A Letter To ESPN

[Hostile]

What's missing is good old-fashioned competition.

The old CNN-SI network wasn't strong enough and folded.

There are a lot of things about ESPN that I don't like, but it's the only game in town, for the most part.

Competition always is a good thing.

Eventually FoxSports could make a run at them with Rupert Murdoch's money behind them. But they need to quit the silly gimmick stuff and they need to expand.

 

[jimmy40]

ESPN
ESPN2
ESPN NEWS
ESPN CLASSIC
ESPN HD
ESPN RADIO
ESPN.COM

We all have the ultimate choice - turn the channel. Turn it off. Fact is people are watching it in droves. All you have to do is drive out to Bristol CT, its infinitely built up from 15 years ago.

You try and air 24 hours of sports/news without some entertainment element. Would suck.

Well they could go back to airing the Connecticut Highschool All Star hockey game I guess. Lol. Remember that stuff from back in the day?

 

[ABQCOWBOY]

I recall when there was no ESPN. I remember staying up to catch what you could on the local stations, 10 minutes of sports or so. In many ways, it was better then. You didn't have the 24x7 coverage. All angles, all the time. In those days, lots of stuff never made it to the buy lines. Athletes, and for that matter, teams were judged much more on what they did in the respective games they played as opposed to what they did off court. The entertainment value was based on the games themselves as opposed to the individual stars. No mega contracts or all that goes with that. Personally, I think it was better then.

I agree with the poster on many of his/her points. Nice effort went into the content of that. I hope it gets it's due.

 

[ABQCOWBOY]

ESPN
ESPN2
ESPN NEWS
ESPN CLASSIC
ESPN HD
ESPN RADIO
ESPN.COM

We all have the ultimate choice - turn the channel. Turn it off. Fact is people are watching it in droves. All you have to do is drive out to Bristol CT, its infinitely built up from 15 years ago.

You try and air 24 hours of sports/news without some entertainment element. Would suck.

I guess it all depends on what you consider entertainment. For me, the sport is entertainment enough. I don't need more then that. Of course, not everybody is like me. Some people also watch Soaps all day long. Different strokes I suppose.

 

[Hiero]

umm... ya...... riiiight....

 

[ABQCOWBOY]

umm... ya...... riiiight....

A general statement or was this in response to my last?

 

[Reed]

epsn is becomeing the mtv of sports, its all entertainmet. All they care about is ratings and getting the higher viewership so they can charge more to advertisers. I stopped watching a few years ago. If i want sports news i use the computer,sometimes fox sports, and sometimes espn news. In general thouhg I have found myself watching the history channel whenever I watch tv. Its the greatest channel on television, you learn so much stuff that is extrememly interesting and relevant to todays world. It has made me much more intelligent and helps me with my papers at school. I also watch Fox news.

ps. If you want a good laugh look at espns website and count the amount of advertisements. The amount of advertisements on their webpage has gone drastically up over last few years, its sickening.

 

[Concord]

Since I don't have cable or satellite, I have never watched ESPN. Doesn't look like I'm missing much. Never heard of Ron Artest so he's probably not an NFL football player.

I have a TV, but it's never on unless there's an NFL game on (or local breaking weather news). Outside the NFL, I have little use for TV even though we can get 5 or 6 channels, there's no PBS - I would watch that sometimes but The local folk see both educational TV and Public Radio as tools of the devil and so we can't get either one. I guess that's a small price to pay for the magnificent solitude of living way out in the country away from all the nuts in the big cities.

OMG....I'd DIE!

 

[DallasCowpoke111]

I guess that's a small price to pay for the magnificent solitude of living way out in the country away from all the nuts in the big cities.

Ummmmm......

Does anyone besides me see the not so subtle humor in this??

 

[Khartun]

Dear ESPN,


I understand the complex and various dynamics that the many hard working people at ESPN studios endure in order to bring its viewers detailed, timely, and entertaining sports news as it happens. You have my respect for the coordinated effort & committment with which you have met the challenge of that task throughout the years. I am a dedicated viewer, & a passionate sports fan. Your work is most greatly appreciated by sports fans the world over, including myself. However, this network has failed sports fans miserabely over the course of the last several years.

I find myself very disturbed, and often deeply troubled by the tactics, antics, and perceived abuse of what should be fair & balanced journalism by some of the producers at your studio. I can not speak for the american public, put I am choosing to take this time to speak for myself.

In recent years, the televised course chosen by your network has significantly deviated from sports jounalism & reporting, to tabloid entertainment t.v.. Your company shapes and molds the minds of young people across the country, your company influences the inner workings & business decisions of the leagues in which it covers. You have made more capital than almost every other business sector in this nation as a result...

And as silly as it makes me feel to try, I can't help but try to make you reconsider your current philosophy & the overwhelmingly negitive impact it is having on all of our youths (as a Black man, I am even more bothered by BET. In fact, I stopped watching several years ago.) I am asking, I am begging, and I am pleading. Please, tone it down. As a individual, the only thing I can do is not watch, but that does nothing to resolve the problem or the social impact that results.

24 hours of Ron Artest coverage is far too much. Is he a story? Yes, he is. But, in the world of sports news the Ron Artest trade did not merit the intense & indepth coverage that it recieved. Meanwhile, some of the most interesting stories go unreported at all, or end up becoming a mere crawl on the bottom ticker.

The Kobe Bryant court proceedings, Shaq & Phil leaving, Kobe & Shaq, the brawl at the Palace, Ron Artest, the steriod hearings, Terrell Owens, Chad Johnson's T.D. dances, T.O. & McNabb, the sex boat, Tice scalping tickets, steriods, lockerroom fights, Sex & Tennis, who's dating who, Tigers hair, who's the sexiest polls, who got shot at the nightclub, who had a fight with their wife, who got arrested for public drunkeness, who got caught with dope, who paid for a prostitute, got got caught with a gun, etc, etc, etc...and it all gets put on camera with a microphone & then replayed over and over and over at loud volume.

Meaningless stats, and the endless glorification of individual feats dehumanize the players, and belittle the team concept while undermining the common goal.

Can you focus your journalism & reporting efforts to what takes place on the field, between the lines, and on the court? Or maybe my wife is right...and I'm just oldfashion. I'm 29, and oldfashion.

ADDENDUM:

And please take Steven A. Smith off the air as he is the most annoying person, with the possible exception of Joe Theismann, to ever appear on your network.

thanks

 

[ROMOSAPIEN9]

For the record......I have no opinion on this matter.

 

[Chief]

Ummmmm......

Does anyone besides me see the not so subtle humor in this??

:laugh2: