ESPN To Devote Two Hours Of Coverage To Ping Pong Balls
Wednesday, May 14, 2008
Unfortunately it's not coverage of Table Tennis. No, ESPN is devoting approximately two full hours to the NBA Draft Lottery. Two hours and thirteen (count them!)...twelve analysts and hosts throughout the day....
ESPN will present exclusive coverage of the 2008 NBA Draft Lottery Tuesday, May 20, at 8 p.m., with host Mark Jones, analyst Jay Bilas and reporter Doris Burke from Secaucus, N.J. Highlights:You can add this to National Signing Day as events that deserve about 2 minutes of coverage, not an entire broadcast or three devoted to it. I'm sure they'll mostly talk about the players, but that's still a little bit over the top.
-A one-hour SportsCenter NBA Draft Lottery Special at 1:30 p.m. on ESPN with host Rece Davis, analyst Greg Anthony, reporter Chris Broussard and guest analyst Jerry Stackhouse, a member of the 2007-08 Dallas Mavericks;
-Kia NBA Shootaround at 7:30 p.m., with host Stuart Scott and analysts Jon Barry and Michael Wilbon, from the Eastern Conference Finals game site (game telecast at 8:30 p.m.);
-Frequent integration between Kia NBA Shootaround, NBA Draft Lottery and game commentators (Mike Breen, Mark Jackson and Jeff Van Gundy) throughout the hour (7:30-8:30 p.m.) leading up to game.
Additionally, Doris Burke will present a behind-the-scenes look inside the NBA Draft Lottery process, explaining the factors involved in determining the NBA Draft order. Burke will also conduct interviews with team representatives [D-Wade, D'Antoni, Larry Bird]. ESPN will have cameras at viewing parties for the Miami Heat and Memphis Grizzlies, and at the ESPN Zone in New York.
(Via ESPN PR)
8 Comments:
Thanks for the self-promotion, guy that no one is going to read.
I like this idea (Lottery Show) for some reason.
I think the NFL and NBA Draft coverage has justifiably increased due to fan demands. People are no longer just satisfied with seeing their teams' games; they want to see how their teams are built in the spring.
Of course not everyone feels that way, but I think draft coverage expands because of an actual demand for it, not just a network trying to make a spectacle out of something for no reason.
I know they have a lot of hours to fill on the ESPNs, but Jesus H. Christ, they're treating this like it's the Presidential elections.
Doris Burke and ping pong balls - you'd have to pay big money for that in Amsterdam, but we get it for mere pennies on US cable!
Hey, don't knock it - this is literally ALL Timberwolves fans have had to look forward to since last August.
To be fair, only one of those hours will be when people are actually watching. The first hour just keeps ESPN from repeating the same Sportscenter a hundred times.
ESPN clearly missed the boat on the coin flip to break the tiebreakers for the NFL draft order this year. We could have had a complete breakdown on what kind of coin they were going to use and everything.
Live blogging of the 2 game 5's on maizeandblog.blogspot.com tonight at 8.