Investigative/enterprise reporter, ESPN • Terp • formerly: Washington Post, Sports Illustrated, USA Today • robert.klemko @ https://xitter.cf/t.co/WCnlLOLtry • Signal: Klemko.84
Maryland, USA
Joined November 2010
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robertklemko retweeted
The @UofMaryland Athletics Department has agreed to First Amendment training with FIRE after two student journalists were reported to campus police for “suspicious activity” while trying to interview @umterps football players.
Student reporters should be able to do their jobs in public spaces without fear of unnecessary police encounters.
We appreciate Maryland Athletics’ willingness to address these concerns. Public universities — including their athletic departments — have a duty to protect press freedom, not intimidate those exercising it.
For @testudotimes, @JudeWilkenfeld and I were outside Jones-Hill House trying to get players to comment. An athletics staffer took pictures of us, and a police dispatch was called for suspicious activity; a cop and 2 cop cars pulled up, and officers ID’d us and asked us to leave.
robertklemko retweeted
For @testudotimes, @JudeWilkenfeld and I were outside Jones-Hill House trying to get players to comment. An athletics staffer took pictures of us, and a police dispatch was called for suspicious activity; a cop and 2 cop cars pulled up, and officers ID’d us and asked us to leave.
robertklemko retweeted
EXCLUSIVE: Elon Musk came to Donald Trump with the plan to throttle Ukraine’s use of SpaceX’s Starshield satellite internet network, sources have told the Telegraph.
The tech billionaire made the proposal during the US President’s row with Volodymyr Zelensky over strikes on Russian oil refineries.
‘The reality is that they were both in it,’ a senior source said of Musk’s and Trump’s involvement.
But after a night of carnage in Kyiv caused by the slowdown, Musk was alarmed about the possibility of adverse consumer reaction in Europe.
The SpaceX boss then proceeded to tweet, blaming the US administration, and ultimately, President Trump for authorising the slowdown.
‘He tweeted out that he was innocent and that it was the US administration that did it,’ the source said.
Big paws on a puppy.
Merrill College students know their rights as journalists.
"Cat Murphy is a master's student at the University of Maryland, credentialed as a reporter for our Capital News Service and doing the job we teach our students to do. Cat recorded openly in a public space alongside other news outlets, and that is her legal right," Dean Rafael Lorente (@DeanLorente) said. "I'm proud of how she handled herself in a difficult situation."
I’ve heard this from fans and we’ve heard this from his camp. It’s an argument that persists without a single example of Ovechkin being anything other than an enthusiastic Putin supporter.
When Ovechkin started PutinTeam in 2017, three years into the invasion of Ukraine, anonymous Caps sources tried to give Ovi some cover and told the Post he was enlisted to do so by the government. Ovechkin corrected them and said it was actually his idea.
His Instagram profile picture is him and Putin. He posted a hashtag suggesting the invasion of Ukraine was about saving children. He’s in an ad standing with a woman wanted by the ICC for kidnapping Ukrainian children (by her own admission). He married the daughter of a Russian businessman connected to the Russian defense industry and multiple U.S.-sanctioned companies.
The Russian celebrities he parties and vacations with according to IG posts aren’t the ones who spoke against the regime and faced consequences, or even the ones who stayed silent — they’re among Putin’s most ardent supporters. They describe Ukrainians as Nazis (Jasmine), describe the war as “a just cause” (Artem Dzyuba) and perform at Putin’s rallies (Sergei Zhukov).
Ovechkin’s own GM was confident enough about Ovechkin having a choice in participating in the campaign video to say that if Ovechkin had told them he planned to do the ad, “I doubt we'd be standing where we're standing right now if he had run it by us.”
Now, if you ask me why journalists are making the same argument Ovechkin’s camp has made for the last dozen years — without evidence and without, in at least one instance, agreement from Ovechkin himself — I haven’t the slightest clue.
This quoted post is unavailable.
robertklemko retweeted
Nearly 1.8 million people watched the NHL for the first time last season after watching "Heated Rivalry" or "Off Campus," according to NHL research.
Now the NHL is trying to turn that attention into lasting fandom — in part by changing how it markets its players.
espn.com/nhl/story/_/id/5004…
robertklemko retweeted
I'm hitting the road in October for “The Game” book tour, and I’m bringing along great guests for conversations in each city. I'd love to see you. For tickets:
linktr.ee/TheGamebyPeterKing…
robertklemko retweeted
Five cops in Indianapolis were just criminally charged with abusing Flock to spy on their ex-wives, their wives' ex-partners and women they met on duty. Audit was triggered by us at the @washingtonpost, the prosecutor said. Story incoming.
robertklemko retweeted
Big news – I've got a new beat!
Hanging up my hat (for now) as a @postlocal reporter to dig into criminal justice policy issues all over the country.
What's going on in your state? Your town? Your backyard? I'm all ears.
robertklemko retweeted
DraftKings developed an AI model to identify users most likely to lose money so that it could target them with promotions. When employees then developed a model that would have assigned “risk scores” based on users' likelihood to develop compulsive/addictive behaviors, the company sidelined it. nytimes.com/2026/09/19/busin…
Another interesting exchange from Capitals training camp: I asked GM Chris Patrick if Ovechkin had told the team he planned to film the Russian campaign advertisement. He said Ovechkin had not.
“We would have worked to avoid the situation very hard,” Patrick said. “And I doubt we'd be standing where we're standing right now if he had run it by us.”
After quietly answering questions about his support for Putin’s agenda in a press conference, Alex Ovechkin said, “Let’s do hockey questions.” I spoke with him after and asked Russia questions until he ended the interview.
“I wanted to know more about the process of filming the ad. When did you shoot it?”
AO: “I think three weeks ago.”
“Did you tell the team you were doing it?”
AO: “No.”
“Were you surprised by the backlash?”
AO: “I'm surprised, but it is nothing you can change right now. I'm Russian, I'm gonna live there when I'm done. My kids gonna be there. My family's gonna be there, you know, I support my country. That's it.”
“I think the reason for the backlash being bigger this time is because of what Lavrov says about countries bringing “the sword” to Russia. When I talk to experts about that, it mimics messaging Russians get that says Ukraine is responsible for being invaded by Russia. So you standing behind him, as he says that, feels to people like a pro war stance.”
AO: “Well, I don't think it's a pro war. I think it's just support what's happening in Russia. I want the peace and love for everybody. It doesn't matter who you are, American, Russian, or Ukrainian. Like, I have lots of friends who are Ukrainians, and I hope everything's gonna be good, and everything's gonna be done soon.”
“It'll be done soon if Putin stops the invasion. Like, that's how it ends.”
AO: “Well, I'm not in politics. I can’t say who's right and who's wrong.”
“In that larger group, there were about 30 people with you, One of the people is Maria Lvova Belova. She's got an arrest warrant from the International Criminal Court for abducting Ukrainian children.”
AO: “I don't know who that is.”
“Okay. Can you understand why a congressperson says the NHL shouldn't allow you to participate because you support this regime, and this country is spending billions of dollars helping fight Russia? What's your reaction to that?”
AO: “Well, everybody have their own opinion, right? I'm not a politician, I'm an athlete, and, how I said, I'm gonna live there when I'm done playing. I support my country. Like, I'm Russian.”
“You would support it no matter what?”
AO: “Well, I'm gonna live there, yeah.”
“So if they're responsible for a genocide, you would support the genocide?”
AO: “What do you mean, genocide?”
[Media relations official translates ‘genocide’.]
AO: [Groans.] “Oh. I would say, like, I'm, I hope it's not gonna, it's not gonna be like that.”
[Ovechkin walks away]
espn.com/nhl/story/_/id/4996…
After quietly answering questions about his support for Putin’s agenda in a press conference, Alex Ovechkin said, “Let’s do hockey questions.” I spoke with him after and asked Russia questions until he ended the interview.
“I wanted to know more about the process of filming the ad. When did you shoot it?”
AO: “I think three weeks ago.”
“Did you tell the team you were doing it?”
AO: “No.”
“Were you surprised by the backlash?”
AO: “I'm surprised, but it is nothing you can change right now. I'm Russian, I'm gonna live there when I'm done. My kids gonna be there. My family's gonna be there, you know, I support my country. That's it.”
“I think the reason for the backlash being bigger this time is because of what Lavrov says about countries bringing “the sword” to Russia. When I talk to experts about that, it mimics messaging Russians get that says Ukraine is responsible for being invaded by Russia. So you standing behind him, as he says that, feels to people like a pro war stance.”
AO: “Well, I don't think it's a pro war. I think it's just support what's happening in Russia. I want the peace and love for everybody. It doesn't matter who you are, American, Russian, or Ukrainian. Like, I have lots of friends who are Ukrainians, and I hope everything's gonna be good, and everything's gonna be done soon.”
“It'll be done soon if Putin stops the invasion. Like, that's how it ends.”
AO: “Well, I'm not in politics. I can’t say who's right and who's wrong.”
“In that larger group, there were about 30 people with you, One of the people is Maria Lvova Belova. She's got an arrest warrant from the International Criminal Court for abducting Ukrainian children.”
AO: “I don't know who that is.”
“Okay. Can you understand why a congressperson says the NHL shouldn't allow you to participate because you support this regime, and this country is spending billions of dollars helping fight Russia? What's your reaction to that?”
AO: “Well, everybody have their own opinion, right? I'm not a politician, I'm an athlete, and, how I said, I'm gonna live there when I'm done playing. I support my country. Like, I'm Russian.”
“You would support it no matter what?”
AO: “Well, I'm gonna live there, yeah.”
“So if they're responsible for a genocide, you would support the genocide?”
AO: “What do you mean, genocide?”
[Media relations official translates ‘genocide’.]
AO: [Groans.] “Oh. I would say, like, I'm, I hope it's not gonna, it's not gonna be like that.”
[Ovechkin walks away]
espn.com/nhl/story/_/id/4996…
robertklemko retweeted
This is the best NFL piece I’ve read on Week 1.
Explains in detail what happened to the Rams and how you should think about the Bills, Chiefs and Ravens this season.
Highly recommended.
propublica.org/article/donal…
robertklemko retweeted
In 2003, Tom Junod chronicled the photograph's origin and enduring legacy. esquire.com/news-politics/a4…
robertklemko retweeted
If you are obsessed with a sport, as I was with hockey as a young kid, you can usually only dream of having an analyst that is engaging, informative and fun explaining it on TV every night. What a godsend he was for the sport of hockey, for ESPN, and for everyone who knew him.
Sad night for the ESPN fam: Barry Melrose has passed away.
espn.com/nhl/story/_/id/4988…
robertklemko retweeted
The Cardinals players are wearing their hats crooked tonight
Last night Doug Eddings demanded that pitcher Hancel Rincon (in his MLB debut) straighten out his hat
robertklemko retweeted
My new book, The Game, is a memoir of my 40 years covering the NFL. It comes out Oct. 13 and is available to pre-order here:
tr.ee/TheGamePKX
robertklemko retweeted
The last time the Bucs negotiated with their quarterback:
"Can we get this f—ing thing done?" Baker Mayfield texted his GM.
Jason Licht called him.
"Listen up, asshole, we just agreed to terms ..." nytimes.com/athletic/7544468…
