Tuesday, May 26, 2009

ESPN Continues to Alienate Fans

ESPN is at it again. The "Worldwide Leader," responsible for such mind numbing ideas like "Who's Now," on its website today is leading with an article assessing how Lebron James would perform in the NFL. The discussion features an article by Tim Graham and video from the "NFL Live" panel speculating on what would be Lebron's ideal position in the NFL. Seriously? Clearly, ESPN has too many analysts and writers on payroll who specialize in the NFL that have absolutely nothing to do right now. So ESPN decides to make its "talent" earn their paychecks by insulting the intelligence of the fans who flock to their network and website as it force feeds an utterly ridiculous discussion.

How would Lebron fare in the NFL? Who knows and Who Cares. Any savvy sports fan understands that the mere idea is unrealistic. Lebron James plays basketball and played all of two years of football back in high school. Projecting if he could play in the NFL based on that body of work is illogical and a complete waste of time. Surely, ESPN has something better to feature on the front page of its website. Apparently not.

Such foolish nonsense has become all too familiar at ESPN as the media giants constantly tries too hard to please both hardcore and casual sport fans at the same time. What they have actually managed to do over the last handful of years is alienate the passionate, knowledge sports fan by dumbing down their product and coverage with the nauseating self-promotion of its on-air talent and coddling of the sports figures they cover.

Maybe tomorrow ESPN could lead with a story on the prospects of Yao Ming playing wide receiver. Who would be able to cover Yao in the red zone?

Tuesday, May 5, 2009

After Celtics - Bulls, Now What?

Are the NBA Playoffs watchable going forward? It has been widely assumed, even before the playoffs began, that Lebron and Kobe will be meeting in the NBA Finals. So why would any basketball fan even watch? Then the Celtics - Bulls series happened. Critics can argue all day attempting to rate the series among the best of all-time. At the end of the day who cares where the series ranks. The bottom line is that the series captured people's attention and was the only first round playoff series worth watching. So now that the series is over and the Celtics have moved on, what does the NBA have to offer? None of the second round series have much intrigue and the Finals are more than a month away. The most competitive of the bunch again features the Celtics as they face the Orlando Magic.

Tonight was Game 1 in Boston and most viewers were probably watching Red Sox - Yankees especially after the Magic opened up a 28 point lead. That means most people missed the Celtics near comeback before falling 95-90. One major reason for the Celtics down performance was Ray Allen scoring only 9 points on 2-12 shooting. Anyone paying attention has noticed that the former UConn star is the key to the Celtics success. Lost in all the excitement of the first round was just how poor Paul Pierce played for Boston. As much as he did to win game 5, he did even more to lose game 6 against Chicago. Allen was unstoppable against the Bulls and is a much more efficient offensive player than Pierce. If the Celtics are going to continue their run without Kevin Garnett, Allen must continue to be their top offensive weapon. But in the end, will anybody be watching?

Sunday, May 3, 2009

New Layout

New look. Same great Analysis.