Sports Media Watch presents 20 notable sports media stories in 2010. First, #20 through #16, including a new voice for the baseball playoffs, big ratings for an often-maligned sport, and two high-profile legal incidents.
#20: SportsCenter Takes Over ESPNews
ESPN?s John Skipper expressed some displeasure with the direction of ESPNews over the summer, saying the fourteen-year-old network was ?becoming less useful? (blogs.chron.com, 7/30/10). With ESPN?s various platforms offering myriad ways to get up-to-date sports information, ESPNews seemed almost redundant. ?[ESPNews] gets squeezed between the live SportsCenters and the digital stuff, the mobile stuff, ESPN3? Skipper told the Houston Chronicle, ?If you want a score, you can get a score. If you want to watch SportsCenter, you can watch SportsCenter.?
To remedy the situation, ESPN decided that instead of competing with SportsCenter, ESPNews should essentially become nothing-but-SportsCenter. The network added seven live, daily editions of SportsCenter to its weekday line-up, mostly eliminating the eponymous half-hour shows that previously made up its schedule. As a result, SportsCenter now airs live for fifteen consecutive hours each day (9 AM to 12 AM on ESPN or ESPNews), with an additional live hour at 1 AM. As for ESPNews, the network?s non-SportsCenter programming is limited to a half-hour of The Beat, a half-hour of Highlight Express (repeated overnight and throughout the morning) and weekends.
#19: E.J. in the Booth
After letting go the oft-criticized Chip Caray, Turner Sports needed a new lead play-by-play voice for its MLB playoff coverage. After going with three voices during the regular season ? studio host Ernie Johnson, the Brewers? Brian Anderson and veteran Dick Stockton ? TBS tapped Johnson as its lead voice for the postseason. Johnson had previous experience covering baseball games both in the studio and in the booth, and had proven himself to be a versatile announcer, calling golf and tennis. However, in large part because of his years on TNT?s Inside the NBA, he was best known not only as a studio host, but as an ‘NBA-guy’ — something that Turner’s Jeff Behnke admitted to the N.Y. Daily News was a concern (nydailynews, 10/2/10).
Johnson had a shaky opener, in which he himself admitted that he ?dropped the ball? and asked fans not to ?give up? on him (twitter.com/turnersportsej, 10/8/10). Some critics weren?t very forgiving ? one Bay Area scribe wrote that Giants fans were ?lucky they didn?t draw the short straw? and end up with Johnson calling the team?s NLCS games (mercurynews.com, 10/15/10) ? but Johnson managed to largely avoid the overwhelming scorn Caray received one year earlier.
#18: Gilbert Arenas Incident
The Gilbert Arenas/Javaris Crittendon saga was as clear a reminder as any that the NBA?s image problems will never truly go away. In December 2009, Arenas and Crittendon both brought unloaded guns in the Wizards? locker room after a dispute, eventually pleading guilty to felony and misdemeanor charges, respectively. The incident became one of the biggest stories in sports in the early days of 2010, getting discussed everywhere from Comedy Central to CNN.
As is the custom whenever an NBA player gets in legal trouble, the incident generated a host of stereotype-laden generalizations about the league and its players. Most notably, Forbes writer Michael Ozanian claimed that the league was “full of thugs” (blogs.forbes.com, 1/2/10). Of course, declaring that a league with hundreds of players is ?full of thugs? based on the actions of two players is ignorant at best. However, perception is reality ? and even though the Arenas incident was arguably the NBA?s first black mark in over three years, it was viewed as proof of the league?s supposed criminal element.
#17: NHL Hits 30+ Year Viewership High
With all the talk of how devastated the NBA and NFL will be if they lose games due to work stoppages, it should be pointed out that the NHL has come all the way back from the cancellation of its 2004-05 season, at least in the ratings department. The latest evidence came this year, when the deciding Game 6 Blackhawks/Flyers Stanley Cup Final became the most-viewed NHL game since 1974 (8.279 mil) ? the second straight year that the Cup clincher hit a 30+ year viewership high.
The Blackhawks/Flyers series as a whole was the most-viewed Stanley Cup Final on broadcast TV since 1997 (seven years before the lockout began). The increases were not limited to the big-market Stanley Cup Final, either. The first two rounds of the playoffs on NBC and Versus were the most viewed since 1997, and Versus? coverage in particular was the most-viewed on record for the first two rounds on cable.
#16: Jay Mariotti?s Arrest
The downfall of Jay Mariotti was no victory for the sports media, even if it was celebrated in some corners. While the ESPN panelist and AOL Fanhouse writer was frequently judgmental and, frankly, unpleasant, he did not seem to have much credibility with sports fans or with his colleagues in the media. By contrast, there are several other writers just as bad, if not worse, who happen to have huge followings both with fans and the media.
That said, Mariotti?s downfall was no loss, either. After building a career out of trashing athletes for both severe and trivial misdeeds, Mariotti was arrested in August following a domestic disturbance. He was charged with seven misdemeanors, eventually pleading no contest to one count of domestic violence. Once he was arrested, Fanhouse suspended him and ESPN removed him off Around the Horn. He has not resurfaced on either outlet since, though he did purportedly start a Twitter account shortly after his plea.
The #15-#11 stories of 2010 will be posted on Wednesday, December 29.
