ToyYoda
Team Owner
ESPN is one of my favorite networks, still the best sports network out there in my opinion, but there are certain things they get a little too excited about. Below is a list of 10 things, in alphabetical order, where I feel ESPN should back off the gas just a little bit:
Duke Basketball
Sure they’re good almost every single year, but the praise that ESPN heaps on Duke every winter is a little excessive. Dick Vitale is by far the worst offender here, as his man crush on Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski is larger than the state of North Carolina itself.
LeBron James
He’s the best player in the NBA right now, but ESPN The Magazine’s most recent issue is called “The Lebron Issue”, basically the entire NBA preview issue is devoted to him. They even have added to each team’s predicted win-loss total what it would be if Lebron were on that particular team, adding 20-30 wins to their prediction in most instances. That’s a little much. ESPN was also the main driver behind “The Decision”, the ridiculous 1-hour special where Lebron announced he was leaving Cleveland for Miami.
The Little League World Series
I always dread when this comes around every summer, because I know ESPN is going to devote a huge chunk of their airtime to it. Is there really that much interest in seeing a bunch of 12-year olds with last names as first names play baseball? I’m not a parent so maybe I don’t get it, but I did play little league when I was a kid, I don’t think anybody in their right mind would have tuned in for those games.
The New York Jets
ESPN has a huge love affair with the Jets for some inexplicable reason. Maybe it’s because of Bristol, CT’s close proximity to New York, I’m not sure. However, the Giants have been much more successful (ok, maybe not this year), but get far less love from ESPN. Maybe that’s because of their almost equally ridiculous obsession with their division rival the Dallas Cowboys? I can kind of understand it with the Cowboys, they have a winning history and a huge fan base. The Jets haven’t been to a Super Bowl in 45 years and are bad more often than they’re good.
The NFL Draft
I admit, the NFL Draft is fun, but the amount of time that ESPN devotes to it is borderline insane. They have two analysts (Mel Kiper and Todd McShay) who are at ESPN solely for the purpose of the NFL Draft. That’s a lot of payroll to devote to something that happens three days out of the year.
Quarterbacks
They are the guys that drive the action on the field, but to hear ESPN tell it, they’re the only guys on the field. I can’t remember how many times the last couple weeks I’ve heard “Brady beat Brees” or “Luck beat Manning”. No guys, the Patriots beat the Saints and the Colts beat the Broncos.
SEC Football
I get why the SEC is getting some extra love right now, having won the last 7 national championships they deserve a little extra attention. A little. ESPN is now forming its own SEC Network (don’t we already have that with CBS?), so we can kind of see where their allegiances lie.
Tiger Woods
Best golfer in the world, but not the only golfer in the world. I always have to chuckle when Tiger is having a bad tournament and ESPN shows their leaderboard (Ex: 1. Mickelson, 2. Rose, 3. McIlroy, 47. Woods). What happened to 4-46? I find Tiger quite unlikeable, but ESPN’s love for him runs deep. They covered his Thanksgiving 2009 fall from grace like CBS covered the Kennedy assassination.
Tim Tebow
Not so much anymore, but ESPN had a full blown case of Tebow-mania a couple of years ago. When he went on his winning run with the Broncos in 2011, ESPN didn’t acknowledge the obvious (that they were winning because of a strong defense and running game), rather they chose to buy into all the hype and try to make us believe Tebow was winning all these games on his own. ESPN must have been ecstatic last year when he got shipped to their favorite team, the Jets. Until he played, that is, which wasn’t often. Even when he was with the Patriots this pre-season, that was their dominant story.
Yankees/Red Sox Rivalry
The Yankees and Red Sox don’t like each other, we get it. But we don’t need a new 30-for-30 style documentary about it on Sportscenter every time these two teams get together. And being in the same division, the teams usually face each other several times a year, so it’s not exactly like it’s a rare occurrence.
I'm sure I missed some things, but these are just my observations...
Duke Basketball
Sure they’re good almost every single year, but the praise that ESPN heaps on Duke every winter is a little excessive. Dick Vitale is by far the worst offender here, as his man crush on Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski is larger than the state of North Carolina itself.
LeBron James
He’s the best player in the NBA right now, but ESPN The Magazine’s most recent issue is called “The Lebron Issue”, basically the entire NBA preview issue is devoted to him. They even have added to each team’s predicted win-loss total what it would be if Lebron were on that particular team, adding 20-30 wins to their prediction in most instances. That’s a little much. ESPN was also the main driver behind “The Decision”, the ridiculous 1-hour special where Lebron announced he was leaving Cleveland for Miami.
The Little League World Series
I always dread when this comes around every summer, because I know ESPN is going to devote a huge chunk of their airtime to it. Is there really that much interest in seeing a bunch of 12-year olds with last names as first names play baseball? I’m not a parent so maybe I don’t get it, but I did play little league when I was a kid, I don’t think anybody in their right mind would have tuned in for those games.
The New York Jets
ESPN has a huge love affair with the Jets for some inexplicable reason. Maybe it’s because of Bristol, CT’s close proximity to New York, I’m not sure. However, the Giants have been much more successful (ok, maybe not this year), but get far less love from ESPN. Maybe that’s because of their almost equally ridiculous obsession with their division rival the Dallas Cowboys? I can kind of understand it with the Cowboys, they have a winning history and a huge fan base. The Jets haven’t been to a Super Bowl in 45 years and are bad more often than they’re good.
The NFL Draft
I admit, the NFL Draft is fun, but the amount of time that ESPN devotes to it is borderline insane. They have two analysts (Mel Kiper and Todd McShay) who are at ESPN solely for the purpose of the NFL Draft. That’s a lot of payroll to devote to something that happens three days out of the year.
Quarterbacks
They are the guys that drive the action on the field, but to hear ESPN tell it, they’re the only guys on the field. I can’t remember how many times the last couple weeks I’ve heard “Brady beat Brees” or “Luck beat Manning”. No guys, the Patriots beat the Saints and the Colts beat the Broncos.
SEC Football
I get why the SEC is getting some extra love right now, having won the last 7 national championships they deserve a little extra attention. A little. ESPN is now forming its own SEC Network (don’t we already have that with CBS?), so we can kind of see where their allegiances lie.
Tiger Woods
Best golfer in the world, but not the only golfer in the world. I always have to chuckle when Tiger is having a bad tournament and ESPN shows their leaderboard (Ex: 1. Mickelson, 2. Rose, 3. McIlroy, 47. Woods). What happened to 4-46? I find Tiger quite unlikeable, but ESPN’s love for him runs deep. They covered his Thanksgiving 2009 fall from grace like CBS covered the Kennedy assassination.
Tim Tebow
Not so much anymore, but ESPN had a full blown case of Tebow-mania a couple of years ago. When he went on his winning run with the Broncos in 2011, ESPN didn’t acknowledge the obvious (that they were winning because of a strong defense and running game), rather they chose to buy into all the hype and try to make us believe Tebow was winning all these games on his own. ESPN must have been ecstatic last year when he got shipped to their favorite team, the Jets. Until he played, that is, which wasn’t often. Even when he was with the Patriots this pre-season, that was their dominant story.
Yankees/Red Sox Rivalry
The Yankees and Red Sox don’t like each other, we get it. But we don’t need a new 30-for-30 style documentary about it on Sportscenter every time these two teams get together. And being in the same division, the teams usually face each other several times a year, so it’s not exactly like it’s a rare occurrence.
I'm sure I missed some things, but these are just my observations...
