The Media Learning Curve: Feb. 26-March 5

One more shoutout to Hank Gathers:

Fanhouse.com NCAA basketball writer Clay Travis has a 20-year retrospective piece (linked here) that includes this quote from Gather's mother, Lucille Cheeseboro:

"I feel good this morning," she says, on a late February day when snow blankets the city of Philadelphia and keeps her indoors. "But some days I can't talk about it, can't mention his name. They say you don't get over a child dying, you get through it."
Her voice cracks, tremors.
"I'm still not through it." ...

Still, she lies awake at night wondering, among other things, how much different Hank's son's life would have been had her own son lived.
"Hank's son, Aaron, is 26 now. He still lives in Philadelphia, but every time I see him I wish he'd have really known his father."

On Feb. 11, 2010, Hank Gathers would have turned 43 years old. He's buried at Sharon Hill cemetery in Philadelphia. "I used to go a lot," says his mother. "I still do, but not as much as I used to."

She's recently returned from a trip out to Los Angeles to honor the 1989-90 Loyola Marymount team. "I didn't cry this time," she says. "I don't know why, but I felt so good inside. Everyone chanted his name and Hank felt alive."

Shortly after her return from Los Angeles, the grandmother of 15 and the great grandmother of five, has surgery on her eye. The eye surgeon scans over her chart, recognizes her last name.
"Are you related to Hank Gathers?" the doctor asks.
"I'm his mother," she says.
The doctor can't believe it, stands slack-jawed, hands on his hips. The Hank Gathers who captivated the nation in 1990? The Hank Gathers who a park and recreation center was now named after in North Philadelphia? The Hank Gathers who had ascended into myth in the generation since his death?
"I used to take him to the park with his brothers when they were little, and now it's named after him."
She shakes her head, sighs, then speaks with renewed strength.
"He's alive," Hank Gathers' mom says, "when people remember him."

We move on to other media lessons from the past week:

== SportsByBrooks.com has caught wind of more ESPN Radio programming -- not on ESPN radio affiliate KSPN 710-AM, but by KLAA-AM (linked here).

== There must be money to be made if the Wall Street Journal is thinking about expanding its sports coverage (linked here).

== Let's to the NCAA college basketball highlight reel (linked here)

== Why Do Newspapers Remain Slaves to The Game Story and Boring Quotes? We don't ask the question; someone else does (linked here). And they don't answer it.

== The old TV show "Yes, Dear" did a Tiger Woods-sex joke five years ago (linked here):

== ESPN smartens up its "Sunday Night Baseball" booth (linked here)

== The Angels make a nice choice with Victor Rojas (linked here)

== How did Salt Lake City rank No. 1 among U.S. markets for Vancouver Winter Olympic viewership? Because they already were familiar with that tape-delay crap from when they hosted it in '02? And they're considering another bid for '22? (linked here).

== The U.S.-Canada gold-medal hockey game was only the third-most watched Winter Olympic event on NBC? (linked here) Oh, and why the L.A. market was No. 48 with the Olympic hockey gold-medal game, but No. 1 with the NBA game on ABC (linked here).

== Our humble wrapup of NBC's Olympiad (linked here)

== ESPNNewYork.com is constructing (linked here).

== "Classic Rome" ... classic (linked here)

== Smoke pot, lose your Golf Channel job (linked here)

== They're all gonna start looking at Hannah Storm in new more intense ways, to prove Tony Kornheiser right (linked here) and (linked here).

== SI reports that "Modern Family" stars hot Latina girl and dufus husband son-in-law were at Staples Center to tape an episode, where Kobe Bryant also makes an appearance. Gotta be "Kiss-Cam" related (linked here).

== Does anyone else care that Wilbon and Feinstein have a difference of opinion (linked here). Isn't that what PTI is all about? See Feinstein's blog as well ... or pass (linked here): "The only thing Mike said that's just untrue is that I confuse my opinions with facts and legitimacy. Having been a columnist for a long time now I not only know the difference between opinion and fact I'm accustomed to people disagreeing with my opinions--sometimes angrily. It's part of the job. As for legitimacy, that's clearly up to the readers too."
OK, we're so done with this ...

== As for Keith Olbermann accurately sizing up Bill Simmons (linked here, via Deadspin.com) and his "poorly informed conclusion" -- "I am again left to marvel how somebody can rise to a fairly prominent media position with no discernible insight or talent, save for an apparent ability to mix up a vast bowl of word salad very quickly." But leading the way, Charlie Pierce (linked here).

== The book on "Mike and Mike" ... poor guy named Andrew Chaikivsky (linked here) Should make for good back-up TP in the guest restroom.

== An opinion on how the host and executive producer managed to muck up the Koufax-Torre TV show (linked here)

== We thought Jay Leno would do a Clippers joke on his first day back as host of "The Tonight Show." He didn't. But he did stay true to form (linked here). We'll have to take this as the truth. We didn't watch the show. Or any others this week.

== More damaging Clipper PR (linked here)

== Does EA need DWTS? (linked here). She says she has her reasons (linked here). If it stops her walking around like a dude, go for it. (linked here).

== Dick Vitale, a real talking fathead (linked here)

== A Fort Worth Star Telegram sportswriter figured out a way to call attention to himself: Compare the 2010 Winter Games in Vancouver to the 1936 Berlin Summer Games (i.e.: Hitler references) (linked here)

== Norman Chad has this to say about Abby Sunderland (linked here)

== John Daly would like you to call a Florida Times-Union reporter and give him a piece of your mind ... or thank him for releasing a 456-page personal file (linked here)

== Trey Wingo likes him some wings -- we're guessing three at a time (linked here)

== A Q-and-A with an ESPN PR guy ... try to stay awake (linked here). Oh, it's a followup from last month (linked here).

FINALLY:

== SpikeTV's website has its list of the Top 10 Athletes With the Most Illigit Kids (and Shawn Kemp is only No. 5) (linked here).

AND REALLY FINALLY:

== What makes Rich Eisen think we care about how fast he can run, unless he's running away from our TV screens (his cats at home must be proud):