In Milwaukee, Bob Wolfley noted a Milwaukee Journal Sentinel online poll asked readers, "Whom do you most blame for Ryan Braun’s reputation being sullied by two months of speculation over his drug test?" ESPN "won handily" with 44% of the vote, followed by MLB (27%), mainstream media (15%), Braun (12%) and social media (2%). The poll was posted after Braun "won his appeal in a case in which he tested positive for a banned substance but before he made his remarks Friday at Brewers' spring training." ESPN "broke the news that he tested positive on Dec. 10" (JSONLINE.com, 2/25).
PICKING A FIGHT? GOLFCHANNEL.com's Rex Hoggard noted following his loss to Hunter Mahan in the quarterfinals at the WGC-Accenture Match Play Championship on Saturday, Matt Kuchar jokingly said, "The only thing that will make me feel better is if I punch Nick Faldo in the back of the neck." Some "thought Kuchar’s comment was directed at Faldo because of the Golf Channel analyst’s take on the belly putter," which Kuchar began using this season. But Kuchar later said that he "intended the comment to be a joke and that he has no ill will toward" Faldo. Kuchar: "I think I have a silly sense of humor, and Nick’s a big boy. I don’t want any piece of him. It could’ve been anyone. It was meant to be funny. It was funny in my mind." Kuchar "caught up with Faldo in the Dove Mountain parking lot before leaving and apologized personally" (GOLFCHANNEL.com, 2/25).
LOSING ITS LUSTER: In Tampa, Tom Jones writes ESPN's "The Sports Reporters" has "lost its fastball." The Sunday morning roundtable "used to be a 'must-see' show," but these days, it is more like an, "I guess I'll watch because there's nothing else on" show. Jones: "What happened? Well, the show suffers when New York Daily News columnist Mike Lupica ... isn't on, and he has missed the show more often than not over the past couple of months." But the "bigger issue for the show is it has become predictable" (TAMPA BAY TIMES, 2/27).
