E:60 Ambushes Miguel Tejada

Posted by Cubicle QB

ESPN’s E:60 made the news this week after correspondent Tom Farrey confronted the Houston Astros’ Miguel Tejada with a birth certificate revealing that Tejada is actually two years older than what the MLB media guides indicate his age to be. Tejada admitted his true age after the interview was leaked. So is this legitimate journalism or a really bad “gotcha” exposé to generate hype and drive ratings? Maybe a little of both. Farrey did confront Tejada with a clear inconsistency, but is it even important? The fact that some players from the Caribbean have lied about their ages is not a new revelation. And in Tejada’s case, it’s not a significant discrepancy. We’d hate for E:60 to go the Dateline NBC route and start confronting pedophiles on camera like the cheap stunts local newscasts have stooped to.

Features on the April 22 (7pm ET) edition of E:60:

Call to Duty — Caleb Campbell, a strong safety and captain of the West Point football team, was the first non-kicker from Army to be invited to the NFL combine and many scouts believe he might get drafted in a low round. If so, under a new U.S. military policy, Campbell, if he chooses, would be released from his active duty commitment and allowed to serve his duty as a spokesperson for the U.S. Army. But if Campbell is not drafted or signed as a free agent he will be required to enter combat service and possibly deployed to Iraq or Afghanistan. As draft day approaches, E:60 correspondent Rachel Nichols talks to Campbell about that choice and his own conflicting feelings.

Fight Club — In the heart of the Silicon Valley, some high-tech engineers have found a unique counterweight to their staid desk jobs. Since 1998, they’ve come together in the basement of a suburban home to participate in a “Gentlemen’s Fight Club.” Formed by a Cornell-educated computer engineer Gints Klimanis, the club brings together men once a month to do battle with an array of culturally expressive weapons, including copies of Martha Stewart Living magazine laced with brass rods and computer keyboards. E:60 correspondent Jeremy Schaap visits Klimanis and the other members of the “Fight Club” to explore this emerging cultural phenomenon.

Down and Out? — Tommy Blake had the kind of junior season any intercollegiate football player dreams about. A defensive end at Texas Christian, Blake led the Mountain West Conference in tackles for loss and was named the Defensive MVP of the Poinsettia Bowl. When Blake returned for his senior year, something had changed. “I’d go through the drills … I’d go through them and I’d do them well, but it’s like I’d be out there and just, like, hating it right now,” Blake said of his moods. He left the team and went home. Blake sits down with E:60 correspondent Michael Smith and, for the first time on television, talks about his demons — a diagnosis of clinical depression. With the NFL draft less than two weeks away, some scouts now consider drafting Blake a risk. Once expected to go in the first round, he may not even get drafted at all. But Blake talks openly about his battle with depression and his fight to prove the scouts wrong.

Miguel TejadaE:60 correspondent Tom Farrey examines the life and times of the Houston Astros shortstop Miguel Tejada, including extensive reporting from the Dominican Republic.

Bill Simmons — Simmons, ESPN.com’s “The Sports Guy,” returns to E:60, to take viewers on a junket to Bismarck, N.D., where he visits Rod Benson of the Dakota Wizards, one of 14 NBA Development League Teams. Benson, a center-forward from the University of California-Berkeley, has developed a reputation as an inveterate blogger on life in the D League.

About Ryan Berenz 2166 Articles
Member of the Television Critics Association. Charter member of the Ancient and Mystic Society of No Homers. Squire of the Ancient & Benevolent Order of the Lynx, Lodge 49, Long Beach, Calif. Costco Wholesale Gold Star Member since 2011.