back on Herb. You have to bring up their name now, and Yes, you have to pay the compliments deserved.

And don't jump on the bandwagon of the Mizzouri thrashing of Arkansas - game nmeant nothing quite frankly. Anyone would have beat up on Arkansas that day.

test said...

well, as long as he wasn't covering the game at the time.


were there pictures from the past nat'l championship game?