the Big Lead
{{Short description|American sports blog}}
{{Italic title}}
{{More citations needed|date=December 2009}}
{{Infobox website
| name = The Big Lead
| logo = The Big Lead.png
| logo_size = 200px
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| url = {{URL|http://www.thebiglead.com}}
| commercial = Yes
| type = Blog
| registration = Optional
| language = English
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| owner = Minute Media
| creators = Jason McIntyre
David Lessa
| editor =
| launch_date = {{start date and age|2006|02|24}}
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| current_status = Active
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The Big Lead was an American news blog. The website mainly covers sports news, although it also touches on a varying degree of other news topics ranging from politics to pop culture. Launched on February 24, 2006, it was co-founded by former sportswriter Jason McIntyre and his college friend David Lessa. In June 2010, McIntyre sold the site to Fantasy Sports Ventures for "low seven figures."{{cite web |url=http://www.adweek.com/digital/the-big-lead-sold-to-fantasy-sports-ventures/ |title=The Big Lead Sold to Fantasy Sports Ventures |first=Alex |last=Weprin |date=June 2, 2010 |work=Adweek |access-date=October 27, 2019}} Gannett purchased Fantasy Sports Ventures on January 24, 2012, integrating the site into the digital network of USA Today.{{cite web|title=Gannett Buys Big Lead Sports Owner Fantasy Sports Ventures|url=http://allthingsd.com/20120124/gannett-buys-big-lead-sports-owner-fantasy-sports-ventures/|website=AllThingsD|date=January 24, 2016}}
{{As of|2009}}, the site averages over 8 million monthly page views.{{cite magazine|title=Best of the Decade: Movies, TV Shows, Books, Blogs|url=http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2009/magazine/specials/2000s/12/07/movies.tv.books.blogs/1.html#ixzz0aXau4URV|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091214175835/http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2009/magazine/specials/2000s/12/07/movies.tv.books.blogs/1.html#ixzz0aXau4URV|url-status=dead|archive-date=December 14, 2009|author=Bryan Armen Graham|magazine=Sports Illustrated|publisher=Time Inc.|via=CNN|date=December 11, 2009}} Since 2012, McIntyre has hosted a weekly radio program on Fox Sports Radio named after the website, The Big Lead With Jason McIntyre.{{cite web|title=The Big Lead with Jason McIntyre|url=http://www.premierenetworks.com/Pages/The-Big-Lead-with-Jason-McIntyre.aspx|website=Premiere Networks}}
In March 2019, Gannett sold The Big Lead to Minute Media, owner of 12up.com; McIntyre and several other writers were laid off.{{cite web |url=https://nypost.com/2019/03/14/sale-of-the-big-lead-leaves-website-founder-jason-mcintyre-out/ |title=Sale of The Big Lead leaves website founder Jason McIntyre out |first=Andrew |last=Marchand |date=March 14, 2019 |work=New York Post |language=en |access-date=October 27, 2019}} On May 23, 2024, Adweek reported that The Big Lead would be shut down as part of the integration of the editorial rights to Sports Illustrated into the company.{{Cite web |last=Stenberg |first=Mark |date=2024-05-23 |title=Sports Illustrated’s New Licensee, Minute Media, Debuts Sweeping Shifts to Portfolio |url=https://www.adweek.com/media/sports-illustrateds-minute-media-portfolio-shifts/ |access-date=2024-05-24 |website=www.adweek.com |language=en-US}}
Format and content
The site is usually updated ten to fifteen times a day between 8:00 a.m. and 6:00 p.m. Eastern Time, with each post receiving its own title and space for registered readers to post comments. The publishing day usually begins with the morning "Roundup", which provides links to varying news stories of interest in paragraph form at the top, and mainly links to different sports-related stories at the bottom of the column page. The "Roundup" feature is usually accompanied by a photograph of an attractive model or actress, as well as relevant or humorous YouTube clips. For many years, the site staged what it called a "Culture Tournament", in which 64 different sports figures, celebrities or other items of relevance (such as "Michael Phelps' Bong Hit," in which the Olympic Gold medal swimmer was caught smoking marijuana in 2009) are seeded in a bracket styled after that used to outline teams competing in the NCAA men's basketball tournament. Readers are allowed to vote one time for each match up until a winner is decided. In 2008, ESPN sideline reporter Erin Andrews beat out actress/singer Jessica Simpson.{{cite web|title=2008 Culture Bracket|url=http://www.thebiglead.com/thebiglead2008culturebracket.html|website=The Big Lead|publisher=Fantasy Sports Ventures|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100105235037/http://www.thebiglead.com/thebiglead2008culturebracket.html|archive-date=2010-01-05}} For the 2009 edition, Megan Fox was crowned champion narrowly over Andrews.{{cite web|title=2009 Culture Bracket|url=http://www.thebiglead.com/thebiglead2009culturebracket.php|website=The Big Lead|publisher=Fantasy Sports Ventures|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100105235101/http://www.thebiglead.com/thebiglead2009culturebracket.php|archive-date=2010-01-05}}
Gaining notoriety
The Big Lead first gained notoriety after it obtained interviews with syndicated sportswriter and ESPN Poker commentator Norman Chad, and Kansas City Star and Fox Sports columnist Jason Whitlock. The interview with Whitlock generated controversy when he proceeded to trash his then-ESPN colleagues Scoop Jackson and Mike Lupica,{{cite web |title=Oh Damn, Did Whitlock Really Say That? A Q&A with Jason Whitlock |url=https://www.thebiglead.com/posts/oh-damn-did-whitlock-really-say-that-a-q-a-with-jason-whitlock-01dmqnxkfzmc |first=Jason |last=McIntyre |date=September 22, 2006 |website=The Big Lead |publisher=Fantasy Sports Ventures |access-date=October 27, 2019}} the fallout of which ended Whitlock's association with the network.{{cite magazine|title=Anonymous No More|url=http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2008/writers/richard_deitsch/03/12/lead.deitsch/index.html|archive-url=https://archive.today/20130119205945/http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2008/writers/richard_deitsch/03/12/lead.deitsch/index.html|url-status=dead|archive-date=January 19, 2013|author=Richard Deitsch|magazine=Sports Illustrated|publisher=Time Inc.|via=CNN|date=March 12, 2008}}
The Colin Cowherd incident
On April 5, 2007, Colin Cowherd, then host of a self-titled radio program on ESPN Radio, instructed his show's listeners to flood The Big Lead with traffic. The surge in activity overloaded the website's servers, knocking The Big Lead offline for about 48 hours, before the site was restored on April 7.{{cite web |title=On Cowherd, Our Site, and the Ombudsman's Swift Response |url=https://www.thebiglead.com/posts/on-cowherd-our-site-and-the-ombudsman-s-swift-response-01dmdhafdk39 |first=Jason |last=McIntyre |date=April 9, 2007 |website=The Big Lead |publisher=Fantasy Sports Ventures |access-date=October 27, 2019}} The attack appeared to be unprovoked, with Cowherd saying "wouldn't it be great if we could blow up a website?". His actions drew criticism from the blogosphere, as well as ESPN.com's ombudsman Le Anne Schreiber, who called his actions "immature, irresponsible, arrogant, malicious, destructive and dumb."{{cite news |title=Cowherd's 'Attack' on blog: 'Zero tolerance' |url=https://www.espn.com/espn/columns/story?columnist=schreiber_leanne&id=2830113 |first=Le Anne |last=Schreiber |author-link=Le Anne Schreiber |website=ESPN.com |date=April 8, 2007 |access-date=October 27, 2019}} However, since such actions were not forbidden by ESPN at that time, Cowherd did not face any disciplinary action for the incident. Coincidentally, nine years later in 2016, McIntyre joined Cowherd and Jason Whitlock as a co-commentator on their Fox Sports 1 talk show, Speak for Yourself with Cowherd & Whitlock.{{cite web |url=https://deadspin.com/all-takes-matter-signs-blogger-to-join-colin-cowherd-an-1778964360 |title=All Takes Matter Signs Blogger To Join Colin Cowherd And Jason Whitlock |first=Kevin |last=Draper |date=May 26, 2016 |website=Deadspin |access-date=October 27, 2019}} Then in 2022, McIntyre joined Cowherd on another talk show on its TV network, The Herd with Colin Cowherd.
References
{{Reflist}}
External links
- {{Official website|url=http://www.thebiglead.com/}}
- [https://biglead.live Reputable Companie]
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