I caught a very little of the local news tonight. I have begun to realize that getting quality rants is going to take some reading. If you aren't in the Syracuse area you probably aren't being subjected to nearly as much coverage of the whole Bernie Fine situation that we are. And it appears that it is going to pick up once again.
Today Bernie Fine's wife filed a lawsuit against ESPN claiming that they have made her life very difficult. Let me give you an example of what she is talking about. To make today's announcement she had to reserve a room 50 miles from their home because no conference center closer would accept her. And that is topped off with the fact that she had to make the reservation without giving her name. The location actually released a statement that they had no idea that the reservation was for her and that they don't necessarily support her.
The basis for her lawsuit is that ESPN didn't play the whole recorded message and that they in fact spliced it so that it backed the accuser's position on the whole thing. As more and more facts have come out I have had a more and more difficult time believing that any of this really happened (see this earlier post for more on that). And to hear that they spliced a 48 minute conversation down to less than 5 minutes really moves me to the view that I have had regarding these people all along. They are trying to get money out of everyone that was "involved" with this. That is why they attempted to sue Syracuse University and Jim Boeheim. They hoped that hiring a high profile attorney would get them to settle out of court just to be done with it. The problem is that the judge believed that Boeheim did what anyone who was friends with someone for 50+ years would do, defend their friend. He is someone who doesn't hide his opinion about anything from anyone and that was a perfect example of that.
So now my question is why shouldn't she sue ESPN? I believe she should even go after the local newspaper, The Post Standard, as they also sided immediately with the accusers. Neither media outlet reported on the facts, they reported on what was going to get the more viewers. They seemed to believe that since the Penn State saga was fading they could throw their support behind these guys and have the scoop instead of ABC, NBC, or CBS getting it. I personally believe that these people, the accusers and the media outlets, have ruined the lives of a couple of people. Everything that you hear about child molesters is that they can't stop themselves. Where are the others? There was at one point 4, one admitted to being a liar and another can't seem to tell the same story twice (admitting to lying a few times then retracting it).
I guess I'm missing something with this whole thing regarding the location. Why would any company pass up on the opportunity for the kind of money that an event like this could bring in? Obviously accepting her money for the use of your space doesn't mean you support her. They don't release statements like this when a controversial band or speaker books a room at their location. This man hasn't been arrested for any of the supposed acts which tells me that they don't really have anything to back up these accusations (like they have in the Penn State case).
Don't get me wrong, if they can prove it I will be the first in line to say throw the book at him. But in the United States you are innocent until proven guilty.
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