I have a love/hate relationship with ESPN
Even though ESPN is on my TV screen the majority of the time that it is turned on, some of the stuff on there annoys me. Currently, ESPN has quite the obsession with tracking Alex Rodriguez' every At-Bat as he tries to earn his 600th Homerun. Without question, obtaining 600 HR's is a gargantuan, hall-of-fame like feat but everytime I look up at the scroll on the bottom of the screen they have an A-Rod At-Bat update or there is a segment on SportsCenter about it.
Or Chris Berman's love for yelling, "BACK BACK BACK WAYYY GONE" after every bomb in the HomeRun Derby.
Talk about overkill.
Does this annoy anyone else or am I just picky?
It's only because A-Rod is a Yankee...
Damn Yankees...go Red Sox!
Go Tigers.
Go Blue.
Go Wings
Not much love for my sox...ouch.
I think most people have a love/hate relationship with ESPN. For example I like ESPN when they actually cover sports with jornalistic integrity (how often that happens is debatable). And I loathe ESPN when they cover Farve, LeBron, Sox/Yanks, etc.
....Many folks on the board have a love/hate relationship with Pam Ward.....
I certainly don't see a lot of love for Pam Ward here, or anywhere else where serious sports fans who get stuck with her doing a football game they wanted to watch congregate.
Overall I watch a lot of ESPN just because I need to get my sports fix. However, the thing I hate the most is the bias in coverage. For instance, if I miss a Tigers game and want to watch Baseball Tonight just to catch up on the Nights action, I have to sit through 45 mintue of Yankees/ Red Sox Coverage to see a 30 second Tigers highlight. Or, I remember one day(I believe it was the first day of NBA free agency) I just wanted to watch some sportscenter and get caught up on whats going on in the sports world. Well, they talked about Lebron James the entire 90 mintues. The only break they took from talking Lebron was for the Top 10. They seriously did not talk about anything else the entire show. Then when it was over a "brand new" episode started, and they talked Lebron for another 60 minutes. Needless to say that can get frustrating.
At the beginning of the summer I moved into an apartment without cable TV. I thought that would be a huge problem because I'd be missing out on SportsCenter, etc. I've actually found that I can pick up most games/events I want to watch on ESPN3, and I don't really miss all of the meaningless commentary much.
I will admit, though, my sports obsession level beyond Michigan athletics isn't all that high, so it's probably easier for me to survive without ESPN than most on the board.
My problem is that ESPN cannot provide unbiased reporting anymore. They are in bed with far too many these days. They are more or less an entertainment station at this point.
August 2nd, 2010 at 10:27 PM ^
ESPN sounds like a real slut.
ESPN's primary purpose is to cover the Yankees -- Red Sox rivalry. Their secondary purpose is to include baseball in every telecast, even if it's just Randy Johnson's new sprinkler system. Everything else is a gift to the viewer.
Seriously -- if you had the stomach to tune in when Steinbrenner died you would've heard all about him x 24 (at least). Also, remember when Joba Chamberlain first hit the scene? I remember asking someone "Who the @#$% is Joba?" Then I realized he must be a Yankee.
I have a dislike/hate relationship with ESPN. I don't think I can watch them this year (except for the non-Pam Ward Michigan games, of course). ESPN is just way too full of bs.
August 2nd, 2010 at 10:13 AM ^
I love ESPN - it would be a serious adjustment if its programming was not on my TV anymore.
However, a few things are clear:
- ESPN has moved into the "Twitter Media Era" whereby they will report just about anything, as long as it is interesting and someone else is saying it. This era was initiated by Herbie back in 2007.
- Clearly whoever is calling the shots at ESPN has an agenda on everything Favre, Yanks/Red Sox, Lebron and soccer. They don't have hockey, so they cart out Barry Melrose and Mathew Barnaby every winter to make it seem like they care.
- A majority of their shows lack real material - it's the same thing over and over again. Talking heads, talking about the stories that ESPN creates itself. This is why good shows on ESPN (Sportscenter is still strong, 30 for 30, E60) that carry some meaning stand out. Also, it has been shown that: fresh attractive female who actually knows sports + colin cowherd can even equal success. The majority of the world is catching up with the EA's and Jenn Brown's - they are good to look at, but you could never have them on for longer than 10 seconds at a time.
All this being said, ESPN has its problems - like any big corporation would have. But they are still the best.
They're only "the best" because they're a monopoly. The only channel that competes with ESPN is Verses. This is why I'm always happy to see the Michigan games on the BTN. Even though the broadcast can seem a little Bush League at times, it isn't a bunch of fluff for the SEC or East Coast sports teams.
If there is another player in the game, that means it is not a monopoly, right? Yes.
My point is ESPN is the best, but it has its issues (that this board has discussed at length). ESPN is a cash-freaking-cow, and backed by Disney. They have a boatload of cash, which they use to purchase the rights to air sports. Other networks cannot compete with their capital.
That's why they are #1 - they were the first, and they partnered with Disney.
I love ESPN when they show sports. Their coverage of the World Cup was outstanding. I shudder to think what NBC would have done with it. They would have tape delayed all the games, had commercials every 5 minutes. Then had a fluff piece on Donovan, And cut back just in time to see him score vs Algeria in stoppage time.
I hate ESPN when they aren't showing sports. Their talking heads are the most annoying people on TV, including political hacks. Their coverage of LeBron was sickening. I was a captive audience for 90 minutes and that was all they talked about. This was in the middle of the World Cup, NHL free agency, and Baseball. College Game Day is the closest thing to something watchable. [NFL Live is really good, too bad it is on at 5 am. Why bury your best program?]
August 2nd, 2010 at 10:03 AM ^
College GameDay is my favorite show on there. Mostly because it gets me pumped for the rest of Saturday.
August 2nd, 2010 at 10:06 AM ^
Espn is a joke. It is only bad advertisements and vapid "analysis". The only reason I ever watch it is to see our highlights.
August 2nd, 2010 at 11:30 AM ^
Not so fast my friend.
Although they might annoy you, be bias in reporting and even frustrate you there was a time when we could only get national sports information in the form of germ infested newspapers or wait once a week for these clowns...
Microwave food sucks too but it kicks the toaster ovens ass when you need something quick.
August 2nd, 2010 at 10:12 AM ^
I just really have to pick and choose what programming I watch anymore. I really enjoy when they actually cover sports, and I have really enjoyed 30 for 30. Sportscenter is OK most of the time, unless they are self-hyping something (LeBron, a game that they get to air later) I also like a few shows: College Game Day, NFL Countdown, Monday Night Countdown, and whatever they're now calling the NFL Recap that Berman and TJ do (The Blitz maybe?).
I really just avoid them in the summer, it's slow news people! All they have is baseball, and by now about 2/3 of the teams in baseball (my cubs included) are irrelevant. There are probably 8-12 teams still in contention in baseball, so they get the hype. Once football starts up again and the talking heads have more to talk about ESPN will be less obnoxious
August 2nd, 2010 at 12:17 PM ^
Mine is more of a Hate/Hate relationship
....because I to have developed a hate/hate relationship with ESPN.