about hiko's comment..

[Triple-S]

I am not dumb. Well, not completely dumb. So, yes, I know why ESPN does it. I know that they created this monster, and now they need to hype it to freakin' death so the world eats up every morsel.

They tell US what WE want to see. Our job is to agree.

But if I have to hear about the Miami Heat's daily walkthrough one more time I will lose my freakin' mind. I don't care what LeBron's beard looked like or how shiny Wade's sneakers were or how pink Chris Bosh's tutu was. I don't wanna hear anything more about that team. If the earth were to open up and swallow the whole damn state of Florida whole, I want it to be nothing more than a blurb at the end of the Sportscenter, something like "In other news, the Heat's preseason game was cancelled tonight because everyone in Miami is dead. Next - Brett Favre responds to Rex Ryan!"

The time has come for some serious alternative sports news programming. There's only so much NFL Network I can watch before everything's a repeat.

First off, let me say, that this was another great piece and something I really agree with whole-heartidly.


I am curious though...could an alternative possibly be created? Versus, for as bad as it seems is it least trying to satisfy their audience. Being an open wheel fan, I am happy that they don't obsessively make it about how Danica Patrick is doing, and have old stand by's in Bob Jenkins and Jack Arute covering the race.

It would be refreshing to see ESPN forced to actually have some form of competition. The monster it has become is just amazingly bad, something needs to be done.

[leadpipe]

While competition is always good, they'd be giving us much of the same.

In the case of the Heat, it's not so much ESPN, it's us.

Why else would NBA TV trot out Marv Albert for a pre-season game. Ask ole' Marv when the last time was he did an national exhibition opener.

[GodHatesClevelandSport]

What do you want them to show instead?

On my cable service, I have an auto racing channel, a golf channel, MLB Network, NBA TV, and Fox Sports Ohio, which has the occasional national sports report. There's also the Big Ten Network, Sports Time Ohio, and some nationally televised games the regular broadcast networks. Some people (not me) can even get the NFL Network. Then there's always the option to pay for all the games from just about any sport.

I'm sure I'm missing something.

[peeker643]

What do you want them to show instead?

On my cable service, I have an auto racing channel, a golf channel, MLB Network, NBA TV, and Fox Sports Ohio, which has the occasional national sports report. There's also the Big Ten Network, Sports Time Ohio, and some nationally televised games the regular broadcast networks. Some people (not me) can even get the NFL Network. Then there's always the option to pay for all the games from just about any sport.

I'm sure I'm missing something.

Speed, OLN, Fox Soccer Net, Versus, Spike, HBOSports, Showtime Boxing

Probably even more.

[jack_tors]

Totally agree with Hiko. Been saying for years that ESPN can eat a bag of dicks. I never read, watch, or listen to anything those asshats say because when it comes down to it, the product is all hype. Some of the worst excuses for journalism I have ever seen.

SI, CBS Sports, the writers on yahoo, etc.. there is a lot out there that doesnt involve Bristol. People tune into ESPN cause its convenient and right there 24 hrs a day.

[Hikohadon]

The reason I watch ESPN at all is that they deal with the sporting world as a whole, so I get info on everything. NFLN is good, but there is limited original programming. The other sports stations mentioned have a very narrow focus (some of which I could skip altogether, like the Golf Channel) and even less original programming. There's not a helluva lot of Big 10 info that I need before I've had enough. Fox Sports Ohio... you ever look at their damn programming lineup? Blech.

They are not viable alternatives.

In essence, there is a monopoly on 24 hour general sports news stations, and ESPN is it.

When you have a monopoly like ESPN does, you can do whatever you want. They choose to try to increase their popularity and power by embracing the TMZ and E! element, turning many stories into tabloid fodder. Many people like this. I do not.

So, yes, I wish there were a viable all-sports alternative, such as CNNSI used to (sort of) be. Even though it was bland, at least it wasn't 24-7 coverage of Brett Favre, LeBron James, Rex Ryan, and Terrell Owens. Topic discussions didn't ALWAYS have to be about the Cowboys, the Yankees, and, I guess now, the Heat.

Perhaps the public in general has created the demand for this coverage (although no one I know is part of that public in general), but that doesn't mean I have to like it. And I'm not the only one.

Would a viable alternative succeed? Hard to say. It depends on so many factors: funding, talent, cable/satellite contracts, etc. etc. But I for one would welcome the attempt.