You have to be kidding me?
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I’m speechless.
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See now this is the type of thing that is just so absurd and stupid, that it’s funny. I mean who even thought of this? Because they definitely just got fired.
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Are you surprised at the ESPN decision? Or the MSNBC announcers in this video? I hope it is ESPN!
I remember years ago when the producers of a biography of John Lennon had to halt production nd recast the part after they realized the part went to an actor named Mark Chapman.
For youngsters out there, it was Mark David Chapman who mudered John Lennon. In that case, the coincidence was seen as likely to be too much, so that one I get. Not ESPN, though.
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Think about this for a second. The ESPN crew arrives on Friday night to do the Saturday game in Charlottesville. Announcer Robert Lee goes to the Charlottesville hotel to check in. The desk clerk, not realizing that his name is actually Robert Lee, wrongly thinks this is some sort of bad prank.
Or imagine Announcer Robert Lee doing his intro for the game - “this is Robert Lee coming to you live from Charlottesville, Virginia, home of the Virginia Cavaliers…”
Given the events that happened, and the impetus of those events, I think it was smart of ESPN to change his game from UVA to Pitt. They save him the trouble of having to check in to a hotel in Charlottesville, as well as avoiding what some may see as poor taste.
I watch MSNBC and I disagreed with them (and many others) that have criticized this decision. It was the right call, and one that was made without a lot of fanfare. The only reason this came out is because a blog set up to criticize ESPN publicized the switch. You have to remember that ESPN generally assigns early season crews in July, so those assignments were made long before any of this other crap happened. No need to stir the pot when there are plenty of other games Lee can do, particularly since they didn’t move him out of time zone here (moved from UVA to Pitt). He’s not losing a marquee game (it was UVA-William and Mary or Youngstown St. vs. Pitt). They just made a subtle change (it should also be noted that he’s based in NY, so the Pitt game is slightly closer than Virginia).
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@justanotherfan I think an important point is that Lee apparently agreed with the decision. Had he not been reassigned to another game (i.e., negatively affecting him), I think it would be a non-defensible decision.
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It was not an issue until ESPN made it one. Do you really think that Lee had a choice or that he would publicly say he did not have one? It is just ESPN being…well…ESPN.
