ESPN--The Albatross on sport

[Chief Dick]

The internet usually works.

 

I've had to avoid going to ESPN.com

 

I swear I get a seizure every time I try to go there.

[Chief Dick]

ESPN News is all the info, roughly 1% of the fluff and/or shenanigans.

 

Yeah, that's usually where I will end up if I'm needing scores and highlights.

[Skilly]

I think the absolute worst thing Disney has done to sports is exactly why I don't hang around football innernets boards much any more -- they've turned sports into a morality play. Or, more accurately, they have shifted the focus from team play and the game itself to celebrity news -- and America loves nothing more than hearing about celebrities getting into trouble.

 

I never hear anyone say to me any more, "Hey, did you see that play last night?" Instead, it's "What do you think of the Sean Taylor murder?" or "How about that Mike VIck?" or "Do you think the Patriots are a bunch of cheaters?' Hour upon hour upon hour of every rumor, every little malfeasance, every little thing that can be tied to the celebrity culture is done so, and done to death.

 

You're some kind of freak now if you dare say something like, "I only care about what happens on the field." That used to be the normal fan opinion. It's like the game, any game, is a secondary concern to reporting on celebrities and who they are dating and what kind of trouble they have gotten into. There are no sports journalists any more -- they are social critics and moral pundits, endlessly melodramatic and overimportant on issues that hardly any of them have any basis to discuss outside of having "attitude." Just listen to Jay Mariotti or Jim Rome or Mitch Albom -- they are the self-appointed moral guardians of our collective conscious, except the issues they espouse are as meaningless as Jerry Springer's "minute" with which he ends each show.

 

We're seeing the end of an era, and it makes me sad. Soon, school children will be required to keep fantasy football teams, which they will discuss as a substitue for current events, right after the Paris Hilton sociology course and right before the "Let's stand around and do nothing so we don't offend anyone" recess period.

 

Wurd!

[Scoops5150]

How about the fact that they give you an ESPN "recap" half way through the show in case you missed the first 20 minutes on the game of the day and you are totally illiterate and can't read the stupid scroller at the bottom. OR you won't be around to watch the Rerun for the next 5 hours in the morning. I check college basketball scores and then move on.

 

SOLUTION: Sports radio, and not just MIKE & MIKE in the morning. Longtime Cowboy fan here, but I love the RIGGINS show in the afternoon.

 

DUDE

Edited December 2, 2007 by Scoops5150

[whomper]

ESPN News is all the info, roughly 1% of the fluff and/or shenanigans.

 

 

True but they over stat you on the ticker..I dont need to see how many rebounds someone got in a NCAA womans basketball game

[Chavez]

True but they over stat you on the ticker..I dont need to see how many rebounds someone got in a NCAA womans basketball game

Somehow I doubt that's a deal-breaker.

[whomper]

Somehow I doubt that's a deal-breaker.

 

 

If you are only watching for stats or scores on the ticker and you see the sport you want is 4 boxes away you are most likely not going to hang in

Edited December 2, 2007 by whomper

[Chavez]

If you are only watching for stats or scores on the ticker and you see the sport you want is 4 boxes away you are most likely not going to hang in

That's why God gave man the remote control and innernets.

[whomper]

That's why God gave man the remote control and innernets.

 

 

If I need to use the remote or ethernet then the channel failed me and the programmer should fall on his sword

[Chavez]

If I need to use the remote or ethernet then the channel failed me and the programmer should fall on his sword

All channels will fail you eventually. They're kinda like women, but at least they have mute buttons.

[BeeR]

Hearing all the talk about how ESPN may have had an influence on the National Anthem the other night got me thinking. For me personally, ESPN has turned into the evil empire of sports. Their tentacles are reaching into areas of sports that are getting alarming.

 

1. National Anthem. If they indeed had an influence on not playing the NA the other night, it makes me downright sick to my stomach.

 

2. Influence on young athletes. Now you see players looking for their 'Sportscenter" moment. And the constant barrage of highlight reels and entourages and the glorification of athletes has created this culture of the ME FIRST athlete. Maybe it's always been like this, but it seems to be getting more prevalent.

 

3. Coverage of NY/New England sports ad nauseam. I understand the whole issue of demographics, but it really has turned me off to even watching ESPN/Sportscenter anymore. Enough already. The thing that made ESPN great was their coverage of all sports. And all teams. And in depth coverage of all teams. Not any more.

 

4. Usage of the sports ticker/graphics/MTV mentality. I'm getting so tired of all the extra BS that now permeates our sports airwaves. Whatever happened to showing the game. I suppose it's the way the young demographic can be attracted these days, but this mentality is permeating every type of broadcast.

 

I'm sure there are more as I think of them, but a few to get me started. Any thoughts?

 

I think it's nice to be reminded that somebody else gets it. I wonder sometimes.

[Kid Cid]

First Disney and the ABC brought about the demise of ESPN.They have clearly lost rudder and only exist to 1) sell commercial time and 2) hawk ABC shows so that they can sell commercial time. It really is a travesty to see what this channel/organization has become.