ESPN

Shadowlight

Master
Joined
Mar 16, 2013
Messages
3,882
ESPN is still mainly a deadly force out there. From Mike Greenberg and his noxious "Get Up" program to the now stale Golic ( and his ever present son) and Wingo Show, mornings are a tough caste laden sled.

Big mouth Stephen Smith has made several egregious errors in recent months like saying Dwayne Haskins is a running QB. You begin to realize outside of the NBA and boxing Smith isn't really paying attention. Loquacious or not, his talents are better suited as a sideline NBA and boxing analyst. Not as a multi million dollar ESPN mouthpiece.

And there are plenty of other sore spots.

But there are also at least from my perspective some bright spots.

For now I am putting MNF Booger M on ice. At first I couldn't stand him. He got a little bit better and less caste as the season wore on but the jury is still out on him. We don't know who will be doing the MNF games this year but I suspect Booger and Joe T will stay. Will they add a third wheel? My guess is they won't.

But there are two rising stars. Maria Taylor is a tall ex Georgia basketball player that is settling in as a studio host type who should be doing the stuff Chris Berman used to do. Mainly known as a sideline reporter I have been impressed with her ease at the table. Like Berman she doesn't need to know a lot but just enough. The key is to keep things breezy and she did just that during the women's basketball coverage.

But by far the best on air talent at ESPN is Marty Smith. A true southerner Smith is supremely intelligent and incisive. He cuts to the bone faster than anyone in TV sports. He started off doing their Nascar and they have been slowly branching him out to cover college football and now for instance he is covering the Masters. He is a throw back to the day when hyper intelligent people used to cover sports. I don't know where to place him on the caste meter only to say he doesn't seem entrenched like say Greenberg or Golic.

On Saturday mornings he has a loose "southern" style ESPN radio show called Marty and McGee which shows off his funny side. But make no mistake. ESPN needs to move him front and center and fast. His style doesn't fit into studio bound stuff but they need to place him at the scene of every big event. He is everything you want from a sports reporter/analyst. His running commentary is head and shoulders above the crowd.

Like the best sports writers of yesteryear, Marty captures the essence of the events and the athletes better than anyone I can think of right now. His brief description of day one Masters this morning was terrific.

Well that is the way I see it for what that is worth.
 

booth

Mentor
Joined
Jul 23, 2015
Messages
1,717
I agree with you Shadowlight 1000%. It should be operated by BET since all they are pushing is black this and black that. My viewing is down to the bare minimum I get nauseous if I watch for too long.
 

icsept

Master
Joined
Oct 12, 2008
Messages
3,531
Location
Oklahoma
I only watch ESPN for live events, and the occasional 30 for 30 documentary. If I want sports opinion, I watch FS1. Cris Carter/Nick Wright, Shannon Sharpe/Skip Bayless, Colin Cowherd, Doug Gottlieb, and the Lock It In gambling show - all are professionals with educated opinions and not allowed to advocate political agendas. I don’t watch the “Speak for Yourself” all black panel focuses more on black issues. Also, FS1 only uses females as eye candy/moderators. I don’t know the stats, but they should be kicking ESPN’s ass.
 
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