Downfall of ESPN? | jhorten9's Blog

Based on comments to my "Great Quotes" post, I thought I'd toss out some opinion on sports coverage in general. ESPN will be my target, but is is hardly out of the norm.

It is a tough balance....sports and entertainment. When announcers, analysts and reporters feel the need to entertain, it is a problem. ESPN, as I watch college gameday, is a great example.

There is nothing wrong with the show's premise, but give me a break. They go over-board with so much and all you have to do is see the last five minutes when Lee Corso puts on the mascot hat. It was a good idea at first. If he did it once or twice a year, it would be good. How many people tune in to see which hat goes on? In watching it, ESPN thinks it is an integral part of our day.

Another example of ESPN taking it too far goes back to the 1997 Heisman race. It wasn't a race at all, but the talking heads and ESPN producers needed a race so they created one. Charles Woodson was a great player, but Peyton Manning was easily the best player that season. ESPN waved the Woodson banner until they made it a race and a travesty.

Now dont' get me wrong, I am not a Manning fan and to be honest, I thought it was funny he got hosed at the time. But still, for the point of this post, it is not doing the job you were meant to do ESPN.

Is ESPN going to go down? Nope, it is here to stay. But it can be better by looking into the past and seeing what it was built upon.

With this post and $3, you can get a small coffee at Starbucks.

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September 22, 2007 11:50 AM ET

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ESPN is great at times and horrible at times. What's said is that it knows that nothing can overtake it so it will always do whatever it wants, whether fans like it or not. They have no incentive to get better since they are #1 and there is no viable alternative.