Just In Case You Didn't Know Already, Darren Rovell and ESPN Is Worthless

For Hire

Appearing this afternoon on the front page of ESPN, a "story" from the World Wide Lemur's senior writer, detailing Kobe Bryant's appearance in a new Apple commercial.

No, I'm not linking to it, because that would only encourage them.

In the 207 words that accompany a clip of the 30-second ad, Rovell tells you nothing that you would not learn from, well, playing the video. Other than this is a one-off ad, rather than a series, and how much the Apple tech profiled in the spot costs.

Friends, I get that sports has always been the toy department of news. I get that ESPN has the journalistic integrity of a YouTuber posting videos of animals driving cars. I understand that there will be no penalty or loss of, um, prestige from what can only be regarded as a PR insertion with a byline, from a secondary brand that's nearly as disgraced as the parent. Finally, I also understand that on the Web, clickbait is every bit as much on the reader as it is the publisher, because Web content is fundamentally broken on every level.

But with all of that said...

Honestly. Front page, 200 words, to describe a television commercial?