ESPN conveniently edits Curt Schilling out of Red Sox documentary
The ongoing feud between ESPN and former employee Curt Schilling may have just been taken to a new level. Schilling was fired by the network in April. Shortly after being let go, Schilling accused the station of bias and said they employ some of the most racist people he’s ever met.
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It’s pretty rare for a company as big and public as ESPN to get into a back-and-forth with a recently fired employee, but it certainly looks like that might be the case here. It’s time for everyone at home to grab their popcorn.
During Sunday’s airing of the “30 for 30” documentary “Four Days in October,” which details the Boston Red Sox’s epic four-game comeback against the New York Yankees in the 2004 ALCS, the network cut out a pretty crucial part of the story. Curt Schilling’s Game 6 start, also known as “the bloody sock game,” was edited out.
Boston Globe reporter Chad Finn noticed the change and reached out to ESPN to explain why this happened. According to a statement by the network, it was all one big misunderstanding.
“When a live event runs long, it’s standard procedure to shorten a taped program that follows. In this case, we needed to edit out one of the film’s four segments to account for the extra length of the softball game.”
Prior to airing the program, ESPN broadcast a live softball game. That game went longer than expected, forcing the people at ESPN to cut down the Red Sox documentary in order to make up for that lost time and keep other shows on schedule.
That makes sense logically, but it seems awfully convenient given the current contentious relationship between the two parties.
Schilling tried to find humor in the situation initially:
But later indicated he knew ESPN would issue an “excuse” for taking out that specific footage:
Schilling has a lot of critics, but it’s tough to argue with him here. How can you air a documentary about the Red Sox’s performance in the 2004 ALCS and leave out “the bloody sock game?” That may have been the most memorable game in the series.
We understand that ESPN needs to get its programming on a schedule and some part of “Four Days in October” had to be edited, but did it really need to be that part? It looks weirdly suspicious considering they just fired Schilling. You can take out some interviews or something, but you have to leave Game 6 in there!
[Elsewhere: Yankees DH Alex Rodriguez has a strange way to dry off his bat]
Regardless of whether is was unintentional, the whole thing looks pretty petty on ESPN’s part. For once, even the Schilling critics have to admit that he has a point here.
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Chris Cwik is a writer for Big League Stew on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at [email protected] or follow him on Twitter! Follow @Chris_Cwik
