By Tim Clark / / Column, Tim's Two Cents
Two

If ESPN is, indeed, the Worldwide Leader in Sports, I fear the world may be coming to an end.

September 7, 1979, an all sports network was launched. As a soon to be 13 year old who was quickly becoming a sports fanatic, I was in heaven. Sports. 24 hours a day. Every day. I didn’t know what it would be like, but I certainly was interested.

SportsCenter became the place to see teams you typically didn’t get to see much of. Highlights from every game would be shown throughout the program. Guys like Tom Mees and Bob Ley became nightly friends who would come into your living room and tell you about the sports events of the day. It was fantastic.

In no time it became must see TV for any sports fan.

Soon SportsCenter became a one hour sports comedy because of co-hosts Dan Patrick and Keith Olberman. It was like watching Laurel and Hardy or Abbott and Costello doing the sports highlights. It was fantastic. Because of Patrick and Olberman, getting the SportsCenter gig was a big deal.

Charlie Steiner, John Anderson, Kenny Mayne, Neil Everett, Stuart Scott, Brian Kenny, Steve Levy, Linda Cohn, and Scott Van Pelt all filled those chairs and were excellent in their own right. Some have passed away, some moved on, some were let go, but few remain.

Baseball Tonight, led by Karl Ravech, was a fantastic studio show that did highlights, analysis, and interviews. For a baseball fan it was tuned in for at least a while each night during the season. ESPN has Sunday Night Baseball, a pseudo replacement for Monday Night Baseball from my childhood. That ends after this year when ESPN gives up baseball. Maybe they can cover more hot dog eating contests instead. Maybe it is just as well. Over the last five years they have employed ARod, Eduardo Perez, and Jessica Mendoza, all of whom are horrible in the booth.

The network still has NBA at their disposal. Maybe it should be disposed of, just like they disposed of Jeff Van Gundy and Mark Jackson. Van Gundy and Jackson teamed with play by play star Mike Breen to make a fantastic team. Why keep them together when you can turn the reigns over to the nauseating Doris Burke. ESPN’s NBA coverage paled in comparison to rival TNT this year. Next year the TNT studio show moves to ESPN. Charles Barkley, Kenny Smith, Shaq, and Ernie Johnson make the best studio show in the business, a combination of solid analysis and great humor. Why do I have a feeling ESPN will ruin their greatness?

Speaking of great, remember NFL Primetime? Chris Berman and his nicknames and Tom Jackson and his honest analysis and constant smile was a must watch on Sundays after the late afternoon window of games. Berman still shows up for the Monday Night Football halftime highlights. Now we are treated to the ramblings of Booger McFarland. ESPN’s pregame show is a distant third to the network versions on FOX and CBS. 

College football has been king on ESPN for a very long stretch. I will say their game coverage is still solid. The Gameday show used to be appointment TV every Saturday morning in the Fall. The banter at the desk, the heartwarming human interest stories from Tom Rinaldi, and the headgear pick from Lee Corso. Rinaldi was sent packing, Corso has finally aged out, and the banter at the desk has become dominated by Desmond Howard’s imbecility, Kirk Herbstreit’s self importance, and Pat McAfee’s frat brother hijinks. I miss Rinaldi. I will miss Corso greatly. I miss Herbstreit, Howard, and McAfee by not tuning in very much. I feel bad for Rece Davis, who is a top notch host.

The college basketball Gameday show is unwatchable, and that comes from somebody who loves Seth Greenberg, Jay Bilas, and Rece Davis.

One great feature ESPN had going for it was one of their many offshoots, ESPN Classic. Those of us that are a tad older love to re-watch great games from the past. ESPN Classic gave us that wonderful option. After ESPN merged with Disney changes occurred. One change was to get rid of Classic. Yet, ESPN News —which is completely useless this day in age— remains. Yet another failure from the Worldwide Leader.

The ancillary items stink at ESPN, too. ESPN+ is overpriced for what you get. Also, the social media people are poor at their jobs. Here was the latest embarrassing post over the weekend. 

 

Many of Jenks’s former teammates made posts skewering ESPN for their poor choice of words. Of course Jenks didn’t play for New York or Boston so nobody at ESPN probably knew who he was.

Most of what I’ve mentioned so far is negative, yet that isn’t the worst of what ESPN has become. The sports talk which fills most of the daytime hours is horrific.

Sports Reporters was fantastic. Gone.

Around the Horn was good. Gone.

Pardon the Interruption is great. Still standing, but for how long.

The best show the network had was Mike and Mike. It was a hit long before the podcast era exploded. Mike Greenberg and Mike Golic had a great chemistry and showed how to entertain while still talking sports. It was everything partner podcasts would try to emulate.

Then Greenberg decided he wanted to be the biggest fish in ESPN’s pond. Insert knife in Golic’s back and Greenberg was on his way. Soon, he appeared everywhere on the network. Not only is it hard to respect someone that stabbed his partner in the back, but talk about overkill.

Overkill. That seems to be the motto at ESPN. Greenberg. Ryan Clark. Pat McAfee. Steven A. Smith. Overkill.

I don’t dislike any of these guys in totality, but I’ve definitely seen enough of them on my screen.

Greenberg’s Get Up show is terrible. That isn’t all on Greenberg, but he wanted to be the star.

Ryan Clark turns everything into a social justice issue. He is much better on his podcast.

McAfee is ESPN’s version of Barstool Sports. A group of frat boys who think they are the smartest guys in the room. McAfee is the Joe Rogan of sports. He allows people —specifically Aaron Rodgers— to spout all kinds of conspiracy theories. He eggs it on, making himself and his show look foolish more often than not. I give McAfee credit for pushing his way to the top at ESPN and becoming one of the dominant figures at the network. The cash register definitely overflows for McAfee. The fall is coming, though, and it will be long and hard. A line that would make McAfee and his frat brothers giggle.

Smith is the worst. A screaming know-it-all who seems to be everywhere. Sports analyst. Political analyst. Entertainment analyst. He knows all. Just ask him. He would love to tell you, or should I say he would love to yell it at you. He pontificates on everything, which is fine since that is sort of his job. But challenge him and look out. He is simply too much. And every time you turn around there he is. ESPN, CNN, FOX News, MSNBC, every talk show, every podcast. And everywhere he shows up he is always right. People have actually asked him if he plans to run for President. God help us.

Scott Van Pelt does a segment called “The One Big Thing”. Van Pelt is ESPN’s one big thing. Unfortunately old farts like me can’t always stay up to see Van Pelt’s show. “Bad Beats” is the best segment on ESPN. SVP does appear at quite a few events from golf to Monday Night Football, yet he doesn’t seem overused like Herbstreit, McAfee, Smith, and others. 

ESPN isn’t all bad. Along with Van Pelt, Rece Davis and Chris Fowler are both great. I would listen to Sean McDonaugh read War and Peace. Troy Aikman and Joe Buck have been reborn since moving to ESPN.

But on the whole ESPN is crumbling. The sentiment from everyone, including former employees, is nearly universal. ESPN is just bad. The Worldwide Leader in Sports is just a moniker at this point.

Most of the time I want nothing to do with ESPN’s world.

Two Cent Takes

College Basketball

~We should hear this week what the committee decides on expanding the NCAA Tournament. It is unnecessary. The teams added would have zero chance to win a national championship. I won’t lose sleep over it because it sounds like it will be more play-in games like the First Four, but why mess with something so wildly popular as it is.

NFL

~Terry Bradshaw ran his mouth, as he is apt to do, on a plumbing and HVAC podcast. Yea, you read that right. As usual he took a shot at his late head coach Chuck Noll.

 

It has become nauseating listening to Bradshaw rail on Noll. Whenever he was asked about their relationship, this was the typical answer from Noll.

 

Maybe Bradshaw forgot they won 4 Super Bowls doing it Noll’s way.

~Wonder why the Steelers have been on a bit of a downer the last decade?

 

I wrote here many times that Colbert lost his fastball, but seeing the visual of just how bad it was is still a bit startling.

MLB

~So, these three are pretty good. This was on Sunday, as all three took the hill.

 

Two of those guys will win a Cy Young this year, Paul Skenes will not.

~While I praise Wheeler and his 2.17 ERA, let’s not forget teammate Ranger Suarez has a 1.99 ERA. That Phillies staff is tough to beat.

~Trea Turner was NOT named an all star.

 

 

~I took a nap last week and when I woke up Toronto had a 3 game lead in the AL East. I just can’t see the Blue Jays maintaining that lead.

The Weekly Shiny Penny

I almost always stick to sports in this column, but I had to turn to music this week for the Shiny Penny. Ozzy Osbourne(and Black Sabbath) performed for the last time. At 76, and with Parkinson’s disease, Ozzy can still bring it. These new musicians can’t hold a candle to this.

 

Tremendous.

A Penny For My Final Thought…

Last week the Pittsburgh Pirates won six games in a row, including three straight shutouts of the Cardinals. It was actually fun to tune in the games. They looked like an actual major league team. Of course, those not attached to reality started checking the wildcard standings.

Then the Pirates began a 9 game road trip that will take them to the all star break. They are currently 0-4 on the trip after exploding for three runs on four hits last night. The good news was they broke a 30 inning scoreless streak.

Those that left reality momentarily, allow me to help you back.

The Pirates stink.

The Pirates are one of the worst teams in baseball. That despite having an excellent starting rotation.

This is year six of the Ben Cherington “rebuild”. Cherington is still employed as the GM.

I saw some writers and fans suggest the Pirates are just two hitters away.

 Hogwash.

The offensive side of this roster needs an overhaul.

Two weeks ago I suggested trade, trade, trade. I maintain that point of view. Unfortunately nobody with a brain trusts Ben Cherington to execute a good trade let alone multiple good trades.

I’ve said all I can. See for yourself.

 

Make that 38-54.

 

That list doesn’t include slugger Spencer Horowitz, who came to Pittsburgh this offseason in exchange for pitcher Luis Ortiz. Ortiz is currently suspended for bouncing pitches that led to a gambling investigation. Ortiz, while intentionally throwing balls for gambling, still has a higher WAR than Horowitz.

Sunday, the Washington Nationals fired GM Mike Rizzo and manager Dave Martinez. Apparently you are allowed to fire both. Apparently it is okay to have an interim GM with the draft coming up.

Why hasn’t Cherington been fired for this farce of a job he has done?

Easy.

Not only is Bob Nutting cheap. Not only is Bob Nutting incompetent. Apparently he simply doesn’t care.

 

I will go into more detail this week on my podcast, but an overhaul is needed and Cherington can’t be allowed to be in charge of said overhaul.

These three must be looking down in disgust seeing how far this franchise has fallen since the decade of the 70’s.

 

Just my two cents…