ESPN's Favre/24-Hour News Dilemma
Tuesday, August 05, 2008
(Before I get into this I just wanted to note that there is going to be another Sports Center Live special on Favre today. I'm still trying to find out all the details but it should be around 2pm or so.)
So yesterday ESPN decided to go live with a Sports Center Special on Favre at noon, and by 2pm the "developing story" was already going nowhere. The problem though wasn't the idea itself but that not a damn thing happened and the planned special was to last until 3pm. OTL and NFL Live were to follow, ATH and PTI were certainly going to talk about it, Sports Center comes on again and finally ESPN News promises a Mike McCarthy meeting at 9:15pm which never comes to fruition. That's a giant day of nothing if you ask me.
Now this isn't ESPN's fault, for the most part, but today we're inundated with the same news. Sports Center rehashes an entire night of nothing, quotes a Jay Glazer story, and First Take even has the audacity to ask the question, "is the coverage over-the-top?" Given the fact that ESPN is going to go live with yet another Sports Center Special today, with a press conference and practice looming, this story has gone insanely past the level of overkill. I honestly think that the coverage has surpassed the Mitchell Report, and is dangerously approaching Spygate, but with far less answers and intrigue.
With all of that said, I don't blame ESPN in the least for the coverage because as much as you try to ignore it, you know you're still interested in the outcome. I've also noted in the past that July and early August are the slowest months of the Sports' calendar year, so some repetitiveness is a necessary evil. Seemingly the only other story worthy of coverage today is the Brewers fight. There just doesn't seem to be a happy medium to be found anywhere.
This whole ordeal definitely raises some interesting thoughts though....
1) I hope everyone involved in the new Sports Center changeover is taking notes (I'm sure they are). The 24-hour news cycle can have great days and horrible days. So they better be prepared to call audibles next Summer.
2) The word is that the 9am-Noon edition of Sports Center Live will have similar stories, but different contributors from the 6am-9am edition. For example, Chris Mortensen would report on Favre at 7am, but a Packers beat writer would report at 10am. The question I have is....Does this really even make a difference in the viewers eyes?
3) Why even continue to air ESPN News and First Take? You could probably get more viewers by replaying the Monday Night Baseball game on Tuesdays during the day.
4) Nothing is worse than the continual replays of Sports Center, so anything seems better than the alternative.
It's a very dynamic and evolving dilemma to say the least and I'd be interested what all of you had to say about it. I'll also be passing along the "SC Special" details when they come through the "wire".
27 Comments:
Enough with Brett Favre.
With the exception of the folks in Green Bay and the dopes at ESPN, nobody else gives a damn about Favre. In fact, most of us wish he would just go away
I watched most of the SC special yesterday afternoon and it seemed like it was just a 30-minute loop of the same Marcelus Wiley/Drew Brees & Steve Young segments. Not exactly captivating.
If they want to take a page from the news bunnies at MSNBC, new anchor every hour to give a fresh take on the same stories as well as cover whatever breaking news may occur during the day.
I really want to kill that kid who keeps promoing the SC Live. Is this the most annoying ad campain ever? Where is Don Draper when you need him.
BTW dude, your girlfriend is fat. And if you didn't want me saying that, then you shouldn't have put her in front of the camera.
what bugs me is they ran a headline yesterday with the word 'yawn' in it, essentially bitching about the situation
espn has no right to complain about the situation when you are the foremost peddler of this bullshit. dont act like you dont care or it bugs you, everyone at espn loves this shit.
This is the equivalent of porn to ESPN, getting a story and running with it.
Wow, more ESPN bashin. ESPN rocks and you know it. It's an important story and deserves top coverage, not be thrown away.
More proof this blog sucks....
I hope Bristol blows up today and everyone involved with ESPN (except EA) is incinerated.
aa sucks- Did you even read the post you idiot? AA didn't bash ESPN in the least. If you're going to disagree make sure you get your facts straight you loser.
AA Hates ESPN has gotten "intellectually lazy" him/herself.
I don't think there is any doubt what the next ombudsman article will address.
Can espn do us a favor and get different graphics for their breaking news, updates, and developing stories? K, thanks.
My favorite thing about this is the fact that Sporstcenter will say something, go to a little board that has the same stuff they just said on it and repeat, then they go to a reporter who will just repeat everything that the anchor just said twice already, they'll summarize it back in the stuidio, then go to an analyst to repeat everything that's already been repeated, and finally go through this whole thing two-four times during an episode of SC. Great journalism.
These SportsCenter Specials are cutting into World Series of Poker & Women's Trick Shot Billiards reruns.
Replaying the monday night game is not a bad idea. Too bad it was an 8 inning rainout. And no, I believe this has FAR surpassed spygate.
"you know you're still interested in the outcome"
No.
No I'm not.
I know a lot of people who aren't interested, either.
Understand/remember something AA - the editors at ESPN ARE interested in this, and thereby making YOU interested in this...even if they shove it down your throat night and day.
It seemed like Robert Flores got so annoyed with the "Developing Story" graphic yesterday. The story was developing into absolutely nothing, and ESPN knew it. The Ombudsman wrote a column about the ridiculousness of SC Specials a few months ago, but clearly ESPN doesn't care. This Brett Favre story is absolutely incredible, but there's no need for a Special two days in a row when we know that he won't be on the practice field today. It's 3pm in the east, and Mike McCarthy still hasn't adressed the media. Moreover, Favre has left Lambeau, so what new information is out there that warrants a SC Special?
And I completely agree with you on point No.3. If FirstTake is still on the air, the show will be talking about the exact same thing as SC at the exact same time. It's pointless to keep the show, plus it would be great to get Jay Crawford off the air.
Are AA Hates ESPN and AA Sucks the same person? If so, shortening the name to AA Sucks smacks of "intellectual laziness." I wholeheartedly agree with TAS.
Perhaps ESPN could devote a couple minutes of their expanded coverage to this story. One can only hope...
Can't we do the humane thing and put Favraro down? This has gone on long enough, and now everyone's suffering. Wendi Nix is getting sweaty. Heywood Hale Broun Jr. (Ed Werder) is off his Cowboys beat. This madness has to end. It's best for Farvaro to get put down; allowing this to continue is the biggest travesty of them all.
It's almost amazing how quickly Favre has went from public darling to Bill Belichick-level hatred. The guy is about as welcome in the Green Bay locker room as aa hates espn is welcome here.
SDSG - 'AA Sucks' is probably the dude who tried to hijack a couple of topics over the weekend. That earlier 'AA Sucks' post doesn't fit the 'AA Hates ESPN' Mad Libs he uses every time he posts.
Thanks for the clarification, TAS.
I wonder how that Mad Libbing fool, AA Hates ESPN, will respond to the invasion of his turf. Although grammatical expert,'Jay', was welcomed with open arms a couple weeks ago, I suspect that 'AA Sucks' may not receive an engraved invitation to join the club.
It is one of the huge problems of 24-hour anything related to information on cable TV. There is no time for anyone to go practice journalism (whether the information is correct or not is another issue).
There's a certain amount of interest in the finish, as you say. But the title of Shakespeare's play "Much Ado About Nothing" sums up this exercise to a T.
Wake me when there's real news.
"With all of that said, I don't blame ESPN in the least for the coverage because as much as you try to ignore it, you know you're still interested in the outcome."
Isn't this the same hubris you usually (and correctly) accuse ESPN of displaying? Presuming to know what I "know" I want, but just won't admit to anyone?
I live near Green Bay, and I can tell you with absolute certainty that a lot of people are sick and fucking tired of Brett's little drama queen act. We don't want to hear about it on the radio, or on TV, or read about his attention whoring in the newspaper.
Brett Favre has been traded to Tampa Bay for Barry Melrose, since Favre likes to have control over a franchise.
Finally, everyone realizes how stupid infatuation with Brett Favre is. I've had enough!
Welcome to FarveCenter!
SportsCenter has lost all credibility now that they have covered this like it was a national emergency. Show me some highlights, and then shut. Does Farve have pictures of ESPN anchors doing bad things? Can't sit through another episode.
EXCELLENT point on #3