Notes on Mitchell Report coverage.

ESPN is in the midst of a six-hour long SportsCenter on the Mitchell Report. Bob Ley and Karl Ravech are hosting, with panelists Buster Olney, John Kruk and Steve Phillips.
MSNBC is interviewing Keith Olbermann on the issue. As of 1:56 PM ET, MSNBC is the only network covering The Mitchell Report, as CNN and FOX News are focusing on the upcoming Democratic debate in Iowa.
1:57 PM: Jeremy Schaap just went through a brief list of names on the report, including Miguel Tejada.
1:59 PM: Olbermann on what should be done with records: “History takes care of these things.” Paraphrasing, Olbermann makes the argument that Barry Bonds is not recognized as the true home run leader.
2:00 PM: CNN and Fox News are not covering the Mitchell Report, as the Democratic Debate is beginning. MSNBC is staying with the George Mitchell press conference, foregoing coverage of the Debate.
MSNBC will delay its coverage of the Democratic Debate until 3:00 PM, to report on the George Mitchell press conference.
Paraphrasing Mitchell: Many players were involved; every team had at least one player using illegal substances; between 5 and 7% of players used illegal substances.
CNBC, CNN Headline News and FOX Business Channel are also airing the press conference live.
Mitchell: “The use of steroids in Major League Baseball was widespread. The response by baseball was slow to develop and was initially ineffective. … The minority of players who used [performance enhancing drugs] were wrong. They violated federal law and baseball policy, and they distorted the fairness of competition by trying to gain an unfair advantage over the majority of players who followed the law and the rules. … Obviously, the players who illegally used performance enhancing substances are responsible for their actions. But they did not act in a vacuum. Everyone involved in baseball in the last two decades — commissioners, club officials, the players association, the players — shares in some extent the responsibility for the steroids era. There was a collective failure to recognize the problem as it emerged, and to deal with it early on. As a result, an environment developed where illegal use was widespread.”
According to Deadspin, several of the names reported by WNBC in New York earlier today — namely Albert Pujols — are not in the Mitchell Report.
Among the names in the report: Roger Clemens, Barry Bonds, Miguel Tejada, Mo Vaughn, David Justice, Jason Giambi, Gary Sheffield, Troy Glaus, Brian Roberts, John Rocker, Lenny Dykstra, Todd Hundley. CNN Headline News: No Mark McGwire.
MSNBC’s Olbermann: Mitchell Report a “declaration of war” on the players’ union. “The gauntlet has been thrown down … the union has to agree to … blood tests, and perhaps freezing those samples until we have a truly reliable HGH test. That’s what [Mitchell is] asking for. … This is a declaration of war against the union.”
Olbermann: Expects MLB commissioner Bud Selig to be a “man in sorrow more than anger” during his press conference at 4:30 PM.
Olbermann: “The public pressure is going to be brought to bear when fans don’t show up because they don’t believe the games are legit … whether or not that happens will be something else altogether.”
Some of the marquee players named by WNBC that ARE NOT in the Mitchell Report: Mark McGwire, Sammy Sosa, Nomar Garciaparra, Albert Pujols, Pudge Rodriguez.
WNBC: “WNBC.com’s Jonathan Dienst has obtained names expected to be on George Mitchell’s list of baseball players linked to performance-enhancing drugs. Baseball officials are refuting some names on the list. … After WNBC.com posted this list, a spokesman for Major League Baseball told WNBC.com that there were several discrepancies between the list posted and Mitchell?s list. Jonathan Dienst went back to the two sources with access to Mitchell’s findings. Both sources maintain the list given to WNBC.com is complete and accurate. … WNBC.com made a second call to the MLB official refuting the list. He would not say which names on the list provided by two separate sources are incorrect. Yet another source suggests WNBC.com was given a draft copy by our two original sources, not the final copy being released today .”
ESPN’s Steve Phillips, former GM of the New York Mets, after finding out that Roger Clemens was using steroids during the 2000 World Series: “I would not ask for a World Series ring, because I probably had some guys who were doing the same thing too.”
CNN Headline News guest, New York Times columnist George Vescey: “We now see [Clemens] pretty much as what he was. Can you ban him retroactively from baseball? I don’t think so.”
4:30 PM ET: ESPN, CNN, CNN Headline News, MSNBC, CNBC, FOX News Channel and FOX Business Channel are all carrying MLB commissioner Bud Selig’s press conference live.
Via TVNewser: FOX News Channel “solved the problem” of having to carry the Democratic debate during the George Mitchell press conference by having a “crowded, yet descriptive, screen.” During the Debate, FNC’s lower thirds contained information about the Mitchell report.
CNN’s Ed Henry gets reaction from President Bush. Henry, paraphrasing White House press secretary Dana Perino: “She basically said that, back in 2004, the president said it was time for baseball to clean up its act, the players, the owners, and everyone, and, basically, the president is glad that they seem to be doing that, trying to turn the page, and also set a better example for young people in America. But, clearly, this is not the end of the scrutiny for Major League Baseball, already an announcement from Capitol Hill that, next Tuesday, the House Government Reform Committee is going to have Commissioner Selig and orders up to Capitol Hill to testify about all of this.”
More from CNN: The question of the hour on The Situation Room centers on the effect of a widespread steroids scandal in MLB. One of the responses: “Pine tar leads to harder drugs. What did we expect?“
George Mitchell joined Wolf Blitzer in The Situation Room; here is a preliminary transcript of the interview.
Fox News host Neil Cavuto on the Bud Selig news conference: “[Selig] kept saying [MLB] had to do something … but he never said what they had to do.”
The Mitchell Report is the lead story on the 5:00 PM hour of The Situation Room. Blitzer: “It’s a lineup no baseball player wants to be part of — a major report linking some of the biggest major league names to steroid use. It’s a hall of shame rocking the sports world and threatening the legacies of some of the game’s most heralded players.” CNN’s Brian Todd had a feature report on the scandal. The Mitchell Report is also the lead story on The Big Story with John Gibson. One of the guests on The Big Show vehemently stated that Bud Selig and Donald Fehr should both resign.
Victor Conte was an exclusive guest of CNN earlier today. Conte, on his meeting with Dick Pound, chariman of WADA, and his change of heart: “Well, I was a part of this problem for a long period of time. And, obviously, there was some consequences for my behavior and bad decisions. And so I did the crime and I did the time, and I’ve decided now that I would like to be a part of a collective team that can help to come up with solutions for the problems that have existed for decades.”
Jose Canseco will grace Fox Business Network twice with his presence. The former Bash Brother appeared on Happy Hour at 5:00 PM, and will appear on America’s Nightly Scoreboard at 7:00.
6:03 PM ET: ESPN, MSNBC, CNN Headline News, CNBC and Fox Business Channel are each carrying the MLBPA press conference live.
6:07 PM ET: Tucker has MSNBC vice president Bill Wolff on as a guest. Sports fans may best know Wolff as the Disembodied Head on the original Around the Horn. Wolff: “A cleanup will take place, it will not be 100% effective, but it will be effective to some degree.”
Charles Barkley spoke out on the Mitchell report on TNT NBA Tip-off. Paraphrasing Barkley: “This is bad for baseball. Lets get past it, this is the steroids era. Mark McGwire, Sammy Sosa, Roger Clemens, Barry Bonds all deserve to be in the Hall of Fame. … I hate these mealy mouth media types saying there’s no proof — they took Barry Bonds’ mistress as proof, but a clubhouse trainer isn’t proof?”
The Mitchell Report was the lead story on Countdown with Keith Olbermann on MSNBC. Olbermann had Phil Rogers of the Chicago Tribune as a guest to discuss the effect on Major League Baseball as a whole, and Richard Justice of the Houston Chronicle on to discuss the effect in Houston.
9:06 PM ET: George Mitchell is a guest on Larry King Live. Almost humorously, the lower third graphic on LKL reads “Major Baseball Crisis!” and “Baseball Bombshell: Names!” While exclamation points may not be frequent in newscasts, CNN may simply be trying to have their headlines look the way Larry King says them. Jose Canseco and MLB president Bob Dupuy are also guests on Larry King Live.

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