OT…opinions of ESPN anymore?

[78thealltimegreat]

I know their love/hate relationship with the Bills with certain reporters as people like Ryan Clark, Mike Greenberg, and Kimberly Martin are just nauseating with Jets coverage to the point you literally think they are just acting now. 
But I do enjoy Dan Orlovsky and a few others analysts and I really love their college football coverage. Thoughts? 

[BuffaloBillyG]

Just now, 78thealltimegreat said:

I know their love/hate relationship with the Bills with certain reporters as people like Ryan Clark, Mike Greenberg, and Kimberly Martin are just nauseating with Jets coverage to the point you literally think they are just acting now. 
But I do enjoy Dan Orlovsky and a few others analysts and I really love their college football coverage. Thoughts? 

ESPN used to be an all day watch. Flip it on and have SportsCenter in the background all day. Now? It's a nauseating bunch of know it all's that say things not to educate or report on what happened in the world of sports...but to cause controversy and get their name out there. 

 

They moved away from intelligent sportscasters to more and more former athletes who prove that those that actually play the game are often the least knowledgeable about it. There are of course some exceptions to that, but for every Nate Burleson there are 20 Emmanuel Achos.

[Don Otreply]

1 minute ago, 78thealltimegreat said:

I know their love/hate relationship with the Bills with certain reporters as people like Ryan Clark, Mike Greenberg, and Kimberly Martin are just nauseating with Jets coverage to the point you literally think they are just acting now. 
But I do enjoy Dan Orlovsky and a few others analysts and I really love their college football coverage. Thoughts? 

They are okay, it’s like all reporting, you just have to understand what is being said and especially,  why it’s being said in a given context,  sports news is no different in that respect than any other news reporting. 

[SCBills]

NFL Live and College Gameday is really all I ever watch on that network outside of live sports.  

 

Not a shock that those two shows have the only personalities that I like on the entire network at this point.  

 

For anyone that watches NBA (I watch the Playoffs).. it's comical to watch TNT's coverage, which is a 10/10, contrasted to ESPN's which is absolute nonsense. 

[JoPoy88]

20 minutes ago, 78thealltimegreat said:

I know their love/hate relationship with the Bills with certain reporters as people like Ryan Clark, Mike Greenberg, and Kimberly Martin are just nauseating with Jets coverage to the point you literally think they are just acting now. 
But I do enjoy Dan Orlovsky and a few others analysts and I really love their college football coverage. Thoughts? 

I think ESPN has been slowly circling the drain for a while now. Rumor has it Bob Iger is also beginning to realize this.

[MiltonWaddams]

Everyone 

Says

Practically

Nothing

[Irv]

Stopped watching a long time ago.  

[US Egg]

The novelty of ESPN has long wore off. Over saturation and vapidity has made most sports talk shows mundane.
 

The speed, brevity and mega info of Twitter sports reporting is the new norm.

[RunTheBall]

When I was in college in the 90s it was ESPN 24/7. Not for the personalities, although they had some great ones, but because it was sports news. About 15 years ago they moved away from that into more sports entertainment. Now it’s just a complete and utter clown show with blow hards pushing a political agenda. The only thing I watch ESPN for now is live sports, that’s it. What a disappointment that network turned out to be. Even College Game Day is a shell of its former self.

 

Edited August 17, 2023 by RunTheBall

[Radar]

Hardly ever watched ESPN. So that discloses my opinion I guess.

[MarkyMannn]

I stopped maybe 5-10 years ago. Just too much obnoxious stuff going on for me

 

Now I only watch it, seriously, if WSOP is on. And I think they dropped it this year

Edited August 17, 2023 by MarkyMannn

[Yawning Frog]

don't watch football talk shows of any kind. big waste of time

[jayg]

Mostly only live sports.  Football, Hockey,   Formula 1, Little League World Series and some MLB. The only pre-recorded stuff I watch is that obscure Sports on ESPN 8 the Ocho and maybe 30 for 30. I don't watch sports center or any pregame shows anymore.

Edited August 17, 2023 by jayg

[Robert Paulson]

41 minutes ago, BuffaloBillyG said:

ESPN used to be an all day watch. Flip it on and have Sports Center in the background all day. Now? It's a nauseating bunch of know it all's that say things not to educate or report on what happened in the world of sports...but to cause controversy and get their name out there. 

 

They moved away from intelligent sportscasters to more and more former athletes who prove that those that actually play the game are often the least knowledgeable about it. There are of course some exceptions to that, but for every Nate Burleson there are 20 Emmanuel Achos.

came on to say the exact same thing- i had it on all the time and on Sundays would watch pre and postgame exclusively on ESPN. Now I never turn it on. I do use the website for my sports news though

[stevewin]

49 minutes ago, BuffaloBillyG said:

ESPN used to be an all day watch. Flip it on and have SportsCenter in the background all day. Now? It's a nauseating bunch of know it all's that say things not to educate or report on what happened in the world of sports...but to cause controversy and get their name out there. 

 

They moved away from intelligent sportscasters to more and more former athletes who prove that those that actually play the game are often the least knowledgeable about it. There are of course some exceptions to that, but for every Nate Burleson there are 20 Emmanuel Achos.

You watch those panel shows now and you can just picture the pre-production meetings - "OK for this question who is going to just pick the most outlandish take to generate outrage and twitter posts"  It really has become ridiculous - unwatchable

 

And Sportscenter anchors OMG - the constant ridiculous banter and trying sooo hard to be witty/goofy, and always failing - it is nauseating at times.  I can't even watch highlights anymore without wanting to mute. 

Edited August 17, 2023 by stevewin

[Buffalo_Stampede]

I don’t really watch sports shows anymore. Actually I don’t watch at all. I mostly listen to podcasts if anything. Use to watch ESPN all day long. It’s nothing they did but now everything is instant or on demand.

 

Highlights I get on YouTube.

[May Day 10]

I haven't watched ESPN (or any television per se) in several years.  

 

I guess part of it was the proliferation of so many sports channels including MLB/NFL/NHL networks.  20-25 years ago, the main NFL pregame theater was ESPN Game Day, then NFL Primetime was a must-watch.  NBC took it over with their recap/pregame show (which they do a good job of).  ESPN was pretty much the only sports channel for 2 decades other than RSNs that came along in the 90s.

 

Also I am 100% streaming now and have been for a long time.  The only sports I really consume are live sports (also watch old stuff on youtube).

 

I would say that ESPN's live sports coverage is still really solid, and I could make a case that they do the best job with MLB, NHL, and NCAA Football.  

 

I have no interest in watching the ancillary programming like the 'debate' shows.  Not that I hate it, I just dont have time for it.  I flip around the radio and come across Cowherd and Rome and dont mind hearing their points of view even if I disagree.

 

 

 

I do really like their app and program offerings, as well as their integration with Hulu.  There is a ton of stuff on Espn+ and Espn3 such as Indoor Lacrosse that can be accessed with a click of a button.  I think their app is great for scores/highlights/standings lookups and I am in the habit of using that.

 

I think they get too much hate for sucking now.  Its the natural progression.  There is so much competition now.  If they ran their programming they had in 1995 and showed the same sportcenter 6 times on loop (that many of us watched), they would be driven right out of business.

 

 

What they need to do is look to the future and innovate to survive.  Make an immersive and better-than netflix-style subscription app that is a must-have for sports fans and completely decouple from needing cable subscriber/carriage fees.  

Edited August 17, 2023 by May Day 10

[Jauronimo]

ESPN was great back in the day because it was the only source for sports news, opinions, and highlights.  Once the internet got tired of porn and silly pictures of cats, people began to wonder "what else can we be doing online?".  Thereafter, a number of other websites, youtube channels, and forums were born which catered to the most in depth Xs and Os analysis, to QB breakdowns, casual discussion and everything in between.  If you want Bills coverage or a breakdown of coverages, ESPN no longer serves you.  The network caters to low information, casual fans.  Lists, rankings, hot takes, and outrage over the latest player scandal.  Occasionally, theres a nice interview with insight.  Luckily for us, twitter will amplify the 5 minutes of decent content from ESPN's 24 hour cycle.

[Simon]

All pregame and postgame shows on all networks are now unwatchable.

TV goes on at kickoff and goes off at 0:00.

[JJGauna]

No Chris Berman/Tom Jackson? No thank you.