ESPN showed the Red Sox-Atlanta game tonight and that was the feed I received through the Extra Innings package.
The station cut away from the game three separate times to show Sammy Sosa's at-bats in Texas (he has 599 home runs), so viewers missed Edgar Renteria's at-bat in the 4th (four pitches and his GIDP), Pete Orr's at-bat in the 6th (first four pitches), and two batters in the 8th: Jarrod Saltalamacchia (three-pitch strike out) and Kelly Johnson (ball, strike, ground out to second).
I cannot begin to tell you how much this pissed me off. If ESPN is going to broadcast the Red Sox game, then show the Red Sox game. You wanna show Sammy? Then show the Rangers game. Can it be any simpler?
Anyone who cares about Sosa's HR will either be Rangers fans watching the Rangers broadcast, serious baseball fans who have Extra Innings and will click over every so often from whatever other game they are watching, or more casual fans who will check out the highlight shows later on.
It's bad enough that ESPN seems determined to hire the biggest idiots to call baseball games. But then they don't even bother to show the entire game they have grabbed the exclusive out-of-market rights to broadcast.
(How dumb is ESPN's baseball coverage? It should be the best in the business, right? Well, first of all, they think that we should be learning about the game from Steve Phillips. Then, in the top of the third inning, we get treated to Phillips and Dan Shulman talking about Coco Crisp's recent improvement at the plate, Andruw Jones's season-long slump and a discussion about whether the Red Sox see enough in Crisp to keep him around for 2008 or whether they might go looking for another CF in the free agent market this winter (Jones will be a FA). It was painfully obvious that neither Shulman nor Phillips had even an iota of a clue who the Red Sox #1 minor league prospect is: Jacoby Ellsbury -- a center fielder currently in Pawtucket.)
So ... how hard is it to find a way to complain to ESPN about its coverage? About as hard as getting Remy to not pimp his website during a NESN broadcast.
I found a webpage through which you can submit a complaint (though it likely deletes your message as soon as you click send). You could send an email to "support@espn.go.com" or try calling 1-888-549-ESPN.
P.S. Interesting how Sosa doesn't get 5% of the steroid crap that Bonds gets. I wonder if being a happy-go-lucky black man instead of a black man who doesn't kiss the media's ass has anything to do with it. Hmmmm ....
JD Drizzle went yard right as one of the dumb fuck anouncers said JD is having a tough time at the plate this year. Can they just not over commit to their commentary. They should more neutral so they don't make themselves look like real asses.
ReplyDeleteI was clicking back and forth between ESPN and the OSU-Eaters(!)
ReplyDeletegame on ESPN2, so the commentary is a little blurred in my mind. But one of those stations had Steve effing Garvey on. Yuk!
I was clicking back and forth between ESPN and the OSU-Eaters(!)
ReplyDeletegame on ESPN2
Perhaps ESPN assumes this is what we all do. But some of us watch a whole game, start to finish.
Good post. Nice rant.
Sosa is Dominican
ReplyDeleteESPN is to sports what MTV is to music.
ReplyDeleteSosa is Dominican
ReplyDeleteSo, what, he's not black? Or he's not Mr Happy Face?
I've discovered that as I journey towards geezer-hood I'm a natural mellower. Things just don't seem as shitty the next day. Except for ESPN. There is nothing good about them. I keep MLB-audio just to mute them out (plus a growing list of moronic non-NESN broadcasts). Unfortunately, the Bonds watch will produce more of the same. They didn't even have the courtesy to use the split-screen last night. I wish there was a way of telling them that I would never, ever willingly pay for anything they have their name on and I tell everybody I meet to do the same.
ReplyDeleteyes the announcers are bad. However, you are a bit over the top about complaining about them split-screening the Cubs-Rangers game for a historic moment while the Sox-Braves were in the late innings of a laugher. (At least it was split-screened on ESPN-HD, maybe not on regular ESPN).
ReplyDeleteHowever, you are a bit over the top about complaining about them split-screening the Cubs-Rangers game for a historic moment while the Sox-Braves were in the late innings of a laugher.
ReplyDeleteIf ESPN believes the Cubs-Rangers has historic potential, SHOW THAT GAME. (Then I can see NESN on EI.)
What about the potential historic moments that come up in every game every night? Should ESPN cut away to any game that has two guys on and no outs -- because we might see a triple play? I've never see none.
Or any time a guy might hit for the cycle? I hadn't seen that in 30+ years of watching games -- until this season. ... Or a pitcher has the chance to retire the side on 3 pitches?. That's quite rare.
A split-screen still would have annoyed me, but it is the only defensible action ESPN could have taken if they wanted to show bits of two games at the same time.
Naturally, they fucked it up.
But what do you expect? They have zero respect for serious baseball fans. They employ Rick Sutcliffe, Steve Phillips, John Kruk, Dusty Baker, Joe Morgan, etc.
Imagine a team staffing its roster that way. It'd be 25 Cesar Crespos, who'd go 0-162.
I normally refrain from ad-hominem comments, but anyone who feels "that they're part of history" simply because the TV cuts to an event, well, someone needs to take a serious look at their life.
ReplyDeleteRedsock said "They employ Rick Sutcliffe,..."
ReplyDeleteYou mean Rick hit-the-mute Sutcliffe? I'll bet his wife loves his out of town gigs to get away from that droning voice.
New blog post: Fat Billy Eats it Raw, Yanks Swept by Rockies
ReplyDeleteIt's true, ESPN is horrible. But did you sit through the disaster that was the Diamondbacks Announcing when the Sox were in Arizona. Holy crap it was bad. If I were willing to pay more money, would MLB.TV let me choose which broadcast I watch? THat would be nice.
ReplyDeleteYankees loose! Yankees loose!
ReplyDeleteWe'd better corral them up again!
ReplyDeleteCharlie Brown said...
ReplyDeleteyes the announcers are bad. However, you are a bit over the top about complaining about them split-screening the Cubs-Rangers game for a historic moment
Only thing that makes that moment historic, is that it happened yesterday.........
That comment above this one is historic..actually that sentence i just typed is now also historic. And that one. And that one. And that one. And that one. And that one. And that one. And that one. And that one. And that one. Annnnnnnnnnd that one.
ReplyDeleteOnly thing that makes that moment historic, is that it happened yesterday.........
ReplyDelete:-)
Tim also has the right idea. Better send an ESPN crew over to his house and preempt all other programming.
If I were willing to pay more money, would MLB.TV let me choose which broadcast I watch? THat would be nice.
ReplyDeleteYou have that choice if you want a radio broadcast. MLB should make both video feeds available for next year -- rather than adding more bells and whistles.
...
For the third time in three starts, Sexy Lips outpitches Fat Billy. Yawn.
ESPN is terrible, but I have no problem with them cutting away from the Sox game (which was 1,000,000-0 at that point) to watch Sosa hit. Even if you don't like it, theres so many other things that they do badly to complain about. Watching Sosa try to hit his 600th is way down on the list, behind, for instance, "fire everyone who works there."
ReplyDeletebut I have no problem with them cutting away from the Sox game (which was 1,000,000-0 at that point) to watch Sosa hit.
ReplyDeleteBut it's not about what you have a problem with. All they have to do is use split screen and no one has a problem.