• The KillerFrogs

ESPN Hemorrhaging

Wexahu

Full Member
I think I've watched Baseball Tonight twice since MLB Network went on the air. It sucked. Not missing anything.

I can't imagine watching Baseball Tonight with any sort of regularity, sounds boring as hell. I like baseball (and love how it's about the only team sport there is that isn't impacted much by officiating), but it's more or less a box score game for me. I don't watch much of it but I definitely check the box scores every night before I go to bed.
 

RollToad

Baylor is Trash.
I can't imagine watching Baseball Tonight with any sort of regularity, sounds boring as hell. I like baseball (and love how it's about the only team sport there is that isn't impacted much by officiating), but it's more or less a box score game for me. I don't watch much of it but I definitely check the box scores every night before I go to bed.
How is Ohio State's team doing this year?
 

Wexahu

Full Member
Any word on how this impacts college baseball coverage?

I imagine we're not far removed from no on-site announcers for most games (all sports). No need to fly a couple no-name guys across the country, put em up in a hotel for the night, and pay them a nice per diem. Might as well keep them in Bristol in front of the screen everyone else is watching and that they probably watch half the time anyway when they do a game.
 

FBallFan123

Active Member
This quote is all you need to know about John Skipper and the direction he's taking ESPN...

https://www.si.com/tech-media/2017/04/26/espn-layoffs-firings-list-details

“A necessary component of managing change involves constantly evaluating how we best utilize all of our resources, and that sometimes involves difficult decisions,” Skipper said, in a statement. “Our content strategy—primarily illustrated in recent months by melding distinct, personality-driven SportsCenter TV editions and digital-only efforts with our biggest sub-brand—still needs to go further, faster…and as always, must be efficient and nimble. Dynamic change demands an increased focus on versatility and value, and as a result, we have been engaged in the challenging process of determining the talent—anchors, analysts, reporters, writers and those who handle play-by-play—necessary to meet those demands. We will implement changes in our talent lineup this week. A limited number of other positions will also be affected and a handful of new jobs will be posted to fill various needs.”
 

FBallFan123

Active Member
ESPN: you really want to save some money? Can Stephen A Smith, Golic and SVP.

I never quite got the appeal of SVP...or Russilo.

SVP just seems like a boring guy with nothing really interesting or insightful to say.

I find him very generic.

He's like the ESPN version of Zach Braff to me.

I assume his main appeal is he isn't as annoying as most of the other people at ESPN.
 
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FBallFan123

Active Member
The Jayson Stark announcement may be the most surprising of all; even more so than Ed Werder and I find that one stunning too.

Yeah, those guys are real pros...so I guess it makes total sense that ESPN now has no place for them.

Hopefully Stark gets picked up by MLB Network.

These layoffs will likely just push audiences who want actual sports coverage further from ESPN and closer to the MLB/NFL/NBA/NHL Networks.
 
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Ron Swanson

Full Member
Danny Kannell is the only name I take a little joy in.
Every single person listed on Deadspin had a gracious Tweet thanking ESPN for their time there and talking about what great people they met in their time at ESPN and what an amazing place it was to work, etc... except for Kannell. Kannell bitched about how he poured his heart and soul into that company for 8 years and then was fired in 3 minutes.

Gotta admit though, I was surprised at how universally gracious everyone was.
 

Ron Swanson

Full Member
I never quite got the appeal of SVP...or Russilo.

SVP just seems like a boring guy with nothing really interesting or insightful to say.

I find him very generic.

He's like the ESPN version of Zach Braff to me.

I assume his main appeal is he isn't as annoying as most of the other people at ESPN.
I just disagree 100%

He's the best thing on ESPN. Smart, genuine, funny, and has great opinions.
 
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