We live in a world where people say they want the truth. It all sounds good until the truth doesn’t fit your agenda or what you want to hear. That’s when the truth becomes offensive to some.
This is especially true in the media. CNN stages “peaceful Muslim protests”. Bloomberg takes credit for the Susan Rice unmasking story when Mike Cernovich (http://www.dangerandplay.com) actually broke the story while Bloomberg sat on it.
But don’t think for a second that this applies only to the political media. The sports media is just as compromised.
As Phil Mushnick often points out, the sports media agenda is to make us believe what we hear, not what we see. Baseball announcers conveniently miss that the millionaire in the batters box turned a double into a single with his lack of hustle.
Football announcers (college and pro) mention “off the field issues”, but never state the specific issue. This is because the issues are often times felonious.
Boxing broadcasts are now becoming a cheering section for the network’s golden goose. Watching the HBO team during GGG-Canelo would have you wondering if Max Kellerman was Canelo’s cousin.
ESPN has become the world wide leader in selling sports with their own spin. Their treatment of Curt Schilling for outspokenness compared to others is just one example.
However, one of ESPN’s few real truth tellers was always Teddy Atlas. Atlas is a polarizing guy.
His knowledge is unquestionable but he can be argumentative, egotistical and longwinded while speaking the absolute truth (naturally causing people to either love him or hate him). Atlas has been ESPN’s resident boxing authority for years.
When he broadcasted Friday Night Fights, he had no problem calling out and at times directly confronting inept/crooked promoters, judges and athletic commissions. He would tell the audience when they were being fed a mismatch rather than a competitive product.
He always had the fighters’ backs but he showed his loyalty the hard way. Rather than pandering he would point out when a fighter had capitulated to losing when things weren’t going his way. Atlas would point out that the pugilist had made a “silent treaty”; he always beat into the audience’s head that a fighter’s #1 job is to “behave like a fighter”.
Atlas’ honesty was completely offensive to the Olymics’ globalist agenda when he called out the scoring system. He was eventually not brought back to call boxing for NBC’s Olympic coverage.
But he hung on with ESPN. The thing is it was only hardcore boxing fans who regularly tuned in to FNF.
Recently Bob Arum’s Top Rank Boxing has gotten into business with ESPN. The network has a significant investment in the sport now as they have gone from showing journeymen in club shows to major fights featuring major names.
This brings in a little more of a mainstream audience. Over the Summer ESPN broadcast Manny Pacquiao’s fight in Australia with the country’s own Jeff Horn.
Pacquiao showed his age and Horn fought an admirable fight but was clearly beaten by the Filipino legend. However, Horn was given the home-cooked decision. Atlas exploded regarding the ineptitude and/or corruption of the judges. He pointed out that this is becoming more and more prevalent in the sport.
He showed tremendous integrity by congratulating Horn for his effort but telling Horn straight to his face that he thought he lost. In today’s candy-ass society if you don’t go along with the bull***t you are not welcome. After more argumentative broadcasts about poor judging, Atlas has been removed from calling fights for ESPN.
You see for a pandering network like ESPN, Atlas is too dangerous to their agenda. He has shown numerous times that like him or not, his convictions are not for sale.
Atlas trained a young Mike Tyson as an amateur under the supervision of the late Cus D’Amato. Early in Tyson’s pro career it was portrayed that this troubled kid from the Brownsville, Brooklyn was taken in by this old boxing Yoda and reformed.
Atlas points out in his book, Atlas: From the Streets to the Ring that this was a false narrative. Tyson put his best foot forward early on, but as his success as an amateur badass grew, he started showing his true colors up in the Catskills where he trained and lived with Teddy and Cus.
Tyson began bullying other kids, causing trouble, threatening teachers, etc. D’Amato who preached discipline but saw Tyson’s talent and sacrificed his own principles; Cus had hush money that he would use to keep Tyson’s transgressions quiet.
Atlas’ only recourse for discipline was to suspend Tyson from the gym. However, Cus began bringing Tyson to the gym behind Atlas’ back. Tyson learned he was in charge, not Teddy.
It all came to a head when Tyson grabbed and threatened a female child in-law of Teddy’s in a sexual manner. When Atlas found out he put a gun to Tyson’s head and warned him he would die if he ever came near Teddy’s family again.
The writing was on the wall that Teddy had to go as Tyson’s hands-on trainer. D’Amato sent one of his lackeys to Teddy with a bag of cash and the promise of a percentage of Tyson’s purses when he turned pro to walk away quietly.
But Atlas would not be bought. He told the lackey to tell Cus D’Amato to go f**k himself. This was at a time in Atlas’ life when that money would have been life changing.
The point is that unlike most in today’s broadcasting business who can be bought to ignore the obvious and sacrifice their principles, Teddy Atlas has never been for sale.
There is no room for Atlas-like honesty and integrity at a place like ESPN. Talk soon.
-Marksman