Disney/ESPN's Bob Ley acknowledges ESPN "defines the daily discourse on sports."

This seems to be acceptable to all of you, but it's of course not acceptable to me. I don't happen to be a communist or a fascist, don't believe 1 source should define the daily discourse. Agendas are fastened to the minds of the audience, often on topics of enormous consequence--whether the view is correct and honest or not.

• I understand our culture has been pacified and feminized, and if we speak up, we're intolerant "haters" (code word). But, if each individual decided to come to life, we wouldn't have only 1 source dictating the sports world's thoughts (minus mine).

One problem: many of you make money or aspire to make money via association with ESPN and are afraid to challenge them.(sm)

• From Bob Ley interview, 12/18/06, Sports Media Guide:

"Q. ESPN's impact on the sports culture is said to be negative – is that fair?

A. It started with the highlight phenomenon – and this goes back ten years now – the wallpapering of highlights contributed to the "me first – look at me" attitude. Maybe ten or twelve years ago there might have been some validity on that issue, but I can tell you first hand a lot of thought goes on about what goes on the air.

• We are the 800-pound sports gorilla that defines the daily discourse on sports,

and I said this to Chris (Berman) on our 25th special - with being a leader goes a great amount of responsibility. It is one we take seriously. I can speak for myself and the people I work with on a daily basis – we do take it seriously. I think parenthood helps you understand, and answering e-mails and phone calls helps you understand just how much responsibility we have. The flip side is they give us a great forum.

• Sometimes we have to remind ourselves these are the jobs we wanted all of our lives. It gives us a podium. You can positively affect things – if somebody doesn't run out a ground ball and you report it – sometimes the facts alone are damning."

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