Sports Journalism Tumblr: A Black self-insert character called Jabaal Abdul-Simmons

The Something Awful Forums > Discussion > Sports Argument Stadium > Sports Journalism Tumblr: A Black self-insert character called Jabaal Abdul-Simmons

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davecrazy: Nov 25, 2004; I'm an insufferable shitposter who does not deserve to root for such a good team. Also, this is what Matt Harvey thinks of me and my garbage posting.

LARGE THE HEAD posted:

Rick Reilly got back on his high horse again.

Just retire, Rick. Leave us with our memories.

He's 100% right, so what's the problem?

# ? Feb 27, 2013 00:54

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# ? Apr 27, 2024 01:16

nasboat: Sep 9, 2004

davecrazy posted:

He's 100% right, so what's the problem?

the mountain of verbal diarrhea in which he chose to showcase his point

# ? Feb 27, 2013 00:56

davecrazy: Nov 25, 2004; I'm an insufferable shitposter who does not deserve to root for such a good team. Also, this is what Matt Harvey thinks of me and my garbage posting.

nasboat posted:

the mountain of verbal diarrhea in which he chose to showcase his point

Late career Rick Reilly writes a late career Rick Reilly piece. Shocking.

Unlike the Kaepernick adoption stuff or whatever smug self service poo poo he's been writing lately (almost everything) that particular piece is dead on and good on Rilly for writing it.

# ? Feb 27, 2013 01:10

midwat: May 6, 2007

Deadspin's Tommy Craggs did an interview about breaking the Manti Te'o story and journalistic standards.

I'm typically ambivalent toward Deadspin, but I do like how they called out the rest of the sports media for its "our standards were too good to publish the story" excuse. If their standards were that good, how the hell did they fall for the hoax to begin with?

quote:

Q: Ed Sherman wrote the following about a quote toward the end of the Deadspin story on the Te�o girlfriend hoax: �If I�m the editor, I don�t let that quote go through. Who was this friend of Tuiasosopo? Was this person also involved? Friends have a tendency to talk out of school. Maybe this person exaggerated the quote just to be part of the story?� and �So now you�re running an incredibly damning quote from a single source who likely doesn�t know the complete story. 80 percent sure is long way from 100 percent sure in this instance.�

How do you respond to that? What�s the rationale behind adding that friend�s opinion in the piece at all? In light of ESPN�s report that Ronaiah Tuiasosopo admitted to the hoax and that Te�o was not involved in it, does the quote in the Deadspin story accomplish anything other than leading the reader to believe that Te�o was somehow involved?

A: This is a concern troll�s complaint. It�s moronic. That�s a quote from a source who knew both the hoax and hoaxer better than anyone we�d spoken with. It contains its own grain of salt. Eighty percent is not 100 percent: congratulations, Ed Sherman, you can understand the basic English words and number concepts that went into the quote. Yet 80 percent is nevertheless �incredibly damning.�

There are 2,000 words of context preceding that quote, context that was perfectly understood by everyone who read the story except committed Notre Dame truthers and certain willfully dense journalists who were determined to remind people that Deadspin isn�t real journalism. When the story broke, almost none of the people who gleefully jumped on Manti Te�o pulled out that quote to make the case. Only retroactively did people decide this had been the prosecutorial pivot of the piece.

midwat fucked around with this message at 02:20 on Feb 27, 2013

# ? Feb 27, 2013 02:17

Crazy Ted: Jul 29, 2003

midwat posted:

Deadspin's Tommy Craggs did an interview about breaking the Manti Te'o story and journalistic standards.

I'm typically ambivalent toward Deadspin, but I do like how they called out the rest of the sports media for its "our standards were too good to publish the story" excuse. If their standards were that good, how the hell did they fall for the hoax to begin with?

How dare you not quote the best part:

quote:

Q: With respect to the reporting on the Te�o situation, Deadspin� s post �ESPN Reports Ronaiah Tuisosopo [sic] Confessed to Te�o Hoax in December. Was Te�o Involved? Evidence Varies� includes a reader comment at the bottom that reads:

�Look at these f�ing Samoans, with the stripes on their face. They look so sweet, but they lie and now they�re boxed in. I wish they�d take their coconut and go elsewhere. Eh, f� it. Give me three of them plus two Thin Mints.�

This is just one of several comments laced with profanities or racial epithets appearing on Deadspin�s site. Does Deadspin have a policy on the detection and removal of offensive reader comments? If so, what is that policy and where is it displayed?

A: You�re really obsessed with policies, aren�t you? We moderate our comments to the best of our abilities. The commenting system is designed to float the best responses to the top. Bad comments get buried (and occasionally deleted outright).

The comment you cited above does not contain a �racial epithet,� by the way. It�s a joke about Girl Scout cookies. Are there any actual racial epithets you�d like to bring to our attention?

Fuckin' jokes man. How do they work?

# ? Feb 27, 2013 04:11

Crazy Ted: Jul 29, 2003

I don't know where else to put this, but SportsCenter has a special guest for their Top 10 plays tonight: Bill Bellamy

Really...Bill Bellamy. Apparently Dan Cortese was booked.

Crazy Ted fucked around with this message at 05:55 on Feb 27, 2013

# ? Feb 27, 2013 05:20

Truther Vandross: Jun 17, 2008

The Pussy Boss posted:

Apparently it hasn't been beaten into the Earth quite enough, since the NCAA, athletic departments and corporate sponsors continue to make money off the backs of players. I'm not seeing the issue with this article; do people disagree with the point, or just the tone?

It's not that he's wrong, but rather that you can tell he really thinks he's relevant enough to push this over the edge. As if Mark Emmert is in a room somewhere staring at an LCD screen thinking "MY GOD REILLY FIGURED IT OUT WE NEED TO CHANGE THIS NOW"

# ? Feb 27, 2013 06:18

MourningView: Sep 2, 2006; Is this Heaven?

Bill Bellamy is one of the 10 greatest athletes of our time and if anything he should be on Sportscenter more often. The man dominated basketball and softball, he was like Bo Jackson. And on top of that he played a strangely convincing star wide receiver in Any Given Sunday so really he's even better than Bo Jackson.

# ? Feb 27, 2013 06:46

seiferguy: Jun 9, 2005; FLAWED
INTUITION; Toilet Rascal

davecrazy posted:

Late career Rick Reilly writes a late career Rick Reilly piece. Shocking.

Unlike the Kaepernick adoption stuff or whatever smug self service poo poo he's been writing lately (almost everything) that particular piece is dead on and good on Rilly for writing it.

I pretty much agree, the concept was the article was good, just incredibly awful delivery of the point.

# ? Feb 27, 2013 06:49

uublog: Jul 19, 2012; "World Champions. WORLD FUCKING CHAMPIONS." - Chase Utley, October 31, 2008; Broad Street, Philadelphia, PA

Crazy Ted posted:

I don't know where else to put this, but SportsCenter has a special guest for their Top 10 plays tonight: Bill Bellamy

Really...Bill Bellamy. Apparently Dan Cortese was booked.

But according to Wikipedia he's an "avid New York Knicks fan" and Shaq's cousin. Sooooo..................... credibility :confused:

# ? Feb 27, 2013 07:01

Declan MacManus: Sep 1, 2011; damn i'm really in this bitch

davecrazy posted:

Late career Rick Reilly writes a late career Rick Reilly piece. Shocking.

Unlike the Kaepernick adoption stuff or whatever smug self service poo poo he's been writing lately (almost everything) that particular piece is dead on and good on Rilly for writing it.

Yeah, I tend to agree with this point of view. If he can't write decently, at least he's using the platform he's been given to draw attention to an issue.

# ? Feb 27, 2013 07:23

Politicalrancor: Jan 29, 2008

Crazy Ted posted:

How dare you not quote the best part:

Fuckin' jokes man. How do they work?

Additionally, had the interviewer ever seen the comments section at ESPN?

# ? Feb 27, 2013 07:59

Mr. Funny Pants: Apr 9, 2001

Politicalrancor posted:

Additionally, had the interviewer ever seen the comments section at ESPN?

Or, had the interviewer ever seen every comment section ever?

# ? Feb 27, 2013 08:40

Smorgasbord: Jun 18, 2004; Our review identified changes needed to be made and, in Stephen, we have a coach who has a reputation for demanding the highest standards.

To be fair, in the context of that comment 'coconut' is definitely a racist epithet.

# ? Feb 27, 2013 09:36

poly and open-minded: Nov 22, 2006; In BOD we trust

The context of that quote was that he was baiting us into thinking it's racist but it was literally about the Girl Scout cookies Samoas. It was a bait and switch.

# ? Feb 27, 2013 10:27

Smorgasbord: Jun 18, 2004; Our review identified changes needed to be made and, in Stephen, we have a coach who has a reputation for demanding the highest standards.

Arctic Baldwin posted:

The context of that quote was that he was baiting us into thinking it's racist but it was literally about the Girl Scout cookies Samoas. It was a bait and switch.

Oh, carry on then I guess I got wooshed. I'm from New Zealand where 'coconut' is a derogatory term for Pacific Islanders and Girl Scout cookies are called Girl Scout biscuits and there's definitely no mint or coconut involved in them.

# ? Feb 27, 2013 10:38

DivineCoffeeBinge: Mar 3, 2011; Spider-Man's Amazing Construction Company

Smorgasbord posted:

Oh, carry on then I guess I got wooshed. I'm from New Zealand where 'coconut' is a derogatory term for Pacific Islanders and Girl Scout cookies are called Girl Scout biscuits and there's definitely no mint or coconut involved in them.

The cookie in question:

They are delicious, by the way.

The giveaway was the reference to Thin Mints, another type of Girl Scout cookie and probably the single most famous variety in the US. They are also delicious.

# ? Feb 27, 2013 10:52

OJ MIST 2 THE DICK: Sep 11, 2008; Anytime I need to see your face I just close my eyes
And I am taken to a place
Where your crystal minds and magenta feelings
Take up shelter in the base of my spine
Sweet like a chica cherry cola
-Cheap Trick; Nap Ghost

But those are Caramel Delites?

# ? Feb 27, 2013 12:22

Rousimar Pauladeen: Feb 27, 2007; I hate the mods I hate the mods I hate the mods! I HATE THE MODS I HATE THE MODS I HATE THE MODS! Hey wait a minute why do the mods hate me I'm contributing to the conversation I HATE THE MODS I HATE THE MODS I HA

Toffile posted:

But those are Caramel Delites?

They were rebranded as Caramel DeLites after it was decided calling them samoas was racist.

# ? Feb 27, 2013 14:46

Basil Hayden: Oct 9, 2012; 1921!

Frot Lesnar posted:

They were rebranded as Caramel DeLites after it was decided calling them samoas was racist.

Looking it up it seems like the two companies licensed to make Girl Scout cookies (ABC and LBB) don't actually agree on what things other than Thin Mints are called. So you have Caramel deLites vs. Samoas, Peanut Butter Patties vs. Tagalongs, Peanut Butter Sandwiches vs. Do-si-dos, etc.

I had no idea this was even a thing until just now honestly.

(also what the gently caress is "NutriFusion" and why is it in a cookie)

# ? Feb 27, 2013 14:57

Truther Vandross: Jun 17, 2008

Caramel DeLite sounds like an Atlantic City hooker's name

# ? Feb 27, 2013 15:06

Coco13: Jun 6, 2004; My advice to you is to start drinking heavily.

Coincidentally, you'll also feel like you've payed too much for what comes in the box, and regret it afterwards.

# ? Feb 27, 2013 15:30

haljordan: Oct 22, 2004; the corpse of god is love.

MourningView posted:

Bill Bellamy is one of the 10 greatest athletes of our time and if anything he should be on Sportscenter more often. The man dominated basketball and softball, he was like Bo Jackson. And on top of that he played a strangely convincing star wide receiver in Any Given Sunday so really he's even better than Bo Jackson.

http://www.theonion.com/articles/bill-bellamy-elected-to-rock-n-jock-basketball-hal,2701/

Also, I'm not Deadspin's biggest fan but I do applaud Tommy Craggs for not backing down and reiterating how everyone in the "real" media is just whining because they got beat to a major story by a website. That holier-than-thou act from most newspapers is such horseshit; look at all the occasions where the NY Times made stuff up or didn't vet sources properly. But oh no, Deadspin uses swear words! SHAAAAAME! I especially liked his point regarding the Boston Globe running astrology/lucky numbers:

quote:

As for the reader questions�in addition to its various advice columns, sometimes addressing sex questions, the Boston Globe runs a daily �Astrological Forecast� column, complete with lucky numbers for your birthday. Fraudulent, superstitious garbage. Does that mean they have nonexistent journalistic standards? No, the soft sections are the soft sections. Using them to characterize a whole publication betrays a basic ignorance of the industry.

haljordan fucked around with this message at 15:49 on Feb 27, 2013

# ? Feb 27, 2013 15:36

Crazy Ted: Jul 29, 2003

sportsgenius86 posted:

Caramel DeLite sounds like an Atlantic City hooker's name

Coco13 posted:

Coincidentally, you'll also feel like you've payed too much for what comes in the box, and regret it afterwards.

I laughed at these two things much harder than I should have.

Here's a thing to read that I found a bit simplistic but pretty interesting. It's about an American who wound up in Japan so he could continue his playing career in soccer, and by a stroke of luck ended up becoming one of the most recognizable coaches in the country.

quote:

In 2009, Zinedine Zidane, the legendary soccer player, participated in a coaching clinic in Ajinomoto Stadium in Tokyo, Japan. Children and parents filled the stands. The mood was jovial. Zidane was a once-in-a-generation sort of player, a kind of mad genius remembered today as much for his ball skills as for the infamous 2006 World Cup headbutt. The parents in attendance hoped some of those skills, like his signature pirouette (not the headbutt), would rub off on their children. But as Zidane and the gathered coaches began their lessons, something strange happened. The children in the audience began to chant. They weren�t chanting �Zidane,� although people occasionally shouted for his autograph. The children chanted �Tomsan,� the nickname of a 52-year-old retired player from upstate New York who never won a Champions League title, a World Cup Golden Ball, or a FIFA World Player of the Year award: Tom Byer.

Byer played briefly in Japan in the late 1980s, before retiring to work as a youth coach. Today, many in Japan see him as a major catalyst behind the country�s rising status as a global soccer power, responsible for increasing soccer�s popularity and teaching fundamental skills to hundreds of thousands of children, including many of the nation�s most celebrated players. In 1988, the year Byer hung up his cleats, the Japanese men�s and women�s national teams weren�t even successful regionally. In 2011, the Japanese men took home the Asian Cup for a record fourth time, and the Japanese women�s national team won its first World Cup title.

Although what Byer achieved is notable, how he did it is the fascinating part. He started off running a no-name, grass-roots soccer clinic and within a decade, he�d become a fixture in Japan�s most popular children�s comic book and a character in the country�s leading morning kids� show. Tom Byer is the Mr. Rogers of Japanese soccer. There�s nothing in America like him, and as both the Japanese and American men�s squads prepare for World Cup qualifying matches next month*, it�s worth thinking about what the U.S. program could learn from Byer�s Japanese success.

Byer�s playing career started in 1983, the worst possible time for an aspiring American pro. The North American Soccer League was on the verge of collapse and MLS was more than a decade away. Things weren�t much better in Europe, where the sport, scandalized by hooligans, had begun a kind of low ebb, punctuated by a series of stadium disasters. But Byer�s short, nomadic career brought him to Japan, a country he fell in love with.

�Back in those days, if you were a good juggler of the soccer ball, you could entertain,� he said. So after retiring, he started a traveling youth soccer clinic based as much around his ability to �catch people�s eyes� with juggling tricks as his coaching chops. He didn�t speak much Japanese, and in order to set up gigs, he cold-called English-speaking institutions around Tokyo, like U.S. military bases and international schools.

In 1989, during a clinic at a Canadian school, Byer learned that one of his students, a young boy, was the son of a Nestl� employee. Byer needed outside funding to expand his business, and about a week after the clinic, out of ideas, he decided to take a chance and call the boy�s father. He scoured the phone book, and dialed what he guessed was the right number. To his relief, the boy answered. Byer asked to speak to the boy�s father but first asked what his dad did at Nestl�. The boy said, �He�s the president.� A week later, Byer signed an agreement with Nestl� to sponsor 50 clinics in a yearlong, nationwide tour. During each clinic, Byer had to give out samples of Milo, an Ovaltine-like chocolate drink, but it was a small price to pay for his first big break.

Although he now had financial backers (Nestl� sponsored him for the next 11 years), Byer did not consolidate his coaching philosophy until 1993, when he opened his first soccer school, which has since expanded to 100 campuses with roughly 20,000 pupils nationwide. That year, Paul Mariner, the former head coach of Toronto FC, introduced Byer to a technique-based approach to youth development called the �Coerver Method.� It changed the way Byer viewed coaching.

Created by Wiel Coerver, a Dutch coach, the method is a quasi-academic system based on specific skill acquisition. Rather than putting kids on a field and having them chase the ball around�which is how most young kids practice across the United States�it teaches close ball control and situational, one-on-one moves: stopovers, feints, various ways to manipulate the ball with the sole of the foot. Tactics and passing come later, once the kids master ball control.

In 1998, Japanese broadcasters seized upon the upcoming World Cup as the perfect moment to begin promoting the 2002 tournament, which would be held in Japan for the first time ever. Executives at Tokyo TV and ShoPro, a production company, added a two-minute soccer spot to Oha Suta, the top-rated children�s morning show, and they asked Byer to host. Suddenly, instead of standing in front of a few hundred young soccer players a couple times a week, Byer was teaching his skills in a green screen studio, backed by animated stadiums and fans. From 3 million to 5 million children saw him every single day.

At the same time, executives from the affiliated Shogakukan publishing company offered him a two-page panel in KoroKoro Komikku, Japan�s biggest children�s comic book. The United States has no equal to the cultural giant that is KoroKoro. The monthly comic book has an enormous circulation�Byer puts it at about 1.2 million (for comparison, in 1977, during its heyday, Mad magazine circulated 2,132,655 copies in the entire year, in a country that�s more than double the population of Japan) and a readership in the neighborhood of 3 million Japanese preteens. The magazine is hundreds of pages long and shares storylines with Japanese video games. It played a big role in transforming Kirby and Pok�mon in to global media juggernauts.

�The comic book was to promote soccer, to inform people about the technical side, it was to highlight the stars and try to inspire and motivate kids,� Byer said.

It worked.

The print and TV programs were a kind of tag team that helped ignite excitement for soccer in Japanese culture. (According to a recent survey by NHK, a Japanese toymaker, soccer is now more popular among Japanese boys than baseball). Oha Suta aired every day, right before school, perfect for motivating playground training sessions. KoroKoro, meanwhile, put soccer practice on the same level as the country�s most esteemed cartoons and superheroes.

Today, Japanese pros in men�s and women�s soccer credit Oha Suta and KoroKoro as key parts of their soccer education. Keisuke Honda watched the show, and Byer worked with Tadanari Lee as a boy. Byer�s most famous disciple is Shinji Kagawa, a midfielder at Manchester United renowned for his technical ability. Last year, a profile of Kagawa in one of the team�s match-day programs name-checked Byer and referenced his show and the comic.

While praise from Kagawa and others is nice, Byer maintains that the production of top players is only a side effect of what he�s accomplished, which was to raise the baseline level of youth soccer in Japan. According to Byer, for a child to develop into an elite player, he or she must face constant challenges. Once a player becomes so dominant over her peers that she doesn�t need to really work, her development stops. Complacency is the enemy. Byer�s program succeeded in raising the play of the worst, providing more of a challenge to the best, and that has resulted in a deep pool of top professionals.

His secret, he says, �was to empower children to practice on their own.� Practicing alone sounds quite boring, but Japanese kids do just that. Perhaps there�s a cultural explanation here�it�s almost a clich� to note that the Japanese value a strong work ethic�but there�s another explanation too: Byer�s lessons build on-the-ball confidence, which is really the skill set needed to make soccer fun. Practicing alone might not be fun, but nutmegging your unsuspecting friend the next day at school sure is.

Close followers of U.S. soccer have no doubt read the above with some creeping angst and perhaps a pang or two of jealousy. The U.S. has never developed a player of Kagawa�s skill, a fact that elicits a great deal of handwringing on this side of the Pacific. (We can argue about Landon Donovan and Clint Dempsey, but the point is that Japan has a team full of players capable of breaking down defenses off the dribble and the U.S. does not.) Just about everybody has an idea about how to fix that, and the U.S. Soccer Federation recently revamped its youth development setup, largely as a means to address the exact kind of complacency-breeding talent gap that Byer talks about. (He told me that in the United States, this gap was �like an ocean.�) And while the USSF�s new academy setup is a step in the right direction�it brings the nation�s most talented players into a more competitive setting�players must be eligible for the under-13 team to even participate. By that age, Japanese kids have already spent 9 years learning to pirouette like Zidane.

Byer argues that his program is exportable to the United States. In some ways, in the U.S. it�d be easier to implement than in Japan: Soccer is already the No. 1 sport among American youth. The problem, according to Byer, is that the USSF and MLS �look at grass-roots football as an obligation, not an opportunity.� Why not put a small technique spot on the Disney Channel or Nick Jr.? Kids would surely pay attention.

Some American kids are lucky, Byer points out, and get a coach who really knows soccer��but you might get a coach who�s crap.� Parents, who typically coach the youngest American players, don�t realize kids as young as 5 are capable of learning advanced ball skills, and they don�t know how to teach them. �The whole idea [behind my program] was to be consistent and teach that technique work.�

Don�t look to Byer to launch a program in his home country, though. In August, he signed a three-year contract with the Chinese Football Association. He�s the head technical director of a program overseeing the development more than 2 million kids. If all goes to plan, there will be some Chinese Kagawas on Europe�s biggest teams in 15 years or so. But until the U.S. gets its elementary school-aged kids out there, practicing, and shows them it can be fun, we might have to wait a little longer.

# ? Feb 27, 2013 17:21

General Dog: Apr 26, 2008; Everybody's working for the weekend

davecrazy posted:

He's 100% right, so what's the problem?

There's nothing compelling about about writing 4000 words on a premise that is a) almost universally agreed upon and b) has been discussed as nauseum for at least the past 35 years.

Reilly is the king of low-hanging fruit. If it was 1994, I could imagine him writing something like, "Despite the good memories, Justice System Needs to Hold O.J. Accountable". Or you can look no further than his "Notre Dame Sucks and Receives too much attention" column from last September.

General Dog fucked around with this message at 22:24 on Feb 27, 2013

# ? Feb 27, 2013 22:19

dshban: Jan 31, 2007; REFEREE
im a ghost

I suppose this goes here - in case anyone is considering whether to buy this year's Baseball Prospectus annual, I wouldn't recommend it. The interesting essays for each chapter have been kinda ruined, they've changed the format from a longer piece into a few shorter ones about last season, next season and the organisation as a whole which feel a lot more boring and pointless. Plus, if you're ordering the Kindle version, the player pages are still barely readable as the stat tables look like junk. As a whole it's really quite disappointing.

# ? Feb 28, 2013 02:26

midwat: May 6, 2007

Crazy Ted posted:

How dare you not quote the best part:

Fuckin' jokes man. How do they work?

It looks like the author responded in the comments, and is bound and determined to look like an idiot.

quote:

Thanks for your comment, Mike. While it may have been a joke, I do believe the comment could be perceived as racist. And that�s the point behind the question: what is Deadspin�s policy on removing reader comments that may be offensive to other readers?
In this case, just because the individual who made the comment in question referenced girl scout cookies, doesn�t automatically make the comment benign. The comment is referring to �Samoans� � whether as cookies or not � in response to an article about a Samoan athlete. The comment then includes the phrase �they lie� (which sounds like a reference to Te�o lying about his fake girlfriend), and the phrase �now they�re boxed in,� which implies that Te�o is somehow guilty of a fraudulent scheme.
Bottom line: any reasonable person could take the comment to be referring to Manti Te�o by his ethnicity and then implying that he is a liar and now trapped in a web of his own lies.

Thank god this author is willing to ask the tough question of whether Deadspin would remove comments that "could be perceived as racist" by people who don't get jokes.

# ? Mar 1, 2013 02:46

KYOON GRIFFEY JR: Apr 12, 2010; Runner-up, TRP Sack Race 2021/22

I think it's already come up, but has the guy read ESPN comments like ever?

# ? Mar 1, 2013 02:48

Benne: Sep 2, 2011; STOP DOING HEROIN

This is it. Remember this day, people, the moment when SportsCenter finally died.

http://www.awfulannouncing.com/2013..._medium=twitter

# ? Mar 1, 2013 21:51

FuzzySkinner: May 23, 2012

Benne posted:

This is it. Remember this day, people, the moment when SportsCenter finally died.

http://www.awfulannouncing.com/2013..._medium=twitter

You know, I've honestly lost any reason to watch Sportscenter.

If I want to see the best coverage/analysis of what's taking place in the NFL, I'll go turn on NFL Network. Same with Major League Baseball, the NHL and the NBA.

They don't cover Indycar, Formula 1 or any other form of racing except NASCAR, so why bother on that front. Even with NASCAR they do a godawful job at it.

I can watch the Big Ten's arm of propaganda break down their own conference in any sort of sport I'd want.

So what do I have left to watch on that network? a bunch of talking heads yelling at each other? Hearing Mark May troll the entire country with bullshit opinions on College Football in a condescending tone? Hearing about the Miami Heat? Hearing about Tim Tebow?

There's no reason to watch that channel except for background noise. And even then, there's probably better alternatives out there.

Someday it's all going to bite them in the rear end too. Going for the lowest common denominator is only going to work for so much longer.

# ? Mar 1, 2013 22:17

ElwoodCuse: Jan 11, 2004; we're puttin' the band back together

Plus any highlight you want to see is either on YouTube or the league website, so there's no reason to stick around for Top 10 or whatever

# ? Mar 1, 2013 22:25

morestuff: Aug 2, 2008; You can't stop what's coming

ESPN is a soft news channel during the day, and Sportscenter has basically been replaced by the internet. The guys that run Awful Announcing seem nice, but I can't imagine wanting to waste that much time cataloging and writing about dumb fluff television.

# ? Mar 1, 2013 22:32

Badfinger: Dec 16, 2004; Timeouts?!

We'll take care of that.

The reason to watch ESPN used to be SportsCenter and a bunch of crazy poo poo like World's Strongest Man and the Outdoor Games (it was the mid-2000s when that stuff was on, and it feels like it was 2 decades ago).

Now the reason to watch ESPN is live sports broadcasts, and nothing else. For everything else that can be said about them (and is true) they still have some unmatched broadcast coverage, along with access to virtually everything because of mommy and daddy Disney and ABC.

# ? Mar 1, 2013 22:34

Grittybeard: Mar 29, 2010; Bad, very bad!

The top 10s are still fun little things all packed in one place, sometimes I try to guess when they'll be on and flip over towards the end of an hour. Other than that, yeah pretty much live games are the only reason I turn to that channel anymore.

# ? Mar 1, 2013 22:37

Benne: Sep 2, 2011; STOP DOING HEROIN

Badfinger posted:

The reason to watch ESPN used to be SportsCenter and a bunch of crazy poo poo like World's Strongest Man and the Outdoor Games (it was the mid-2000s when that stuff was on, and it feels like it was 2 decades ago).

Now the reason to watch ESPN is live sports broadcasts, and nothing else. For everything else that can be said about them (and is true) they still have some unmatched broadcast coverage, along with access to virtually everything because of mommy and daddy Disney and ABC.

Bring back Cheap Seats you dumb bastards :mad:

# ? Mar 1, 2013 23:13

FuzzySkinner: May 23, 2012

Benne posted:

Bring back Cheap Seats you dumb bastards

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KhPq1GHlawM

Have Mike Nelson, Bill Corbett and Kevin Murphy pop in too.

Such a good show.

# ? Mar 1, 2013 23:18

KYOON GRIFFEY JR: Apr 12, 2010; Runner-up, TRP Sack Race 2021/22

Noted moron fuckhead Tony Massaroti is leaving the Globe. Don't let the door hit your rear end on the way out. Your only upside was that in comparison to Dan Shaughnessey, you were a beacon of well-thought journalistic integrity.

# ? Mar 1, 2013 23:26

MourningView: Sep 2, 2006; Is this Heaven?

I for the life of me cannot understand why anyone would watch ESPN outside of games, but like half the forum appears to watch it all day long. If you want highlights just flip on ESPNews, it's generally a better product anyway.

# ? Mar 2, 2013 00:18

Parlett316: Dec 6, 2002; Jon Snow is viciously stabbed by his friends in the night's watch for wanting to rescue Mance Rayder from Ramsay Bolton

MourningView posted:

I for the life of me cannot understand why anyone would watch ESPN outside of games, but like half the forum appears to watch it all day long. If you want highlights just flip on ESPNews, it's generally a better product anyway.

We have a shocking high amount of users that find it necessary to let us know what Stephen A Smith and Skip Bayless opinions of the day is. This is the unemployed American.

# ? Mar 2, 2013 04:08

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# ? Apr 27, 2024 01:16

Pat Clements: Feb 10, 2008

What ESPN ought to be doing is hiring people who are legitimately entertaining and likable to helm Sportscenter, as their subsidiary north of the border seems to have done. Many of my Canadian friends watch TSN's Sportscentre for Jay Onrait and Dan O'Toole antics as much as they do for the news and highlights. The distinction here is that Onrait and O'Toole are light-hearted and enjoyable guys who don't take themselves or their roles too seriously - which may or may not be inherent to TSN's less dominant position over Canadian sports media versus ESPN's over the US' combined with the fact their timeslot is later at night.

# ? Mar 2, 2013 05:00

The Something Awful Forums > Discussion > Sports Argument Stadium > Sports Journalism Tumblr: A Black self-insert character called Jabaal Abdul-Simmons

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