Eagles

Charissa Thompson Just Making Shit Up

By Kevin Kinkead

Published: Nov 16th, 2023 · 11:47 AM EST

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This is one of the best clips I’ve ever seen, because it confirms what we’ve said about in-game reporting for years now:

Charissa Thompson is just making up sideline reports?? @pardonmytake pic.twitter.com/4rjYI0U0YK

— Barstool Sports (@barstoolsports) November 16, 2023

You can make shit up because it’s all meaningless to begin with. “We’ve got to do a better job.” “We need to execute in the red zone and protect the football.” It’s vapid, boilerplate baloney. Nobody has ever learned anything from the halftime or in-game coach interview.

That said, Thompson is admitting here that she’s fabricating, apparently for a second time. She opens the video by saying “I’ve said this before, I haven’t been fired for saying it,” so somewhere, somebody is perfectly fine with lying. Isn’t that what this is? Lying? Generic platitudes or not, she’s just filling in the blanks herself, which would get you canned from any respectable journalism outlet. If I’m her agent, my eyeballs are popping out of my sockets as I frantically reach for the cell phone to ask her what in the actual hell she’s doing. Acting cool for Barstool? It’s an outrage!

The best part of this story is Howard Eskin checking in to protect the sanctity of the sideline reporter job:

As a sideline reporter myself, this is a disgrace. If the coach does not talk to @CharissaT just give YOUR insights, but don’t make things up. It’s a slippery slop to do that any time. https://t.co/Pqud8uDYLW

— Howard Eskin (@howardeskin) November 16, 2023

Agree that we need to avoid the slippery slop. We also need other Big J sideline reporters to respond to this clip. Get Pam Oliver and Tracy Wolfson up in here.