Maybe ESPN has research on what sports fans want, that I just can’t comprehend. Maybe I’m just an old man yelling, “get off my lawn!” Or, maybe I’m so 100% right, that you will scream out: YES! I thought the same damn thing!
So I’m watching SportsCenter this morning, and knew that Russell Westbrook had a sweet dunk the night before because I had glanced at a few tweets regarding the throwdown. They lead the 8 o’clock hour with the Thunder and Rockets (fine) and show a decent amount of other game highlights (fine).
Then it comes to Westbrook’s dunk in the waning seconds of the game. Aaaaand… boom. Sweet. But nothing I am shocked to see, given what I already know about Westbrook as a bad-ass, high-flying, apex predator NBA player.
Well apparently, somebody at the “WorldWide Leader” decided this one play, deserved “full team coverage.” And they proceeded to show it again…. from every available angle…. 11x in all! ELEVEN! (I may have lost count, to be honest).
There were several player soundbites about the dunk. A coach soundbite. Graphic enhancements of the dunk. Slow motion. Even SLOWER motion….
I mean, really. Are you kidding me? It was a nice play. And anchor Jay Harris says… “We’ll all remember this dunk for a long time.”
Yeah, no. Like Spike Lee once lectured in a commercial for Air Jordan’s: “It’s two points.” Two or so replays would be fine, but eleven of them over 2 full minutes insults your intelligence as a viewer. Do SportsCenter producers think we have never seen a player dunk before? Do they think it might be the last dunk of the year in the NBA?
What if there’s an even BETTER dunk by a player this year? Would it merit 15 replays, over 3 minutes?
And then SportsCenter decided to showcase something even more stupid: “Drake Night” in the Toronto Raptors game against the Golden State Warriors.
In case you didn’t know what “Drake Night” is all about, well, here you go.
In the meantime, sit back and watch what kind of nonsense qualified for featured action on SportsCenter. A rapper, who is not part of the actual game, doing everything he possibly can to INSERT himself in the game through 5th grade antics.
And even though Steph Curry is friendly with Drake and will bro-hug it out afterward, the whole thing is utterly stupid to the average sports fan. Even if you LIKE Drake, and LIKE the Warriors, I would bet you found this all to be an embarrassment.
The message is pretty clear. The game is not enough. The athletes are not enough. And ESPN will be a happy co-conspirator in cramming it down your neck.
6 Comments
Mark
In my estimation, anybody who watches Sportscenter is an idiot.
Jim V
Maybe this is why I find myself watching fewer and fewer games. Across all sports. The game has become secondary. Your comments on B&B this morning about the downfall of NFL Primetime was a great summary of the little things that have slowly bled out of sports coverage since I was in my 20’s. Today sports have become less about the team and more about the stars. Basketball is the worst offender IMHO.
Mike Marks
agree with above….
….and somehow….by showing it 11x, they slowly made it look less impressive
Aaron
This is what $7 a month subscriber fees get you….a bloated, indulgent, non sensical time filler that is SportsCenter. Time to cut the cord.
brad schimke
Speaking of old crotchety guys (which I am resembling more and more on a daily basis), I wonder whatever happened to just seeing the highlights of previous games. You can’t find them anywhere. Not without 4 minutes of chatter building up to 20 seconds of highlights followed by 6 minutes of talking about the same highlights just seen. And it’s everywhere: NFL Network, world wide leader, world wide leader news…..Even Scott Van Pelt, whom I like and think he’s a cool, smart, funny guy rarely shows 2 minutes of highlights from a single game. He boils it down to one or 2 plays. Sportscenter (and pretty much anything on ESPN that isn’t a live game broadcast) is essentially unwatchable.
Seriously, I want just highlights. I don’t need anyone to tell me what to think or to break it down. I can’t believe I’m saying this, but I miss The ‘Lights (is that what it was called on NBCSN a few years ago?)…..
Scott A
Get off my lawn ESPN! While I’m at it, take your brainless, corporate, Sport Center minions with you. You’ve become the tapioca pudding to my old, WISE, and geriatric palate.