Well This Is One Way To Make A Splash

Thursday, July 24, 2008

I'm really being honest when I say that I don't go out of my way to pick on ESPN in any given day, but today is "special" (what are you gonna to do? [/shrugging shoulders]). It's the perfect storm of ESPN "News", nothing else going on and the timing of this blog thing. All day ESPN.com has displayed basically an advertisement for it's brand new Football Network and it's, well....big....


Pretty huh? To be honest, I'm not hating the content so far, but the thing is definitely a complete rip off of Pro Football Talk. You would think someone with an ESPN Credential would have more access, but as TBL pointed out yesterday, there are almost no opinions and really only one of the new "bloggers" is reporting from a training camp.

There are also zero links to any real blogs out there, but I could have told you that by just looking at the "Our Blogosphere" tag line on the front page of ESPN.com. There's obviously no specific format that a "blog" needs to follow, but I think they still have some work to do. Good use of the terminology though.

Taking Another Look at ESPN’s NFL Blog Network (The Big Lead)

21 Comments:

It feels like ESPN thinks that they invented the concept of blogging here.

We're waiting on you to chime in, aa hates espn.

GMoney said...
Jul 24, 2008, 4:00:00 PM  

It's just a series of short news stories published multiple times a day.

No opinion at all.

How is this different from every other article on their site again?

Chris said...
Jul 24, 2008, 4:14:00 PM  

i haven't seen the trailer for that movie yet, but based on the poster i'll wait for it to come out on dvd.

-dan

Anonymous said...
Jul 24, 2008, 4:43:00 PM  

Mediocore--it isn't. It's like their short snippets of opinion or reporting articles on the main page.

AA, Ted Miller does credit some "real" blogs like Conquest Chronicles and the WSU Football Blog. Just thought I should give him credit there.

http://myespn.go.com/blogs/pac10

Eric said...
Jul 24, 2008, 4:52:00 PM  

Whatever happened to AA Hates ESPN?
Is he/she still commenting? I really miss AA's mockingly sardonic responses.

Anonymous said...
Jul 24, 2008, 5:07:00 PM  

Hahaha...he/she is still around, but I'll cut out the middle man....

AA Hates ESPN said...

Oh so it's okay for blogs to support other blogs, but when someone tries something new it's automatically a failure? Right AA, you're not a hypocrite. An entire day devoted to ESPN's failures? How original. Was Gus Johnson's taint not in the news enough for you to massage it in written form?

Jul 24, 2008, 5:12:00 PM  

Nice! That makes my day AA!

AA Hates ESPN: I might be the only one, but I truly miss you. Please don't be such a stranger.

Anonymous said...
Jul 24, 2008, 5:49:00 PM  

Was Gus Johnson's taint not in the news enough for you to massage it in written form?

I didn't know Joe D had morphed into AA Hates ESPN.

Jul 24, 2008, 6:10:00 PM  

Yeah I guess they do have some outside links - but the news stories are pretty lacking in the opinion/commentary that really is what makes a blog a blog and not just a news feed. /shrug

Anonymous said...
Jul 24, 2008, 6:54:00 PM  

sdsg - Proof that AA Hates ESPN still comments here. That "posts with my comments have more comments than the others" line was the funniest thing ever written by a commenter here. Douche.

Anonymous said...
Jul 24, 2008, 8:09:00 PM  

I feel like I'm famous! Thanks guys. I missed you all, too.
I hate to disappoint, but to be perfectly honest, I don't have much of a problem with this post. aa actually says he's "not hating the content so far." When it comes to talking about ESPN, that's high praise from aa.
There's only one point in this post where I wish aa had an editor. Calling ESPN blogs "a complete rip off of Pro Football Talk" is an intellectually lazy statement, considering that this blog could be considered a rip off of the media blog that launched before it, which could be considered a rip off of the media blog before that, and so on.
My more serious complaint with this site is that it became popular by posting interesting and funny videos, but aa has only posted two today. It seems like aa's giving the best stuff to Deadspin in the morning, and the quality of this blog is suffering, as a result.
I apologize that I can't feign some outrage over today's posts. I guess that's proof that I'm not Skip Bayless.

Anonymous said...
Jul 24, 2008, 11:28:00 PM  

For those keeping track, AA Hates ESPN is not:
-Skip Bayless
-Joe Morgan
-Colin Cowherd
-Joe Buck
-Dana Jacobsen, which disappoints me, because I can't do anything with this sack of Five Guys & Liter of Belvedere

We do know AA Hates ESPN continues to spew nonsense, so, Chris Berman is still in play.

Anonymous said...
Jul 24, 2008, 11:56:00 PM  

Hahaha. Man, I don't even know where to start with that one. Let's try though...

1) Name another "Sports Media Blog" that came before this...oh that's right you didn't and you can't. And if you say The Big Lead you're out of your mind.

2) You just said this site became popular by "posting interesting and funny videos"....doesn't that make it original? That completely contradicts your first point.

3) If you think finding even one video to post everyday is easy I'd love for you to try this on your own. The videos I post on Deadspin are usually stuff I wouldn't post here. Showing a no hitter is sort of counterproductive to "announcing talk", so someone else gets that content. 9 times out of 10 the good ones are here as well.

As always, thanks for playing. I love you and keep reading.

Jul 25, 2008, 12:08:00 AM  

Thanks Anon (at 8:09)...I will sleep well tonight knowing that the bane of AA's existence is alive and well. I hadn't seen any of those comments.

I've only been a regular reader for the past two months, but I thoroughly enjoy what AA churns out on a daily basis. At first glance it appears to be very easy, but I have absolutely no doubt that AA puts a ton of time & effort into this site. I realize he's not working in a coal mine for 16 hours a day, but the work he's doing is very arduous nontheless.

p.s. AA: My only concern is your propensity to make "intellectually lazy statements." Please try a little harder to refrain from doing this on a go forward basis.

Anonymous said...
Jul 25, 2008, 1:23:00 AM  
This comment has been removed by the author.
insomniac said...
Jul 25, 2008, 2:21:00 AM  

It's a ripoff of Pro Football Talk?

So I guess that means we should disregard 90% of everything written there as utter fabrication.

insomniac said...
Jul 25, 2008, 2:23:00 AM  

Why are you so defensive, aa? That's a funny rebuttal to my comment, which basically said that I didn't have a problem with that particular post.
I find a lot of stuff on this site original. That's why I started coming here. All in all, you do a nice job. (But please refrain from saying that it's a hard job. That's something I would expect from an egotistical player, not somebody who writes about sports media for a living.)
But when you say the ESPN blogs are a complete rip-off of PFT, well, that's one of those ridiculous statements I would expect from someone like Bayless, not a well-thought out blog. Sure it's kind of true, just like this is a ripoff of all sports media blogs that came before it, like, yes, thebiglead and deadspin and all the others.
aa, would I be out of line giving shout outs to my fans? To Anon 8:09, calling me a douche (original!) doesn't hide the fact that this post had more comments than any other yesterday.
And to sdsg, I didn't realize you were such a fan. I would start to comment on your site, too, but most of the time it seems NSFW.

Anonymous said...
Jul 25, 2008, 9:50:00 AM  

It's very tame AA Hates ESPN:
No profanity and a few pictures of scantily clad women. Feel free to come aboard!

I would welcome any comments that you have as your viewpoints are certainly unique.

Anonymous said...
Jul 25, 2008, 10:05:00 AM  

AA Hates ESPN - Funny: a commenter that consistently regurgitates a misguided ideology in other posts calling someone else unoriginal. As was pointed out in the post right after the one of you I linked to, you're not the first imbecile commenter to hijack posts here. Continue to post your drivel and remember, if it types like a douche and sprays like a douche...

Anonymous said...
Jul 25, 2008, 10:55:00 AM  

Am I the only one in here who agrees with aa hates espn? It doesn't look like he/she called this blog unoriginal...only questioned a comment in the post. And anon 10:55, your post is the offensive one. Since when is calling someone names cool? Good lord, are you still in grade school?

Anonymous said...
Jul 25, 2008, 12:33:00 PM  

Wow. Is Joe D still around? I can only imagine what he would have said after the Jemele Hill suspension a few weeks back.

It's clear that AA Hates ESPN likes to stir the pot and there is absolutely nothing wrong with dissenting opinions. I can only hope that one day I'm as fortunate as AA to have someone like AA Hates ESPN comment about my intellectually lazy statements.

Anonymous said...
Jul 25, 2008, 1:34:00 PM  

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