ESPN and the mistake

ESPN is ruining sports for me.

For starters they only care about the sports they have a vested interest in. Although it makes sense of the surface, you claim to be a SPORTS network so why ignore the audience for these games? Now they have turned more into a entertainment network then a reputable sports station. Between Brett Farve’s yearly retirement drama and Tiger Woods scandals it’s almost like ESPN has a TMZ division.

But now they taken it even further. The National Basketball Association is in the midst of one of it’s best free agent groups ever. I don’t think a better class of players has been available. Amidst this, ESPN has gotten into bed with one of the leagues biggest stars Lebron James. It’s not enough to report on his every move and rumor, but they actually had a web page devoted to his possible destinations. Such a thing had never been done before by a reputable “sports news network”. It’s almost like Lebron is more celebrity than sports star. Maybe that’s why he’s never won a big game.

I just heard that James has picked his new team. But unlike every other free agent signing ever, he’s not having a press conference. He is having a 1 hour show on ESPN to announce his decision and have all the network toadies gush over him. It’s quite disappointing. How did players get bigger than the game?

How much of this is our faults? I think in a sense we are all to blame. We pay these outrageous prices. We let players get away with behavior that otherwise would land them in jail. And reality TV debauchery has taken over what was good about the games. There is enough drama in every game why do we need the added gossip? It’s detracting.

Please don’t watch this TV show that LBJ is putting on. He’s a phony and we are only encouraging this to get worse.