ESPN finally getting its shit together- no more politics

[Longhorn Al 440]

The Sports Reporters. That was the Sunday show I'm thinking of. 

[DalTxHornFan 3,085]

49 minutes ago, Thetexashammer said:

Sports network stopped doing sports. MTV stopped showing music videos. Food Network stopped cooking food. I don't know what to make of it all. Pretty sure that yankees are involved in this mess.

Hear, hear.  Bring back Martha Quinn and Sarah Moulton!

[UTDD 362]

It's just way too easy now to watch condensed and specific highlights for what you exactly want without commercials, waits, unnecessary fluff, and anything else that isn't exactly what you want to see.  I probably stream about 90% of sports related things now, and that 10% is only specific things like Longhorn football and I bet someday I will approach 100% if streaming gets more interactive and better in quality.  Imagine if later you can be watching a game and at the same time pull up specific information you want to know in real time right away in a way that enhances the viewing experience that much more.  I even stream a lot of NBA games now because I actually enjoy seeing different broadcasters/perspectives versus the same constant national talking heads over and over.  

[Sock Drawer 214]

1 hour ago, Thetexashammer said:

Sports network stopped doing sports. MTV stopped showing music videos. Food Network stopped cooking food. I don't know what to make of it all. Pretty sure that yankees are involved in this mess.

Pretty sure that left-wing, racist, cocksucking yankees are involved in this mess. (see Smith, Steven A.) FIFY.

[Horn Under a Bad Sign 20,345]

It was so good when they used to cover all of those arcane sports like Australian Rules Football and billiards and curling.  They got fat and lazy and full of themselves. Go back to letting me watch a bunch of different sports all the time.

[Dbeasy 14,980]

This network employs Skip Bayless. They deserve the decline they’ve experienced.

[Guest]

2 hours ago, Disco Missile said:

This is a strange position. Olbermann was a big name on MSNBC. You don't have to watch Rachel Maddow to know who she is and what she stands for. If tomorrow she's recapping the day's sports, you wouldn't just forget her MSNBC days. 

I mean. Why does that need to be explained?

Olbermann didn't bring that to the ESPN broadcasts the first time, when he was beyond great.  He talked about sports, and very, very capably... along with some shots at his employers, who then wet their pants.

My politics are far different from KO, but I liked him on ESPN, a lot.  His politics didn't seep into the show like these morons let it do now.

 

I still love hearing Dan Patrick talk about sports.  I like Rich Eisen.  I liked Scott Van Pelt and Ryan Russillo on the radio.  Hell, I even like Stephen A Smith when he's away from anyone else on his radio show.   Some of these other bums, running their SJW agendas on seemingly every commentary are a fucking beating.  Some of you folks on this very thread are in denial that it was the politics.

Politics had a shit-ton of reason why I quit watching.  It made me start disliking otherwise respectable people like Bob Costas( granted not ESPN) too.   I just want to watch sports, motherfuckers.  There are other channels for that other horseshit.

Edited May 23, 2019 by slorch

[TrashMaster G 17,395]

3 hours ago, Lhorn said:

Are they still going to have endless shows of two or more ex-jocks trying to out alpha each other as they debate sports topics, always on polar opposite sides of the argument, moderated by a super hot chick who plays the straight man, occasionally dropping opinions which the two jocks never rebut? 

Hey, I think I've seen that show.

 

 

[Wishbone 4,739]

FUCK ESPN!!

That is all.

[52-80 19,104]

i also enjoy visiting their website and getting blasted by autoplay videos and embedded tweets

[deadshank 24,651]

I can have my Charlie Steiner back?

[Post Oak 20,188]

Bring back Fitness Beach and Kiana

[markstanco 12,522]

You should run ESPN.

[youdunnf'dup 2,147]

4 hours ago, Dbeasy said:

This network employs Skip Bayless. They deserve the decline they’ve experienced.

They haven’t employed skip bayless for a few years now.

I listen to the Dan LeBatard show because it’s essentially a sports satire show, designed to make fun of sports talk shows like mike and the mad dog. Similar to what Barstool does with shows like Pardon my take and the rundown. IMO, that’s their biggest problem. Nobody turns on ESPN to watch sportscenter like they did in the late 90s and early 2000s. I can scroll through twitter or whatever sports app and find any highlights in looking for within seconds. So ESPN quickly turned into one of the many places you go if you’re looking for a hot take. It’s why I respect Stephen A Smith so much. That isn’t who he really is. He plays a role, and he plays it well. 

Also, not to get all CR up in here, but if anyone in this thread actually made a conscious effort to stop watching NFL games because of people kneeling (as opposed to, I don’t know, grabbing a beer during the National anthem, or just not paying attention to the national anthem) that’s just laughable to me.  There are plenty of reasons to not watch the NFL if you don’t play fantasy football, but if that was your reason...lol

 

Edited May 23, 2019 by youdunnf'dup

[VirginiaLonghorn 4,750]

1 hour ago, Wishbone said:

FUCK ESPN!!

That is all.

I will watch ONLY IF they’re carrying a game I WANT to watch. Game on, game off. No other ESPN programming .. period. 

[Armybrat 40,751]

I stopped giving credence to big city sports commentators when Myron Cope was spewing his bullshit about the superiority of Navy, Roger  Staubach, & eastern football in general over Texas and the rest of flyover country. Fuck that guy.

If I actually have enough interest to watch a sporting event on the flatscreen, the sound will be off. Even Mrs. Brat, when watching Longhorn football games, turns off the sound and listens to Craig Way. She thinks broadcast booth idiots, sideline bimbos and other “interviewers” are worthless noise. I concur.

Never have watched any ESPiN talking head shows. I just don’t give a shit about what they think.

With that attitude, I was unaware that politics had been polluting the sports airwaves in recent years. Just read a few tidbits, mostly on this forum, about the Anthem kneeler crap. I have divorced myself from that shit, just as I did with the diseased CR sewer. Life is too short to get wound up with the rest of the mental cases.

[Armybrat 40,751]

55 minutes ago, VirginiaLonghorn said:

I will watch ONLY IF they’re carrying a game I WANT to watch. Game on, game off. No other ESPN programming .. period. 

You got heart.

[Cheeseweasel 26,437]

Does this mean that the George Michael Sports Machine is coming back?

[Huckleberry 32,710]

To all the nostalgic people who blame ESPN for losing their soul, do you really believe the 90s model works in an era where people can check scores and get highlights immediately?
I would watch SC highlights not knowing who won the game back then. I had to watch in the morning before school to find out if my team won the night before. Hell, I would wait around for ESPNEWS to get to my teams' highlights and get pissed if they didn't get enough attention. They had a monopoly.
This isn't complicated. The only product they offer in high demand and low supply are their live rights.  A Twitter account, a few podcast subscriptions, and YouTube videos cover the rest.

While this is true, their transition shouldn't have been to more loud gotcha personalities and the almost inevitable coverage of professional wrestling once they went that route. It should have been to more in depth analysis like the NFL Edge show or whatever it was called with Jaworski. They still do bits and pieces of that like Tim Legler on the NBA but you have to watch a half hour of bullshit to get to it.

And highlights packages would still work if they mixed in analysis of crucial plays. People still want to see their team's or the big game's highlights on their big TVs without having to search or scroll. It's not as big a deal anymore but it still matters.

[Steamboat1874 4,032]

8 hours ago, ButtFumble said:

here is what I see as fucked up besides them thinking I wanted to hear some biased, nobody, asshole tell their one sided opinion on some mostly non issue

tonight while all the college baseball tournaments are going on right at prime time they are showing fucking softball RERUNS from the other day...WTF

now sure the Big 12 is on Fox so ESPN does not have that, but the SEC SEC SEC was over on their own network and I have no clue where the ACC was or the PAC 12

this is the total dogshit they had on today between 3 and 7 pm

sure people like 30-30, but that is shit you watch later in the evening or there are about 10,000 hours out there when sports is not on to show that.....and who wants to watch pardon the interruption.....that should be called pardon us while we charge you $5 a month to not cover sports and show bullshit and really talking about the fucking NFL....NOW?

and of course the softball RERUNS

worse is the ESPN "news" is just the shit they showed on ESPN at a different hour for several hours

what a shittastic lineup

Uh....PTI is one of the highest rated shows on ESPN and just won its third Emmy.

It is one of best shows on at ESPN and watched by many professional athletes.

Edited May 23, 2019 by Steamboat1874

[michaelpshayes 417]

This:

Not This:

 

[Jkwellborn 6,656]

No one in their right mind wants to hear political commentary with their sports. Sports is an escape for most people. I won’t say a time to relax, because ‘08-‘10 nearly killed me. Don’t bastardize that with real world nonsense. Keep your SJW stuff to yourself.

The only time I watch ESPN is because of college football. I went from watching nearly every game possible over the course of a weekend to simply watching Texas football. Other than that, I don’t even turn to espn or any of their dozen channels. That’s another problem. Too many channels and not enough decent content, so they just start adding filler.

['stache 21,778]

ESPN's days are gone and they aren't coming back. And I don't think political commentary has or had much to do with their ratings decline. They just fucking suck and the alternative options are vast these days, especially for distinct coverage. 
You think Pitaro is a genius? Go catch two hours of Stephen A. Smith and Max Kellerman struggling to pretend that they care enough to have 7 different debates on a single episode over innocuous bullshit until Smith feigns going into high pitch, screech mode like a physical version of a catch phrase. The programming is garbage.
In their glory days sports dominated the coverage in highlight form. That was the simplicity that worked. The game selling itself rather than six meatheads screaming at the same time. Love or hate Chris Berman, for instance, but if you remember his version of the show 'NFL Prime Time,' 90% of it would be highlights with commentary in the background. Each game was covered with about 6 minutes straight of in depth highlight footage. And not just big plays, a couple of scores and then hurriedly getting back to the studio. They'd show almost every turnover and fourth down attempt. You'd watch mostly the human movement of the game rather than some asshole in a loud suit. Every show is the opposite of that now as the focus is now on the broadcasters. The simplicity that you're talking about is making sure the sport is the focus. They aren't doing that. It's mostly bland people trying way too hard to be animated personalities by gesturing wildly to display their "passion." It's celebrity culture first and a cerebral approach pretty much never. 

This. Blaming a few political opinions is a cop out. The fake “debate” shows are shitty and annoying. Their programming decisions and failure to keep up on a world of a million choices is why they’re struggling.

[youdunnf'dup 2,147]

I also think NFL network and MLB network kind of killed ESPN programming and made it to where the only way they get ratings is the debate shows, because those shows definitely still get ratings. If you’re looking for in depth analysis, MLB network is going to do it better than baseball tonight (is that even a thing anymore). NFL network has always had better NFL coverage than ESPN (obviously). 

[phdhorn 6,224]

2 minutes ago, 'stache said:

This. Blaming a few political opinions is a cop out. The fake “debate” shows are shitty and annoying. Their programming decisions and failure to keep up on a world of a million choices is why they’re struggling.

I think their fate is eventually going to be most "news"-oriented TV's fate - put simply, the young'uns who grew up with phones in their faces don't do TV like older people... for the most part they don't give a shit about watching discussions about sports... they go to their phones and negotiate the world from there.  They'll watch live events and stuff, but pretty soon, almost anything on TV that's not Game of Thrones style or at least clever quirky TV writing will be a non-starter.   Politics was a weak-assed attempt to try to get some of these people but - again, surprise! - their idiotic mistake was thinking that young people are, like wow man, totally into politics, preferably liberal ones.  But in reality, they don't give 2 shits about politics for the most part.   Torbush!

Eventually ESPN is going to go down the shitter.  Like most broadcast TV.  It's just the times.

[Huckleberry 32,710]

4 minutes ago, youdunnf'dup said:

I also think NFL network and MLB network kind of killed ESPN programming and made it to where the only way they get ratings is the debate shows, because those shows definitely still get ratings. If you’re looking for in depth analysis, MLB network is going to do it better than baseball tonight (is that even a thing anymore). NFL network has always had better NFL coverage than ESPN (obviously). 

They get ratings compared to the rest of the network. Because the only audience left is the people that like that kind of stuff.

I don't give a shit about soap opera bullshit (OMG DID YOU HEAR WHAT DRAKE DID IN TORONTO AND HOW MAD KAWHI'S AGENT IS?!?!?!?!?) and there are many like me. So when we stop watching ESPN that is why the debate shows get good ratings compared to the other shows. The other shows' audience has left ESPN.

That's not to say that debate shows don't have an audience. There are plenty of people, like you, who like that kind of stuff. To each their own. ESPN could probably try to thread the needle with some shows that are soap operas for men and other shows that are purely sports and sports analysis based. They don't do that, though.

[Armybrat 40,751]

Well PHD, I hope UT can keep on squeezing that $15,000,000 per year from those assholes until the contract runs out.

Edited May 23, 2019 by Armybrat

[alincoln 2,364]

ESPN's decline is attributable to many causes.  Injecting identity politics into Sportscenter certainly didn't help its cause given the target demographic, but eliminating politics discussion isn't going to address cord cutting and the associated pressure on ESPN's carriage fees or bring back the sophisticated fans who left years ago after ESPN "dumbed down" their content.

ESPN is sports media intended for the ignorant masses of American society who watch television between 9 - 5 on weekdays.  UT alumni are not the target demo for its non-live sports programming.   

[youdunnf'dup 2,147]

2 minutes ago, Huckleberry said:

They get ratings compared to the rest of the network. Because the only audience left is the people that like that kind of stuff.

I don't give a shit about soap opera bullshit (OMG DID YOU HEAR WHAT DRAKE DID IN TORONTO AND HOW MAD KAWHI'S AGENT IS?!?!?!?!?) and there are many like me. So when we stop watching ESPN that is why the debate shows get good ratings compared to the other shows. The other shows' audience has left ESPN.

That's not to say that debate shows don't have an audience. There are plenty of people, like you, who like that kind of stuff. To each their own. ESPN could probably try to thread the needle with some shows that are soap operas for men and other shows that are purely sports and sports analysis based. They don't do that, though.

Just to be clear, I don’t like that stuff lol. I just respect Stephan A Smith for what he is and what he’s asked to do. He’s good at his job. Same with Skip Bayless to a lesser extent, even though he isn’t on espn anymore. 

Most of my sports info comes from twitter, bleacher report, barstool, and MLB/NFL network.

[Walden Ponderer 12,639]

I am somewhat amused by the disdain so many are showing the debate format shows on sports programming given that that format was the reason I abandoned cable channels which purportedly carry news content. Crossover and the McGlaughlin Group turned my stomach on political channels long before political opinions became de rigueur on ESPN. People shouting their opinions at each other is evidently a money-maker, but they aren't getting mine, I don't care what opinions they happen to be shouting. Just roll the highlights.

[Cheeseweasel 26,437]

6 minutes ago, youdunnf'dup said:

I just respect Stephan A Smith for what he is and what he’s asked to do. He’s good at his job.

That's the problem. His "job" is to be a controversial asshole.

No one wants to hear that shit when watching sports.

[CooterBrown 17,938]

Bring back Australian Rules Football and a myriad of other actual obscure sports content and I may actually watch again. There's so much out there that they could just license and not have to really produce a goddamn thing themselves.  ARF, cricket, rugby, etc.

 

[Cheeseweasel 26,437]

2 minutes ago, Walden Ponderer said:

Crossover and the McGlaughlin Group turned my stomach on political channels long before political opinions became de rigueur on ESPN.

[TornACL 7,682]

What's far more offensive to me than the politics shit is the ham-fisted shoehorning of movie and music promotion into ESPN's broadcasting. 

"LeBron looking like Captain America out there in the fourth quarter...speaking of which, don't forget that Captain America is in theaters Friday May 12...."

I don't give a fuck. 

[DallasHorn26 585]

6 hours ago, Horn Under a Bad Sign said:

It was so good when they used to cover all of those arcane sports like Australian Rules Football and billiards and curling.  They got fat and lazy and full of themselves. Go back to letting me watch a bunch of different sports all the time.

This.  I remember watching all day marathons of worlds strongest man or lumberjack competitions.  Trick shot billiards was awesome to watch too.    

[Armybrat 40,751]

4 minutes ago, TornACL said:

What's far more offensive to me than the politics shit is the ham-fisted shoehorning of movie and music promotion into ESPN's broadcasting. 

"LeBron looking like Captain America out there in the fourth quarter...speaking of which, don't forget that Captain America is in theaters Friday May 12...."

I don't give a fuck. 

The gottdamn local tv “news” has been full of that movie promotion shit for decades. Not to mention airing bad garage bands and  some local cook who is pretending to be a master chef because they “infuse” lawn clippings with a tofu eggplant casserole.

 

[NAVY 6,739]

People that still have cable problems. 

[Junior Miller 1,502]

Political commentary didn't do shit to ESPN. ESPN's problem isn't anything ESPN has done really. Their problem is the internet. They were the typewriter and got hit with the PC revolution. They used to be the only place for sports coverage. Now there's 10 billion places and every sports entity on the planet has anywhere from 100 to 1,000,000 websites dedicated to it. 

[Rockethorn1978 6,061]

Holy Shit I totally forgot about those 11am body workout videos! I used to beat off as a 11-12 year old to Denise Austin. Damn I miss the simplicity of the 90's.

[GoldAppleCorps 617]

If there's a game on ESPN, then I'll watch it.

If I want to experience the uninformed ravings of a group of blithering idiots, I'll read them here.

When I'm folding laundry and want to have the TV on, there's an OTA network called "BUZZER" that shows really old game show (like from the 70's) reruns. It's strangely transfixing, but not so much as to be distracting when I'm matching socks.

[Baconboy 135]

9 hours ago, Thetexashammer said:

Sports network stopped doing sports. MTV stopped showing music videos. Food Network stopped cooking food. I don't know what to make of it all. Pretty sure that yankees are involved in this mess.

Add The History Channel to the list. Might as well be The American Pickers Channel.

[Zavala 1,384]

They went from sports center showing highlights to sob stories and political cancer. Dummies thought their "commentary" was drawing people in, when really nobody cares what these fucks think. Everyone just wants to watch the best plays in sports. 

Their Hockey coverage is extra hilarious when they spend 2 mins of each day on it with their only commentator, Barry. None of the other goobers pay attention to anything but the NBA and NFL.

 

[Zavala 1,384]

2 minutes ago, Baconboy said:

Add The History Channel to the list. Might as well be The American Pickers Channel.

Still beats "ancient aliens" complete bullshit lies

[Tex Long 4,352]

All good. Like most (?) here, essentially the only thing I watch on ESPN is live sports, and damned little of that. If I'm actually watching (as opposed to just having it on-screen so I can grab a quick peek when I walk through the living room), the sound is either off, or it's so low that the idiocy dripping from talking heads' mouths is mumblementacious subliminal droning.

 

 

 

 

Fuck ESPN.

 

 

 

Oh, and Fuck Mack Brown, too - whether he still works there or not.

 

[Zavala 1,384]

1 hour ago, Cheeseweasel said:

That's the problem. His "job" is to be a controversial asshole.

No one wants to hear that shit when watching sports.

Also, he lost a real challenge when Skip left. Max is Max...

[ChickenSandwich 9,798]

ESPN needs to copy MLB Quick Pitch. 

All highlights. Hot lady hosting, and limited to zero “boo yah!”s

And bring back NFL prime-time in original form. (Sans Berman)

[ImissWallyPryor 9,045]

As far as I'm concerned, their record has been not been expunged.  They're still on probation.

[nineliveslost 2,710]

21 minutes ago, Zavala said:

Still beats "ancient aliens" complete bullshit lies

YOU WATCH YOUR DIRTY MOUTH !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[Guest]

21 minutes ago, Zavala said:

 

Their Hockey coverage is extra hilarious when they spend 2 mins of each day on it with their only commentator, Barry. None of the other goobers pay attention to anything but the NBA and NFL.

 

Their coverage of hockey is almost as bad as the folks who administer the NHL.   Almost.

[irishtexan 11,445]

I don't think politics can be COMPLETELY ignored when you the President tweeting at LeBron James and serving college national championship winning teams McDonald's. But you can certainly tell Jamele Hill to shut the fuck up and can her ass for what she tweeted. Sometimes politics and sports intersect and they'll have to cover it. But as everyone has pointed out, the problem isn't politics. It's that everyone on their network kinda sucks. They're either a screaming lunatic like Steven A Smith, or a milquetoast human fart like Max Kellerman. I guess there are no more Dan Patricks out there.