The ESP End?

I didn't think it was possible, but I'm pretty sure I'm growing tired of ESPN. The triviality of some of the things they decide to cover is getting ridiculous. Certainly, almost any news having to do with sports is pretty trivial, but I sometimes cringe at their willingness to make a story out of anything. Or nothing, really. Recently, they spent a large portion of the day discussing a hug. The details don't matter. They were analyzing a hug. I'm serious, a hug.

They'll even magically make a story out of whether or not a story should be a story. When Ben Roethlisberger was "caught" by a cell phone camera going out to a bar with his offensive linemen the week leading up to the Super Bowl, they showed the pictures all day and the story was actually whether or not it should be a story. But, when they have a good character and can turn sports into a soap opera, they'll use any opportunity to do so.

They also used to show things called highlights and stats. A pretty novel idea for its time. Now, the highlights are simply used to further the storyline they've decided to focus on and the stats don't do much to help, so they get left out. I know I can go online to get all the stats I want, but I'm already looking at something that is supposed to deliver sports information, so deliver me some actual information.

When it comes down to it, ESPN's focus has shifted from usually showing sports to mostly talking about sports as promotion for the rare time when they actually do show sports.

Some of the personalities bother me too. And Skip Bayless is about the biggest culprit. I actually used to like him. But, his head growth would make Barry Bonds jealous and his inability to ever consider the mere notion that he might possibly be wrong is simply astounding. He would argue the sky was green until he was blue in the face. And rather than actually debate people, he rotates through a group of reporters willing to concede to his reasoning in order to appear on the show.

Also, Chris Berman. Nothing more need be said.

The forced infusion of pop culture in the SportsCenter anchors' references has also gone a little too far. John Buccigross is the worst. Dude, we know you know the names of the lead singers of some mildly eclectic music groups. We get it. Please stop.

Beyond the shows themselves, the way they pick and choose what becomes a story also irks me. They are pretty much the only source for sports information on television so they really have the ultimate power to decide what becomes news. They can look down a list of things that happened and pick what to cover and, of course, they pick based on what is best for them, not the viewers.

Their selective coverage of NASCAR, something they broadcast, is an example of this. It's a personality-driven sport that's not strong enough to survive if its main personalities have tarnished images. So, ESPN doesn't cover the personal lives of the drivers as closely as they cover the personalities of other sports. You can't tell me a 22-year old, millionaire race car driver doesn't do some of the same things that an NBA player would be severely criticized for. But, they don't seem to get the same kind of scrutiny.

On the other hand, they cover athletes in major college programs and the big three sports like high-profile celebrities because those sports are popular and established enough to survive their athletes having a bad image. People would still watch the NFL if most of the players got out of jail the morning before. Or, fought dogs to the death as a hobby.

I do still enjoy some shows on ESPN and watch them daily. Shows like Pardon the Interruption, Around the Horn, Sportsnation, and others like them. They are still about the escapism in sports and don't treat it like actual news. It's still about the fun and enjoyment.

I guess ESPN has just fallen victim to the 24-hour news cycle; another outlet needing to fill time with any story they can find or, more often, any story they can make. I like the old days (is that a gray hair?) when they replayed the same thirty minute SportsCenter from 6-am to noon and then followed that with some motocross or surfing. Those were the days. Now, we have constant live coverage of something that hasn't happened yet and "breaking news" when it does.

Just show me some tape-delay powerboat racing for goodness sake.

Reggie the King

After staring blankly in a state of shock, I've finally been able to come to grips with it. Or, begin to. It's been rough so far. The weight of this new reality pressing down on me. It's almost too much effort to lift my head. The thought is still unreal. I can just stare at the ground and shake my head...

The joy. The triumph. The heartbreak. The amazement. He gave it all. Defying all odds and silencing thousands. Bowing to the crowd as boos cascaded down from every direction. Soaking it all in. Reveling in the hatred for him.

He knows they only hate him for what he's done. With a callous heart he's broken theirs. Time and time again. Enjoying it more each time.

He turned dreams into nightmares...

His foil was his greatest inspiration. To watch him suffer brought him joy. To stare him in the face and watch the gloom wash over it. To see his heart broken. That's why he did it. That's why he loved it...

Reggie Miller. The king. The record may not be his, but the title remains. The timing and the pressure. The killer instinct. The shear brutality of his cold-blooded shots. His three-pointers raining down like bombs bringing destruction to an entire city's dreams. The net exploding with each swish. The crowd erupting in agonizing moans and then falling silent. That's what fed him. And he was hungry...

More than just three points, his shots meant the elation of one city and the utter depression of another. His threes squashed hope. His threes brought opponents to their knees, head in hands, all hope lost. His threes made people either love him or hate him. But, most of all, his threes made us watch with bated breath.

And for some of us, they made him a hero. A hero who took a small town team and thrust them into the national spotlight by taking on the mighty Knicks. He brought down Goliath with his own form of that famous weapon. His arms his sling and the ball his rock. From long range he struck again and again with a fury unseen. Until the giant had fallen...

Raise your arms in triumph, Reggie...For you are still the king.

Basketball Makes the Heart Grow Fonder

As I watched college basketball last Saturday, I was reminded why I like the BCS. Of course, the BCS has its flaws and it's by no means a perfect system, but it makes the regular season important. I don't even really care to watch college basketball until March Madness. Well, I do enjoy regular season games and will watch them if they're on, but at the same time I know they don't really mean that much. Even if it's a great game between two great teams, it doesn't really matter who wins. The regular season's only real purpose is to seed for the tournament and the excitement they try to build around "bubble" teams is pretty pointless as well. Besides the occasional cinderella, a team that barely made the tournament isn't going very far, much less win it all. They could just substitute them for any other mediocre team and nobody would really care or notice. In fact, I'd prefer they play about ten to fifteen games just to gauge the teams and then have the tournament. Maybe even just go straight to the conference tournaments. It'd save a lot of tedium.

For sure, the college football regular season would still be much more exciting than college basketball, if only because of fewer games, but a playoff would drastically dampen the intensity. As it is now, every game matters in football and every win or loss can make or break a season. A game in the first few weeks can be the most important game of the season. College basketball doesn't really have an important game in the regular season. At least not a single game that can mean success or disaster for a team. In college football, that's every game. Every single week matters. Every play matters.

Having a playoff wouldn't really stop people from feeling like their team got slighted either. Only so many teams would be in the playoff and some would get left out. It'd be a whole new debate. Then it'd get expanded so more and more teams would be let in and then eventually their regular season would only be slightly less meaningless than college basketball's.

I'm not sure it'd even crown a "true" champion either. Admittedly, there would be much more consensus, but fans would still be able to find a way to argue that their team was deserving of a better chance, or even that their team was better than the champion. For example, say USC beat both Oregon and Notre Dame during the regular season and they did so pretty easily. However, all three teams still make the playoffs. Due to seeding, USC plays Notre Dame in the first round. After being blown out in the first meeting, Notre Dame barely beats USC to knock them out of the playoffs. Then, Notre Dame and Oregon end up in the championship game and Oregon wins. Two teams that were blown out by USC during the regular season are playing for the championship. But, based on the regular season results it would be hard to argue that Oregon is a better team than USC. But, Oregon won the tournament so they are the "true" champion, even if they are arguably not the best team.

In fact, as it is, the BCS is a playoff system in a way. It's basically a double-elimination tournament. Plus, it's not like in a traditional playoff every team has to play every other team so that's not a requirement to crown a "true" champion. Nobody seems to complain about the lack of a playoff during the regular season. People, of course, want it both ways. They want to keep the intensity of the regular season and have a playoff. That's not how things work, though.

Another plus of the bowl system is the bowl themselves. People will say we can keep the bowls and still have a playoff, but it wouldn't be the same. Is the NIT any real consolation for not making the NCAA tournament? Plus, even with a playoff, a team that loses more than a few games wouldn't really have a chance to win it all. But, with the bowl system, teams get rewarded at the end of the season even if they have no chance to win the championship. Sometimes even getting to a bowl is reward enough for a team. With a playoff system, they'd be outsiders playing meaningless games. A playoff system would be even more exclusionary than the BCS because it would take the meaning out of a bowl victory for a school just happy to be there.

So, I like the BCS system because I don't want the football regular season to become the basketball regular season. Basketball's regular season is simply a prelude to the postseason. The games don't really matter. Not compared to football, at least. In football, the regular season pretty much is the postseason. Every game can mean the end of your championship run. But, hope is not lost because a loss by another team can put you right back in it. It's a three month emotional roller coaster and I enjoy the ride every year. If you love college football's regular season, then you love the BCS.