Even More on Mike Holmgren, Other Candidates
November 9, 2009My Letter to the ESPN Ombudsman Regarding Coverage of LeBron James
November 9, 2009Hey, did you all know that Lebron James is a free agent after this season? Yeah, its true, his contract is up and rumor has it that the New York Knicks want him to play there and lead their resurgence. You know, come to think of it, I DID KNOW THAT. EVERYONE ON THE PLANET KNOWS IT! But in case you live in a cave, Friday night ESPN did everything they could for three consecutive hours to inform you.
Many in the blogosphere like to take shots at ESPN, sometimes unfairly so. I for one, do not. I think ESPN does for the most part an excellent job in their coverage of college and pro sports. Are there personalities on the network that bother me? Of course (Stu Scott is a disgrace, Joe Morgan is horrific, Chris Berman’s act is an older bit than calling the Dolan’s cheap). But what they do as a network is second to none. I’ve never been an ESPN basher – until now.
What I saw on Friday night’s NBA coverage of the Cavs and the Knicks bordered on irresponsible. If you saw it, you know what I’m talking about. The half hour pregame show legitimately was nothing more than “when Lebron James leaves Cleveland for New York” talk, since this was the Cavaliers one visit to the Big Apple.
There was a countdown on the days to his free agency. There was a graphic that showed what Lebron would look like in a Knicks jersey, as well as a New Jersey Nets jersey. If you were a fan of a different team, you could go to ESPN.com and see what Lebron would look like in your jersey! Of course, you had your studio discussion with Avery Johnson, Jamal Mashburn, and Stu-ya about where Lebron will go after the season. This of course came directly after the interview with Lebron where he was asked, for the 1,000,000th time about his plans for the future.
As if the 30 minute LBJ/NYC love fest wasn’t bad enough, the coverage of the game seemed to focus more on Lebron’s future than the actual basketball that was being played on the court. You kind of knew this was going to happen, but the lengths ESPN went to put this story in the spotlight was nauseating. I’ hate to sound like I’m invoking the Cleveland inferiority complex here, but the broadcast seemed like nothing more than an infomercial to get Lebron out of Cleveland.
Shame on ESPN.
27 Comments
But in case you live in a cave (or watched the game on FSNOhio), Friday night ESPN did everything they could for three consecutive hours to inform you.
/fixed
Gotta check your channels TD. Unless you don’t live in Ohio. Then nevermind.
If the game was on FSNOH I would have kept it on ESPN anyway but only because the HD is so much better – especially when the volume is muted.
it WAS nauseating…
I thought I was tuning in to watch a basketball game. Even my girl commented on just how obsessed with LeBron ESPN was Friday night.
Chris – I was out of state this weekend….
Agreed, I live in LA so had no choice but to watch the ESPN feed. I thought I had tuned into an MSG channel infomercial on why LBJ needs to come to NY. They might of well as had a “virtual contract signing” to show viewers what it might be like if LBJ signs w/ NY. It reminded me why I’ve basically quit watching ESPN (nothing but NY/Boston talk).
On another note, why is MSG jocked so much as the Mecca of Hoops. The Knicks are a mediocre franchise at best, that has only won two titles over 35 years ago. Take the Knicks out of NY and they are no better than the Rockets in terms of overall prestiege. It drives me crazy how everything is so much bettre if its plopped down in NYC.
ESPN does this all the time.
Around this time last year on a late Saturday night Sportscenter one of the anchors was doing Cavs highlights and said “Knicks Forward LeBron James…and his current Cavaliers teammates.”
I almost broke my TV.
The Worldwide Leader needs legitimate competition. They are to sports what FOX News is to Republican slant and MSNBC is to Democrat slant.
I tried to see how long I could last on ESPN before I went the FSOH route. W/O watching any pregame, I made it 1 quarter. It’s a shame to because I really like Van Gundy, but I couldn’t stand that the game was incidental to the fact that we were tuning in to speculate about where LBJ would be signing at year’s end.
Gotcha TD, I figured as much. Assuming the blitzkrieg of LebroNYtalk, I never went near ESPN.
The glaring question remains – How many millions of dollars will Lebron have to pay Toney Douglas for #23?
Glad they were able to poll the basketball minds of CC Sabathia and Chris Rock as well. If anyone can give an unbiased opinion, they are the two I’d peg…
but wouldn’t that have been true for about any broadcaster that covered the game if it was national? we can’t deny that that is the story that everyone seems to want to talk about even though james hasn’t really done anything to indicate he plans on leaving cleveland.
like it or not……..that is the national perception, not just because of ESPN but because of the new york media. which is the largest media market in this hemisphere.
I think I rolled my eyes 1,000,000 times.
Who is this Lebron you speak of? đ
Let’s not forget WS game 1, where Fox has the graphic entitled “At least you have Lebron” which showed Cliff and CC in their indians hats and their 09 post season stats…
Stu Scott wasn’t talking to Deeds, he was talking to that squirrel over there.
If there was an LBJ to NYC drinking game to partake in while watching last Friday’s shamefest on ESPN, for a teetotaler it would result in almost instant cirrhosis of the liver. Not any version of the Austin Carr drinking game would be able to compete.
http://www.theonion.com/content/news_briefs/stuart_scotts_left_eye
#12— Oh god, that graphic really made me squirm. Low blow, guys… low blow. Even my Phillies fan friends groaned and gave me a sympathetic look.
I live in NYC
imagine having to hear it every day you get in the office, from the most inept and brainless fans in the history of sports, 90% of them don’t watch a game but “will start watching again when we get LEBRON NEXT YEAR!! WOOHOO!!”
Three things:
1) @9 Chris – 23? Please…Lebron will wear #45 in New York.
2) Good things Billy Mays passed away. The Knicks probably would’ve had him at the end of the line after CC, Jeter, A-Rod, and company. “Lebron, do you ever find yourself scrubbing and scrubbing with your scrub teammates? Scrub no more. Try OxyTeam!”
3) People named Dolan = poop.
Too soon?
See the coverage was nauseating, but me and my friends made the best of it by making a drinking game out of it. Anytime there was reference to Lebron leaving, whether it be to the Knicks, Nets, Chicago, or even reference to Sam Smith’s fantasy of Lebron to L.A., we took a drink. We started at the pre-game and by the time the game was over, so needless to say by the time the game was done, we were done too.
I don’t know how any serious basketball analyst or fan could watch Friday night’s game and come to the conclusion that LeBron James could possibly go to the Knicks. I really, really mean it.
The Knicks are an epically bad team. Their best player is Al Harrington (who at best is a sixth man on a mid-range playoff team) which means they have nothing approaching a star. They play absolutely no defense and they don’t have the the personnel to run D’Antoni’s system which means they are an awful offensive team as well. They have no low post presence of any kind nor a real point guard. The few players they do have that are capable of playing in an NBA rotation (Lee, KryptoNate, Harrington, Duhon) have expiring contracts and they won’t risk re-signing them in fear they won’t have the money to sign two max contract players. Which means LeBron James is going to sign up with a team that next year features Eddy Curry (who hasn’t played meaningful minutes in two season), Jared Jefferies, Danilo Gallinari and Jordan Hill. It would be the equivalent of signing for an expansion team next year.
He already went through the growing pains of rebuilding with the Cavs. Why in god’s hell would he do it with the Knicks?
And consider when he’s going to be getting better offers in glamorous locations like LA w/the Clippers, Miami, and Chicago. The allure of New York is going to get deluded. It’s just not happening, ESPN. Get over it.
@22: While E$PN does want LBJ in NYC, it seems to me the real agenda is just to get him out of Cleveland. I really do think that. It’s almost like they take great joy in our misery.
And there’s that whole coastal thing…flyover country = nothing.
Knicks and Nets a combined 1-13 so far this year, which makes me smile. At least Friday was the Cavs’ only trip to NYC. FWIW I tend to agree w/ Windhorst on Bron’s future…he’ll sign another 3-yr extension w/ the Cavs this off-season.
I watched the game on MSG here in Brooklyn. They do a great job, really. Al Trautwig and the announcers really only touched on the LeBron stuff and they all seemed, quite honestly, prepared for LeBron NOT to come next year. The only thing that got me worried was when they did a 60-second interview with CC Sabathia and he was asked, as the last question, about LeBron’s chances of ending up in NYC. Sabathia sounded pretty confident that he’d be wearing a knicks jersey next year. Oh well.
Anyways, I’m REALLY glad I didn’t watch ESPN’s broadcast!
Im from Cleveland (though dont live thier now.)
And not many put us fans into the mix. 50 years without a companionship in any of the big 3 sports. Watched my parents and uncles die waiting for one.
Im amazed at how stars and NYers and some think. They get a World Series and two decent football teams, and are still bored enough to want to buy out more. Like a monopoly of the USA only having one city. Im not big on monopolization, and how are country looks do to it. And I agree the ESPN showcase was disgusting.
People still in Cleveland need to learn to use media (youtube, forums, webpages, replies to articles, etc etc) To make their case and get their feeliings out more. People have alot of power now. And I know that City can rally when they want to.
I would be sad if we lost Lebron.
further to DocZeus at #22 said, all those guys are not just expiring contracts but they have cap holds against the knicks cap space once they expire. ive heard a few say “well the knicks can just sign lebron and then sign lee and robinson or whoever else to go over the cap because of bird rights.” no – it doesnt work that way. in order for the knicks to have the space to sign a max free agent, they have officially give up any rights to any of those expiring free agents. once they do that, they lose bird rights for those players and cant go over the cap. thats a huge problem. its not like lee or anyone else is going to take considerably less money at that point just because its the knicks. the knicks would have no choice but to fill out a roster with scrubs off the street. if lebron wants to win, hes not going to do it with a lineup featuring him, danillo, wilson chandler and jordan hill.