Does anyone get how corrupt the Worldwide Leader actually IS?

(Edited 12/31 to correct a bowl-game error.)

Had a thought occur to me, as I found out that Rob Parker's suspension is going to be for a month.

Have a feeling Mr. Parker is going to be finding another place of employment on his own - if he's still employable.  He's had several such incidents in the sports media over the course of time.

The thought is;  Does anyone really get how corrupt ESPN actually is?  Does anyone truly understand how much ESPN is the nexus of this sports machine in this country, from which a number of these frauds I speak about come from?

I'll give you several examples:

• For the final BCS non-playoff contract, ESPN paid $500,000,000 for the rights.  I believe it's like an average of $25,000,000 per game.  Oh, you think ESPN paid $25,000,000 to watch Northern Illinois play in a BCS bowl?  SERIOUSLY???  Of course, this validates the necessity of the "lesser person" teams and conferences (who only really exist to fill ESPN's weeknight schedules in the fall and for the next bullet point in my list) as to that their games are relevant, when they really are not.  This college football season is so screwed up that there is only one of the five BCS games in which the spread is under a touchdown -- and that's Stanford vs. 8-5 Wisconsin in the Rose Bowl (Stanford, last I checked, was - 6 1/2).
• But it's not just the BCS.  ESPN owns college football.  Not only does ESPN have the rights to broadcast all of the bowl games save (I believe) 2 (The Sun Bowl has a long-standing relationship with CBS, and I believe the NFL Network FOX gets one -- the Cotton Bowl.), but ESPN owns and operates seven of the bowls (mostly the ESPN O&Os "feature" those same "'lesser person' teams and conferences").  Under this kind of situation, do you think it any real accident that ESPN would call the shots as to who plays for the national championship?  If you don't, I refer you to my latest Brian Tuohy site effort:  "Cheer, Cheer For Old Notre Dame".
• The NFL itself?  Most anyone who doesn't toe the NFL line is basically marginalized or driven off the network.  Hell (in only the latest example), ESPN might not have disciplined Parker at all for his comments (I still recall "What if Michael Vick Were White?", a couple years after I was banned from commenting on ESPN's websites for roughly asking the same damn question and getting Black users to complain about that I did!) if Roger Goodell hadn't stepped in and slapped ESPN on the wrists!
• The NBA?  They certainly discussed the Donaghy situation at length, but buckled under to the $tern regime.  Why?  Who has the better amount of the NBA TV contract?  ESPN!  (Yes, Turner Networks has a significant part of it, let's not dispute.)
• Major League Baseball?  How many games a week does ESPN get?

I could go on and on and on.  But people keep talking about the lack of ethics at ESPN and all of such.   Is it any real wonder?

• The athlete of the "Mike and Mike" pair admitted on his show that he used steroids during his NFL playing career.  You think he isn't going to have a slanted look at Barry Bonds' Hall of Fame bid?
• Speaking of "Mike and Mike", that whole "roast" thing -- never heard from again after the drunken rant that got Dana Jacobson suspended from "First Take".
• (And do you think it's any accident?  I believe Golic has two sons on the Notre Dame team this year.  I know he has at least one!)
• How about the Syracuse coverup of the basketball program?  Gotta protect Jim Boeheim, right?  The network sat on a molestation tape for NINE YEARS.
• Or a number of on-air personalities getting in trouble?
• Or the nationally-televised high-school football game this last Labor day, when an openly homophobic banner was plastered all over the stands, without a word from the school OR ESPN??
• Their open place observing the whole Penn State death-penalty negotiations, implying that a large portion of why that school even is allowed to retain a sports program, much less a football team and culture, is because of the kinds of stories ESPN can get out of them ad nauseum?

And how much more?

And how much more??

And HOW MUCH MORE???

When you have such a large portion of control over the discourse of sports in this country, it allows you to basically control sports itself.  It's not unlike why the sports leagues don't want the other states to get in on sports gambling:  The more you have to answer to, the more you have to answer FOR.