Anyone else as ticked off as I am? (1 Viewer)

[bcr8f]

ESPN, for the most part, SUCKS. You should make Phil Mushnick of the NY Post an everyday read (or every other day, whatever). He goes into painstaking detail as to how and why ESPN continues to be a joke.

They are owned by one of 5 corporations that control media in this country. They all suck.

 

[smokin018]

What we are seeing here is the evolution of presenting sporting events on a national level. They are attempting to mesh the actual event into a reality show and using the forum of an actual game to create, exaggerate, exploit topics in the news (yes, with some sports relevance) and for all intents and purposes, basically create a sports themed reality show.

All the real sports fans want is to see the game call and analyzed properly with less bells and whistles and less of the in depth human element that the national broadcasts are continuing to exploit.

Unfortunately, it is going to continue to get worse. There is an agenda in play here that goes well beyond the actual event and we have no choice but to get used to it.......

 

[BoltBacker]

It's the only station I watch consistently outside of the games.

For the most part I just watch the games and get my analysis online but last night felt like an episode of the Sportcenter that drove me away from the network years ago.... oh yeah, with a football game going on in the background. A parade of non-informative talking heads saying things as homoginized and politically correct as possible so as not to offend anyone, anywhere on the planet. Sounds like sportcenter to me. MNF might just be dead. I'm not sure I'll watch another MNF without a TiVo-type device. It's just unbearable to watch "the game" live at this point.BTW this is nothing new for ESPN. I still remember almost an entire season of NBA coverage consisting of lawyers standing outside a courthouse in Colorado for months. Lots of coverage of bryant and the suit he was wearing. What the back of his head looked like as he sat in court. What his empty chair looked like when bryant wasn't there(I'm 100% serious on that one.... they devoted air-time on a major national network to show an empty chair where bryant would be sitting if he had been there). Coverage of his travel plans between practice/court/games. The hourly play on words of "court", basketball or legal. The network has been moving in that direction for years. ESPN is a soap opera network for men with a sports theme sprinkled with a few personalities that think they are bigger than the games themselves.

 

[lloyd christmas]

My favorite part was when they came back from break, and Suzy spoke of the Falcons drive as if it were an interruption. That and watching the whole 2nd quarter on mute. Complaint sent, thanks for the link.

 

[Nookular Power]

500 character limit And I was honest and categorized it as a complaint; so therefore, it will most likely go straight to the junk folder.

My 2 cents in...and yeah, I had to re-write mine, too!

 

[CrossEyed]

I rarely do this kind of thing, but that coverage was so bad I filled out the form and sent in a complaint.

 

[FBGirl79]

Just sent this...I was disappointed at the way ESPN chose to handle the coverage during the broadcast of the Cincinnati/Atlanta game. Although it's pre-season, as a football fan, my focus was on the game at hand rather than the Vick coverage that had permeated ESPN and other outlets all day.What was most disappointing was the fact that the sideline interview obscured an Atlanta drive that resulted in a TD. Aside from a brief mention, the coverage curtailed back to the interview as if the game was secondary.

I sent one to the link in a different thread earlier and just sent another similar to yours. I mentioned that Vick is no longer playing and they need to save the coverage for halftime/pregame/post game and focus on what the viewers are there to watch. I also said that I hoped it wasn't a sign of the regular season or ESPN would have a large number of unhappy viewers. Who knows if it matters but like the OP said...maybe if they get enough people complaining they won't let that carry over to the regular season. I am already dreading Vick's sentencing on Dec. 10th heading into playoffs because of having to listen to listen to that crap all over again with them being able to try to "predict" if/when Vick is going to make a comeback.

 

[Nookular Power]

Giving ESPN some credit, Le Anne Schreiber responds to the criticism -- much of which was brought on by folks here, through this thread. Here's the link. Relevant quote:

Like many of my correspondents, I was by now tired of hearing about Michael Vick, and then came Monday Night Football, Atlanta Falcons vs. Cincinnati Bengals. Inevitably and understandably, the announcers devoted time to the Vick story. Inevitably and understandably, in the second quarter, when announcers shifted focus from how Vick's replacement at quarterback, Joey Harrington, was doing, to more general Vick topics, my mailbag exploded with messages from viewers who couldn't take it anymore. A sideline interview with Mortensen about dogfighting among NFL players, done in split screen during what proved to be a quick Atlanta touchdown drive, was the last straw.

Without further ado, here is the reassurance that it will not happen again, from the senior coordinating producer for Monday Night Football, Jay Rothman: "We take more liberties in the preseason. Preseason, there's a risk/reward factor whenever you go down to the field for an interview. I would never take that kind of risk in the regular season. And only in preseason do we do that little two-box." He also said, "We're going to have fewer booth guests this year, and even then, it doesn't disrupt the play-by-play."

 

[Mystery Achiever]

thx for posting that n. power. howver, disappointed that rothman is so defensive and doesn't apologize or say they misjudged or made a mistake.; he just blames it on being pre-season.

.. i just emailed her and told her this also.

 

[sholditch]

If they find preseason football so boring that they feel compelled to talk over the entire game, just save us the frustration and don't air the #######g game. Also found this funny:

"We're going to have fewer booth guests this year, and even then, it doesn't disrupt the play-by-play."

They know that booth guests are an unwanted distraction to their viewers, yet they won't take them away completely or execute Tony Kornheiser on the 50-yard line before the game. Give the fans what they want Rothman!

 

[Mystery Achiever]

If they find preseason football so boring that they feel compelled to talk over the entire game, just save us the frustration and don't air the #######g game.

I said that in my email as well..without the ####