ESPN is a joke

[jakeroot]

the stadiums are generally small. They play few games. They aren't on TV that much.

So MLS on ESPN is a rare chance for soccer fans to watch soccer - explains how it is hugely popular...

Except there are no "hugely popular" MLS games scheduled to be broadcasted on ESPN.  Pertaining to a new contract, there are some games scheduled to be shown on ESPN 2.  And there will be 6 MLS Cup playoff games that can be broadcast on any ESPN network - but that could be ESPN, ESPN 2, ESPN 3, ESPN 8 (the "Ocho"...anyone get that reference?), etc...   But as far as the flagship ESPN station goes, there are no guarantees that any game will be shown.

I think soccer is more locally broadcast. The Seattle Sounders broadcast via our local FOX affiliate, KCPQ, and its sister station, KZJO.

From their website:

Following the strongest regional television ratings in club history throughout 2014 that saw a 32-percent increase in year-over-year viewership — and the highest household ratings in MLS — Sounders FC has extended its relationship with Q13 FOX (KCPQ-Channel 13) and JOEtv (KZJO-Channel 22) to continue as the regional television home of the Rave Green.

[dfwmapper]

the stadiums are generally small. They play few games. They aren't on TV that much.

So MLS on ESPN is a rare chance for soccer fans to watch soccer - explains how it is hugely popular...

Except there are no "hugely popular" MLS games scheduled to be broadcasted on ESPN.  Pertaining to a new contract, there are some games scheduled to be shown on ESPN 2.  And there will be 6 MLS Cup playoff games that can be broadcast on any ESPN network - but that could be ESPN, ESPN 2, ESPN 3, ESPN 8 (the "Ocho"...anyone get that reference?), etc...   But as far as the flagship ESPN station goes, there are no guarantees that any game will be shown.

Who cares? It's 2015, not 1995. 99.99% of the houses that have ESPN also have ESPN2 (actual number, not hyperbole). There's no effective difference in coverage for having a game on one channel over the other. Additionally, MLS has national games on Fox Sports 1, which is available to 90% of the people who have ESPN, and also on the Univision broadcast network, which available over the air in most major cities and on cable/satellite everywhere. Univision Deportes also has some games, and those are really the only ones that are even slightly challenging to find as most providers carry it in a sports tier, though it's at least an option for almost every provider. The remaining games that don't have national broadcasts are typically carried on either local RSNs (like Fox Sports or Comcast SportsNet) or local broadcasters. Your local team in Philly has most of their games split between CSN and TCN, with one on WPVI ABC 6 and a couple on FS1. You can see every game they play this year with a standard cable subscription. Most of the other teams are in the same situation. They've all come to realize that good TV coverage is mandatory to grow the game.

[DandyDan]

The thing about MLS is that in the cities where there are MLS teams, they have a certain level of popularity, probably similar to NHL.  If you don't have an MLS team in your city, you probably don't care, although I have an ex high school soccer player friend/former coworker who will drive down to Kansas City from here in the Omaha area to see Sporting KC at least once a year.  Of course, the thing about soccer on ESPN is they talk about Champions League before they ever talk about MLS, but of course, the best players are in the Champions League.

[english si]

America ignores it, because it is fundamentally repugnant to everything America is about.

Team work is fundamentally repugnant to everything America is about? Working hard towards a difficult goal for the measly reward of a point is fundamentally repuganant to everything America is about? Not winning if you cannot win in the allotted time is fundamentally repugnant to everything America is about?

Really?

[english si]

I agree with ditching the offsides rule and giving soccer matches a large dose of fast break goals.

Except it won't - because with no offside rule, teams will play deep and have lots of men behind the ball.

The offside rule was created in order to get defenders to push up the pitch as they don't need to worry about attackers in the space behind them. The rule makes those fast breaks possible as it creates the space for the attacking players to run into.

[jeffandnicole]

America ignores it, because it is fundamentally repugnant to everything America is about.

Team work is fundamentally repugnant to everything America is about? Working hard towards a difficult goal for the measly reward of a point is fundamentally repuganant to everything America is about? Not winning if you cannot win in the allotted time is fundamentally repugnant to everything America is about?

Really?

You know, we do have other sports here.  It's OK if we're not into soccer.  Football accomplishes the same thing...with a lot more scoring.  Oh, and less rioting in the stands as well.

[02 Park Ave]

I would like to see the off-sides rule not in effect within the penalty box.  There are usually so many players in there that it is of no benefit; it just causes goals to be unexpectedly disallowed.

BTW, when ESPN2 was first launched it was referred to as The Deuce.

[DTComposer]

America ignores it, because it is fundamentally repugnant to everything America is about.

Team work is fundamentally repugnant to everything America is about? Working hard towards a difficult goal for the measly reward of a point is fundamentally repuganant to everything America is about? Not winning if you cannot win in the allotted time is fundamentally repugnant to everything America is about?

Really?

You know, we do have other sports here.  It's OK if we're not into soccer.  Football accomplishes the same thing...with a lot more scoring.  Oh, and less rioting in the stands as well.

Yeah, we save our rioting for the streets of downtown after the game.

[english si]

You know, we do have other sports here.  It's OK if we're not into soccer

Yes, that's fine. I don't have a problem with India for not caring about soccer, but caring about cricket.

The issue is not not liking soccer, but thinking that America is superior than it.

Oh, and less rioting in the stands as well.

Are you in the 1980s or Turkey?

[Billy F 1988]

American television as a whole is a joke. That is all.  next....

[ctsignguy]

American television as a whole is a joke. That is all.  next....

Fred Allen:  "Television is called a 'medium" because so little of it is well-done."

[Highway63]

What gets me is that ESPN adds about $10/month to my cable bill (most of any channel), and there is no way to get cable channels without it.

What gets me is that my cable provider forces me to take Animal Planet, Univision, We, VH1, something called Discovery Life that is nothing but reality programming of the freak-show kind, the Food Network, and a History Channel that rarely shows history anymore in order to watch ESPN, and I'd have to fork over even more for ESPNU.

To pull the original topic back, ESPN heavily hypes those properties it has deals with, and ignores those it does not as much as it can. The continued employment of Bayless and Smith is beyond my understanding. I only watch ESPN 1 or 2 during the games, occasionally a 30 for 30, and maybe part of a Sportscenter (but SC is half talking heads now too).

[jeffandnicole]

You know, we do have other sports here.  It's OK if we're not into soccer

Yes, that's fine. I don't have a problem with India for not caring about soccer, but caring about cricket.

The issue is not not liking soccer, but thinking that America is superior than it.

Oh, and less rioting in the stands as well.

Are you in the 1980s or Turkey?

OK, we'll go with corruption instead!  At least FIFA is making headlines all across America today!

[triplemultiplex]

We used to watch ESPN to see the highlights of games we couldn't watch.  Then the internet got fast so we didn't need ESPN for that.

To keep eyeballs on the screen, ESPN fell into the cable news model of programming.  Have two people argue about something stupid and hype any controversy that comes along.

ESPN is responsible for over half the price of your cable/satellite bill.  They have all these big, big money deals with various leagues and need to deliver eyeballs for their advertisers not only for the sporting events themselves, but for their other channels so they can make up for the cost of broadcasting those expensive sporting events.  So Disney (who owns ESPN, as I'm sure you all know) forces cable and satellite providers to include ESPN in their basic packages or else they will deny them the rights to broadcast the other popular channels Disney owns that people actually want to see.  This bundling of channels by Disney, Viacom, NewsCorp, etc is how you wind up with all those stupid channels you never watch.  Then the cable and satellite companies pass the cost to you and me.

So even if there was a TV package available that did not include ESPN, that one channel would still be inflating the price of your cable/satellite bill because of all this bundling of good channels and shitty channels.

[texaskdog]

All they do is talk about the NFL, NBA with a little bit of pro baseball and wrestling mixed in (if they have time). No NHL coverage, and when they do talk about baseball, it always revolves around the Red Sox and Yankees. They blow things out of proportion, are biased towards superstars (LeBron, Kobe, Brady, Manning, etc) and have obnoxious personnel (like Skip Bayless, Colin Cowherd, Chris Broussard, Stephen A. Smith, Brian Windhorst, etc)

You forgot Berman.  His funny stuff is not funny 30 years later.  Chris, there are no New York Baseball Giants anymore.  I swear they get a bonus every time they say "walkoff".  Plus the female commentators like Beth Mowins are awful.  Yet ESPN is the only reason we don't dump cable altogether.

[english si]

OK, we'll go with corruption instead!  At least FIFA is making headlines all across America today!

Sure, FIFA are corrupt. But this ad hominem doesn't undermine the sport itself, just FIFA.

And it's not like Britain hasn't been anti-FIFA for way longer than the US. We have many journalists banned from FIFA after they investigated the corruption there.

Plus, here's three words to show it's not just soccer: National Football League!

[Brandon]

OK, we'll go with corruption instead!  At least FIFA is making headlines all across America today!

Sure, FIFA are corrupt. But this ad hominem doesn't undermine the sport itself, just FIFA.

And it's not like Britain hasn't been anti-FIFA for way longer than the US. We have many journalists banned from FIFA after they investigated the corruption there.

Plus, here's three words to show it's not just soccer: National Football League!

Here, the letters NFL stand for No Fun League. 

I'm in Canada South anyway, so hockey tends to be very much watched.  In some areas, it's two seasons, hockey and baseball. 

[thenetwork]

You forgot Berman.  His funny stuff is not funny 30 years later.  Chris, there are no New York Baseball Giants anymore.

I'm glad I'm not the only one who thinks that.  There was a time I said it was time for Berman to be put out to pasture.  Now I am saying that Berman's career should be given the "Old Yeller" treatment -- He goes out with the ESPN crew to a sports story, but only the sports crew returns!!!

[texaskdog]

You forgot Berman.  His funny stuff is not funny 30 years later.  Chris, there are no New York Baseball Giants anymore.

I'm glad I'm not the only one who thinks that.  There was a time I said it was time for Berman to be put out to pasture.  Now I am saying that Berman's career should be given the "Old Yeller" treatment -- He goes out with the ESPN crew to a sports story, but only the sports crew returns!!!

Like when businesses think up clever ad campaigns and they go on too long.  Flo is another one to put out to pasture. 

[ctsignguy]

You forgot Berman.  His funny stuff is not funny 30 years later.  Chris, there are no New York Baseball Giants anymore.

I'm glad I'm not the only one who thinks that.  There was a time I said it was time for Berman to be put out to pasture.  Now I am saying that Berman's career should be given the "Old Yeller" treatment -- He goes out with the ESPN crew to a sports story, but only the sports crew returns!!!

Like when businesses think up clever ad campaigns and they go on too long.  Flo is another one to put out to pasture. 

Her radio commercials are even worse than her TV ads....

If you somehow could pry ESPN away from Disney, what would you get rid of? (personalities, programs) and what would you add?

[texaskdog]

You forgot Berman.  His funny stuff is not funny 30 years later.  Chris, there are no New York Baseball Giants anymore.

I'm glad I'm not the only one who thinks that.  There was a time I said it was time for Berman to be put out to pasture.  Now I am saying that Berman's career should be given the "Old Yeller" treatment -- He goes out with the ESPN crew to a sports story, but only the sports crew returns!!!

Like when businesses think up clever ad campaigns and they go on too long.  Flo is another one to put out to pasture. 

Her radio commercials are even worse than her TV ads....

If you somehow could pry ESPN away from Disney, what would you get rid of? (personalities, programs) and what would you add?

Well I always hated Flo anyway.

I like the channel for what it is but Berman would go (i can live with him being unfunny but I hear he's a huge jerk too).  Craig James if he's still around.  Beth Mowins and all of her wannabes (Pam Ward and that new Mowins soundalike) and anyone who says "walkoff" anything.  Moreso commentators do not need to talk constantly.  I wish there was the option to watch a game with the crowd noise but none of the inane banter. 

[thenetwork]

And here I always thought that a "walk off home run" had something to do with a pitcher first walking a batter(s) then the walks come back to haunt them when the home run brings 'em all in.  I didn't realize that base hits and/or errors were also allowed to enable the "walk off" scenario.

Learn something new every day...

[texaskdog]

And here I always thought that a "walk off home run" had something to do with a pitcher first walking a batter(s) then the walks come back to haunt them when the home run brings 'em all in.  I didn't realize that base hits and/or errors were also allowed to enable the "walk off" scenario.

Learn something new every day...

Well its stupid because Game winning home run accomplished the same things.  Why did we need new lingo?  My kid's kickball team won last night with a freaking WALK OFF CALLED STRIKEOUT

[SSOWorld]

Runs scored by running around in circles, pumpin steroids and doctoring the bat.

[jeffandnicole]

And here I always thought that a "walk off home run" had something to do with a pitcher first walking a batter(s) then the walks come back to haunt them when the home run brings 'em all in.  I didn't realize that base hits and/or errors were also allowed to enable the "walk off" scenario.

Learn something new every day...

Yeah, basically anything that allows the home team to win in the bottom of the 9th or later is now considered a 'walk off'.  It really doesn't make any sense.  I had personally considered a 'walk off' something that a pinch hitter did, because in my mind he was just sitting around the dugout all game, then was told to go in and hit.  Instead, the guy that's already had 5 at bats and played in the field all day is now given the walk off designation if he brings in the winning run, even though he's been walking around the entire game.