The Evolution of Sportscenter

Someone at Sportscenter basically thinks the NBA is our national pastime, which it is not. Ya, I know they're trying to grab the hip-hop, 15-34 demo, but that 15-34 demo likes more than just pro hoops.

I miss Dan and Keith on ESPN.

 

It all started when Kilborn left... Then, when Olbermann followed, the show has never been close to the same ever since...

The 6 p.m. one that Patrick does is the only one that is even close to being professional. The rest are complete jokes...

 

But for nothing, in the span of 30 seconds last night I heard the following two lines on ESPNews:

Male anchor describing home run: "He hit it and quit it."

Male anchor setting up female anchor on another home run call:

Male: "He put it where?"
Female: "Back there."

Two sex references (including one anal) in 30 seconds.

 

Nobody has mentioned yet that Fox Sports Net is launching a new highlights-driven nightly show starting Monday night. Something tells me it'll flop just like the last time Fox tried. Basically, if you're looking for straight highlights, go to ESPN News. I'm not sure a straight highlights show will work anymore because of a point that was made earlier.

I think the point about the young guy demo liking SportsCenter's current format because it gives them things to repeat to their buddies in bar room arguments is really valid. I hate using a corporate word, but ESPN creates such "synergy" and buzz around its pundits by putting them all over the place. You hear these guys say the same crap on TV that they put on the web and say on ESPN Radio. And once you hear it that many times, you start to internalize it. That sort of thing may not work on many of us on this board, because we deal with sports all day long and probably a lot of us would much rather talk about something else when we're not working. But Average Joe who works in sales or engineering, or whatever, is hanging on every word from ESPN.

 

Had a thread on this earlier this month. Fetch me a beer, newbie.

 

I've long thought the "fetch me a beer, newbie" thing was lame, but it has charm when it's paired with a sharp, one-sentence ultracutdown.

 

It's amazing that most people on this site claim to hate ESPN, but most of same have an opinon on the latest thing ESPN did.

 

I'm not among those people.

 

Been on vacation for the last five days. Been out of the sports loop (except for watching WCup games and checking on here once or twice.) Haven't thought for a second about work, or news, or anything of that nature. Just enjoying myself, out of town for a week, spending quality time with quality people.

Know where I went to get my sports news before going to bed last night? SportsCenter. Know what? I enjoyed it.

It was the first time I've watched SC like a "fan" in probably 2-3 years, not really knowing what all had happened that day, not really keeping up with all the scores all day, like I usually do when I'm working. And yeah, the jokes were sometimes lame and I didn't pay attention to whatever feature-y segment crap they had on that night. But overall, I enjoyed it.

And if I've been busy all day, not really keeping up with everything that hits the wire every 5 minutes, I'd go to ESPN every night to get my sports fix if that's the best time for me to do it. And it wouldn't bother me that they're self-involved, self-patronizing, too NY/BOS-oriented, or that the "E" is a higher priority than the "S" in ESPN. That's where I'd go, like I did before I got in this biz, like I did growing up, like I would if I was a regular fan in a regular job.

So we can bitch all we want about all the things that ESPN doesn't do as well as they can, or as well as they should, or as well as we'd like them to. Some of those are legit concerns, and there's a lot to roll our eyes at. But I know this: that's where I've been turning to this last week, and that's where I'd turn to if I was Joe Schmoe Fanboy with a normal life who gets his sports fix when and where he can get it.

 

http://www.sportsjournalists.com/forum/threads/27523/

 

I am going to go out on a limb and guess that you fit ESPN's target demographic to a T. Am I correct?