ESPN really starting to grind my gears...

[Turd Ferguson]

So I work at a restaurant that loves sports. I'll admit, I'm just an occasional sports watcher. I don't go out of my way to watch a game on TV, but if it's on and it catches my interest, I'll watch it. At work, we keep it on ESPN all the time. I love their SportsCenter commercials. I usually check the highlights so I'll know some sports trivia to share with people while I wait on them.

But this week ESPN is really starting to grind my gears. There are many sports in the world. There are many, many players in the world. But, if you were watching only ESPN, you'd only know about Brett Favre and Michael Vick. It seems like everytime I look up at the screen there's a new lead about him possibly signing, waiting for a physical to sign, he's retiring, he's not retiring, he's retiring again, nope, he's signing, wait, he's retiring, shot of him tossing a football to some brats, he's signed a two year deal, analysis all the way through about the whole thing.

I mean, COME ON. I realize that him signing is probably a big deal, but I refuse to watch a game he's involved in just because I've been beat over the head so much on his flip-flop retire-not to retire shit. And we all know this same crap is going to happen again next season when he's going to retire AGAIN.

I mean, do people really care that much about this douchebag? That it requires a whole sports station of constant coverage on two people?

 

[Starbreaker]

Apparently that's what gets the ratings. All this crap will die down when the actual NFL season starts.

 

[Commander Vaughn]

It's a slow time in sports right now. The baseball playoff race is just now starting to heat up a bit. Other than that, whats going on in the sports world? If it wasn't for Usain Bolt, things would be even worse.

Once college football and the NFL season start, the Favre/Vick talk will die down a bit. Then we'll just hear about how amazing Florida/USC and the Patriots are.

Actually, ESPN's deal with the SEC scares me a bit. We'll get even more "the SEC is the greatest" talk than we have in years past. I didn't think that was even possible...

 

[tomalak301]

The only thing I've been tolerating on ESPN these days have been the Podcasts, in which I get the Fantasy ones, Football Today, and Baseball today. Yesterday was a great debate on the 49ers and Raiders which I really liked. The main ESPN stuff though, Don't care, until the Farve/Vick stuff dies down.

 

[Scout101]

ESPN is a complete joke at this point, they're just hacks. All of this "ESPN has learned" crap, usually blatantly ripped off of other news outlets, without giving credit. Read pretty much anything they put out, it's a joke.

 

[tomalak301]

ESPN is a complete joke at this point, they're just hacks. All of this "ESPN has learned" crap, usually blatantly ripped off of other news outlets, without giving credit. Read pretty much anything they put out, it's a joke.

That's probably why I love networks like NFL, NBA, NHL, and MLB. They are much better at covering the respective sports, even though NHL Network really needs to improve and stop showing classic games. Would be nice if they got a good nightly news show and got analysts who don't bore me to tears like the crop they have for On the Fly. MLB Network launched, and they did it right. MLB Tonight and Quick Pitch are must see viewing on most occasions for good baseball analysis.

 

[SmoothieX]

Then we'll just hear about how amazing Florida/USC and the Patriots are.

But the Patriots are amazing. As an aside, I nearly pooped myself last night when Brady took a hit.

That's probably why I love networks like NFL, NBA, NHL, and MLB.

I agree with MLB, which has really gotten off to a nice start. Lots of live cut-ins, games a couple times a week, good talent, etc.

NFL network rubs me wrong. Its all filler, as they only show about 6-7 games per year. I can't stand most of the on air staff, and it seems like all they ever do is show preseason re-runs.

 

[Commander Vaughn]

The Pats are really good, I'm not disputing that. Just making fun of ESPN for giving certain teams lots of coverage.

 

[Scout101]

But the Patriots are amazing. As an aside, I nearly pooped myself last night when Brady took a hit.

Actually, I liked that a little bit. I wanted to see him take one good hit, and then jump up and shake it off. Otherwise, he'd go into real games still not having been hit, and it might be in the back of his mind. Now that he's seen he can still take a hit and not get destroyed, he's over that hurdle and good to go.

The Pats are really good, I'm not disputing that. Just making fun of ESPN for giving certain teams lots of coverage.

that's a function of location more than anything. Based in CT, so the Pats (as well as other Boston and NY teams) get more coverage because they are more convenient to get the stories on, and closer to the action. That, and those are two of the largest sports markets, so stories about those teams will get more eyeballs on TV sets than a facinating and hard-hitting report about Kansas City...

 

[SmoothieX]

Actually, I liked that a little bit. I wanted to see him take one good hit, and then jump up and shake it off. Otherwise, he'd go into real games still not having been hit, and it might be in the back of his mind. Now that he's seen he can still take a hit and not get destroyed, he's over that hurdle and good to go.

I like the dusting himself off part. If he never got within 10 yards of a defender though I'd be happy.

The thing with ESPN and giving a lot of coverage to certain teams has to do with getting the most viewers. Its a national network, they can't devote 20 minutes of Sportscenter to a minor league bowling tournament in Iowa.

They need a broad appeal and they do that by covering the sports and teams that are the most popular. Yankees, Mets, Red Sox, Cubs, Cardinals, Dodgers, Cowboys, Steelers, Giants, Patriots, Lakers, Celtics, etc.

And as for Favre, Vick , etc. Everyone says how sick of it they are, but how many of you didn't go out of your way to check out part of their pressers?