NFL Ncaa Fb Media Watch

Back when I was in high school, a marketing teacher of mine quaintly said that in the near future we will be able to pay for gas using cash at the pump, sort of like how a vending machine works. He said that the new credit card slots at the pump have been such a great addition that it is inevitable that the cash slot will come soon.

That was 1993. Instead, we have all kinds of stupid little things attached to our gas pumps to distract us [the best is that picture of a cop telling me that driving off without paying for my fuel is a crime]. Soon, we will have ESPN at the pumps to keep us busy.

According to USAToday, ESPNews will be coming to your gas pumping experience via something called Gas Station TV [click on that link to see happy patrons watching it].

There's a reason drivers pull out of traffic and park it at select high volume pumps: GSTV. Gas Station TV entertains, informs and advertises directly to customers as they fuel up their rides. Daylight viewable LCD screens perched above the pump provide a constant shout out of targeted, first-rate ABC and ESPN programming and sponsored messages down to each individual gas station. There are no clickers handy to surf with or DVR's to slide by the targeted ad content, just one channel, one driver.

Why not? We have TVs plopped throughout shopping centers, lines at the amusement parks, restaurants, banks, the doctor's office and pretty much every menial task we have to do every day. So why wouldn't gas stations try to avert us from watching how much our gas is costing us? The only cool thing here is that it's ESPNews up there and, well, when the wife makes you pump the gas you can catch up on what's going on. I mean, that's a bit better than the ol' sports-section-above-the-urinal trick.

With a few simple words on his radio show last week, Colin Cowherd used his ESPN microphone to shut down TheBigLead.com for more than 48 hours. Cowherd urged his listeners all to go to the site at the same time, and that was enough traffic to knock the site offline.

Now ESPN ombudsman Le Anne Schreiber says the Worldwide Leader has implemented a policy that ESPN's airwaves are not to be used to ruin anyone's business. I'm a little surprised that policy needs to be spelled out explicitly -- do they also have a specific policy against torturing farm animals on company time? -- but it's a good policy.

Still, there are some issues that are unresolved, starting with why Cowherd did this. Schreiber described Big Lead as "a sports blog that is sometimes unmercifully critical of ESPN," but I read Big Lead (who also blogs at FanHouse) and I've never thought his criticisms of ESPN are anything outside the norm in the sports blogosphere. (He did quote a former ESPN employee whose criticisms of ESPN were outside the norm, but if ESPN has a problem with that, its problem is with Jason Whitlock, not the site that interviewed him.)

And, unfortunately, there's one other issue we should note: Cowherd got what he wanted here. He showed that he's more powerful than a blogger. In Big Lead's first post after coming back online, he wrote, "we'll be spending the better part of today looking for a new host." So, congrats, Colin Cowherd. Your total number of listeners exceeds the volume of traffic that Big Lead's host can handle. I take it this makes you feel big. I think it makes you look small.

Previously at FanHouse:
Colin Cowherd has Listeners?
ESPN's New Ombudsman Another Tony Kornheiser Pal
Too Close to Tony Kornheiser? ESPN Ombudsman Responds

Suppose you're a second-tier ESPN radio host. Maybe one with a past history of antagonizing the blogosophere. You've got millions of listeners, many of whom are simply too lazy to change the channel. How should you spend your Thursday? How about crashing a high-profile blog just because you can.

Earlier today, Colin Cowherd decided to celebrate his power and virility by sending all of his listeners to The Big Lead. You may have heard of it--it's one of those edgy, investigative blogs that makes the mainstream media uncomfortable, and its author is a FanHouse contributor. Anyway, a few minutes into this audio, you can hear him order his audience to visit TBL right away, hoping he can shut it down. Cowherd has nothing against TBL, hasn't ever read it. He just wants to prove a point about ... I don't know, his need to prove his power and virility in public. Draw your own conclusions.

I can't even begin to describe what a cheap shot this is. I know that blogs scare people like Cowherd, and I get that if we tangle with them, there might be consequences. That would matter if, you know, Cowherd had any reason for doing what he did. Instead, well, let's just say that history does not look kindly upon bullies and intimidators.

Oh, and make sure to read Deadspin's seething take on the matter.