Live from Morgantown (via Bristol)

Maybe this has been discussed elsewhere, if so, knock it out, but ...
ESPN carried Tuesday's Oklahoma-WVU game from Morgantown. However, the game's color and play-by-play guy were not in Morgantown. They were in Bristol.
Newspaper folks have suffered epic meltdowns of fellow scribes who pull these kinds of stunts, covering games by radio or TV then writing it up as if they were there. Is this any different?

I'm inclined to say its no big deal. The broadcasters don't interact with the coaches and players. But does it raise questions?

http://www.post-gazette.com/sports/...irs-up-ethical-questions/stories/201501150219

 

Haven't US networks done this with various European soccer games for some years now?

 

It's not a big deal until they said, "Back here in Morgantown." That's fraudulent bullshit.

The reporters I know who write gamers off TV at least have the decency to leave the dateline off it.

 

I don't care what any executive's decision is to do this, it's a god-awful idea. When you're there, there are things that happen, things you see, that happen out of camera range. For someone to think the quality of the broadcast is just as good, that's not possible.

 

My old boss did that ... with the dateline.
I know several newspaper folks who did that.

 

People still write gamers off TV?

 

Yeah, I assumed someone somewhere would try to do that and hope no one notices. They're just as fraudulent.

 

If someone creates a thread and no one reads it, did it really happen?

 

I've heard the Spanish-language networks like Univision have done that for years with soccer games.

 

Some of the less-popular events from the Beijing Olympics were covered by broadcasters back in the U.S. Equestrian and indoor volleyball come to mind. Oh, and it's an awful way to do things.

 

I call bullshit on this for many reasons:

1. ESPN is making money. Its dual formula of subscriber revenue and advertising should have the company's pocketbook bulging. Yes, you want to try to keep a lid on the expenses, but this seems petty.
2. I may understand... emphasis on may... if this is a matchup between two teams in a lesser conference. But this is a BIG 12 game between two teams IN THE TOP 25. You can't tell me room rates in Morgantown are so expensive that you can't justify the cost of going to a game.
3. NBC spends so much money on the Olympics that it seems like penny-pinching to not have certain people covering events.

We've placed so much emphasis on pinching pennies in the business to try and raise the bottom line that eventually people will see through it and call foul. Newspapers did this for years and tried to call it enhancing or streamlining your coverage. Subscribers called it "space cuts" and canceled their subscriptions.

Next time, ESPN, send a crew. Save your poverty cries for another game.