Good Read on the fall of Baseball Tonight (and overall on the WWL)

Yeah, they switched to the Red Sox.

 

Hey, at least it isn't Jim Bowden talking 'bout his "accomplishments" while wearing leather pants....

 

Good article, well written and well analyzed. He also touched upon one of my pet peeves that I wish more people noticed: how ESPN has wrecked the once great Classic Sports Network.

 

I find ESPN mostly unwatchable. Maybe because I'm old, or maybe because I won't watch 20 minutes on the Red Sox, Yankees, NFL and Knicks. And whoever came up with counting down the days to the start of the NFL season should be taken out and shot.

I now resume watching "The Right Stuff."

 

You don't prefer classic pool, poker and bowling that nobody watched the first time it happened over real college football and mlb games?

 

Oh, to peruse their library archive of all those beautiful, beautiful ballgames they've got the rights to rebroadcast ... sigh.

 

Sigh indeed. Back in its CSN days you could virtually any time find rare college basketball and football classics, like the epic 83 Louisville/Phi Slamma final four dunkfest, Jordan's UNC games, the "Flutie Pass" game, etc.,MLB classics like the 75 Sox/Reds Game 6, and rare footage of less-famous gems that you'd assumed had been lost and forgotten. I find that stuff fascinating, not just because they're great games and stir up the nostalgia, but also because lets you see how styles of play have evolved over the years. CSN had a completely original niche when they broke in, and clearly knew their purpose.

But ever since ESPN bought em out, every year there's less of that stuff and more poker, bowling, and game show type crap on the re-christened ESPN Classic. ESPN cares little about what Classic was supposed to be for, and instead often seems to view it as some sort of spillover garbage can where they can dump the excess programming they couldn't fit on the other ESPNs. It is a shame.

 

I'd rather watch 24 hours of the classic Home Run Derby than the dreck that's on Classic now.

 

Couldn't agree more. Old games are a great time capsule. I remember watching a game from the late 80s and being amazed at not only how much thinner the players were (!), but at how quickly the pitchers worked and how little batters stepped out of the box.

 

I don't have too much to add. I totally agree that it's really sad what's become of ESPN Classic. You could fill the 24 hours with old games and SportsCenturys and I would never, ever change the channel. I can't believe what ESPN has done with such a promising network.

As for Baseball Tonight, it's amazing to me what ESPN suits have obviously handed down as orders. They want to cover the hell out of certain subjects (in baseball, it's the Red Sox and Yankees) while largely ignoring the rest of baseball. Therefore, we get five minutes of Roger Clemens highlights from his double-A start while Brewers-Pirates (the top two teams in the NL Central) might get 15 seconds.

I'm all for more popular teams getting more play. That's obvious. But to go so over-the-top like ESPN does toward the 22-29 Yankees is baffling.

I enjoy former players providing insight, but I think you need an objective writer on the set, too. Gammons, Kurkijan, Olney, Stark -- somebody.

I also agree with the point about NFL Live. How on Earth can ESPN justify spending an equal amount of time airing Baseball Tonight and NFL Live in late May? Who in the hell is in charge there?

 

Unless he was talking about College Football Final, which is now far and away the best highlights show on the channel.

But I agree with your premise. Give them time, and they'll screw that up too.