ESPN2 --- WTF? A marching band show?

[2muchcoffeeman]

Is that a marching-band competition?

Did they light up a whole football stadium for that?

Does it mean more band parents will be calling the sports desk and demanding validation?

And may I please be allowed to walk up behind the ESPN exec who approved this and smash his face into his desk?

 

[Norman Stansfield]

I was thinking the same thing.

This is probably the second-lamest thing I've ever seen on an ESPN channel.

The lamest? A Magic: The Gathering tournament.

With play-by-play AND an analyst.

Seriously.

 

[Trey Beamon]

Please take this off the air...I'll never complain about a spelling bee again.

 

[Chuck~Taylor]

ESPN: Poker
ESPN2: Band Competition

This is almost as bad as a hockey double-header.

 

[Trey Beamon]

ESPN: Poker
ESPN2: Band Competition

This is almost as bad as a hockey double-header.

Or the Pirates-Cubs game I'm watching right now.

 

[Freelance Hack]

I was thinking the same thing.

This is probably the second-lamest thing I've ever seen on an ESPN channel.

The lamest? A Magic: The Gathering tournament.

With play-by-play AND an analyst.

Seriously.

You know, if they had Norman Chad and Triumph the Comic Insult Dog doing PXP and analysis of Magic: The Gathering, I'd watch.

 

[DocTalk]

Drum Corps International moved their broadcast from PBS to ESPN 2 years ago. Last year on ESPN2 they drew a .49 rating

 

[TheSportsPredictor]

Some kids came into my library to look up some college info for a class project. They said the teacher told them to pick whatever colleges they wanted.

One of the kids wanted to find info about Atlanta A&T. I never heard of it. But I showed them all the materials we had to look up colleges. After looking through about three books and finding no mention of Atlanta A&T., I asked where they had heard of that school.

It is the fictitious school mentioned in Drumline.

 

[BigDog]

I hope Dr. Lee lets Devon play in the BET Classic.

 

[Oz]

Is that a marching-band competition?

Did they light up a whole football stadium for that?

Does it mean more band parents will be calling the sports desk and demanding validation?

And may I please be allowed to walk up behind the ESPN exec who approved this and smash his face into his desk?

Well, the "E" in ESPN does stand for entertainment, right? No surprise to me. I mean, for years they have shown national cheerleading competitions. This has to be better, right?

 

[deskslave]

Is that a marching-band competition?

Did they light up a whole football stadium for that?

Does it mean more band parents will be calling the sports desk and demanding validation?

And may I please be allowed to walk up behind the ESPN exec who approved this and smash his face into his desk?

Well, the "E" in ESPN does stand for entertainment, right? No surprise to me. I mean, for years they have shown national cheerleading competitions. This has to be better, right?

Are you completely insane? Or just slightly insane?

Assuming we're discussing college cheerleaders...is there any contest whatsoever?

 

[Hustle]

A quick aside to set up the story: My wife and I were watching Jeopardy a few weeks ago, when they had the Teen Tournament on. After the first break, where Alex shoots the **** with the contestants, one kid from Jersey claimed that performing in the band was at least as difficult as any sport.

It takes timing, coordination, and a good memory, he said. Or something like that. I screamed at the TV, yeah, at least you don't have to worry about people wanting your head on a stick! Come on now. Don't be silly.

Now that you know where I stand on issues like that, did you guys take the time to actually watch what they were doing? That **** was impressive. This wasn't a high school competition or anything; these were pros, at least in the marching band world. We took time to watch one of the last acts, and the way they moved and the sound they produced was incredible.

I'm not sure if the debate is whether this stuff should be on ESPN (I'll agree that IS debatable) or whether the tone is simply dismissive of what they're doing. If the latter is the case, then I find that unfortunate.

If the former is the case, then I am in complete error.

 

[jay_christley]

Hey, they had the World Stacking Championships on the other day.
Yes, stacking.
Cups.
Stacking them and then unstacking them in pyramids. Fast.
Sober.
They even had relays.

I'll give them band competitions over stacking championships.

 

[dog428]

A quick aside to set up the story: My wife and I were watching Jeopardy a few weeks ago, when they had the Teen Tournament on. After the first break, where Alex shoots the **** with the contestants, one kid from Jersey claimed that performing in the band was at least as difficult as any sport.

It takes timing, coordination, and a good memory, he said. Or something like that. I screamed at the TV, yeah, at least you don't have to worry about people wanting your head on a stick! Come on now. Don't be silly.

Now that you know where I stand on issues like that, did you guys take the time to actually watch what they were doing? That **** was impressive. This wasn't a high school competition or anything; these were pros, at least in the marching band world. We took time to watch one of the last acts, and the way they moved and the sound they produced was incredible.

I'm not sure if the debate is whether this stuff should be on ESPN (I'll agree that IS debatable) or whether the tone is simply dismissive of what they're doing. If the latter is the case, then I find that unfortunate.

If the former is the case, then I am in complete error.

If it's a surprise to anyone that they've turned the lights on at a stadium for a band competition, you haven't covered a historically black college. And that's a shame, because you truly are missing out on one of the greatest scenes in college sports -- an HBCU halftime show. It's high on my list of things I love about college football.

As for these band competitions, they routinely sell out stadiums, especially when some of the better bands are involved. Hell, they had one in Atlanta a couple months back and the damn dome was nearly sold out.

 

[Oz]

Well, the "E" in ESPN does stand for entertainment, right? No surprise to me. I mean, for years they have shown national cheerleading competitions. This has to be better, right?

Are you completely insane? Or just slightly insane?

Assuming we're discussing college cheerleaders...is there any contest whatsoever?

You know, there are some fine marching band geeks. Point is, it's all crap that I lump in with the WSOP.

 

[MU_was_not_so_hard]

If they threw in Grambling vs. Southern or some of the high schools I saw in Alabama, I would understand.

 

[Sam Mills 51]

Hey, I was a marching band bum. I probably would have enjoyed that.

Having said that, there has to be some other outlet for this ... if it has enough of a market to justify a broadcast.

 

[spaceman]

ESPN: Poker
ESPN2: Band Competition

This is almost as bad as a hockey double-header.

It probably does better numbers than hockey.

 

[2muchcoffeeman]

A quick aside to set up the story: My wife and I were watching Jeopardy a few weeks ago, when they had the Teen Tournament on. After the first break, where Alex shoots the **** with the contestants, one kid from Jersey claimed that performing in the band was at least as difficult as any sport.

It takes timing, coordination, and a good memory, he said. Or something like that. I screamed at the TV, yeah, at least you don't have to worry about people wanting your head on a stick! Come on now. Don't be silly.

Now that you know where I stand on issues like that, did you guys take the time to actually watch what they were doing? That **** was impressive. This wasn't a high school competition or anything; these were pros, at least in the marching band world. We took time to watch one of the last acts, and the way they moved and the sound they produced was incredible.

I'm not sure if the debate is whether this stuff should be on ESPN (I'll agree that IS debatable) or whether the tone is simply dismissive of what they're doing. If the latter is the case, then I find that unfortunate.

If the former is the case, then I am in complete error.

If it's a surprise to anyone that they've turned the lights on at a stadium for a band competition, you haven't covered a historically black college. And that's a shame, because you truly are missing out on one of the greatest scenes in college sports -- an HBCU halftime show. It's high on my list of things I love about college football.

As for these band competitions, they routinely sell out stadiums, especially when some of the better bands are involved. Hell, they had one in Atlanta a couple months back and the damn dome was nearly sold out.

Well, from what I saw before I got smart, at the time of the competition there were plenty of good seats still remaining.

 

[dooley_womack1]

Hey, they had the World Stacking Championships on the other day.
Yes, stacking.
Cups.
Stacking them and then unstacking them in pyramids. Fast.
Sober.
They even had relays.

I'll give them band competitions over stacking championships.

Were people in the background chating "Spaz ... Spaz ... Spaz" during the stacking competition?

Nah, they were watching Spaz's friend beat "The Stomach"