ESPN's Bad Night

I would watch the draft over just about any NBA game.

 

Agreed on pretty much every point. Kiper didn't get his chance to talk. And, since he's the only part of ESPN's show that is worth watching, that's a MAJOR problem.

Whoever said Young didn't talk enough must not have been watching most of the draft. In my opinion anyway, he talked way, way, way too much.

 

I'm really surprised there aren't more 4-0 series sweeps in the NBA - I've got to think if you crunched the numbers the number of playoff sweeps is below what statistics would indicate it should be.

 

I had no interest in watching, but definitely spent an hour's car ride this morning catching up on sports radio. I will take the recap over the live.

But if I were the NBA, I would be blown away with that rating. Fans are telling you something, loud and clear.

 

Young talked more than anyone, while Kiper seemed to decide early on that he wasn't going to shout over everyone to be heard so he just sat there with a funny look on his face.

I really was stunned by how bad the broadcast was.

 

I know I'm the minority, but I'm the exact opposite.

Waiting almost 10 minutes between picks (then having the announcement spoiled because they show a guy crying on his cell phone a minute before he's introduced), and then filling the rest of the time with talking heads trying to shout over each other? No thanks.

And I'm someone who loves watching NFL football.

 

I will say this as a positive -- I liked when Gruden said something along the lines of "This guy reminds me a lot of (insert name of current player here). If he could provide that, without rambling so long about how great each player is, I'd be quite happy with him.

 

I find it funny Gruden is covering the draft at all when he is infamous for hating young players. Wasn't one reason he was booted from Tampa was he wouldn't go with a youth movement and he refused to draft a young quarterback? Now he's on ESPN showering them with praise as the next great thing.

I'm not sure how TV works, but someone should be directing the traffic, shouldn't that be the anchor? Last night was horrible and Berman is beyond parody - he has not improved or changed his act in 20 years, and it's grating. If I didn't have Time Warner, I would probably pay for NFL Network just to not watch Berman.

 

1. The draft is a one-off important occasion in pro football.
2. There are NBA playoff games on every freakin' night between now and Memorial Day, and then plenty more until mid-June.
3. There are many more football fans than basketball fans in the U.S.
4. The draft SHOULD get higher ratings. Yes, it's a lousy television show. Many lousy shows of all kinds get great ratings.

 

I'd almost blocked this from my mind, but, damn, this was probably their worst moment of the draft. It was terrible, and Berman in particular was awful during the Vikings pick.

 

A big reason March Madness in college basketball is so successful is the Cinderella upset. Stern lengthened the NBA's first round to reduce the chance that the "better" team (read bigger ratings grabber) might lose. There's nothing suspenseful watching those games. So yeah the NBA ratings should suck.