Why did Alex Gordon’s name come up in tweet about Adam Schefter’s journalism ethics?
ESPN Senior NFL Insider Adam Schefter’s name was trending Wednesday on Twitter after the Los Angeles Times published a story on an email exchange with former Washington president Bruce Allen.
The Times story, which looked at emails filed in federal court by attorneys for Washington Football Team owner Daniel Snyder, noted Schefter had sent an unpublished story to Allen.
“Please let me know if you see anything that should be added, changed, tweaked,” Schefter wrote, per the Times. “Thanks, Mr. Editor, for that and the trust. Plan to file this to espn about 6 am ….”
Schefter was rebuked by many media members when the story came to light. But former ESPN reporter Darren Rovell, who now works for the Action Network, tweeted “we’ve all done this in the name of accuracy.”
Keith Olbermann, a former ESPN anchor, then slammed Rovell on Twitter. Rovell fired back and, in a strange twist, brought up the name of former Royals outfielder Alex Gordon.
Royals Review made a joke about Gordon’s name being mentioned in the sniping between former ESPN personalities.
That prompted Rovell to explain further about “Gordon errors.”
The 2006 Alex Gordon card
The website Luxury Sports Cards wrote about the Gordon error cards, saying Topps made a mistake by putting out a 2006 Alex Gordon card.
This is an excerpt from a story on that site: “Topps had a contract with MLB which stated they could only feature pictures of players on cards that played the prior season or were on the team’s active roster. Alex Gordon was a phenom and top draft pick but was not technically on their roster when the card was produced.
“Since he was a rookie, he obviously didn’t play the prior year. Topps had violated their contract with MLB! In a frantic attempt to avoid a lawsuit, Topps quickly pulled the card from production. ... Topps came up with many creative ways to try to stay legal including manufacturing cut-outs of Alex’s face on the card and black outs.“
If you’re familiar with the story of that card, you’re not alone. All it took to come to light on Wednesday was a trip down a rabbit hole — starting with a story about how ESPN’s NFL Insider became embroiled in the league’s email scandal.
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