WIP giving sports radio bad name

I think every journalism teacher I ever had told the class at one point or another that a reporter has to be 100 percent sure of the facts before he or she prints or broadcasts a story.

Craig Carton, co-host of the late-night show with former Philadelphia Eagle Garry Cobb, reported that Flyers center Eric Lindros was suspended by the team for showing up to a Feb. 15 game against the Pittsburgh Penguins with a hangover.

Carton, who made a name for himself on the station when he broke a story on the sale of the Eagles, the city's most popular team, cited four unnamed sources, including two people inside the Flyers organization.

For just a moment, let's leave out the debate on whether the story is true. If there are four sources and only two of them are from the Flyers organization, who could the other two be? Were they beer-drinking New York Ranger fans trying to lambaste Lindros? Doubtful.

If the sources were all involved with the organization, I would be a little more apt to believe the story. But I feel very skeptical about these other two sources. Were they friends with Lindros? Why would a friend serve as an unnamed source in this case?

Obviously, the Flyers adamantly deny the entire story and are threatening to sever all ties with WIP, which is under contract to broadcast the majority of Flyers games for one more year.

I could be accused of being blinded because I'm a Flyers fan but, even though I root for the team, I would not describe myself as anything close to a die-hard hockey enthusiast. However, I must admit I would still have a hard time believing the story even if the sources were solely members of the organization.

One has to understand the Flyers organization to see how impossible it would be for a story like this to leak, even if it were true. The Flyers are notorious for keeping any bad publicity in-house. Even the simplest locker room disagreements rarely make the it into the media.

I find it very hard to believe two reliable members of the organization (Carton would only take the word of a "reliable" source, right?) decided to harm its most prolific player only a short time before the Stanley Cup playoffs.

This is not the first run-in Lindros has had with WIP. During last season, WIP afternoon co-host Mike Missanelli, who is also editor of The Fan magazine, reported Lindros was a friend of reputed mob boss Joey Merlino. Missanelli suggested Lindros gave his courtesy tickets to Merlino, an accusation that was later proved false.

The Flyers organization did not sue Missanelli over that report, and it most likely won't be able to sue the station for Carton's story.

Bob Clarke, general manager of the Flyers, told the Philadelphia Inquirer Lindros was receiving treatment from the team trainer the night before the game in question. However, that doesn't rule out the possibility of Lindros going out afterward.

Flyer coach Terry Murray said he spent the morning of Feb. 15 with Lindros, while his star player was having his back attended to. Lindros missed a home-and-home weekend series against the Penguins. I think that lends more credence to the Flyers' story.

The fact that seals the deal is that Lindros skated in the warm-up before the Feb. 15 game at the Corestates Center in Philadelphia. According to the NHL's collective-bargaining agreement, a suspended player is not allowed to partake in any on-ice pregame activities.

I think Carton did Lindros and the Flyers a disservice, and he lessened the credibility of WIP. So I guess you always shouldn't believe what you hear on the radio or read in the newspaper ... ugh, wait a minute.