Danny White hits back AGAIN

[LA vol7]

I might bring suit against the Arkansas fan and ESPN, you should be held accountable for such wreckless behavior. It had and has the potential to damage not only the University of Tennessee, but more importantly Evan and his family. Folks should know that you can't do things like that.

 

[imw8n4u]

I'm no fan of ESPN, but come on, man. You can't tar the entire network and its tens of thousands of employees for what one Arkansas homer said.

For those who don't read the Baseball forum, and might not be aware of this incident:

• The day before yesterday Tennessee's starting catcher, Evan Russell, got a serious case of the nerves and had to sit out the first game of the NCAA baseball playoffs
• Because anxiety is not something a young man wants to be known for, his family, the coaches, and the team kept quiet about why he wasn't playing
• Into that information void stepped an Arkansas fan troll, who tweeted out a fiction that Evan tested positive for performance enhancing drugs, that he was disqualified for the rest of the playoffs, and that the entire Tennessee team would be tested the next day
• An ESPN game announcer, who not coincidentally is an Arkansas baseball alum, saw that tweet and reported its content as fact on national television during another playoffs game he was working
• As a result of this slander, the family decided to let everyone know the real reason; at the same time, the team announced Evan would be back in for last night's game against Campbell
• The ESPN announcer has since apologized, on air; though some think it sounded forced, Evan's father gracefully accepted the apology
• The Arkansas troll who started it all gave as his defense: I'm a troll, no one should take me seriously, shame on them if they do ... in other words, he's a child

So there's the context for this latest Dan White tweet. It was a good tweet. And, like Evan's father, takes the high road.

Lessons to be learned from the incident:

(1) Don't troll. What we say and do in social media (including VN.com) can and sometimes does affect the lads and lasses who play for us. Be civil at all times.

(2) Be aware you're in an on-line information bubble, and try to break out of it. Because Facebook, TikTok, Instagram, YouTube, and most other social media pay attention to what we watch and like, and feed more of the same kinds of content back to us, each of us tend only to hear opinions that agree with what we think. We lose exposure to other viewpoints, while ours is amplified and reverberated. This clearly happened to the Arkansas-alum ESPN announcer. He was following or was fed the Arkansas troll's tweet about Evan. And probably because he was thinking something along those lines in the back of his head anyway ("those Tennessee yokels are too good, they must be cheating somehow, wouldn't it be amazing if they were exposed for it..."), he believed the troll's tweet when he saw it. And repeated it on-air. Don't be that way. Realize the bubble you're in, and work to expose yourself to contrary viewpoints, for your own sanity and intelligence.

(3) At your best, take the high road. Evan and his family, in their Christian charity and good will, are an inspiration to all of us. We could learn from their example.

So no, this isn't all of ESPN. The announcer wasn't following a network agenda. He did it entirely on his own.

Go Vols!

Exellent summation. I wish we could pin this post atop the baseball forum.

 

[unfrozencvmanvol]

You are right about there being a victim and it’s the fans of other teams that the Vols have victimized on the field over the years. I’m glad to hear that the announcers apologized for the incorrect rumors they speculated on during the broadcast of our regionals.

I just don't think there is some conspiracy against UT and I'm amused at the paranoid "ESPN hates us" narrative. The reason we haven't been shown much favor in recent years, particularly in football, is that we haven't been very good and the sports media tends not to dote on average to bad teams, nor should they. Our baseball team has received glowing coverage from the SEC network in particular this year, as they should have. Our football team has even gotten pretty good coverage this off-season and has been portrayed as a team on the rise for the relatively modest feat of going from 3-7 against P5 competition in 2020 to 4-6 against the P5 in 2021. I certainly agree individual fans of all teams can get butthurt and act like this ex-Arkansas player did.

 

[Sudden Impact]

I have a hard time seeing it that way. It's too much of a coincidence that the tweet came from an admitted Arkansas fan/troll, while Troy Eklund is a former Arkansas player. Eklund knew that information came from a fan's tweet.

.... and how could this have ever been funny? Listen to the reaction of the play-by-play man. He understands right away, that Eklund has overstepped his bounds.

The full blame cannot be laid on ESPN or Troy Eklund, but both can take responsibility for it.
This was a production staffer that started this.

Do you think that Troy Eklund is using Twitter as a tool for information about the teams he is broadcasting. He barely uses twitter.

This was presented to him as an official release. He happens to be the fall guy for ESPN and no way did he go rouge.

Somebody got fired and it was the Staffer that wrote this up and the person that approved the release of this information....

If the release handed to him referenced as a source from Twitter nobody in their right mind would state it as fact nor would they have embellished it as a team testing, PEDs and the NCAA testing.

Had Troy Eklund seen the tweet he would not a used it a National Broadcast. He was setup....

 

[BowlBrother85]

nm

 

[BowlBrother85]

Had Troy Eklund seen the tweet he would not a used it a National Broadcast. He was setup....

... and this could be nothing more than conjecture on your part. I don't buy this crock of bull either.

 

[Sudden Impact]

I don't buy that.

Sorry we will never know....He is an Arkansas homer but there are more than just one in that Production booth.... ESPN has procedures and Twitter References are forbidden unless referenced as such.....

 

[BowlBrother85]

This was presented to him as an official release.

I don't buy this at all. No way that happened. Listen to the play-by-play man. He couldn't believe that Eklund was running with that on the air.

 

[BowlBrother85]

Sorry we will never know....He is an Arkansas homer but there are more than just one in that Production booth.... ESPN has procedures and Twitter References are forbidden unless referenced as such.....

Protocol wasn't followed in this instance. It happens.

 

[Sudden Impact]

Protocol wasn't followed in this instance. It happens.

It happens.....but why go after Chicken Poop, when you can have the whole Chicken....

 

[Memvol44]

ESPN announcer apologizes for false report about player

Apology accepted...let's move on..

 

[VFL-82-JP]

This was a production staffer that started this. ... This was presented to [Eklund] as an official release.

...

Somebody got fired and it was the Staffer that wrote this up and the person that approved the release ....

Do you have a source for either of these statements you've presented as facts?

Or are you doing the same thing as Eklund? Spreading untruths as fact simply because they are what you want to believe?

 

[VolDaddy61]

I'll go on record and say that Danny White will be the best hire in the history of Tennessee athletics behind Pat Summitt

 

[VFL-82-JP]

I'll go on record and say that Danny White will be the best hire in the history of Tennessee athletics behind Pat Summitt

I don't know. I'd say hiring the General (who was just a captain at the time) is right up there with Lady Vol Pat at #1.

But I agree with you that Dan White is, so far, well up on the list, too.

 

[Sudden Impact]

Do you have a source for either of these statements you've presented as facts?

Or are you doing the same thing as that Arkansas-alum broadcaster? Spreading untruths as fact simply because that's what you want to believe happened?

I have said too much....call it a friend of a friend.

 

[DaddyChad]

I have said too much....call it a friend of a friend.

I think normally you’re right. I do think the play by play immediately realized this wasn’t the way the broadcast was supposed to be going though. Really think Eklund went rogue; if that’s the case malice and intent become easier to prove.

 

[Sudden Impact]

I think normally you’re right. I do think the play by play immediately realized this wasn’t the way the broadcast was supposed to be going though. Really think Eklund went rogue; if that’s the case malice and intent become easier to prove.

I would love to see an SEC Shorts on this....two guys sitting on a couch drinking and watching the game not realizing they were on a National Broadcast stating what they thought. Wife walks in chips and Beer with phone states "look honey what's on Twitter" you get the picture....

 

[Dadof2Vols]

The full blame cannot be laid on ESPN or Troy Eklund, but both can take responsibility for it.
This was a production staffer that started this.

Do you think that Troy Eklund is using Twitter as a tool for information about the teams he is broadcasting. He barely uses twitter.

This was presented to him as an official release. He happens to be the fall guy for ESPN and no way did he go rouge.

Somebody got fired and it was the Staffer that wrote this up and the person that approved the release of this information....

If the release handed to him referenced as a source from Twitter nobody in their right mind would state it as fact nor would they have embellished it as a team testing, PEDs and the NCAA testing.

Had Troy Eklund seen the tweet he would not a used it a National Broadcast. He was setup....

i disagree that this was presented to him as fact. If it was then ESPN would have been running the same comments on multiple games and had a click bait story on their website to drive traffic.

But that is just my guess and we will never know as ESPN is in cover their A$$ mode to save money. They are a dying org.

ESPN Lost 8 Million Subscribers in 2021, 10% of its overall subscriber base

 

[OrangeTsar]

Unpopular opinion but I think we as a fanbase have a bit of a victim mentality brought on by years of losing. They apologized and corrected their error. The parents of the athlete are moving on and so should we.

So yourself one question, would ESPN have DARED to pull something like this based on an unsubstantiated rumor bout Alabama or Georgia football? If your answer is „not a Chance“, then maybe we can’t chalk this up to mere „victim mentality“

 

[Volnuck]

This is the world we live in when it comes to the media, in general. The truth rarely enters into their thought processes. This example, while infuriating, is minor compared to stuff we see every day.

A “color commentator“ is there for his opinion on the game he is working. He is not there to be a journalist, sharing his Twitter & Tic Toc threads. ESPN hired him and is responsible for his comments. He should not have announced the game the next day. Just my opinion.

 

[unfrozencvmanvol]

So yourself one question, would ESPN have DARED to pull something like this based on an unsubstantiated rumor bout Alabama or Georgia football? If your answer is „not a Chance“, then maybe we can’t chalk this up to mere „victim mentality“

So you think they sit around in meetings at ESPN and say "what can we do to stop this Vols baseball team?". I don't think that. I do think this guy was a butt hurt ex-Arkansas player covering a sport with marginal relative viewership dropping a hot take that was clearly wrong. If I was Russell's dad I'd have been pissed but they are taking the high road and I respect that. To the extent this is viewed as some evidence of a continuing conspiracy against the Vol program is where I get off the train and call that kind of paranoia a "victim mentality".

 

[WoodsmanVol]

Just get back to winning consistently. Nothing irks haters more than cramming that hate down their throats via one victory after another.

 

[OrangeTsar]

So you think they sit around in meetings at ESPN and say "what can we do to stop this Vols baseball team?". I don't think that. I do think this guy was a butt hurt ex-Arkansas player covering a sport with marginal relative viewership dropping a hot take that was clearly wrong. If I was Russell's dad I'd have been pissed but they are taking the high road and I respect that. To the extent this is viewed as some evidence of a continuing conspiracy against the Vol program is where I get off the train and call that kind of paranoia a "victim mentality".

Actually, ESPN has a special secret committe that meets weekly (daily during football season) to plot and strategize their anti-Vols activities. It was formed long ago during Peyton‘s senior season in an effort to deprive him of the Heisman. It has continued to operate since

 

[VFL-82-JP]

Actually, ESPN has a special secret committe that meets weekly (daily during football season) to plot and strategize their anti-Vols activities. It was formed long ago during Peyton‘s senior season in an effort to deprive him of the Heisman. It has continued to operate since

I thought it started around the time George Cafego didn't get the Heisman, and continued through the Johnny Majors oversight.

I mean, sure ESPN didn't yet exist as a corporation then, but the Illuminati did, and we all know where ESPN comes from....

 

[unfrozencvmanvol]

Actually, ESPN has a special secret committe that meets weekly (daily during football season) to plot and strategize their anti-Vols activities. It was formed long ago during Peyton‘s senior season in an effort to deprive him of the Heisman. It has continued to operate since

Well played.