ESPN Radio’s Colin Cowherd went on the air last night and read, almost verbatim, a post that had appeared on a blog called the M Zone, a quality sports blog focusing on Michigan in particular and college sports in general. The post was a spoof of the Wonderlic test that kinda pokes fun at some people in college football.
I’ve never heard the show before… I’d never heard of Colin Cowherd before. But just because someone e-mails you something, doesn’t make it your intellectual property. If you use someone else’s material, just acknowledge it. That’s it. It wouldn’t have been any less funny on the show if they said, “Hey, we picked this up at The M Zone.” Someone else wrote it. Someone else worked at it. You can’t have it just because you like it.
Anyway… I’d imagine the story is working out quite well for the folks at The M Zone right now. It’s become kind of a popular thing… people love reasons to make fun of ESPN, and this is a pretty big one. Hits at The M Zone have gotta be waaaay up today. Moreso than they would have been if Cowherd had simply mentioned them on the air. So congrats to them.
The Dar Says:
March 23rd, 2006 at 4:24 pm
That guy just looks like a taint. What a schmuck.
rwn3f Says:
March 23rd, 2006 at 4:35 pm
I heard this and the worst part was not only that he didnt credit M Zone and passed it off as his own, but his tinkering with the piece made it worse then the original. you could tell he did it on the fly too, cause he had trouble reading it. that guy is sofa king wee todd did. (I just made that up)
Fan's Attic Says:
March 23rd, 2006 at 7:22 pm
Cowherd was a local sportscaster on TV and the Radio in my neck of the woods before he went “BigTime” and I always remember him being very unoriginal and trite. He calls his show “The Herd with Colin Cowherd.” After this showing and his subsequent email to the M-zone, we should call his show “The Douche with Colin Cowdoucher.”
Sean Says:
March 23rd, 2006 at 8:02 pm
WOW can you say “borderline literate”?
SurNation Says:
March 23rd, 2006 at 8:21 pm
They should fire him for stealing but also stuff that wasn’t that funny to begin with. I mean if your going to get fired, do if for something that is good.
Adam Says:
March 23rd, 2006 at 9:59 pm
Cowherd is a GIGANTIC douchebag, so this isn’t all that surprising. At least here he was actually doing something amusing, even if it was stolen; he’s normally just awful.
Benny Says:
March 24th, 2006 at 12:23 am
I hope this story gets out because that’s wrong. I don’t listen much to Cowherd but I know he’s always picking football games to bet on. I think he’s not that good.
chris Says:
March 24th, 2006 at 12:42 am
He’s not even good. It’s one thing to get your shit stolen from a star or someone funny, but getting it lifted from Colin Cowherd is almost an insult.
Colin's Mom Says:
March 24th, 2006 at 12:25 pm
You guy’s really hit the nail on the head. My son is a giant douche. When he was a teenager, he went thru this phase where his reply to everything would be, “Yo Carlton, you’re just being whack!!” I kept telling him, I’m your mother, and who is this ‘Carlton’? He said, “Ma, I just made it up. Like 2 seconds ago. It’s hilarious, right?” One night the douche left the television set on, just before ‘Blossom’ aired at 8:30. I love that Blossom. I did, however, catch the ending of a show called, ‘Fresh Prince’- and found out who carlton was. Man, Carlton was a douche. But Carlton looked like a million bucks compared to my douchebag kid. I can’t even stand looking at his ugly mug at the top of this page.
Pacifist Viking Says:
March 24th, 2006 at 12:26 pm
One question though–all over the internet, we’re all basically stealing images. We find images at websites, we want to put them on a blog, and we put them up without clarifying where we got the picture. I mean, where did you get that photo of Colin Cowherd used in this entry?
Is this different? I think it is, but I’d like to know exactly how it is different.
I’m a teacher, and I’ve been through grad school–I know the importance of citing sources. And I think it’s reprehensible to use written material from a blog on a radio show without identifying the source.
But what makes borrowing images without identifying the source different?
the everyday joe Says:
March 24th, 2006 at 1:02 pm
What makes it different? I was pretty confident that mjd didn’t bust out the Rolodex of photos he took of radio show hacks. But a listener to that show would be inclined to think that the piece was written by the show.
If the image is the joke, then you give credit where credit is due. Getting into the legalities of using the image is a separate issue to me. An issue which my non-grad school attending ass is ill-equipped to get into.
derek Says:
March 24th, 2006 at 1:06 pm
well first off, i listen to colin everyday…he is, perhaps, the best thing that happened to espn radio! When Tony Kornheiser. left, everyone was saddened and left wondering who would fill his shoes…but that was B.C. (before colin). now, if given the choice, i wouldnt take tony back and often i wish that colin’s show would absorb both mike and mike in the morning and the dan patrick show. i would love to challenge you guys who say you hate him, find him unoriginal, awful, wee todd did, etc to listen to his show for a week. i believe 85% will: end up belly laughing, find his opinions both original and insightful, love his takes on life and relationships in general. as for the other 15%, you are mouthbreathers!
DeadSpinner Says:
March 24th, 2006 at 3:59 pm
How can you think he created that he said he either got it off the internet or someone sent it to him. Where does he claim ownership?
He is a dumbass and he should be fired. But, really a punk like Cowturd steals your maerial and you want credit.
DookieStyle Says:
March 25th, 2006 at 6:47 am
Colin Cowherd is the worst thing to happen to any kind of radio. He’s just plain stupid.
pete A. Says:
March 25th, 2006 at 11:45 am
ESPN Radio has an audience? Actually, I’ve tuned into this guy by mistake, and he reinforces the general consensus that the ESPN On-air “personalities” are ass-kissing, whiners with little talent. Dan Patrick is the ringleader.
Yost Says:
March 25th, 2006 at 7:33 pm
MJD,
Want to say thanks for all the support on this. Really appreciate it.
Best,
Yost and the M Zone Gang