Dellapina Thrown Under the Bus for Avery Story

Mike Zeisberger at the Toronto Sun writes about the heat Daily News Ranger Beat writer John Dellapina has received for reporting the erroneous information that Sean Avery was rushed to the hospital in cardiac arrest...

"There it was, in all its world-wide-web glory. A story that Sean Avery had been rushed to hospital with a cardiac problem and was reportedly not breathing upon arrival.

Yes, Dellapina's name was on the piece, but he took second billing to the byline of some news writer with the paper. It is my understanding the news scribe was primarily responsible for the story, a yarn which was not, in fact, true. The real deal? Avery had a lacerated spleen, which is a far cry from not breathing.

Without asking or understanding Dellapina's secondary role on the piece, he was ripped. By the Rangers PR staff. By one of the trainers. By coach Tom Renney. And by his fellow New York reporters, who appeared to take glee in the screwup. If this were the NFL, a flag would have been thrown for piling on.

I feel for John. I've been there."

Dellapina had his own reaction to the backlash...

Finally, for all those from other media outlets and newspapers who have sarcastically dismissed our initial web story about Sean Avery’s hospitalization since the Rangers refuted it Wednesday afternoon, I wonder:

Was your initial reaction that the story couldn’t have been correct or did you simply race up to the MSG Training Center to get player reaction? And, did you call the hospital and/or Avery’s representatives to get the real story or did your “reporting” simply consist of taking the team’s word for what happened?

Fortunately, the intrepid men an women of the press who have exposed baseball’s steroid problems didn’t similarly regurgitate what they were told by people who understandably want their businesses viewed as beyond reproach.

...Dellapina does a great job covering the Rangers, but he got caught up in trying to get the news out before checking the facts. And its not just Dellapina. Unfortunately, that's the way the media works these days, they're more interested in saying they broke the story than actually doing research into whether the information is accurate.