ESPN play-by-play broadcaster Robert Lee, left, and Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee, right.
At least one major media outlet has unwittingly tried to top the scorn and unwanted publicity that ESPN received when the network tried — and failed — to stop a potential firestorm by removing a broadcaster who happens to have the same name as the most decorated Confederate general from calling a University of Virginia football game next month.
In the wake of the Worldwide Leader in Sports’ decision to reassign Asian-American broadcaster Robert Lee from calling UVA’s tilt against in-state rival the College of William and Mary, it apparently took the international news agency Reuters at least three times to produce an accurate headline via social media:
After its incorrect use of the term “doppelganger” — the borrowed German term used to describe two people who are nearly identical in appearance, Reuters tried — and failed — again:
By then, the jokes had already taken Twitter by storm, while ESPN gradually learned that by trying to prevent a potentially embarrassing moment from happening it only ensured even more embarrassment and derision:
Shortly after the fiasco gained in momentum, ESPN through several statements attempted to defend itself:
On Thursday night an internal ESPN memo found its way online:
Even MSNBC — the left-leaning network that partially inspired the name that the blog OutkickTheCoverage.com uses to poke fun at ESPN (MSESPN), the same blog that broke the story on Lee’s reassignment, had a chuckle at the Worldwide Leader In Sports’ decision:
Here’s MSNBC ridiculing MSESPN. This is like watching Cain slay Abel on live TV. https://t.co/w0u41Wcgyj
There was one cable news station, however, that found a way to come to ESPN’s defense. CNN, which has experienced a slew of its own problems this year, ran a column Thursday night penned by a former ESPN executive who defended the network’s decision:
ESPN and Robert Lee’s mutual decision to switch games isn’t unreasonable in today’s America, @CNNOpinion writer says https://t.co/W4zfL7Jftu
ESPN play-by-play broadcaster Robert Lee, left, and Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee, right. 
