The "trash talk" broadcast w/ A'ja and Sue

[Plebe]

I plan on rewatching the game tonight or tomorrow via this pairing. From what glimpses we caught of their banter last night, seems that they did a pretty good job and it added a nice spice to ESPN's platform for this game. But I'm curious to hear from those who heard them live last night. What did you all think?

I will say about A'ja: I've caught her doing some studio work for the SEC Network and have been very favorably impressed. She seems very comfortable on camera and her insights have been spot-on and well stated.

And with Sue Bird, I mean, how can you go wrong. Truly a living legend of the game and one smart cookie to boot.

 

[mbr33ct]

ESPN should try this "trash talking" with the game...and no Adam, Kara and Rebecca. Great experiment.

EDIT: "Smack Talk"

 

[RockyMTblue2]

I gave my 70" to a daughter on a budget and I have to say I have a love hate relationship with them anyway, mostly on the hate side. But ESPN and others will force me back there with there box in a box format when those folks chatter about this and that . It's like they assume we all have these monsters.

 

[Plebe]

Oops I see that it was officially dubbed "smack talk," not "trash talk," just in case there's a difference...

I just found this favorable review on Sports Illustrated's website:

ESPN 'Smack talk' with Bird, Wilson adds value to broadcast

It seems like women’s sports face constant scrutiny on a litany of issues. Chief among those issues—and easy fodder for Twitter trolls—is the trope that women’s sports don’t bring in viewers.​

​

Go on a shallow social media dive to any female professional athlete's page and surely there will be a bevy of comments that all seem to be saying the same thing: “no one watches this, so why should we care?”​

​

Those comments are wildly misguided and often show ignorance of how popular women’s sports are. But if you’re going to bring in new viewers to anything, you have to be willing to experiment with your project.​

​

Enter “Smack Talk with Sue and A’ja”.​

 

[Ukonnfan]

Coulda done without it.

 

[vtcwbuff]

IMO really lame. Not a Chatty Bird fan anyway.

 

[IrishTiger]

Coming from someone just watching it without a dog in the fight I enjoyed A’ja and Sue going back and forth. I just watched the game that way didn’t watch the ESPN2 broadcast. But I’ve always been a A’ja fan and I’m a Sue Bird fan also.

 

[01Neaggrad02]

I found A'ja boring and lacking depth.

 

[JordyG]

I found A'ja boring and lacking depth.

Thank you Russian judge. I gave her a 5.5 out of 6 myself.

 

[Alydar]

I've always wanted to be offered an alternate audio feed. Mike each end of the scorer's table and let us hear what's going on on the court. The best BB game I ever attended was a Celtic game at the XL. I sat behind the scorer's table in the first row above the floor. The Celtic coach was Tommy Heinson and I learned a few new ways to curse an official that night. Being able to hear not only the coaches but also the players is very entertaining, mostly because it's spontaneous, unlike the forced banter last night.

 

[eebmg]

I liked the format alot. Sue is always so sharp but Aja is too nice to really do smack talk. Of course it does not help when SC was UConn's punching bag during her tenure.

My favorite line was when talking about retiring numbers, Sue said if UConn retired numbers like other teams, our players would be wearing three digits.

Too bad they did not try this against ND earlier this season. That would have much more bite. Skyler Diggins vs Sue ?

 

[IrishTiger]

I liked the format alot. Sue is always so sharp but Aja is too nice to really do smack talk. Of course it does not help when SC was UConn's punching bag during her tenure.

My favorite line was when talking about retiring numbers, Sue said if UConn retired numbers like other teams, our players would be wearing three digits.

Too bad they did not try this against ND earlier this season. That would have much more bite. Skyler Diggins vs Sue ?

Would have to be the right two people. I think Skylar and Sue would be fine or You could do Natalie Achonwa or even K Mac with Moriah Jeffferson since their teammates that would be a good combo. I think they should bring back the smack talk broadcast for the final 4.

 

[TheFarmFan]

Were Stanford in the mix, Chiney Ogwumike would be excellent at smack talk. I've been really impressed by her poise, presence, and commentary for WCBB and NBA games this off-season.

 

[eebmg]

We're Stanford in the mix, Chiney Ogwumike would be excellent at smack talk. I've been really impressed by her poise, presence, and commentary for WCBB and NBA games this off-season.

I don't know. After their 40 pt loss to Oregon. Chiney may have changed loyalties (ouch Smack Talk)

 

[FanHam]

I couldn't hear or understand what either of them was saying.

 

[OldAlum]

I just watched it on ESPN3. Not much "smack" in that talk! Aja was just too laid back and nice. I think Sue would have gotten in a few more zingers but Aja didn't really battle her. It was more "fans of different teams watch game" than "smack talk". I did enjoy Sue's description of Geno's instruction and use of the white board for ONO.

 

[veryolddog]

Lots of respect for the those two young women. However, a waste of time.

More focus on the game.

 

[Newfie]

I watched it yesterday and really enjoyed it. I hope they do it again.

 

[ShmiCO]

The box n box format is awful -- I want to see the game no matter what the commentary is. I never got past it to judge whether the smack talk was engaging.

 

[reno tony]

That was trash talk? ESPN should do a little research at some basketball courts during the summer if they want to see what BB trash talk is. I expected them to stand up and hug it out. Not once did I hear South Carolina/UCONN is so bad that ………. They need to get Howard Cosell and Don Meredith together to give them some pointers.

 

[Beemer]

I've always wanted to be offered an alternate audio feed. Mike each end of the scorer's table and let us hear what's going on on the court. The best BB game I ever attended was a Celtic game at the XL. I sat behind the scorer's table in the first row above the floor. The Celtic coach was Tommy Heinson and I learned a few new ways to curse an official that night. Being able to hear not only the coaches but also the players is very entertaining, mostly because it's spontaneous, unlike the forced banter last night.

Many years ago the NFL experimented with no play by play or color commentary, just game noise. I had zero problem following the game (there were graphics for # of down, yards to go for a first down etc) and enjoyed it much more. Today's sporting events are over produced IMO.

 

[BigBird]

My viewpoint is a bit different from others. ESPN isn’t interested in the game, except as a vehicle to monetize the attention spans of viewers. Sports is entertainment, not an intellectual chess match. They are giving us more babble and less narrative content than ever before. It seems to me that analysts like Kara and Rebecca are probably just doing what they’ve been instructed to do: When things get lopsided (as UConn WBB tends to do), just start a “game” of their own. This might also explain why real analysts like Doris Burke moved away from WBB and toward the NBA. The bottom line is that Monday’s “experiment” was to sell us on the idea of less (content) is somehow better. In so doing, they preview an intention to expand this notion further in their mainstream programming. As a company that has been hemorrhaging money and viewers, ESPN will turn real sporting events into a circus if it improves their bottom line. The next step (sarcasm here) is having Sue and A’ja pelt each other with whipped cream pies.

 

[Beemer]

My viewpoint is a bit different from others. ESPN isn’t interested in the game, except as a vehicle to monetize the attention spans of viewers. Sports is entertainment, not an intellectual chess match. They are giving us more babble and less narrative content than ever before. It seems to me that analysts like Kara and Rebecca are probably just doing what they’ve been instructed to do: When things get lopsided (as UConn WBB tends to do), just start a “game” of their own. This might also explain why real analysts like Doris Burke moved away from WBB and toward the NBA. The bottom line is that Monday’s “experiment” was to sell us on the idea of less (content) is somehow better. In so doing, they preview an intention to expand this notion further in their mainstream programming. As a company that has been hemorrhaging money and viewers, ESPN will turn real sporting events into a circus if it improves their bottom line. The next step (sarcasm here) is having Sue and A’ja pelt each other with whipped cream pies.

I'm afraid you're right on the money here.

 

[Orangutan]

Too bad they did not try this against ND earlier this season. That would have much more bite. Skyler Diggins vs Sue ?

Even better - Dev Peters. She's never short of things to say.

 

[eebmg]

The box n box format is awful -- I want to see the game no matter what the commentary is. I never got past it to judge whether the smack talk was engaging.

I think most people interested in this experiment watched the TV feed with sound off and played the
Sue / Aja feed with Eric in the background. It is not for everyone but I encourage choices.

 

[HuskyNan]

I don’t have b

Lots of respect for the those two young women. However, a waste of time.

More focus on the game.

i don’t think that anyone with the word “old” in their handle was the target audience of the piece. ESPN is trying to draw in new fans using a marquee matchup to draw new eyes. Some didn’t like it but maybe a lot of new fans of a wcbb did

 

[eebmg]

As I said in earlier posts, I liked the experiment alot and it helped that Eric was on the scene. He was able to keep a good balance between the 'smack' stuff, some interesting bio info on Aja and Sue regarding their history with the national team for example and getting a little sneak into the huddle.

and I am not young.

Of course, maybe it helped that UConn won big but when I saw Sue so calm after SC wnet out to a 10 pt lead, I was calm.

 

[HopJim]

As I said in earlier posts, I liked the experiment alot and it helped that Eric was on the scene. He was able to keep a good balance between the 'smack' stuff, some interesting bio info on Aja and Sue regarding their history with the national team for example and getting a little sneak into the huddle.

and I am not young.

Of course, maybe it helped that UConn won big but when I saw Sue so calm after SC wnet out to a 10 pt lead, I was calm.

Opinions vary. I enjoyed the snippets and wanted more. Would have been great to have them add more assessment regarding strategy and game tactics. Two smart basketball players-likely would have learned more about both coaches and what was taking place.