The past few years I have noticed that sports networks dedicate a lot of time, perhaps too much, on stories that the public and most sports fans probably aren't interested in. One large network, ESPN (I believe it's now called the Favre/Tebow Network), is particularly guilty of this. Last summer, when quarterback Brett Favre was considering returning to the NFL to play for the Vikings, ESPN set up trucks, cameras and a news anchor in his front yard, which resembled a stakeout. From his lawn, they provided virtually 24-hour, up to the minute coverage of anything that Favre did. When Favre came out to mow his lawn, it became breaking news. Everytime he left his house, video came on the station. Every time he sneezed, all programming was interrupted to report on it (ok I may have made that last one up). My point is that as a sports fan, I don't tune in to see if Brett Favre is washing his car or ordering a pizza. I watch to see highlights and stories that are far more important and actually pertain to sports, not their private lives.
Another example of this is when Cowboys quarterback Tony Romo was dating Jessica Simpson. ESPN spent more time talking about the couple's trip to Cabo than the Cowboys' upcoming playoff game. ESPN also spent 20 minutes yesterday talking about Tim Tebow's first workout for pro scouts. His workouts are important, but they dedicated the entire time to talking about trivial details, such as discussing and showing video of him taking snaps from directly under center, which he will have to do in the NFL, as opposed to in the shotgun formation which he did while at Florida. It is not a big deal, considering anyone with two hands can easily take a snap. Seeing as it's 3 months away from the draft, is that really important? No, it is not. When sports fans turn on ESPN, they want to see highlights and more pressing stories that have more importance. I'm not saying they need to completely cut out those other stories, but they don't need to dedicate an overwhelming amount of time to them either. Instead of telling me every move Favre is making, just let me know when he signs with someone. Rather than documenting everything Romo and Simpson did in Cabo, just mentioning that they were dating would suffice (if I cared about the Cowboys).
Another example of this is when Cowboys quarterback Tony Romo was dating Jessica Simpson. ESPN spent more time talking about the couple's trip to Cabo than the Cowboys' upcoming playoff game. ESPN also spent 20 minutes yesterday talking about Tim Tebow's first workout for pro scouts. His workouts are important, but they dedicated the entire time to talking about trivial details, such as discussing and showing video of him taking snaps from directly under center, which he will have to do in the NFL, as opposed to in the shotgun formation which he did while at Florida. It is not a big deal, considering anyone with two hands can easily take a snap. Seeing as it's 3 months away from the draft, is that really important? No, it is not. When sports fans turn on ESPN, they want to see highlights and more pressing stories that have more importance. I'm not saying they need to completely cut out those other stories, but they don't need to dedicate an overwhelming amount of time to them either. Instead of telling me every move Favre is making, just let me know when he signs with someone. Rather than documenting everything Romo and Simpson did in Cabo, just mentioning that they were dating would suffice (if I cared about the Cowboys).
Good, reasoned post. Do sportscasters bother you? The way they talk, posture, argue, talk fast gets old really fast. Most of them rely on cliches, recycled endlessly from game to game. Or is it just me?
ReplyDeleteHaha no I don't think it's just you. A lot of people I know get tired of their cliches and corny humor. Some of them also come across as phony and affected in their speaking.
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