by Dalton Belcher
OK, I’ll admit it, I LOVE sports. I mean, enough so that I have four different apps on my phone to update me when my Dallas Cowboys, Golden State Warriors, or Cincinnati Reds play, score, win, lose, make key roster additions/releases, etc. So, naturally, I love ESPN. It’s the sports fan’s dream. A network that plays ONLY sports-related shows? C’mon, that’s too good to be true. But it’s not, and ESPN has become something of a consistency in my life. Whether I’m washing dishes in my apartment (rare, but it does occasionally happen) or looking for a way out of doing homework, I always seem to have my television turned on and on ESPN.
So, while I can’t say I’m an expert in the field, I have a pretty good handle on what they feature on their flagship show “SportsCenter” and the network in general; and it bothers me to no end. I’m not going to bash ESPN because, honestly, that would just be dumb. ESPN covers what is popular because that draws ratings, but what’s popular isn’t always what’s “good”.
Take for example, the perennial class of the NBA (National Basketball Association), the San Antonio Spurs. Tim Duncan and his team have long lived in the shadow of the NBA’s more “entertaining” teams likes the Kobe Bryant led Los Angeles Lakers or the “evil villain” Miami Heat. The Spurs have long been tossed to the side by fans and analysts because they’re “boring”. And you know what? They are. I’m not going to give a defense of the Spurs type of play, because the Win/Loss column and the championship rings on Duncan and co. fingers say more than I ever could. What I will comment on though, is the problem with this rating hungry approach to sports journalism. This problem doesn’t just exist exclusively in basketball either, the NFL (National Football League) has it’s “media darlings” (my beloved Cowboys being one of the lucky few), as does MLB (Major League Baseball), yeah I’m looking at you New York Yankees. Turn on ESPN tonight and you’re likely to see numerous stories on LeBron James, Kevin Durant, Derek Jeter, and Tim Tebow’s latest run around his neighborhood. That’s because these big names attract and entice viewers like myself (I’ll admit, I love a good Kevin Durant story as much as the next guy), but they do a severe disservice to other, more successful teams in these leagues. To concentrate on the NBA for the purposes of this article, teams like the aforementioned Spurs, the Chicago Bulls, Toronto Raptors, and several others are neglected in media exposure. The Spurs are the top team in the best conference in the league and only were able to receive a “feature” on ESPN, when their 19 game win streak was broken. No really, they had to win 19 and lose to get featured. How about the Bulls and Raptors? Both are teams in the horrendous Eastern Conference this season that have shown bright. The Bulls have scratched and clawed to a high seed in the standings without their star point guard Derrick Rose and the Raptors have a young core of players that are developing into a scary playoff team (think the Golden States Warriors of 2012-13) and yet many casual fans probably still think Vince Carter plays for them (I assure you he does not, though he is still rocking his headband).
I’m not asking for an hour-long analysis of these teams, but I’m asking for more coverage for successful teams. Since when did hard work STOP paying off? Sure, they get tangible results on the court and in terms of team success, but just because Joakim Noah and Tony Parker aren’t as entertaining as a Carmelo Anthony or a LeBron James, does that mean they shouldn’t be covered as much?
OK, I’ll admit it, I LOVE sports. I mean, enough so that I have four different apps on my phone to update me when my Dallas Cowboys, Golden State Warriors, or Cincinnati Reds play, score, win, lose, make key roster additions/releases, etc. So, naturally, I love ESPN. It’s the sports fan’s dream. A network that plays ONLY sports-related shows? C’mon, that’s too good to be true. But it’s not, and ESPN has become something of a consistency in my life. Whether I’m washing dishes in my apartment (rare, but it does occasionally happen) or looking for a way out of doing homework, I always seem to have my television turned on and on ESPN.
So, while I can’t say I’m an expert in the field, I have a pretty good handle on what they feature on their flagship show “SportsCenter” and the network in general; and it bothers me to no end. I’m not going to bash ESPN because, honestly, that would just be dumb. ESPN covers what is popular because that draws ratings, but what’s popular isn’t always what’s “good”.
Take for example, the perennial class of the NBA (National Basketball Association), the San Antonio Spurs. Tim Duncan and his team have long lived in the shadow of the NBA’s more “entertaining” teams likes the Kobe Bryant led Los Angeles Lakers or the “evil villain” Miami Heat. The Spurs have long been tossed to the side by fans and analysts because they’re “boring”. And you know what? They are. I’m not going to give a defense of the Spurs type of play, because the Win/Loss column and the championship rings on Duncan and co. fingers say more than I ever could. What I will comment on though, is the problem with this rating hungry approach to sports journalism. This problem doesn’t just exist exclusively in basketball either, the NFL (National Football League) has it’s “media darlings” (my beloved Cowboys being one of the lucky few), as does MLB (Major League Baseball), yeah I’m looking at you New York Yankees. Turn on ESPN tonight and you’re likely to see numerous stories on LeBron James, Kevin Durant, Derek Jeter, and Tim Tebow’s latest run around his neighborhood. That’s because these big names attract and entice viewers like myself (I’ll admit, I love a good Kevin Durant story as much as the next guy), but they do a severe disservice to other, more successful teams in these leagues. To concentrate on the NBA for the purposes of this article, teams like the aforementioned Spurs, the Chicago Bulls, Toronto Raptors, and several others are neglected in media exposure. The Spurs are the top team in the best conference in the league and only were able to receive a “feature” on ESPN, when their 19 game win streak was broken. No really, they had to win 19 and lose to get featured. How about the Bulls and Raptors? Both are teams in the horrendous Eastern Conference this season that have shown bright. The Bulls have scratched and clawed to a high seed in the standings without their star point guard Derrick Rose and the Raptors have a young core of players that are developing into a scary playoff team (think the Golden States Warriors of 2012-13) and yet many casual fans probably still think Vince Carter plays for them (I assure you he does not, though he is still rocking his headband).
I’m not asking for an hour-long analysis of these teams, but I’m asking for more coverage for successful teams. Since when did hard work STOP paying off? Sure, they get tangible results on the court and in terms of team success, but just because Joakim Noah and Tony Parker aren’t as entertaining as a Carmelo Anthony or a LeBron James, does that mean they shouldn’t be covered as much?