MorningWood

ESPN allegations will be very difficult to prove: Jeff Duncan video - Video | NOLA.com


I really despise the way this guy covers the Saints. He talks of how well respected the cracker jack ESPN investigative jourmalists with Outside the Lines are and how he is sure that there was extensive fact checking, the lawyers for ESPN must have felt 100% certain of the accuracy of the report, etc.

Hey Duncan - you know damn well Barr's report was carefully crafted to avoid actually alleging anything -- other than that a report had been made to the US Attorney. That's it.

If Barr was so confident in the underlying allageations of eavesdropping, then why go to the trouble of putting this "source" up to making a report to the US Attorney?

And yes, that is exactly what I believe happened. They created the story by pushing the guy to the US Attorney's office so that they could report the alleagtions in such a way to do maximum damage and minimize their liability exposure.

And I hope that the US Attorney's office B1tch slaps them for this crap.

burningmetal

Yeah that was the first thing that jumped out at me, in listening to that. Duncan contradicts himself by saying it's going to be almost impossible to prove, even if it's true, but yet espn "must have been 100% sure". It will be impossible to prove because there is no reason to believe it's true without evidence. So how the hell are you going to tell us that espn was sure? And he's been annoying me with his reaction to bountygate, constantly saying that the NFL found hard evidence, and accepting it as fact.

Where is that evidence, Jeff? We do know at least that something happened there, but to what extent? All we have is hearsay and nothing real being shown to us.

If I had a nickel for every time I heard that, the NFL would fine and suspend me.

SaintsRule11

I'm growing to despise Jeff Duncan. He needs to go. Now.

Rugby Saint II

Duncan is a Saints beat writer. Therefore he should be biased in his reporting! He should not say anything negative about the Saints and he should make everything look rosy.

NuNu318

Duncan is a douche... all throughout this whole mess he's done nothing but make backhanded comments about the Saints in his work. Lets be honest... him and a good amount of his collegues @ TP and especially national media DO NOT like SP for the simple fact that he doesn't pander to them. He doesn't answer gossipy questions or give the media full reign in the lockeroom and that pisses them off. He knows that those reporters can be the main reason a lockeroom can fall apart. Look @ the Jets...they have so much drama because they give reporters way to much access to their players. All of their drama comes from stuff they say about each other to THOSE reporters that then instigate the problem thru the media. SP doesn't give media free reign therefore you hardly hear anything negative from a lockeroom standpoint because they handle their issues IN HOUSE. Media would rather it be public for ratings/page views. And they hold grudges....if you don't think Duncan and a whole bunch of reporters that SP has owned in press conferences or just not given access hasn't been waiting on something like this to happen for years so they can vent their hate for Payton through veiled shots at him in their pieces that anyone with a brain can interpret as such (Duncan) or just flat out crush him (national media) then you're blind.

What kills me about sports "journalists" is that they are not held to the same standards as reporters outside of sports. Sports writers seem to have the ability to put out flimsy and sometimes false reports with skeptical sources (in this case a single unnamed source), put it out there with no real investigation or real evidence and pretty much ruin someones livelyhood because once its printed or reported in today's society it becomes true in most people's eyes even though its really not. At least reporters from other fields are held accountable. All sports writers care about is page views.

Oh and don't think that the latest accusations about Loomis wasn't a feeble attempt by ESPN to appease the guys in the penthouse office that run ESPN. They were scooped by Yahoo on the biggest sports scandal in sports history (according to them) they HAD to find anything. John Barr was in N.O. for 30 days and all he could come up with was a single source and not one piece of hard evidence. He HAD to come back with something....

SaintsBro

I get the feeling the past year or so that Jeff Duncan is kinda burnt out on his job, and he doesn't really like the Saints beat in the past few years, when the Saints have been successful -- the fact that they're good and an elite team nowadays has put his writing/coverage of the team under a lot more scrutiny.

He often has this grumpy attitude in his words, when he does the weekly film study and stuff, like it's a chore that he has to wade through...or he'll say these kinda backhanded, exasperated-sounding things in the game breakdowns, like "the Saints took a gamble in the 3rd quarter and got really lucky this time" or he'll review the film with some kind of "DID YOU NOTICE" angle, and call out some minor coaching decision that didn't really matter, and so forth. I DON'T want him to be biased, but it seems he doesn't have any of the passion for the game like the other TP writers do.

I've noticed that he NEVER answers the comments under articles on nola.com, while other TP writers (Kevin Spain, Nakia Hogan, etc) frequently DO pop up and say things, to interact with fans, clarify stories, or add to the discussion. I guess he is too busy being Jeff Duncan to do that!

I often wonder, I believe Jeff Duncan is a BIG source of this portrayal of Sean Payton being "arrogant" or a jerk, or rude, simply because of some perceived "slight" on Duncan that he thinks was done by Payton, by the Saints or their organization. It's really odd to me, how many of his articles have this "arrogant" or "cocky" theme, or this sort of subtle snarky axe to grind, about Sean Payton in particular.

NuNu318

Thats what I was saying. Duncan and a lot of other beat writers/national reporters hold grudges. Duncan could have been "slighted" many years ago by payton and held onto that contempt. Now, and even before all this happen, its starting to spill out in his writing. I know I can read between the lines and see that there is some kind or grudge there. I just hate that sports reporters take stuff so personally and have the platform to destroy someone's reputation and even career. Believe me if Duncan worked for ESPN or any other paper he would not disguise his disgust for Payton. A lot of his columns as of late seem to be auditions for a national job with the jabs he's sending.

UK_WhoDat

Not coulda been slighted. Duncan couldn't handle a Payton in game day mode. Instead of understanding Peyton's intensity, Peyton's focus, Duncan probably took it personally.

No one said the media were staffed totally by adults.

BGWhoDat

Doesn't ESPN allow Duncan to appear on their network sometimes? That explains the ass-kissing of their network, reporters, and their breaking the story.

$$$$$$

MorningWood

This is the typical defense of Duncan. Long on emotion, short on principled argument.