Who's Now?: Yet Another Quirky SportsCenter Feature To Debut Tonight

Monday, June 11, 2007



For the life of me I can't understand why ESPN continues to ruin SportsCenter with these boring polls and The Sklar Brothers. Just think about how the show has evolved over the years. They save their only good piece until Sunday, and any worthwhile news is on Outside the Lines. Seriously look at this list of current segments. 41!!! There are 41 different segments that are active on the program....oh wait, make that 42.....

ESPN during tonight’s 6:00pm ET edition of “SportsCenter” will launch “Who’s Now,” a daily series to determine the “Ultimate Sports Star.” Fan nominations and ESPN research this month will select 32 athletes who will be slotted into brackets, which will be revealed during a selection special on June 29. ESPN’s Stuart Scott will then host a “Who’s Now” segment in every July edition of “SportsCenter” that will debate matchups. Fan voting on ESPN.com and an ESPN panel will determine the winner, with one athlete eliminated each day, until the winner is revealed on August 1st. (Sports Business Daily)
Here's the first question that popped into my mind.....Who cares??? Seriously, name me one person that cares about this. I'm sure a ton of people will vote because it will be on the main page of ESPN.com, but will you really tune in just to hear Stuart Scott reveal the winners of a popularity contest?
The idea, ESPN senior coordinating producer Glenn Jacobs says, is to add a new Who's Now segment on every SportsCenter in July. The concept, he suggests, might seem familiar: "We're stealing our model directly from ABC's Dancing with the Stars."
Well at least he's honest. But seriously....Glenn....just go back to reporting please. You're turning arguably my favorite show ever into TRL.

ESPN will pit star vs. star (USA Today)

Posted by Awful Announcing- at 9:19 AM

14 Comments:

The next time I tune in to see Stu will be the day they show the door hitting him in the ass on his way out of ESPN.

Anonymous said...
Jun 11, 2007, 10:18:00 AM  

They only need one segment on SC...the daily anal raping of Cowherd. They could even replace his stupid Spanning the Globe piece with him getting violated by men from around the world. It's a can't miss!!!

GMoney said...
Jun 11, 2007, 10:25:00 AM  

Has it come to where only the show's death can bring about anything redeeming?

It is as if the show on which we all grew up watching the previous day's sports highlights has become some abomination, and only the imprints that it left on us while it was still pure and we were still young can become anything good now.

Yes, work's a little slow today, how'd you guess?

- b said...
Jun 11, 2007, 10:41:00 AM  

i quit watching sportscenter three years ago. it's nothing but sell and hype.

sportscenter is nothing more than glorified entertainment tonight. before the show starts you know what they will hype/sell/fawn over.

think about it: i bet you can rattle six subjects off the top of your head that will be on entertainment tonight this evening.

(ET: bradgelina, tomkat, rosie, donald trump, paris hilton, jennifer aniston).

same with sportscenter at 6 p.m.

(sportscenter: yankees, red sox, "luh-bron," michael vick, terrell owens, kobe bryant).

Anonymous said...
Jun 11, 2007, 11:12:00 AM  

I think the spookier part of this entire thing is the lede on the USA Today story:

"July is usually a slow month for sports news. So ESPN's SportsCenter, in an off-beat plan that will be announced today, figures it can just invent its own news."

Never mind the fact that ESPN thinks it's OK to make its own news, ranking it in the same league as the fearmongering local FOX affiliate that tried to convince me last week that there was an EPIDEMIC of some disease that made BUGS CRAWL FROM MY SKIN, but what's more disturbing is that ESPN has done this for quite some time now.

It's only a matter of time before ESPN starts ignoring actual competitions, instead opting for text messaging votes and "expert" analysis to decide who won the Super Bowl.

You're not the sports highlight show I fell in love with as a child, ESPN. You're now a peroxide-blonde, fake-breasted, Botoxed-faced, collagen-enhanced, anal-bleached shadow of your former self.

Anonymous said...
Jun 11, 2007, 11:29:00 AM  

Amen Pete....I also think that plays in perfectly with my MTV theory. Real World Bristol should be right around the corner.

Stu, Berman, Linda Cohn, John Clayton, John Bucigross, and Bob Ley are picked to live in a house...

Jun 11, 2007, 11:35:00 AM  

i deeply miss the Not Top Ten...it was a good laugh then all of sudden it got thrown in the trash...does anyone else find Stu Scotts up and down rollercoaster ride to be funny?

Spelling Bee up to the Finals down to this Who's Now thing...whats next, prolly be up to a big spot on the ESPYs then fall back down into a sideline reporting spot at Inside Florida International Football on SportsCenter

Anonymous said...
Jun 11, 2007, 11:55:00 AM  

Someday, ESPN could actually try covering sports again with some attention to detail.

It's telling that the producer admits they're ripping off Dancing with the Stars, as if that was a good thing.

Signal to Noise said...
Jun 11, 2007, 12:49:00 PM  

I have faith in the universe that on August 1st, some guy we've never heard of before will throw a no-hitter and make all this "Who's Now" business irrelevant and sad.

BF said...
Jun 11, 2007, 1:15:00 PM  

I miss the days of "The Big Show", with Olbermann and Patrick. Watching SC on Sunday nights was a must-see for me back then, but after KO left the Mothership, it just wasn't the same.

Anonymous said...
Jun 11, 2007, 1:57:00 PM  

Hey Best Damn Sports show already did this! Best Damn's Phenomenal 50 NOW... Kobe won! ESPN Bitters!

Anonymous said...
Jun 11, 2007, 2:50:00 PM  

This "who's more now" segment is like watching a couple of fourth graders argue over whether Captain America could beat up Batman.

Anonymous said...
Jul 10, 2007, 4:18:00 PM  

I actually like it its fun once in awhile

Anonymous said...
Jul 19, 2007, 4:51:00 PM  

Captain America could never beat Batman. Batman is NOW!!!!!!!!11111

Anonymous said...
Jul 26, 2007, 10:12:00 PM  

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