ESPN Layoffs

[yk9001]

32 minutes ago, Angel Dog and Beer said:

I watch ESPN regularly, and what annoys me the most is how much they prop up their sportscasters. Everyone has their own segment with annoying titles (Bucci's star of the night, Coach's Corner, Bend it like Breto, Stanford Steve, and on and on).  Standard sports information and highlights are really secondary to the TMZ news stories and argumentative opinion pieces. Just show me the important highlights, stats, game recaps whetever. I really don't care about the flair or opinions of those reading the news. 

When I saw that Trent Dilfer got shitcanned, the first thing I thought of is that annoying segment name, "Dilfer's Dimes".

[Richard]

Tim Tebow minor league highlights, Johnny Manziel mall autograph signing reports, and deflategate were top stories every day. Hot take personalities and entertainment are ratings draws for ESPN now.

 

ESPN hasn't been my thing for a long time.

[AngelsLakersFan]

2 hours ago, red321 said:

exactly...I watch Angels baseball and baseball in general, much better coverage on channels dedicated to those items. The only challenge being MLB network tries to mimic the analyst schtick of ESPN at times. Anything that involves Kevin Millar or Eric Byrnes is pretty much unwatchable.

 

Noticed Jim Bowden got the axe...hopefully he doesn't pollute the airwaves of anything I watch...holy shit he's bad.

Mark Saxon, former Angels beat writer for the Register, got the axe as well

ESPNs baseball coverage is just terrible. I tried to watch BBTN once this season and they are clueless. It's just watercolor talking points and #narrative without an ounce of substance.

[well_red]

1 hour ago, Catwhoshatinthehat said:

I ditched cable some months back and have FS through sling which I use to catch Angel and Ducks games.  Beyond that I don't watch any sports channels or shows and don't feel like I'm missing anything.  I still thing it's annoying when I go to ESPN, Yahoo sports or CBS sports just to see the main updates of the day and there's some TMZ type story on there.  For example on ESPN one of the Top Headlines is 'Serena talks social media slip of pregnancy' and I can't understand why that's a top sports headline but then I realize it's a space filler much like most of the shows on those channels.

Didn't realize Sling had FS West.  And NBCSN?  Wow dreams become reality, really just use cable for Angels and EPL games.

[Tank]

espn is littered with fake news and epitomizes over-analyzing. how many of their shows were dedicated to opinions by their talent? stephen a. blows goats with his pomp and arrogance, but i'll bet he survives.

if they would just stick with covering sports, and covering them well without the tmz/tabloid drama, they'd have been fine. but they've deteriorated into a carnival of caricatures, and made their product unwatchable most of the time. maybe this is karma for awarding the courage award to caitlyn jenner.

sorry to see dottie pepper go from their golf coverage (she was solid and had good insights). i hope golf channel or cbs will pick her up.

[red321]

Interesting read in Deadspin...that these layoffs don't really address the core issue...bleeding subscribers with people cord cutting and the rights for sporting events is batshit crazy. A few million in salary doesn't do anything to address the actual issue.

 

http://deadspin.com/espns-latest-layoffs-are-just-a-way-to-buy-time-1794678629

[nate]

4 hours ago, yk9001 said:

I haven't seen one screamer, or NBA personality, on the list.

They love the screamers.  Stephen A is there forever.  They would have kept Bayliss forever too if he didn't bail.

@m0nkey Stark was the only good baseball reporter at ESPN so naturally they axed him.

[Brandon]

i thought people that were on today would stay, but i watched the morning sportscenter with jade mccarthy and she later tweeted that she was cut.

the problem is the tmz type shit is their highest ratings, people dig that shit for whatever reason. hell, look at shit like twitter or facebook and look at all the neanderthals that argue in the comment sections about politics or sports teams.....even news articles or youtube comments. people eat this shit up. it's not that they changed that caused this (look at mtv who stopped playing music videos and reinvented itself with all sorts of content), the issue is simply technology and cord cutters. espn isn't the only option anymore and at the same time tv rights to the nfl, etc. have gone up astronomically. 

i hate the tmz shit like the next guy, but there is a reason they still post about tim tebow or johnny manziel....hell, i've seen you dudes posting in those threads and i bet they are some of the most clicked on their site.

[Brandon]

looks like they are cutting back on the baseball content as well and are going to use mob network content, if i read it right in a different article.

[mrwicked]

they needed to make room in the budget for their burgeoning eSports coverage. 

[Angel Dog and Beer]

Just strip all the sports and change it to ESPNFL and be done with it. 

[red321]

Makes you wonder, what is going to happen to leagues like NBA, NFL, MLB if the huge escalation in broadcast rights starts to disappear. It seems to me they are going to have to look at other revenue streams and can they make as much selling streaming rights as over the air and cable broadcasting rights?

[Catwhoshatinthehat]

35 minutes ago, mrwicked said:

they needed to make room in the budget for their burgeoning eSports coverage. 

Some months back I was watching some of the CS tourney they had on TNT or TBS and some of the commercials they had where these chubby pasty European dudes trying to peddle headphones and other gear.  More power to them but it was amusing seeing them stand there like they were Lebron James with their arms folded across their chest trying to look intimidating.   

[Brandon]

it's a trip how big that shit is. i've read enough articles of people cheating or getting kicked off teams on bigger news sites to see how big it is. i know some dudes from the poker world that have switched from streaming poker content to video games or even started gaming teams.

i would never have thought playing duck hunt all those years ago could have turned into a career.

[mrwicked]

there are some pretty funny videos online of those gamers. 

like they have groups or guilds or teams or whatever, with like matching hoodies. and they stroll into the GameStop at the mall thinking everyone will know them and be so exited to meet them because they are famous (in their world). and the gamestop people are so bored and want to go home and have no idea who they are. 

so they leave and go fine the next GameStop. hahaha.

or the videos of people playing those tournaments where the point is to play as fast as you can. and they have zero social skills and just blather on awkwardly.

gamers are the best source for awkward hilarity.

[NJHalo]

ESPN is morphing the same way MTV did. No longer recognizable from what it once was. 

[Adam]

Bring the white rappers and madden tourneys back!

[Amazing Larry]

I licky boom-boom down. 

[Brandon]

1 hour ago, Adam said:

Bring the white rappers and madden tourneys back!

yes!!

this pic some chick took many years ago of us, like a selfie, has a huge tv behind us and this show is airing with one of the white dudes that has his hat tilted to the side. fucking awesome every time i come across it.

[Tank]

34 minutes ago, Lawrence said:

I licky boom-boom down. 

sweet sassy molassy!

[Tank]

11 hours ago, nate said:

I think most sports coverage is shit now, including FS1.

tried to watch them once they started their version of sports center. felt like i was watching a bunch of immature children who were trying to yell louder than the other guy or be more witty. haven't watched since. what an unmitigated disaster.

[Catwhoshatinthehat]

2 hours ago, cezero said:

gigantic money for that particular game

i'm a halo and street fighter fan, and the top guys make good money on those games. a halo kid named ninja streams a few hours a day, and makes $20K/month in twitch subscriptions alone. but it's nothing compared to CS or especially Dota, good god. 

I believe it but it still trips me out.  I could nerd out and reminisce for days but as I've mentioned before in other threads I played TFC a lot starting about a month after it came out and eventually played CS for about 6 months when it first came out.  The tournaments back then were more grass roots style while the tables, LAN and so on were set up in part by the players.  Now you've got guys sitting up in front of a big audience playing while they wear or use sponsor gear and it's streamed online.  I guess it's my 'back in my day' moment now that I'm getting old and trip out on the fact that something I wasted so much time on as a kid turned into a big money maker for some.  Especially when one of those games is CS which has been around in some form for almost 17 years now. 

[AngelsLongBall]

Am I an asshole if I don't know what CS is?

[Amazing Larry]

7 minutes ago, AngelsLongBall said:

Am I an asshole if I don't know what CS is?

Counter-Strike

I knew a couple guys that got lost in that game.  

[Blarg]

I was one of them. I used to be so hooked I would come home from work and play until 2am and get up for work at 6am. Dust, Dust 2, Aztec, Trainyard, Inferno, Silo, Apartments, Italy and the dreaded AWP map. I sucked with sniper rifles so I used the USP and a knife and went for sneak attacks while guys were so focused on one shot kills.

There were thousands of servers to choose from and I spent a lot of time on some of the most active servers that had a decent ping in Los Angeles, which included a server in Chicago. Must have been the training ground for future killers. Now the server list is in the hundreds and most are bots. 

Every now and then I will load up the game and find a couple guys still playing the same 13 year old game on the same maps, primarily Dust 2. I still suck at it.