ESPN Is Pathetic

Kenny F'ing Powers

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dcmissle said:
I will never forgive them for knuckling under to Tagliabue and canceling Playmakers.

You remember Tag's take on that series -- an unrealistic representation of the NFL.

All of these people in the League office and four letter could find comfortable employment with Putin.
 
That show was must-see TV my sophomore year of college. 
 
Fucking ESPN.
 

LeoCarrillo

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I read that alert and rolled my eyes at their relentless and contrived hyping of star players over substance.

And only now just noticed LeBron Jones. I'm imagining LeBron Jones as some beanpole dweeb with goggles and lame tats who front-rims it on the playground when he tries to dunk. And then falls.
 

ifmanis5

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This morning SportsCenter lead with LeBron & Manziel. And then quickly nothing but Tiger Woods and NFL. They are beyond predictable and troll fail.
 

Kenny F'ing Powers

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ifmanis5 said:
This morning SportsCenter lead with LeBron & Manziel. And then quickly nothing but Tiger Woods and NFL. They are beyond predictable and troll fail.
 
To be fair, Tiger Woods is in a tournament and the NFL has had a slate of NFL preseason games. 
 

ifmanis5

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All LeBron all the time....
 

LeBron James returns to his home town of Akron Friday. We are bringing in ESPN’s material
From 4pm-11pm into Interplay.
 
 
Here is the tentative ESPN schedule:
5:15-6pm:                                            Will send Broll of family reunion activity (will put up via TVU as it happens)
6:30pm-TBD (approx.):                  Will send LeBron James media availability as it happens via TVU (cannot take to air live)
6:45pm (approx.):                            Will pursue LTT with LeBron
7:15pm (approx.):                            Will send Broll of Welcome Home celebration (will send as it happens via TVU; cannot take to air live)
 

topps148

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I read that alert and rolled my eyes at their relentless and contrived hyping of star players over substance.

And only now just noticed LeBron Jones. I'm imagining LeBron Jones as some beanpole dweeb with goggles and lame tats who front-rims it on the playground when he tries to dunk. And then falls.
But, but...he's got his own Twitter account and everything.
https://twitter.com/LeBronJones
 

dcmissle

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Kenny F'ing Powers said:
 
To be fair, Tiger Woods is in a tournament and the NFL has had a slate of NFL preseason games. 
And to be balanced, following yesterday's action, Tiger was 103 on the leader board.

I'd prefer they just go with Manziel and Lebron.
 

Reverend

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Who exactly is ESPN playing to? Are there really more people who just want to hear about LeBron all the time than a more general run down on sports and we're just the outliers?
 
Or is it a cost benefit decision and it's just easier to follow just a couple stories, tell everyone they are important and you get enough viewers to pull a profit (along with some proprietary stuff like NFL games)?
 

mauidano

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Reverend said:
Who exactly is ESPN playing to? Are there really more people who just want to hear about LeBron all the time than a more general run down on sports and we're just the outliers?
 
Or is it a cost benefit decision and it's just easier to follow just a couple stories, tell everyone they are important and you get enough viewers to pull a profit (along with some proprietary stuff like NFL games)?
I pretty much just get my multi sports news via online outlets including ESPN where I can be selective.  SO OVER being beat over the head with Lebron and the NFL 365 days a year. I watch MLB TV more than ESPN.
 

LeoCarrillo

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Reverend said:
Who exactly is ESPN playing to? Are there really more people who just want to hear about LeBron all the time than a more general run down on sports and we're just the outliers?
 
Or is it a cost benefit decision and it's just easier to follow just a couple stories, tell everyone they are important and you get enough viewers to pull a profit (along with some proprietary stuff like NFL games)?
 
I wish I had the time to dig up some data and $$ figures to substantiate, but my assumption is that it's about 90% proprietary. They broadcast the NFL and NBA and thus serve as their own advertisements to the product. Which would be more palatable (okay, you give hockey short shrift, got it) if in their NBA coverage, for example, they stopped talking about the Lakers for one minute and gave some play to the ... wait, let me count, 8 teams in the Western Conference that made the playoffs last year while the Lakers didn't. 
 
So, not only do we not get any "why" from them on anything non-glam and tabloid ... oh, why the Spurs are the smoothest-running offense, for example ... we barely even get any Spurs coverage at all. It's just all day Bron, Melo, Dwight Howard, Lakers.
 
I assume at some high board-room level, they rationalize it in that ESPN does enough "in-depth" journo stuff -- Inside the Lines, 30 for 30 -- that they're fine turning the website and SportsCenter (and FirstTake and Mike & Mike) into variations of an E! show except with the focus on Tiger and LeBron and Manziel and Tebow instead of Kim Kardashian or some hunk-of-the-month from a tween vampire movie.
 
What's maddening and worthy of contempt is the clear disregard for merit in determination of coverage. Manziel? Really?
 

LeoCarrillo

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Put another way, to answer Rev's question of whom they're playing to ... they're playing to not-yet-fans via recognizable names to build audience.
 

bankshot1

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PBDWake

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bankshot1 said:
I know I'm late to this party,but why exactly was Le Batard suspended for this? Its not offensive, nor obscene, its not in poor taste, but just a harmless tweaking of a super-star who has been subjected to far worse. Why can't Le Batard express his opinion in this manner? 
I actually think it's more to do that LeBetard is probably still on some kind of probation. Remember, he pissed off a lot of people at espn when he sold his hall of fame ballot to deadspin. Espn sounded like it was more pissed they weren't told than anything else (they said they gladly would have fan sourced it through their site). They probably told him to run his stunts by them first and were not terribly amused by another stunt blind siding them. In a vacuum, it's stupid, but I can at least see some logic to it from espn's side
 

bankshot1

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Does Le Batard's, or any other "journalist" who also work for ESPN have to seek approval for articles/editorial pieces/stunts carried elsewhere?  Does Ryan have to "check with corporate in Bristol" for opinion pieces printed in the Globe? I could undertand if Le Batard said something truly offensive on ESPN, they might sanction him, but this is a one-off.
 
For the ESPN, which in large part gained its position by promoting over the top reporting/POVs by its hosts and talking heads, this smacks of way too much corporate oversight/censorship and a shitload of hypocrisy.  
 

PBDWake

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bankshot1 said:
Does Le Batard's, or any other "journalist" who also work for ESPN have to seek approval for articles/editorial pieces/stunts carried elsewhere?  Does Ryan have to "check with corporate in Bristol" for opinion pieces printed in the Globe? I could undertand if Le Batard said something truly offensive on ESPN, they might sanction him, but this is a one-off.
 
For the ESPN, which in large part gained its position by promoting over the top reporting/POVs by its hosts and talking heads, this smacks of way too much corporate oversight/censorship and a shitload of hypocrisy.  
If there's one thing that's for certain in the corporate world now, it's that when you're a public figure associated with a company, it doesn't matter if what you do isn't on company time. Your actions are associated with that company and they'll treat it like it's representative of them. It's why people from LeBetard down to 20 year old girls get punished from things ranging from dumb things said on Facebook to stupid Halloween costumes posted on twitter. What LeBetard does outside of espn isn't something that happens in a vacuum. It does have an impact on espn.

Whether it's ratings or Lebron's management team giving espn a hard time when they try and book time with him for a 1 on 1 because they employ the guy, there are potential effects that it can have on the parent company. So no, he doesn't need to run everything he does by them, but nobody should be surprised that they might not be happy with him for it, and might make that known.
 

dcmissle

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Headlining now:

After Hoyer started the X-game, Manziel went three-and-out on his first series.
 

Stevie1der

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The linked article was shy on details. Did he bring up the story as a way to relate to and excuse Rice's actions? Was he contrite about it? I could see this as an appropriate response or a gross overreaction depending on the context.
 

Boston Brawler

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I haven't found anything with more details as of yet. Not sure of the context of the conversation, but Kellerman doesn't strike me as the type to make light of it, especially as ESPN has had the spotlight on them recently with these issues.
 

Reverend

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Stevie1der said:
The linked article was shy on details. Did he bring up the story as a way to relate to and excuse Rice's actions? Was he contrite about it? I could see this as an appropriate response or a gross overreaction depending on the context.
 
It's shittier--they don't want people talking about the issue altogether.
 
ESPN Suspends Max Kellerman For Talking About Ray Rice And Domestic Abuse
 

On Monday, nearly a week after Stephen A. was suspended, Kellerman was on the "Mason & Ireland" show—a lead-in to his own on ESPN-LA—and discussed battering his then-fiancée and now wife of 20 years. He told a story where they both got drunk, she slapped him, and he slapped her back. It was briefly available on a podcast, but was later pulled from the site.
 
On Friday, ESPN suspended Kellerman, but not because he admitted to hitting his partner. He was suspended because ESPN higher-ups wanted to avoid this kind of discussion on the air, and specifically told on-air talent to tread carefully.


Industry sources said while the content of his story was disturbing, the suspension was all about Kellerman, who once worked for ESPN New York Radio, not adhering to ESPN brass' warning concerning the Rice topic being a highly sensitive one. "My understanding is that it was part of a larger conversation ESPN had with all its on-air people," a radio industry source said. "Kellerman obviously didn't pay attention."
 
While the topic became even more charged after Smith's remarks and suspension, ESPN personalities were warned to measure and consider their commentary as soon as Rice's two game suspension was handed down by commissioner Roger Goodell.
 
So Kellerman either ignored the directive altogether or measured and considered his story and decided it was OK to discuss. ESPN, then, is suspending him for insubordination and not necessarily because he said something offensive.
 

 

The quotation inside is to the NY Daily News piece.
 
This is really quite infuriating.
 

dcmissle

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Good Christ.

Baghdad Bobs on steroids. We'll just invent our own reality.

Can't we uncut Tiger from the PGA and just throw an imaginary score up there?
 

GBrushTWood

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I think anybody turning to ESPN for nuanced commentary on volatile societal issues is looking in the wrong place. ESPN doesn't give a shit about societal issues or balanced discussion. The only thing they care about is attracting the highest number of eyeballs to their products so they can sell additional and higher priced advertising.
 
Yeah, they might come out and say they embrace debate, but only when it's in their financial interest to do so. With the Rice/domestic violence story, the debate started being perceived as too controversial (even though nothing objectively bad was said), so they probably got spooked that advertisers would bail. Add this with the proven editorial power the NFL holds over ESPN, and it's pretty easy to understand why they would silence the topic.
 
It's chicken shit and mealy-mouthed ("Argue away!! But don't say anything controversial.."), but it just seems like business as usual with these guys. I stopped tuning in years ago. The Internet provides far superior information than these soulless corporate ghouls.
 

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JimBowden_ESPN Jim Bowden
Happy Baseball Birthdays to David Peralta, Esmil Rogers, Clay Buchholz, Juan Pierre, Mark Loretta, Mark Fidrych, Mark Gubicza, Tommy Shields
 
***
 
He's dead, Jim
 

LeoCarrillo

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Today:

SOURCES: MANZIEL TARDINESS HANDLED INTERNALLY

So, if you were wondering, the league will not be getting involved in his being late to a team meeting.
 

Number45forever

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I really love PTI, been watching or listening to it forever, the podcast is a go-to for me on my lunch hour.  But I'm getting slightly annoyed that, in July and August, more than half of every episode is still NBA talk.  I know it's been a busy offseason, but good God almighty talk about something else.  Football is starting (even some people NOT named Johnny Manziel will be playing this season!) and baseball is still going strong, etc.  It's not that hard.
 

Kliq

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Number45forever said:
I really love PTI, been watching or listening to it forever, the podcast is a go-to for me on my lunch hour.  But I'm getting slightly annoyed that, in July and August, more than half of every episode is still NBA talk.  I know it's been a busy offseason, but good God almighty talk about something else.  Football is starting (even some people NOT named Johnny Manziel will be playing this season!) and baseball is still going strong, etc.  It's not that hard.
 
I have noticed this too. Every day when PTI comes on, I look at the sidebar to see how long it is going to take them to get to a baseball story. The reason they have stuck with the NBA presumably is for two reasons:
 
1. The NBA has the most exciting off-season of any sport because it is the sport where an individual player can have the greatest impact on his team's success. That also means that it creates the most easily recognizable stars of any sport. It is much simpler to name the top 10 NBA players right now then it is to name the top 10 NFL, NHL or MLB players. It is also why ESPN loves the NBA so much, because they create individuals like LeBron and Kobe for them to talk about.
 
2. This off-season in particular has been very action packed. You had not one but two of the leagues best players on the move, signing with the same team. Love's move in particular was important because it took weeks for it to shakedown (and it still is going on). While LeBron's move was a pretty quick moving story, Love's saga has dragged on and on, leaving the news shows to just talk about every day with no real bounty of information. Besides that, there has been the Sterling sale, the loaded NBA draft, Silver in his first off-season, the Paul George injury, etc.
 
Dec 10, 2012
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Kliq said:
 
I have noticed this too. Every day when PTI comes on, I look at the sidebar to see how long it is going to take them to get to a baseball story. The reason they have stuck with the NBA presumably is for two reasons:
 
1. The NBA has the most exciting off-season of any sport because it is the sport where an individual player can have the greatest impact on his team's success. That also means that it creates the most easily recognizable stars of any sport. It is much simpler to name the top 10 NBA players right now then it is to name the top 10 NFL, NHL or MLB players. It is also why ESPN loves the NBA so much, because they create individuals like LeBron and Kobe for them to talk about.
 
 
It's also the only one of the 4 major sports that doesn't have helmets/least equipment-clothing. That helps.
 

LeoCarrillo

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It's just staggering how far they're taking this Manziel click-bait thing into E! network and Kardashian territory.
 
Before the draft, it was "Would you pick Clowney or Manziel at No. 1?!?" and, of course, Clowney goes No. 1 and Manziel goes No. 22.
 
Today, the news is he wasn't named the starter. When will they give it up? Stories about clipboard-holding. It's like "Kardashian considers, elects not to buy pair of shoes" trajectory.
 
I'm actually past annoyance and now just almost enjoying watching them crash the car into the wall, back up and crash it again.
 

rotundlio

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The way this station hammers shit straight into the ground is sickening.
 
Anybody on Little League? It's obscene. Mo'ne Davis this. Mo'ne Davis this. They're cutting to her for reaction shots, littering the screen with graphics, having Jaymee Sire explicate her background, interviewing everyone in association with her. Mo'ne, I gather, is the type of girl who could sit at anybody's lunch table. I'm certain they've returned from every single commercial break with some Mo'ne-centric segue. It's as if Make-A-Wish had put Kenny Kawaguchi out there.
 
Las Vegas, for its part, is a hotbed. Bryce Harper, Kris Bryant, and Joey Gallo all had the same coach, or something. This Mountain Ridge team obliterates everything and their #2 hitter looks about ready to turn pro. Mo'ne Davis. Mo'ne Davis.
 
Strikeout. Cut to snippet of her interview. Fin.
 
edit: Well, they've been sane ever since. I wonder whether Nevada's hitting caused them to spam Mo'ne ordnance.
 
edit edit: Nevada overcame her. 'Course, they could've won handily three separate innings. The highlight of a well-played quarterfinal? Mo'ne getting pulled. Press play — an interview with Mrs. Davis. Anyway, congratulations, probable U.S. champs.