(photos courtesy of Getty Images)
ESPN's Chris Mortensen seems mild-mannered enough. But apparently, there are only so many times you can accuse a guy of bearing false witness before he snaps. Or maybe that just applies to Al Davis, who appears to take great joy in refuting Raiders-related rumors, no matter how obvious or innocuous they may be.
Yesterday, Gretz pointed out that the Raiders disputed Mortensen's report that Davis was attempting to sell off a portion of the team. Seems harmless enough, right? WRONG.
Raiders executive John Herrera said that "once again, for reasons known only to him, Mortensen has fabricated a story which has no basis in fact." And then he punched an unsuspecting media member in the face to bring home his point. Okay, that didn't really happen, but it might've tempered Mortensen response if it had.
In an e-mail to the AP, Mort offered this:
"The Raiders have lost the privilege with me of running stories past them for comment ... This stems from their history of denials to most stories I have reported -- as well as others in the media -- when those stories have eventually proven to be true. The latest example is I reported that Al Davis planned to interview Giants offensive coordinator Kevin Gilbride and, of course, the story was trashed by a team spokesman."Fantastic. Seriously, that's brilliant.
To be fair, I suspect Mort was sufficiently work up by the Herrera's comments (although, frankly, I have no idea why; don't the Raiders have a history of doing this?), and he just fired off a response before thinking through how truly ridiculous he sounded. Which explains the follow-up:
"Upon further review, I should not have qualified any potential communication with the Raiders as a 'privilege.' I'd say they have repeatedly diminished and discouraged efforts to reach out for an official comment based on the repeated denials of prior stories ... It also would be an assumption on their part that I have not had any contact with the Raiders while reporting on this story."Good times. In the scheme of things, this is hardly a big deal. Despite Mort's initial proclamations, the Earth won't fly out of orbit, and I'm pretty sure people quit taking Al Davis seriously back in the '80s.
Not everybody's having a good chuckle over this, though; Silver & Black Illustrated's Michael Wagaman has been covering the Raiders since 1995 and he's quite familiar with the front-office stonewalling. But that doesn't excuse Mort temporarily going off the deep end:
Saying the Raiders have "lost their privilege" of having Mortensen run his stories past them for comment is both childish and, even more to the point, terrible journalism. From day one in this business, I was taught that there are always two sides to every story and, whether you agree with them or not, it is the basic duties of a qualified journalist to print both sides. ...I'm guessing that's privileged information. Call it a hunch.
Even [his follow-up statement] doesn't hold water because Mortensen said in his first statement that the team had lost its privilege to have him run stories past them for comment. Yet in his follow-up, he says it's an assumption on the Raiders part that he didn't have any contact with them while reporting on the story.
Which is it, Chris? Did you have contact with them or were you not seeking them out for comment because they lost that privilege?
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
1-05-2009 @ 10:24PM
darrylurban@aol.com said...
a great reporter but also an erogant ahole like everyone else making the money they are making. Althought he is probably correct in his reporting he still should be more humble and thankfull of his job he has.
Reply
1-06-2009 @ 12:38AM
Jim said...
I'll send you a dime so you can invest in spell check ...
Come on peeps, let's bring even a little bit of intelligence to the masses.
1-06-2009 @ 2:17AM
Eric said...
to Jim ^^^ who cares how he spells??
@ Article- Thank the football gods for Mr. Al Davis. While all the other owners are more boring then the latest hollywood flop, Big Al keeps us interested. I hope he lives until he is 106!!
BTW. Hail to the REDSKINS
Reply
1-06-2009 @ 9:04AM
yodaddy said...
bwahahahaha dude redskins suck! just a bunch of pretenders. they start out strong then they run out of gas!
1-06-2009 @ 11:42AM
Eddie said...
1. It's called a reply button.
2. Being thankful for Al Davis is like celebrating everytime a child gets leukemia.
3. I was on hand to watch my 49ers dismantle your deadskins. After running through all the possible insults I could hurl at your team, that sentence was the best one.
1-06-2009 @ 11:31AM
J.M Fortney said...
Chris Mortenson is an arrogant ass. Why does anybody take stock in what this ignoramus has to say? ESPN reported it so it has to be true. WRONG! AGAIN! The media's propaganda machine is churning again against the Raiders like it does every offseason. I wonder what the Hell Mortenson is gonna write about when the Raiders start winning again? Chris Mortenson should work in a hair salon so he can gossip there
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1-06-2009 @ 11:37AM
Eddie said...
He'll probably be too busy skiing in hell.
1-06-2009 @ 8:17PM
George Stroud said...
Who has the record for the most broken promises and contracts in the NFL? Al Davis. He is NOT someone whose word can be trusted. He will lie when it suits him and it seems to suit him just fine more often than not. How he gets any coach to work for him is amazing. He screws his staff and personnel so frequently and has for years it's no secret. The Raiders will never be a competetive team as long as Al Davis is the controling owner. Just because you don't like the messenger (reporter) doesn't make him wrong.
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1-24-2009 @ 1:59PM
eddieluvspuni said...
Mortensen wished he had news to report. To argue with Al Davis (my best buddy....LOL!) is like picking fight with a little kid. Like any other team...you try to prevent the leaking of any new information before announcement time. So you either dispute or deny before it happens. Nothing new. So, for Mortensen to make a big thing of it....means he has nothing to report, but needs to say something. As for Al...he is the Drama-Queen of RaiderNation.....so....he will say anything or do anything he wants...and "yes" he can!!!!
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