Killing time last night in the hours between dinner and catching up on some sleep, I tuned in to ESPN's broadcast of the Venezuela-Puerto Rico matchup in the World Baseball Classic. It sure was nice watching baseball for a couple of hours last night, even if I don't give a crap about either team or the tournament's outcome. Anyway, in watching, I remarked two things that annoyed me:
1. There is no reason why ESPN viewers should receive updates from the U.S./Korea game with the promise that the game, broadcast on tape delay in its entirety, could be viewed at 1 a.m Eastern time, immediately following SportsCenter. Considering the fact that ESPN bought the broadcast rights to show this tournament, considering the fact that the very viability of the tournament is based almost exclusively in the value of the media rights, why would ESPN broadcast a live game between two Latin American countries but only offer a tape delayed replay of the U.S. game?
ESPN's and MLB's programming directors should have their heads examined and their jobs revoked. Will sponsors and media outlets really want to buy this property the next time it rolls around if the message to consumers is "We know no one cares about it, that's why we don't bother showing these events live." Good marketing strategy, way to turn viewers off...
2. David Ortiz is a scumbag. I don't know what the rules of sportsmanship are in the Dominican Republic but the so-called Big Papi has been a major leaguer long enough to know that flipping his bat after hitting a home run is a cardinal sin in the big leagues.
1. There is no reason why ESPN viewers should receive updates from the U.S./Korea game with the promise that the game, broadcast on tape delay in its entirety, could be viewed at 1 a.m Eastern time, immediately following SportsCenter. Considering the fact that ESPN bought the broadcast rights to show this tournament, considering the fact that the very viability of the tournament is based almost exclusively in the value of the media rights, why would ESPN broadcast a live game between two Latin American countries but only offer a tape delayed replay of the U.S. game?
ESPN's and MLB's programming directors should have their heads examined and their jobs revoked. Will sponsors and media outlets really want to buy this property the next time it rolls around if the message to consumers is "We know no one cares about it, that's why we don't bother showing these events live." Good marketing strategy, way to turn viewers off...
2. David Ortiz is a scumbag. I don't know what the rules of sportsmanship are in the Dominican Republic but the so-called Big Papi has been a major leaguer long enough to know that flipping his bat after hitting a home run is a cardinal sin in the big leagues.
He and Manny do it so often that both ESPN and Red Sox fans think it's charming and acceptable at this point. It's really disgusting to me. I hope Ortiz tries this move against the Tigers in 2006. I guarantee you that Tigers manager Jim Leyland will make the next hitter in the Red Sox lineup feel the sting of such an indiscretion.As far as I'm concerned, David Ortiz and Manny Ramirez, for all their talents, are low-class bums from the bush league. I know Torre and the Yanks don't have the intestinal fortitude to put a fist to the mouth of these hacks but here's hoping that there are some teams out there in the American League that follow the old-school rules of the game.
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