In Hartford, columnist Jeff Jacobs -- noting it has been one
month since ESPN's Keith Olbermann reported the Whalers could
announce a move to Nashville "by the end of the week" -- went
back to ESPN for a response. (The Whalers since have said they
will be in CT for the next two seasons.) ESPN Managing Editor
Vince Doria: "We reported that story because the sources we got
it from were ones that had given us solid information in the
past. We believed it to be true. As it played out, the Whalers
clearly are staying in Hartford for the time being. I don't
offer this as an excuse to wiggle out of a story, but there were
some qualifiers, a 'could move by the end of the week.'
Obviously, that didn't happen. In those terms, the story was
wrong. Whether or not [a move to Nashville] ultimately plays
out, I don't know. Do I believe there was a consideration of
moving the team to Nashville, among other cities? Yes." Doria
added there were two things he would have changed about the
story: the time element and the local angle. Doria: "Probably
all of us at ESPN became too close to the story because of our
proximity to the Whalers" (Jeff Jacobs, HARTFORD COURANT, 5/23).
AD HI-JINX: In Washington, Leonard Shapiro examines ESPN's
"SportsCenter" ad campaign as "smart, sassy and highly
successful." ESPN Senior VP of Consumer Marketing Judy Fearing
reports that singer Robert Goulet wants to do more college
basketball promos next year, and Shapiro reports athletes and
agents are approaching ESPN about being involved in future ads
(WASHINGTON POST, 5/23).
