Can ESPN go local? Or is this rival sniping?

An interesting read from James Rainey of the LA Times regarding ESPN(fill in city).com's seeking traction.

http://www.latimes.com/entertainment/news/la-et-onthemedia-20100901,0,4460074,full.column

The lead is particularly amusing.

 

The lead is cheap in my book. If you're going to bash a company, provide the details. Who was this person who challenged Joe Davidson and said, "I'm ESPN!" Was it Chris Berman? Linda Cohen? Some stringer they hired to take stats? Someone in between? Did it happen at all?

As a reader, I don't know and, further, I begin to question the story because its lead goes out of its way to position ESPN, the company, as some schoolyard bully based on something that some little underling may (or may not) have said.

 

The lead story about the reporter fighting with ESPN producer is funny, but it doesn't really fit the narrative, because ESPN local efforts have nothing to do with the production side. The blog stuff doesn't really fit either. A real hodgepodge of a story.

 

Agreed. Joe Davidson's been covering preps in Sactown for years and no AD in the Bee's circulation area is going to deny him a seat, ESPN or no ESPN, and what that has to do with the web side, I don't know.

 

Heck, ESPN may want to offer Joe a job.

 

This was my take. When your kicker is that it's best to advance with some humility, and your examples of SBNation and BleacherReport have nothing to do with humility, or really anything having to do with anything...well, you lose me.

 

They got the towns with O&O radio affiliates first. Low-hanging fruit.

 

ESPN is poised to strike when newspapers fold.

If the Richmond Times Dispatch goes belly up for example, the TV stations will take over the news reporting with their websites and ESPN.Richmond will gobble up the sports.

 

Summer slow down.

 

I think I've gone to ESPN/NY three times since it started.
I see no reason to go there.

 

If, and a big IF, the newspaper websites went down, where would you go?