ESPN Continues to Alienate Fans

ESPN is at it again. The "Worldwide Leader," responsible for such mind numbing ideas like "Who's Now," on its website today is leading with an article assessing how Lebron James would perform in the NFL. The discussion features an article by Tim Graham and video from the "NFL Live" panel speculating on what would be Lebron's ideal position in the NFL. Seriously? Clearly, ESPN has too many analysts and writers on payroll who specialize in the NFL that have absolutely nothing to do right now. So ESPN decides to make its "talent" earn their paychecks by insulting the intelligence of the fans who flock to their network and website as it force feeds an utterly ridiculous discussion.

How would Lebron fare in the NFL? Who knows and Who Cares. Any savvy sports fan understands that the mere idea is unrealistic. Lebron James plays basketball and played all of two years of football back in high school. Projecting if he could play in the NFL based on that body of work is illogical and a complete waste of time. Surely, ESPN has something better to feature on the front page of its website. Apparently not.

Such foolish nonsense has become all too familiar at ESPN as the media giants constantly tries too hard to please both hardcore and casual sport fans at the same time. What they have actually managed to do over the last handful of years is alienate the passionate, knowledge sports fan by dumbing down their product and coverage with the nauseating self-promotion of its on-air talent and coddling of the sports figures they cover.

Maybe tomorrow ESPN could lead with a story on the prospects of Yao Ming playing wide receiver. Who would be able to cover Yao in the red zone?

NBA Feeling the Draft

It’s extremely difficult to watch NBA basketball games these days. These past playoffs were especially brutal. Aside from Golden State, Phoenix, and Lebron’s one shining moment against Detroit, trying to maintain an interest in the league’s never ending postseason is a hopeless endeavor. Any game where San Antonio is a participant isn’t even worth considering (unless Phoenix is involved and even then it’s still painful). Which would partly explain why not even the name Lebron James could save the NBA Finals from posting its lowest ratings ever. The other reason for the low ratings is that the NBA game just isn’t very good. When the highlight of your postseason is the draft lottery you know you got problems. Which leads to the question – Is the idea of the NBA more intriguing than the actual product?

I say yes.

It’s like playing franchise mode in NBA Live where wheeling and dealing – making trades, signing free agents, changing your team’s starting five – building your team is more fun than actually playing the games against the computer. You’re better off just simulating the games and advancing to the off-season to play GM and do it all again. Fans feel the same way about the real NBA, which was evident with amount of attention paid to the NBA draft. My buddies and I were more excited about the draft than we have been about any NBA game in about a decade. This same sentiment is why my brother, who grew up a Blazers fan, but hasn’t paid attention to the NBA since the days of Kevin Duckworth, is now digging out all his old Blazers gear even while, living on the east coast, he likely won’t watch one minute of Greg Oden or his Portland teammates next season. The NBA game looks much better on paper than it ever does on the court.