Last week, someone asked me why I have such a problem with the Evil Empire. I think this is one outstanding example.

I do find it humorous that the ESPN's ombudsman tackled this topic, and somewhat convincingly, just a few days before this memo appeared on Poynter.

ESPN may not be a monolith, but it often appears to be one. Especially when launching new endeavors like Arena Football or NASCAR or Major League Soccer, someone at ESPN, perhaps everyone at ESPN, should be aware of the appearance of overzealous promotion. Synergy can backfire.

You think?

While I frequently complain about the Evil Empire, I've got nothing on this guy, who is in the middle of a five-part rant about his issues with ESPN (thanks to the Good Doctor for pointing this out, because I can't say I was previously familiar with the Phat Phree).

Part 1
Part 2
Part 3

How are we supposed to take Stewart (sp) Scott seriously when does a piece about a female college football player getting sexually assaulted and the ramifications of sexism in college sports when two minutes prior he was quoting Wu-Tang Clan lyrics? It's absurd.

Normally, I'd point out the incongruity of someone spelling a name incorrectly in the middle of rant of this sort, but I'm willing to make an exception here. He also misuses 'it's' in another one of the columns, which would normally send me over the edge. Again, I'll let it slide. He's too caught up in the moment to concern himself with things like grammar and spelling.

What they didn't do was make themselves more important than the coverage.

Amen, brother. This has been one of my biggest sources of irritation for years. Back in the glory days, SportsCenter was about the sports, with some shtick thrown in. Now, it's about the shtick, which often sucks, with some sports thrown in.

I'll leave it to you to click on part two to read his thoughts on Stewy. Let's just say it includes the words pompous, shameless, soulless and despicable whore.

The next two parts in the series are: Chapter Four: Due to Time Constraints From EPSN Classic to Cold Pizza to Poker: why filling 24 hours shouldn't be this hard; and Chapter Five: The Virus Spreads From ESPN.com to Page 2 to ESPN 360 to fantasy sports: proving that their ability to ruin a good idea isn't limited to just television.

I wait with baited breath.