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ESPN is useless

Pearls_eotwb_tiny by JRPhillips on

I don't know if a diary is necessary for this, but I thought I'd start one anyway.

I'm tired of ESPN.  Honestly, the whole network, the whole website...  What purpose does it serve anymore?  It's not interesting, it's not informative...  And even Page 2, the "funny" part of ESPN?  CRAP!  I'd like to submit for evidence, the following page:

http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/page2/story?page=neumann/080125

If you read it, did you laugh?  I sure didn't.  Why?  Because it isn't funny.  They even missed the obvious joke that could have been funny and racy with the Daniel Larusso "Wax On, Wax Off" thing.  Dirty movie theaters?  Sex clubs?  Can't we go there on ESPN?

Now it's become so much about the story, so we're force fed things like the steroid scandal.  And the best part is getting to read the Bill Simmons - Now in Corporate Sellout flavor! -article about Roger Clemens may have cheated and it's tainted Bill's favorite memories.

I'm sorry, but I just can't figure out why I'd care?  As a Bonds fan, maybe I'm too desensitized to the whole steroid scandal.  Maybe it's gone on too long, and I just don't care anymore.  But ESPN has to sensationalize the story so badly in order to get Joe Schmoe I-don't-care-about-sports-I-like-stories to pay attention.

They used to do interesting articles, where they would recap a team's season and dissect what went right and what went wrong.  They'd give scouting reports on players, discuss trades for what they were worth...  Now I can't go to ESPN.com anymore.

I can't go because there's never information about the Giants, only media darling teams.  The Giants are only mentioned in relation to Bonds.  If Matt Cain pitched a brilliant shutout, it would be a side note to Bonds having gone 0-3 with a walk.  Baseball is off the menu, stories are on.

Sure, I'm mostly rambling.  But I'm curious what any of the rest of you think.  Is ESPN as useless as I believe them to now be, or am I just being irritable?  What say y'all?

This FanPost is reader-generated, and it does not necessarily reflect the views of McCovey Chronicles. If the author uses filler to achieve the minimum word requirement, a moderator may edit the FanPost for his or her own amusement.

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Re: ESPN is useless
I'm with you. I think it really started going downhill after they started the ESPN Insider thing. I can't believe they started charging for what other sites are doing better and for free.
"I'd take pleasure in gutting you boy" Oh and ignore the spelling. I do.....

by someguynamedg on Jan 25, 2008 3:30 PM PST   0 recs

Re: ESPN is useless
I think that's it exactly!  The Insider stuff is sometimes worth a read, but it costs.  I'm not paying for it when so many other sites have more information, especially regarding the Giants, for free!

Like this one site...  Something like, MaysField, or McCoveysomething...

"He called the sh** POOP!" -- Adam Sandler

by JRPhillips on Jan 25, 2008 3:38 PM PST to parent up   0 recs

Re: ESPN is useless
I read that Simmons article in ESPN Magazine and rolled my eyes because I'm pretty sure he had an article a month or so ago demonizing Bonds and putting down Giants fans. Meh.
Nattowear | comics | Durham? I hardly know 'im!

by Natto on Jan 25, 2008 3:33 PM PST   0 recs

Re: ESPN is useless
My boss handed me the Simmons-Clemons article this morning. He had been hyping it up for days and one of the most emotional, sincere, deep articles he had ever read "especially from the sports guy".

I read it and got nothing from it, except to wonder why people can't accept the era for what it was, appreciate the entertainment from it, learn from it, and move on. Selig included.

by Fresburg on Jan 25, 2008 3:47 PM PST to parent up   0 recs

Re: ESPN is useless
Their baseball stats pages are pretty useful, but I haven't looked at their main page or even the main baseball page in months.
Fool me seven times, shame on you. Fool me eight or more times, shame on me.

by Bhaakon on Jan 25, 2008 3:37 PM PST   0 recs

Re: ESPN is useless
The MLB Stats page is pretty much it for me on ESPN "online" as well. I use it for a quick "check in" on League leaders, and my favorite players. Other than that, not so much.

I do however, still watch Baseball Tonight during the season, only to be continually frustrated at the lack of Giants highlight coverage.

My adopted son Matt Downs. Because face it, everybody else was already taken by the time I got here.

by nvsfg on Jan 25, 2008 3:51 PM PST to parent up   0 recs

Re: ESPN is useless
I like Keith Law. That's about it.

by KCE on Jan 25, 2008 4:27 PM PST   0 recs

Re: ESPN is useless
Oh, and Rob Neyer.

by KCE on Jan 25, 2008 4:27 PM PST to parent up   0 recs

Re: ESPN is useless
Don't you have to pay for them, though?
Fool me seven times, shame on you. Fool me eight or more times, shame on me.

by Bhaakon on Jan 25, 2008 4:47 PM PST to parent up   0 recs

Re: ESPN is useless
ESPN is like a player with a giant ego who thinks he's above the game. They think they're the story when they should realize they're just reporting the story. I don't think I've watched Sportscenter once in the last ten years. A bunch of talentless hosts who think they're clever. The only channel I watch is ESPN news, and I just turn that on to catch the scores and the little "breaking news" thing in the right hand corner, and I usually turn that off in disgust after two minutes because they are showing every score except the one I want to see. The website I don't use at all, which is funny because I'm paying for the stupid ESPN Insider and I'm too lazy to take the time to cancel it. ESPN radio sucks too, and I applaud the fans here in New York because they all listen to WFAN, and ESPN radio has the ratings of a test pattern.
Hillary: Will cry for votes

by rxmeister on Jan 25, 2008 4:50 PM PST   0 recs

Re: ESPN is useless
ESPN Radio is an abomination. I'd sooner listen to one of those all-mariachi stations.
Fool me seven times, shame on you. Fool me eight or more times, shame on me.

by Bhaakon on Jan 25, 2008 5:00 PM PST to parent up   0 recs

Re: ESPN is useless
I'm ashamed of my signature.
I'm an ESPN Insider!

by The Thrill on Jan 25, 2008 5:39 PM PST   0 recs

Re: ESPN is useless
As you should be.
Schierholtz!

by giants9107 on Jan 25, 2008 5:48 PM PST to parent up   0 recs

Re: ESPN is useless
I was just thinking about this.  They over-inform me, in my opinion.  No, I do not care about an athletes choice of socks, nor do I care for their over-hyping the NBA.  The whole network is bad, except for college hoops.  I wouldn't mind seeing an NHL game once in awhile, but that's out of the question.  An nothing against the female anchors, but I just cannot stand their voices, although the mens are just as bad.
Schierholtz!

by giants9107 on Jan 25, 2008 5:48 PM PST   0 recs

Re: ESPN is useless
I'm mostly with you on the useless part. I like Baseball Tonight though. The fact that they promote defense through the 'Web Gems' segment is decidedly un-ESPN. I think they are solely responsible for ruining basketball because most of what they would show in the highlights were dunks. Now it seems that's all that most of the kids want to do.

I find trying to get scores from the crawl to be annoying as hell. I'll wait through all the useless crap that they add to the scores and it seems just as they get near the score I'm waiting for they cut to a commercial. When they come back they have passed the score I want. If I want to know how many rebounds some college kid had in a game in upstate New York I'd look it up. I don't want to see it over and over in the crawl.

I hate the east coast and New York bias that oozes from most of the anchors.

For the most part I watch much less than I used to because I can't stand the way they are so full of themselves.

I do love Jon Miller Sunday nights though.

by marklar on Jan 25, 2008 6:06 PM PST   0 recs

Re: ESPN is useless
Web Gems is cool and all, but it does support "gold glove" defense (ironic quotes come with extra irony for today only!), which is just as sensationalist as anything else they do.

I actually don't mind ESPN. It acts as pretty decent white noise when I'm at home, and a few programs can be interesting sometimes (which is basically on par with the rest of "TV" imo). But I wouldn't pay extra for any so-called espn benefits. I just need the white noise.

He is Vengeance. He is the Knight. He is Dave Righetti. PRAY TO HIM!

by howtheyscored on Jan 25, 2008 6:35 PM PST to parent up   0 recs

Re: ESPN is useless
Miller on Sunday night almost makes Joe Morgan tolerable.
My adopted son Matt Downs. Because face it, everybody else was already taken by the time I got here.

by nvsfg on Jan 26, 2008 6:59 PM PST to parent up   0 recs

Re: ESPN is useless
I can't not watch ESPN because it's the only sports channel that reports everything.  But I friggin hate the fact that they only seem to give a rat's ass about the Yankees and the Red Sox.  And I also hate how much shit they give Bonds.  They make him sound like he crucifies puppies in his spare time when he's not being injected.  I like to watch Sportcenter to get the scores and stuff, but all the other programs, particularly Jim Rome is Burning and Pardon the Interuption piss me off to no end.  Jim Rome is an annoying yankee-loving gasbag who never shuts the hell up even when he has no idea what he's talking about, which is actually pretty often.  And the annoying bald guy from PTI is about the same, only his show isn't titled after him being an annoying dick.  And as far as humor goes on ESPN, the only things I ever laughed at from them are the seemingly-always-angry black dude announcer for their NBA broadcasts that said the East, particularly the Knicks, are as good as the West and that commercial with Richard Simmons doing aerobics workout with all the announcers and Brutus the Buckeyes mascot.

by boonitez on Jan 25, 2008 7:08 PM PST   0 recs

Re: ESPN is useless
yeah, I'll give them credit for the commercials. Some of them are funny. I also forgot about that show with the twin brothers who watch sporting events and make funny comments. That show's pretty good, although it's a ripoff of the old Mystery Science Theater.
Hillary: Will cry for votes

by rxmeister on Jan 25, 2008 7:16 PM PST to parent up   0 recs

Re: ESPN is useless
PTI can be a little fun, but the fact that an obvious idiot douche like Jim Rome has his own daily show depresses me to no end.
He is Vengeance. He is the Knight. He is Dave Righetti. PRAY TO HIM!

by howtheyscored on Jan 25, 2008 7:44 PM PST to parent up   0 recs

Re: ESPN is useless
That's because ESPN's peanut-sized brain thinks that Jim Rome is edgy, ruthless, and cool.  They know he's got a reputation for ripping people with a care-free attitude.  So they stick him on for 30 mins a day and title his show "Rome is Burning", alluding to his fierce anger and surly disposition.

The problem is this:  Jim Rome doesn't really know much about sports.  He is the "Entertainment Tonight" of ESPN (he has Roger Lodge on his show almost daily - is there a soul on this planet that takes that guy seriously?).  He comments on cheap stories and is probably better suited as a writer for US Weekly.

Here's to Kemp, Loney, LaRoche, Hu, and Kershaw not panning out.

by Woody Wins on Jan 26, 2008 11:52 AM PST to parent up   0 recs

Re: ESPN is useless
I accidentally failed to change the channel the other day when Rome came on and he opened his show by asking Bonds's lawyers if they would try to get Charles Manson's case thrown out or get Roe V. Wade overturned. Completely asinine bullshit. I couldn't turn it off fast enough.

Oh wait... maybe Jim Rome is really PLU Tim! I figured it out!

He is Vengeance. He is the Knight. He is Dave Righetti. PRAY TO HIM!

by howtheyscored on Jan 26, 2008 1:06 PM PST to parent up   0 recs

Re: ESPN is useless
Howie, a fantastic example of Jim Romeness.  He takes a cheap and easy shot at a popular news story to get a laugh out of his brain-dead viewers.  If he had taken some time to read an entire article instead of just its title, he may have found this:

"Such motions to dismiss cases are frequently filed but rarely granted in federal criminal cases, but the court papers offer an early glimpse at Bonds' legal strategy...Former Olympic bicyclist Tammy Thomas, who is also charged with lying about her drug use, similarly argued for dismissal of her case last year because she said that multiple alleged instances of her lying were lumped confusingly into a single charge."

--SF Chronicle

Rome is trying to fool people into thinking that Bonds and his attorneys are making outrageous efforts to get Bonds some special treatment.  Rome doesn't know (or knows but doesn't care) that this procedure is fairly standard in cases like Barry's.  It pisses me off.

Here's to Kemp, Loney, LaRoche, Hu, and Kershaw not panning out.

by Woody Wins on Jan 27, 2008 1:26 PM PST to parent up   0 recs

Re: ESPN is useless
Love ESPN the TV channel, love ESPN.com. Yes, I'm an "insider." Being an insider doesn't exactly break the bank, and membership comes with an ESPN magazine subscription.

There's not many websites I check every day... ESPN, McCovey Chronicles, Facebook, and the weather. That's about it. That being said, YouTube is my favorite website. "FreeRice" is the best new site I learned about through this forum. There is also another really good SF Giants forum over at "open mic."

Defender of Noah Lowry.

by Kid Fresh on Jan 25, 2008 10:27 PM PST   0 recs

Re: ESPN is useless
I personally despise ESPN, but I'm old enough to remember its genesis and when it actually showed sports. Its historical arc is remarkably similar to MTV, in that it once broadcasted something similar to what its acronym implied and has digressed into shameless self promotion and cultural pandering.

I anxiously await the day that Baseball gets their crap together and comes up with a comprehensive world baseball network. There's just too much baseball happening all over the world year round that there's no reason it can't get done.

The NBA has a pretty good model, although it could be better, especially with its coverage of international basketball. But could you imagine the SJ Giants, SF Giants and Tokyo Giants on the tube all in the same day? Sign me up!

"But I AM a stepchild!"-Pedro Feliz

by Smotheredinhugs on Jan 25, 2008 10:57 PM PST   0 recs

Re: ESPN is useless
MLB is getting ready to launch their own version of NFL network. MLB 24/7.  Another Selig enterprise

ESPN is Oprah with a jockstrap.  Any network which FEATURES Mike Lupica, Jay Marriotti, Jim Rome, Tony Kornholio and Steve Phillips cannot be taken seriously.  ESPN.com is sports for valley girls. Like totally.

by E Ticket on Jan 25, 2008 11:29 PM PST to parent up   0 recs

Re: ESPN is useless
^^ what they said.

ESPN is trash.  pure and simple it is human waste.

Pedro Feliz: Marginally better this year.

by SloIsLonelyForTheOrange on Jan 26, 2008 12:41 AM PST   0 recs

Re: ESPN is useless
yep.  the whole steroid scandal is soooo 2007.

by sam23 on Jan 26, 2008 12:54 AM PST   0 recs

Re: ESPN is useless
Water is Wet.
The Giants Offense Sucks.

by zenbitz on Jan 26, 2008 9:21 AM PST   0 recs

Re: ESPN is useless
I hate everything about ESPN...EXCEPT:

Chris Berman.  That dude is awesome and I really really wish he had an option other than to work for ESPN because he's likable, talented, and respectful to the viewers.

Here's to Kemp, Loney, LaRoche, Hu, and Kershaw not panning out.

by Woody Wins on Jan 26, 2008 12:02 PM PST   0 recs

Re: ESPN is useless
AND he's a big Niner fan!
He is Vengeance. He is the Knight. He is Dave Righetti. PRAY TO HIM!

by howtheyscored on Jan 26, 2008 1:00 PM PST to parent up   0 recs

Re: ESPN is useless
I like Keith Law and Peter Gammons quite a bit. About 10 years ago, Rob Neyer had a huge influence on the way I think about baseball.

by Dan from NM on Jan 26, 2008 12:16 PM PST   0 recs

Re: ESPN is useless
Jim Rome is actually a Dodger honk who graduated from UC Santa Barbara.  I've been listening to him since he did the 8 p.m. to 12 a.m. shift on 690AM here in SoCal in the early 1990's.  The resident big-wig...Lee "Hacksaw" Hamilton...told him he'd be nothing in the industry, so Rome has mocked his signature "I want to hear from you add location(s) here" for a decade plus.  Rome can give one helluva interview, but he's an antagonist who has waffled on subjects like NASCAR, Barry Bonds and women's basketball.  Rome has hid his biases the last 10 years by saying he doesn't have any teams, but he has a passion for the Dodgers that culminated in him calling Eric Gagne a "piece of crap" before he was converted to a reliever.  He's also a Lakers, Kings and UCLA Bruins fan.  He was a Rams fan before the team relocated to St. Louis.

As for ESPN...here are some reasons I really don't care for it: Neil Everett, Sean Salisbury, Michael Smith, Jeremy Schaap and treating the NHL like it doesn't exist (funny, because when the NBA wasn't on ESPN, it got plenty of coverage).

it's always noonan somewhere

by sectionop92 on Jan 26, 2008 1:33 PM PST   0 recs

Re: ESPN is useless
Speaking to his UCSB allegiance, a few years back the Gauchos made the NCAA Men's B-ball touney and drew might Arizona in the first round (It was like a 3-14 match-up).  The UCSB coach came out and modestly said that his team really had a chance because of some favorable match-ups.

When Rome heard this, he went ape-shit.  His quote was something like this:

"I was gonna say Arizona by 30.  But after hearing this, Arizona by 40.  Your team has no shot, how dare you come out and say you can compete."

I believe UCSB held a lead for like 30 mins of that game and Arizona ended up winning by like 5.  I never respected Rome but after that I realized he doesn't actually research sports...he just gabs about things to entertain the below-average-IQ population.

Here's to Kemp, Loney, LaRoche, Hu, and Kershaw not panning out.

by Woody Wins on Jan 27, 2008 10:30 AM PST to parent up   0 recs

Re: ESPN is useless
It was a whole lot better before it became "ESPN: The Brand Name".

The only ESPN I can tolerate, besides the rare game I have a rooting interest in, is ESPNEWS. Unless it's changed recently, it's what SportsCenter used to be: sports news without all the gimmicky bullshit, over-produced highlight reels, and that constipated voiceover guy.

Unfortunately, I don't have that channel, but on the plus side, my ESPN consumption is low.

by rightcenterfielder on Jan 26, 2008 10:55 PM PST   0 recs

Re: ESPN is useless
Even ESPNews can be gimmicky bullshit. There's one asshole anchor I can't stand, Kirk Gimenez. He overpronounces EVERY SPANISH WORD he comes across, while sounding like a bland white dude the rest of the time he speaks. Yes, we understand. You want to be down for the barrio. But you are not down for the barrio. You speak, look, and act like the whitest MF I've ever seen in my life, so just give it up dude. It's not the worst thing in the world to have the only Hispanic thing about you be your last time. Trust me.

Then there are the random tard anchors who try to coin new catch phrases and try to sound like Stuart Scott. Just STFU and give us the scores. Thanks.

Democracy is lovely but baseball is more mature. BVCE supports Manny Burriss and SF Dugout.

by BaronVonCurrentEvents on Jan 27, 2008 12:29 AM PST to parent up   0 recs

Re: ESPN is useless
Yeah, I suppose it was inevitable that it would turn into the ESPN minor league system for every hacky sports anchor trying to make it to the big time.

by rightcenterfielder on Jan 27, 2008 10:08 AM PST to parent up   0 recs

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