Longtime ESPN host launches into angry tirade at New York Times, calling them ‘gutless motherf——‘
Michael Wilbon criticised The New York Times over its decision to close its internal sports department, accusing the paper of abandoning sports journalism. Speaking on “The Dan Le Batard Show”, the longtime ESPN host used profane language and argued that the Times had turned away from a profession that had supported many prominent sports writers.
The remarks followed a discussion about Times sports writers not appearing on Wilbon’s ESPN programme, “Pardon the Interruption”. In 2023, the Times said it would rely on The Athletic, which it had acquired the previous year, to cover teams and games. The Times sports desk had already shrunk, lost its separate print section and no longer guaranteed beat reporters for local teams; the paper later had no comment, while ESPN declined to comment.
In short
- Michael Wilbon condemned the Times’ retreat from its own sports desk.
- The Times shifted sports coverage to The Athletic in 2023.
- Its former sports section had already contracted and lost local beat guarantees.
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The strongest fair case each way — we don't pick a winner.
The case for
Wilbon’s criticism can be understood as a defence of dedicated sports journalism: a standalone department can build specialist expertise, sustained relationships with teams and communities, and independent scrutiny of sport. Folding coverage into The Athletic may look like abandoning that institutional commitment, especially to writers whose careers were supported by the Times’ sports desk.
The case against
The Times could argue that its responsibility is to provide strong sports coverage sustainably, rather than preserve a particular departmental structure. Using The Athletic, which it had acquired, may allow it to draw on an established sports operation while adapting to changing readership and resources; the decision need not mean that the paper has given up on sports journalism.