Changes at ESPN?
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by user J Cunningham
The above link is a blog which describes a possible change in philosophy and personality at the Worldwide Leader in Sports. It raises some interesting points, mainly a potential shift in network philosophy resulting in fewer screaming heads and more programming focused on sports news and analysis.
I, for one, hope much of what the blog states is true.
An aspiring sportscaster myself, I view ESPN as the pinnacle of sports broadcasting, that anyone who lands an on-air gig in Bristol has, in essence, "made it." Musicians have headlining tours, actors have top billing in a big-budget feature. Sportscasters have ESPN.
But over the past several years, ESPN's various on-air personalities have been, at best, over the top. At worst? Annoying, contrived, and insulting.
Let's examine, for instance, Stuart Scott. When the unashamed Tar Heel made his way to ESPN back in 1993, I thought his style was fresh and creative. He stood out among the other SportsCenter, and I liked how he was appealing to a "hipper" demographic than many of the others.
But Scott, like so many other personalities at ESPN, has grown stale.
It seems today sportscasting at ESPN is less about the games and the stories and more about talking heads yelling over one another trying to make a point, and the point gets lost in the yelling. Take, for instance, the bulk of ESPN's afternoon programming:
1st and 10: An off-shoot of the pointless Cold Pizza, this half-hour program pits sports writers Skip Bayless and Woody Paige against each other as they "discuss" the ten top sports topics of the day. Pretty much all you need to know about this poor attempt at sports debate is Bayless hates Terrell Owens and Woody's more funny than informative.
This show needs to go, and to be perfectly honest, so does Bayless. Though I'm no more a fan of his writing than his "broadcasting," I would feel much better if he went back to being a newspaper writer.
Around the Horn: I will admit, I like this show, if for no other reason than the occasional humor it showcases. The idea was interesting enough: get sports writers from around the country to debate current sports topics. Does it generate into shouting matches? Yeah, and I admit, the host Tony Reali is a bit annoying (I prefer the show's orginial host, Max Kellerman), but it's somewhat of a guilty pleasure.
Pardon the Interruption: When both Tony Kornheiser and Michael Wilbon are around, this is one of the best, most entertaining shows on ESPN. They started the trend of sports writers showing up on the Worldwide Leader, and though they too degenerate into shouting matches every so often, I love the chemistry Tony and Michael have, and the show itself is quality more often than not.
But where does ESPN go wrong? By over-doing the scream-and-argue element. I don't doubt there's an audience for it--there has to be someone out there watching Quite Frankly with Stephen A. Smith--but not everyone tunes into ESPN looking for that.
If anything, many of those segments are rendered unwatchable, partly because they're so frequent. I hated "Old School, Nu Skool," a SportsCenter segment pitting Bayless again Screamin' A. Even worse was "4 Downs," in which career backup QB Sean Salisbury berates John Clayton. I like Salisbury as an analyst (and I love how he ribs himself over his less-than-spectacular career), but that segment was brutal.
"Open Mike," which airs with Michael Irvin and Mike Ditka on Mondays during the NFL season is almost as bad, and I've quickly grown tired of Irvin's pro-T.O., pro-Cowboys tirades. He's the biggest homer I've seen at ESPN in years, and I would be more than happy to see him go (we miss you, Sterling Sharpe).
I'd be equally pleased to see Chris Berman go. His nicknames grew old when I was in middle school (wow, I'm dating myself here), and he's just not that good anymore. I realize he's been at ESPN from the beginning, and that engenders some loyalty, but come on...there comes a point where a guy can't do the job anymore, and I daresay Berman reached that point long ago.
I miss the old days of SportsCenter, where we had the likes of Keith Olbermann, Charlie Steiner, and Craig Kilborn. I was never much a fan of Kilborn's, but he was better than some of the other faces that have popped onto the show over the years.
And what about Dan Patrick? Does he not do SportsCenter anymore? I know he's got his ESPN Radio show, and he's gonna be doing an NBA show with Marc Jackson and Michael Wilbon, but he was at his best on SportsCenter.
And since I mentioned that NBA show, let's not punish Greg Anthony and Tim Legler, hm? It's not their fault they couldn't get a word in edge-wise on Kia NBA Shootaround because of Screamin' A. They're good analysts; let them have a chance ot prove it. And I really hope John Saunders resurfaces on another show; he's a good one.
I'm glad part of ESPN's afternoon programming has gone to Outside the Lines: First Report. I've always appreciated Bob Ley's style of reporting, and I always come away from that show feeling like I learned something. It might not be as in-your-face as a lot of the other shows ESPN has put out lately, but it gets back to what the network was originally founded on.
In fact, I propose the following list of SportsCenter anchors and other ESPN personalities to keep. In my opinion, they best serve what ESPN is supposed to be about: the best, most in-depth sports coverage around.
-Dan Patrick (Bring back Keith!!)
-Bob Ley
-Jay Harris (he's good, and he's an ODU alum. Gotta stay loyal to a Monarch)
-John Buccigross
-Scott Van Pelt
-Steve Levy
-Mike Greenberg (he's better on SportsCenter than he is on his radio show)
-Jim Rome
-Tony and Wilbon
-Tom Jackson
-Chris Mortensen
-Ron Jaworski
-Peter Gammons (welcome back!)
-Tim Kurkjian
-Buster Olney
-Harold Reynolds (if we're not gonna fire Michael Irvin for drug charges, don't fire HR for alleged sexual misconduct)
-Jon Miller (sans Joe Morgan...the John Madden of baseball)
-Dave O'Brien
-Gary Thorne
-Rachel Nichols
-Karl Ravech (highly underrated)
-Trey Wingo
-Suzy Kolber
-Sean Salisbury (just keep him away from John Clayton)
-Mark Schlereth
-Michael Smith (he's far better as the NFL insider than he is on Around the Horn)
-Woody Paige (cause he's just funny!)
-Chris Fowler (and I don't even like college football)
-Mike Massaro
-Jay Bilas
-Rusty Wallace
-Mike Tirico
-John Clayton
-ME!!
I'm sure there are more; feel free to add any I may have forgotten or you feel would still be worthy of ESPN's employ.
And now, in thie interest of fairness, I present a list of those I feel should no longer work for ESPN:
-Chris Berman
-Michael Irvin
-Stephen A. Smith
-Tony Reali
-Tino Martinez (that voice bugs me!)
-Lee Corso
-Digger Phelps (what, your analyzing skills aren't good enough, so you need a highlighter gimmick? Weak.)
-Dick Vitale
-Skip Bayless
-Jay Mariotti
-Pedro Gomez
Again, there might be more, but I've probably forgotten them. Feel free to add your own names if there's someone you think should go who isn't here.
Date
Tue 09/19/06, 6:47 pm EST
