Opinions on ESPN

[SMJKeith]

Good Morning,

I am working on a new project for Sports Media Journal and seek your help. Many people, especially those in the blogsphere, like to take shots at ESPN. I have also been critical at times.

As much as those opinions are welcome and respected, I am looking for something different.

At this post http://sportsmediajournal.com/2007/07/31/tell-us-what-you-think-about-espn/ I ask two questions:

1. What do you like least about ESPN?
2 What would you do to change it?

My goal is to not only rehash all the complaints about the network, but to see if people have creative, and REAL ideas to make ESPN better.

If you wish to answer these questions, you can do so by e-mailing me at [email protected]. Please include "ESPN" in the subject line. Thank you!

 

[Tom Petty]

i like it a lot ... esp. that boomer guy. oh, and the x games and that brand new thing, who's in, or something like that.

wouldn't change one thing, not one.

 

[Brooklyn Bridge]

I like That Joe Morgan guy. He knows so much about baseball. I don't like the lack of Yankees and Red Sox coverage. They should also do more stories about the NBA.

 

[bp6316]

Yeah, I've sat around for the last year wondering "Who's Now?" and thanks to those great folks, I now know...

The answer: Lame mid-summer time-filling craptastic features. That's "Who's Now?" ... OK, so maybe that's "What's Now?" but it still sucked. ;D

 

[Huggs4Thuggs]

Who wants to take a stab at how this one is going to end?

 

[alleyallen]

Can we please see more of the Junction Boys? I can't stand it when they show baseball, instead.

 

[Tom Petty]

i thought the junction boys was underrated.

 

[steveu]

Wow, there's a lot of blue ink missing on this board. :)

Therefore, in staying with the tone of this thread, I'll bite. Too little NBA coverage. I want it 24/7, even though the league itself is in trouble. Who's the bozo that loves all that hockey on the network, anyway? More special things like "Who's Now". God, I love that segment!

And someone give me a big dose of Stewey "Man, **** those guys" Scott and Stephen A. Tewwible.

 

[Blushing]

Yes, Junction Boys (whatever happened to Jim Dent, by the way) was excellent, and I'd put Bronx Burning high on the list of ESPN accomplishments. As for how I'd change ESPN and what I like least, I recently came across a column that says it bets:

http://www.star-telegram.com/sports/columnists/gary_west/story/171417.html

 

[Writer33]

I need more of that Schwab guy. If he only knew how to say boooyeah when he got the question correct, he'd be perfect. He's so now.

 

[Chad Conant]

Definitely never do a Playmakers episode again.

 

[Songbird]

Give me NFL updates every 4.32 minutes in the middle of March, April and May. Goddamit, I don't have enough of my NFL. NFL I need. Need the NFL, I. NFL. NFL. NFL.

 

[JBHawkEye]

I don't get to see SportsCenter. ESPN might want to run it a couple of times in the morning.

 

[HejiraHenry]

I liked that their checks never bounced.

 

[fishwrapper]

I like how they beat everyone to every scoop.

"ESPN has learned..."

 

[Songbird]

How about put Around the Horn on primetime, where it belongs?

And ditch Pardon the Interruption.

Rachel Nichols as a SportsCenter anchor?

 

[IU90]

Thank god ESPN Classic stopped showing so many of those damn old games. Hello, they've already been played, so what's the point? I'm sure all true sports fans can agree that the poker, reality, and game shows are much better.

 

[IU90]

I like how they beat everyone to every scoop.

"ESPN has learned..."

...from reading their competitor's website."

 

[Joel_Goodsen]

The good things about ESPN?

Nobody gives complete coverage of major sporting events better. And it is not even close. I think what ESPN does is special when it comes to the finals of the NBA or the Super Bowl.

I also think that Pardon the Int. and Around the Horn are good shows with enough information mixed with entertainment and fun to be worth watching every day.

Michael Wilbon is very intelligent, Woody Paige is funny and that hour just works.

I'm not crazy about some of Jim Rome's regulars -- like the one guy from Fox Andrew Siciliano -- but I do think Jim Rome is burning is watchable.

There are some good anchors even though the ones who seem to get ripped the most are the primary ones.

And I enjoyed some of the network's shows, like playmakers and the Junction Boys (though I hated the Bobby Knight one and this Bronx is burning is kind of a bore)

Things I dislike about ESPN ---

Stuart Scott is unwatchable as is Chris Berman and Linda Cohn and Skip Bayliss and the bald guy with the glasses and of course Stephen A. Smith.

The network some times tends to get too preachy with some of its stories and tries to hard to tug at heart strings far too often.

Sportscenter could be about half as long if it just cut out most of the "Who is Now" and "Budweiser Hot Seat" nonsense.

 

[BigJim5190]

I did notice tonight that AP moved a NASCAR story where he, in part, rips ESPN and their coverage of him.

For giggles, I checked ESPN.com and I saw they ran the story - but omitted any reference to his criticism of the Worldwide Leader.

I used to think ESPN was going to be a beacon in the same regard as SI. Now, not so much. The whole "Who's Now" stuff just is the latest in the line of poor decisions on their part.