More facts, less opinion, please

“Fans, not to mention coaches and athletes, are sick and tired of being subjected to a relentless media onslaught of opinion that is simultaneously overheated and half-baked.” … “It is clear that the main function of sports news is to serve as the molehill on which mountains of opinion are built.”

– ESPN ombudsman Le Anne Schreiber, on espn.com

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ESPN ombudsman Le Anne Schreiber is dead-on with her comment that fans, coaches and athletes are “sick and tired” of all the vitriolic, half-baked opinion journalism.

One of ESPN’s problems is it has too many ex-jocks and coaches giving their “opinions” on the news; not enough reporters and investigative journalists breaking it. With that many talking heads on the payroll, you have to find something for them to do. The result can be made-for-TV disasters like this summer’s “Who’s Now?” a fake debate that functioned as a make-work project for Bristol’s army of on-air talent.

It’s too bad. When TV networks actually shut up, and focus on facts instead of opinions, they’re capable of great stuff. ESPN’s Kelly Naqi helped expose Michael Vick with her dogfighting piece on “Outside the Lines.” Jay Glazer of Fox scored one of the biggest scoops of the year by showing viewers a copy of the actual Patriots “spygate” tape.

My favorite part of NFL pregame shows are when real reporters like Chris Mortensen and John Clayton of ESPN, Andrea Kremer and Peter King of NBC and Pam Oliver and Glazer of Fox cover news and features. You actually learn something.

The news doesn’t have to come from traditional journalists. Ex-NFL general manager turned CBS insider Charley Casserly has broken news and taken viewers inside the closed world of league executives.

Maybe the tide is turning. After sinking its resources into dry holes like “The Bronx is Burning,” ESPN is turning to investigative journalism with the new “E:60” newsmagazine show Tuesday.

I’ll be watching to see if ESPN can beat HBO’s “Real Sports with Bryant Gumbel” and CBS’ “60 Minutes” at their own game.

Maybe talking heads will have some real news to give their opinions on – instead of trying to make news with their overheated views.