NYT/Athletic: ESPN used fake names to secure Emmys for 'College GameDay' stars
https://theathletic.com/5193316/2024/01/11/espn-emmys-fake-names-college-gameday
Rule: shows that win an Emmy cannot give statuettes to the on-air talent, who are eligible for winning other awards. No double dipping.
ESPN: Okay, we'll submit fake names to get some extra Emmys for the show, then replace the plates so our on-air talent will feel good about themselves.
Intent to deceive from ESECPN. In fairness, the on-air talent themselves didn't seem to know what was going on. Although, those on-air talent 'represent' ESPN, so even if they weren't fully aware ...
January 11th, 2024 at 12:31 PM ^
"BIGGEST SCANDAL IN EMMY HISTORY!"
January 11th, 2024 at 2:22 PM ^
It's really a host safety issue.
January 11th, 2024 at 2:31 PM ^
So do they get an asterisk or are the awards vacated???
January 11th, 2024 at 12:27 PM ^
I wonder if this Nobel prize I was awarded at work is real.
January 11th, 2024 at 12:36 PM ^
It is. We've all been talking about it. You're awesome! Put your head on that pillow tonight and know that about yourself.
Of course, you're not Jim Harbaugh...but still...totally awesome thing you did to win that award!
You're probably going to hear your name read by James Earl Jones in the near future.
January 12th, 2024 at 8:40 AM ^
Pull it down. You did that!
January 11th, 2024 at 3:12 PM ^
and I thought I had actually earned my participation ribbon
January 11th, 2024 at 12:27 PM ^
"Kirk Herbstreit, Lee Corso, Chris Fowler, Desmond Howard and Samantha Ponder, among others, were given the ill-gotten Emmys, ... There is no evidence that the on-air individuals were aware the Emmys given to them were improperly obtained."
My favorite line: "many at ESPN thought the rule preventing on-air personalities from getting statuettes for a win by the show was stupid. They may have just decided to do something about it, the rules be damned."
January 11th, 2024 at 3:07 PM ^
Pete Thamel will surely be on this story.
January 11th, 2024 at 12:27 PM ^
Your thread wasn’t up when I started mine…
January 11th, 2024 at 12:29 PM ^
It was a solid posting as well. RIP
January 11th, 2024 at 12:36 PM ^
I liked what you wrote, though: "The schadenfreude is delicious (Des excluded), this has to be the biggest scandal ever!"
January 11th, 2024 at 2:23 PM ^
I’m glad someone enjoyed it :)
January 11th, 2024 at 12:40 PM ^
In anticipation of it getting nuked, I wanted to post it here. Your write-up was a banger:
ESPN submitted fake names so their on air “talent” could double dip Emmy awards for both GameDay show and individual achievement. Re-engraved statues with real names-Herbie, Corso, Des among others all received these illegitimate awards. Haven’t seen this anywhere but the Athletic yet, sorry for linking to them.
The schadenfreude is delicious (Des excluded), this has to be the biggest scandal ever!
January 11th, 2024 at 12:28 PM ^
Hey now. Harbaugh didn't know did not matter to ESPN. So why would we care if everyone knew or not.
I don't know why any of their personnel would get Emmy whether they used fake names or not. They are not that good.
January 11th, 2024 at 12:29 PM ^
I'm really concerned about the safety implications of this scandal.
January 11th, 2024 at 12:44 PM ^
Me too. I'm considering opting out of even WATCHING them this week.
January 11th, 2024 at 12:30 PM ^
Harbaugh : Hamburgers ::
A.) ESPN CEO : Emmys
B.) Jaywalker : Running across the street to give a surprise birthday cake to Grandma
C.) Big Ten : Concerns for the Safety of the Players
D.) Librarian : Letting a kid whose found his first engrossing book keep it a few extra days without a charge.
January 11th, 2024 at 12:31 PM ^
So ESPN continues to be an embarrassment. Not so much the on-air personalities, but the suits behind the scenes. This is fun to see.
January 11th, 2024 at 12:31 PM ^
32 of 38 ESPN football "experts" picked a 4.5 point underdog to win outright this past Monday.
That is the very definition of a stupidity contagion.
January 11th, 2024 at 12:34 PM ^
It is kind of interesting with ESPN's tie in with a gambling site. The books made a killing off Michigan covering in the CFP while ESPN was pushing the rubes to the underdog.
January 11th, 2024 at 12:37 PM ^
I hadn't thought about this. What are the rules on ESPN personnel gambling?
January 11th, 2024 at 12:38 PM ^
I'm sure they've maintained a solid firewall between the two businesses to guard against that conflict of interest. No need for the FTC to get involved.
January 11th, 2024 at 12:32 PM ^
So they're frauds as well as hacks? I'm shocked.
January 11th, 2024 at 12:32 PM ^
Extremely Shady Prevaricating Nitwits
January 11th, 2024 at 12:54 PM ^
Let a Nitwit Know?
January 11th, 2024 at 12:34 PM ^
I'm outraged. Biggest scandal in the history of television. Shut the network done for the safety of the viewers.
January 11th, 2024 at 12:35 PM ^
This is dangerous! Somebody could be injured!!
January 11th, 2024 at 12:36 PM ^
If you receive an Emmy, but no one knew or cared is it still a W?
January 11th, 2024 at 12:59 PM ^
I'm pretty sure this goes for every Emmy ever awarded. No one knows or cares.
January 11th, 2024 at 12:36 PM ^
It'll be remembered as a sad day in history, ladies and gentlemen. We're finally starting to see the cracks in the foundation of what was the last bastion of honest, intelligent journalism.
January 11th, 2024 at 12:38 PM ^
Harbaugh to be suspended for 3 more games.
January 11th, 2024 at 1:19 PM ^
there’s definitely a variation of the old tarkanian kentucky / cleveland state joke there, but i’m too tired from celebrating our national championship - and too bored by espn - to make the effort.
January 11th, 2024 at 12:42 PM ^
I want to know... like... how did the shows win with fake names? Did the people voting for the shows not know who was on them? If "College Gameday hosted by Doug Peterman" won, well... wouldn't the voters actually have to know who the eff Doug Peterman is, and wonder, gee, he looks and sounds a LOT like Chris Fowler, who won for hosting a college gameday sports show, which looks a lot like the show Peterman hosted...
Seriously. That's like the Academy awarding the Oscar to Oppenheimer starring Joe Budnut and directed by Lenny Olokowanda... and then the Best Actor award to Cilian Murphy and the Best Director to Christopher Nolan... and the voters having no clue about this. HOW DOES THAT HAPPEN?
It's so insane to even think about it, but what it means is: Whomever was handing out these awards had NO CLUE about these shows, so... what are the awards even worth?
January 11th, 2024 at 12:58 PM ^
It sounds like it was just fake names submitted to get more statues, because on-air talent that can be up for an individual award aren't eligible to receive a statue if a show they are on wins.
So, if Desmond Howard was up for "best analyst on a preview show" or something (I don't know emmy awards) and College Gameday won for "Best preview show" Des wouldn't be able to receive a statue for the College Gameday win.
So, ESPN submitted a fake name to get an extra statue, and then re-engraved it for the people that weren't eligible for the statue.
Holy crap, typing that all out makes it so, so stupid. (Or I completely mis-understood and I'm the one that is stupid...50/50 shot there)
January 11th, 2024 at 1:06 PM ^
The votes are for the show, and the producers submit a list of staffers to the Academy for preparing the individual statues. They bloated those lists to get some extra awards that they could give to the on-air talent as participation trophies.
BTW, I'm reminded of the Sopranos scene where JT tries to pawn his Emmy. "An Oscar, maybe. But an Emmy?"
January 11th, 2024 at 12:45 PM ^
Is this why Thamel stopped writing about Stalions and Michigan? Did he know this was coming out? How much more is coming? Will the State of Florida find collusion between ESPN and CFP? ESPN should lose it's right to telecast college football.
January 11th, 2024 at 12:58 PM ^
Exactly - will Thamel need to return any Emmy he may have received?
January 11th, 2024 at 4:14 PM ^
They will be vacated.
January 11th, 2024 at 12:46 PM ^
Looking back on it, when I realized that my Pulitzer was a nomination from someone who would only identify as "A Concerned Citizen", it was at that moment that I should have assumed something was amiss.
January 11th, 2024 at 12:52 PM ^
figures!
January 11th, 2024 at 12:58 PM ^
Damn! 25 points in 9 years.... let's get this one to posting threads.
January 11th, 2024 at 4:16 PM ^
Wow. That is impressive restraint, given how many stupid / outrageous / fascinating / exciting things have happened those 9 years.
January 11th, 2024 at 1:01 PM ^
Puts the safety of the players at risk.
January 11th, 2024 at 1:03 PM ^
So if Game Day won an Emmy as a show, that meant that Herbie, Fowler, and Corso couldn't receive awards with their names on them for their work on that show? That seems sort of dumb to me.
January 11th, 2024 at 1:07 PM ^
It seems as if I've heard a similar argument recently:
"So if Eastern Michigan can't afford to send scouts to Northern Illinois, Michigan shouldn't be allowed to send scouts to Indiana."