The sports world blew up at a little after 11 a.m. this morning when Sports Illustrated posted its Jason Collins coming-out story. News takes a while to travel up to Bristol, apparently. How did ESPN cover it?
Well, for about two hours, it basically didn't mention Collins's announcement. The 1 p.m. edition is finally acknowledging the story, but watch the video above to get a sense of how things were moving along on live editions of SportsCenter and First Take as the news broke. The noon SportsCenter wasn't any better. The temptation to go long and hard on Tim Tebow, the Lakers, and the NFL draft—it was all too much to pass up on. An active NBA player coming out of the closet? And doing so in the pages of a rival outlet? That could wait.
It wasn't just a TV problem, either. This is how ESPN.com looked an hour after the SI story broke. This is how it looks now, nearly three hours later. It's too bad Bob Lipsyte doesn't start his new job for another month.