PacoSwede
Creeker in fact
- Joined
- Aug 26, 2011
- Messages
- 1,153
- Reaction Score
- 5,954
Does anyone have an ESPN address where this could have a chance of avoiding an intern’s delete key?
Dear ESPN:
Here are a few suggestions that would help me better enjoy your women's basketball coverage, while boosting my chances of keeping my blood pressure under control.
Announcers
Many viewers have lots of negative things to say about your tendency to go off on a tangent with some meandering tale while ignoring the game in front of you.
Personally, I enjoy some of the chatter. Some is rather interesting. But pretty please with whipped cream and a cherry on top do not ignore the game at hand. This applies even when the game is no longer competitive – which nearly always ends up happening when the UConn Huskies are playing.
I’m not asking for radio-style play-by-play. But please, if there’s a three-second violation or someone with the ball steps on the sideline or baseline to cause a stoppage, tell us. If there’s a tie-up, keep us informed of the arrow. Note if there is traveling, palming, a double dribble or whatever. If a timeout was called, tell us who called it and how many TOs remain. Viewers aren’t always in a position to know any of this – and don’t assume they are keeping track. Some may not in fact have their eyes constantly glued to the video display.
Most importantly, report all foul calls -- what they were, who committed them, how many the player has committed to that point and how many have been charged to the team.
Explain why any whistle is blown.
And report all this immediately, or as soon as the information is available. If you are in the middle of some fascinating wider commentary, interrupt yourself or your partner, report the relevant gameplay, and resume the commentary thereafter. It can wait. If the gameplay is not the immediate priority, often the gameplay is never reported, which can drive me bonkers. Keep the home viewers informed.
Directors, production crew
Oh, you produce such wonderful graphics. Love ‘em. But please use your head and do not keep a graphic – even if it is chock full of great game info as opposed to some programming promo -- on the screen while something is happening on the court.
That includes inbounds plays, which start when the inbounder has the ball, not when she throws it in. We see the tail end of far, far too many brilliant steals or scores on inbounds plays because you crazily have the impression that inbounding is boring and nobody watches it.
But hey, you also apparently believe that people aren’t particularly interested in any of the game. Nope, you seem to think they’d much prefer to see a close-up of a coach on the sideline or some fan in the stands rather than the players on the floor. I guess I should be glad those mostly are only fleeting excursions into the irrelevant.
It is infinitely more annoying and downright stupid when you score some interview with someone attending the game that someone at ESPN imagines is a big scoop – maybe a player’s parent or the coach of an upcoming game or some NBA player, or even better, some celebrity pitching something or other. Now, I admit, some of those interviews may actually be interesting and informative and maybe even important, but we don’t have to see them, we just have to hear them. Why in the name of God do you split the screen so we can have a head shot of the interviewee, often someone whose face is already well known, while the players on the court – the game we’re trying to watch – is shrunk down to a flea’s scale. Go ahead and scroll text to explain who is talking, but there is no need to repeatedly put up a head shot while play is underway. Where did this insane idea come from? And BTW, while these scoops are being aired, I still want to know who committed a foul and such perhaps important information.
Folks tune in because they enjoy women’s basketball and are interested in the games. All the sideshows detract from that. And here’s a tip: the sideshows and the half-time clips of men's games aren’t going to attract viewers who have no interest in women’s basketball. And women's fans who also enjoy the men's game have plenty of broadcast sources for information if they want updates about the latter, while there are precious few places to get news about the women's game. Thanks to you ESPN folks for providing most of that.
Dear ESPN:
Here are a few suggestions that would help me better enjoy your women's basketball coverage, while boosting my chances of keeping my blood pressure under control.
Announcers
Many viewers have lots of negative things to say about your tendency to go off on a tangent with some meandering tale while ignoring the game in front of you.
Personally, I enjoy some of the chatter. Some is rather interesting. But pretty please with whipped cream and a cherry on top do not ignore the game at hand. This applies even when the game is no longer competitive – which nearly always ends up happening when the UConn Huskies are playing.
I’m not asking for radio-style play-by-play. But please, if there’s a three-second violation or someone with the ball steps on the sideline or baseline to cause a stoppage, tell us. If there’s a tie-up, keep us informed of the arrow. Note if there is traveling, palming, a double dribble or whatever. If a timeout was called, tell us who called it and how many TOs remain. Viewers aren’t always in a position to know any of this – and don’t assume they are keeping track. Some may not in fact have their eyes constantly glued to the video display.
Most importantly, report all foul calls -- what they were, who committed them, how many the player has committed to that point and how many have been charged to the team.
Explain why any whistle is blown.
And report all this immediately, or as soon as the information is available. If you are in the middle of some fascinating wider commentary, interrupt yourself or your partner, report the relevant gameplay, and resume the commentary thereafter. It can wait. If the gameplay is not the immediate priority, often the gameplay is never reported, which can drive me bonkers. Keep the home viewers informed.
Directors, production crew
Oh, you produce such wonderful graphics. Love ‘em. But please use your head and do not keep a graphic – even if it is chock full of great game info as opposed to some programming promo -- on the screen while something is happening on the court.
That includes inbounds plays, which start when the inbounder has the ball, not when she throws it in. We see the tail end of far, far too many brilliant steals or scores on inbounds plays because you crazily have the impression that inbounding is boring and nobody watches it.
But hey, you also apparently believe that people aren’t particularly interested in any of the game. Nope, you seem to think they’d much prefer to see a close-up of a coach on the sideline or some fan in the stands rather than the players on the floor. I guess I should be glad those mostly are only fleeting excursions into the irrelevant.
It is infinitely more annoying and downright stupid when you score some interview with someone attending the game that someone at ESPN imagines is a big scoop – maybe a player’s parent or the coach of an upcoming game or some NBA player, or even better, some celebrity pitching something or other. Now, I admit, some of those interviews may actually be interesting and informative and maybe even important, but we don’t have to see them, we just have to hear them. Why in the name of God do you split the screen so we can have a head shot of the interviewee, often someone whose face is already well known, while the players on the court – the game we’re trying to watch – is shrunk down to a flea’s scale. Go ahead and scroll text to explain who is talking, but there is no need to repeatedly put up a head shot while play is underway. Where did this insane idea come from? And BTW, while these scoops are being aired, I still want to know who committed a foul and such perhaps important information.
Folks tune in because they enjoy women’s basketball and are interested in the games. All the sideshows detract from that. And here’s a tip: the sideshows and the half-time clips of men's games aren’t going to attract viewers who have no interest in women’s basketball. And women's fans who also enjoy the men's game have plenty of broadcast sources for information if they want updates about the latter, while there are precious few places to get news about the women's game. Thanks to you ESPN folks for providing most of that.
