Believe me, I don't enjoy having to beat the same drum every day but if ESPN won't stop then neither will I. Today's Daily Quickie ("DQ") on ESPN.com's Page 2 has not one but two anti-New York pieces. I still can't figure out this hate thing. If New York sucks so much, get your goddamn headquarters out of our city. Yeah, that's right, ESPN sells its moronic viewers the Bristol, Connecticut thing but ABC/Capital City Studios is actually HQ'ed in good old NYC. So quit your carping already and thank New York for even having you, you ungrateful bastards!
Unjustified anti-NY attack #1: DQ's happy that New York finished fourth in the 2012 Olympic vote. Here's an excerpt..
"Two Words For You: BOO. YORK. Wait 'til 2016! After its 4th place finish in 2012 Olympic jockeying (not even good enough for the bronze!), New York City must regroup. Finishing ahead of Moscow is nothing to brag about; getting beat out by Madrid is embarrassing. But with the U.S. on the 2016 Olympic host-city radar, perhaps the best thing to happen would be for a few other U.S. cities to jump into the competition. The good news is that you've got four years to figure out a plan; the better news is that you're competing with New York. Just ask the Europeans."
Ok, lets attack this idiotic comment from all sides. Considering the fact that ESPN fashions itself as the "Worldwide Leader of Sports" one would think that they know a little something about how sports actually work. Obviously not the case. NBC's broadcast rights fee package for the Olympics expires after the 2012 Games. Since NBC pays more for the rights to televise the Olympics than any other broadcast company in the world, the IOC correctly judged that it could extract a higher rights fee in the next round of negotiations if New York were given the 2016 Games. Why give NYC2012 the Games at X dollars when you can drive up the price for the next contract and have NYC2016 launch the new broadcast deal?
DQ goes on to say that other U.S. cities should jump into the competition, implying that NY had some sort of monopoly over the process. Jeez, was ESPN asleep from 2001-2003 when Houston, Dallas, San Francisco, Los Angeles, Tampa, Cincinnati and Washington, D.C. were all vying against NYC for the USOC's endorsement as the official American candidate city? How on earth can you be in the business of sports reporting and not know that?
Unjustified anti-NY attack #2: DQ's urging voters to push Podsednik into the final spot on the AL All-Star roster, over Derek Jeter, Hideki Matsui, Torii Hunter and Carl Crawford. Why? Because it would be positively uncouth to actually like a Yankee and completely uncivilized to like Derek Jeter. Another excerpt...
“Vote Podsednik! Why Pos over Jeter, who at last report led voting by a smidgen? Standings: Podsednik shows up and the White Sox become the AL's best team; the "Cap" has managed to "lead" the Yanks to a nudge over .500. Novelty: Value: The Final Man will be a late-inning insert. Sure, Jeter has a better OBP, but Pos is a pinch-runner supreme, leading the AL in SBs. Schadenfreud: Wouldn't it be hilarious if the "Face of Baseball" couldn't even win a lousy run-off among All-Star also-rans?”
Whether fans vote for Jeter or not, I can't see the logic behind actively endorsing one player or another when you're in the media. Let the hometown papers do those players' bidding, not a national media outlet such as ESPN. Furthermore, as a beacon for the best interests of the game, it is ALWAYS better to put in the more marketable, more fan-friendly, more favorable face of the game. Whether that's Jeter or Hunter, I don't know but it certainly isn't Podsednik, a poor excuse for a baseball player who is having a great but uncharacteristic (for him) season.
If DQ wants to talk about pinch runners, roster balance or anything baseball-related, all I can say is that there are six outfielders and two shortstops already on the team so neither one is truly necessary. Ichiro is a perfectly capable pinch runner should the need arise.
If DQ wants to talk about leadership, I seriously doubt that Podsednik has anything on Jeter in that category. If anyone actually thinks that Podsednik showing up on the White Sox and their becoming the team with the best record in baseball are related, well, I just wonder what Buehrle, Garcia and Garland have to say about that. Likewise, if anyone thinks that Jeter is the problem on the Yanks...all I can say is that Jeter's not the problem, not by a long-shot.
At the end of the day, I don't really care who makes the last spot on the All-Star roster. I just don't want that person to make it for the wrong reasons. ESPN should keep its goddamn trap shut and let the fans decide who they want to see.
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3 comments:
I don't think ESPN has reached what used to be considered national journalism. It almost seems like yellow dog journalism(ah the New York Post) . Someone can correct me, but the unfortunate part is that being biased, stirring up controversy and above all having talking heads yell at one another (see Old School v. Nu School) gets ratings
Mikey, I'd disagree with you. ESPN is absolutely a national journalist and even a global one. Through its connection to Disney, an international media conglomerate, ESPN is seen around the world and reports on all types of stories up to and including government oversight on sports in the US and outside of our borders.
The problem is the lack of competition in the marketplace. In the mid-1990's, when Fox Sports dared challenge ESPN's hegemony by launching a rival 24-hour sports network, things were good. Competition toughened up the market and made ESPN work for its viewers.
Now that there are no challengers out there, ESPN has gotten fat and lazy, content to scream its biases at you from across the screen. ESPN is more concerned with moving into the entertainment industry and less about sports reporting. They are more concerned with preserving and promoting their brand and less with concepts such as balanced analysis and journalistic integrity. What is particularly shocking is that its corporate parent, ABC, is perhaps the most principled of the network news sources. They'll never pull a hatchet-job Dan Rather type story.
Its amazing that the corporate culture at ABC hasn't permeated ESPN's offices.
By national I didn't mean the reach of their audience but on their focus. ESPN does have a global reach but its focus (at least on its main brand) is very East Coast centric and very much on the Boston-New York area. Cities out West (and by that I mean West of the Applachians) get minimal coverage.
I would agree that the lack of competition and increase in consolidation has affected all media outlets including that in the sports realm (just look at the decline in quality of NBC/MSNBC reporting). I would be interested in ESPNs rating and how they have changed since its absorption by ABC.
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