ESPN Chopping Block Hopeful

When did Robin Roberts ever do mens' sports? She was an ESPN sportscenter anchor and did play by play for womens' college basketball .......I guess I don't get the comparison. The Jessica Mendoza comparison I kinda get, but Robin Roberts???
She didn't that I'm aware of. She did basketball and tennis. And a whole lot of Sports Center when it actually used to be about sports.

Whenever the topic of how bad Mowins sucks comes up someone says we're only giving her a bad rap because she's a woman. I brought Robin Roberts up because I think she was a great sports announcer and to make a point that it has nothing to do with her gender. Mowins just flat out stinks at calling football and is grating to listen to.
 
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It sucks in general. ESPN puts the best TV product (picture, camera angles, atmosphere, ect) together. But their announcing is far inferior to BTN. I for the most part enjoy BTN play-by-play guys and color guys. They are insightful and enjoyable, it's just the aesthetics that aren't quite the same as ESPN.
With that said, Beth can be so painful but I guess a necessary evil too.
 
Berman is gone for sure. I feel bad for him at the height of his popularity he had an opportunity to move on to greener pastures and he turned it down to be loyal to ESPN. The last several years people see him as a buffoon, but it wasn't always like that he was one of those personalities that drove ESPN. Now that loyalty means nothing and he is getting kicked out the door in his 60's.
When I was a kid, Berman on Baseball Tonight was must watch television for me. As I got older, the back, back, back, back, and nickname shtick just didn't translate anymore.
 
IMO, ESPN F'ed up when they canned Joe Morgan and that old pasty white guy from their Sunday night baseball game. I liked those two together and was the one thing that would make me watch the Marlins vs the Astros.
 
IMO, ESPN F'ed up when they canned Joe Morgan and that old pasty white guy from their Sunday night baseball game. I liked those two together and was the one thing that would make me watch the Marlins vs the Astros.


Old pasty white guy? You mean Jon Miller?:)
 
IMO, ESPN F'ed up when they canned Joe Morgan and that old pasty white guy from their Sunday night baseball game. I liked those two together and was the one thing that would make me watch the Marlins vs the Astros.
I quit watching games on ESPN when they started using the strike zone graphic on every pitch.

I'm totally in favor of using a computer to call balls and strikes, I just don't want a bullseye plastered on the screen during play.
 
I quit watching games on ESPN when they started using the strike zone graphic on every pitch.

I'm totally in favor of using a computer to call balls and strikes, I just don't want a bullseye plastered on the screen during play.


Yea, nothing like watching that & getting more and more ticked at the umpire!
 
I know it sounds crazy, but if they tore up the current sportscenter set and put in on Craigslist then I would think about using it in my basement man cave area.
 
When I was a kid, Berman on Baseball Tonight was must watch television for me. As I got older, the back, back, back, back, and nickname shtick just didn't translate anymore.
Yeah the older I've gotten the less and less the 'personalities' of those sportscasters has mattered to me. When I was a kid and teenager I was all about it. I listened to a ton of radio as a kid. Hawks sports and Twins baseball. With some ESPN sprinkled in. DP, Berman those guys on sportscenter were awesome. Now it's all about giving opinions then it is on the highlights and scores....
 
Charlie Steiner was the best anchor on any sports news show, of any era. Bar none.

The guy knew his sports (apparently not a prerequisite today), kept his opinions to himself, was good at broadcasting, and had a ton of fun doing it.

Remember when sports were actually fun to pay attention to?

 
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Sports has served as a useful vehicle to identify and change minds on social issues, there is no greater example than Jackie Robinson, but what passes for many social issues today are more like pet peccadilloes for people, and the voices carrying on these pet causes are simply grating, not transforming. ESPN is on the backside of its curve, it's not going away, but its influence has been diminished - in all arenas.

Agree. The problem with ESPN is that Disney would rather talk politics than sports. Just like ABC would rather create the news than report it.
 
Chris Berman's retiring from full-time work at ESPN anyway.

They hire guys that have personality and these guys all have that at least. Guys and gals who are milquetoast don't last long in this arena.


I am not sure I agree with you. For a long time ESPN was driven by personalities and I don't think that is the case anymore. Whether that is due to financial reasons or simply going in a different direction I have no idea. This sounds awful, but I recognize the more attractive females.....I recognize guys like Menthe and Hassle because they worked in the Des Moines market.... whatever the reasons I just think ESPN is moving away from being personality driven.
 
Agree. The problem with ESPN is that Disney would rather talk politics than sports. Just like ABC would rather create the news than report it.

That's not just ESPN though, that's basically every form of media now. Cable news (Fox News, MSNBC, etc) discovered that you get higher ratings if you tell your viewers exactly what they want to hear and then fire them up by only telling one side of a story while blasting the other (ie Hannity/Maddow). That's why you see the talking head shows all over the place now, even on sports channels. If people say controversial things or trigger a huge section of fans (Tom Brady is overrated, Lebron is better than Jordan) then suddenly you get more views, you get more clicks, you get more attention, you get more MONEY.
 
Integrity used to be something people in the media wanted to achieve. People love to see confrontations especially when they can get others to do it for them. People in the audience of the Jerry Springer show love to talk down to the guests even though they're much more like thenm than they are different.
 
Integrity used to be something people in the media wanted to achieve. People love to see confrontations especially when they can get others to do it for them. People in the audience of the Jerry Springer show love to talk down to the guests even though they're much more like thenm than they are different.

<<Integrity used to be something people in the media wanted to achieve>>

Really? You must be a LOT older than me (I'm 54), because I don't remember that.
 

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