Sportscenter Sucks

[Villain]

And I'm guessing you'd rather watch and complain about ESPN, instead of simply changing the channel to NHL Network? If you knew you had MLB Network then why were you sitting around waiting for Sportscenter to play highlights? lol at me being the dumbass when you're the one still watching the show as if it has a monopoly on sports coverage.

Changing the channel is exactly what I did. I mentioned earlier how I switched over to MLBN instead of ESPN last week. All last night I only watched NHLN.

 

[Rudi]

Deadspin puts out these numbers every week. I wish you could go back and look at the breakdown when LINSANITY was taking over. It was an absurd amount of coverage just dealing with Lin. It's no secret Sportscenter sucks. I do love me some SVP though, and one thing I think we can all agree on is that ESPN has mastered the art of background television. Anytime some friends are sitting around or even at parties, ESPN is always the channel of choice to put on just to have on.

 

[spiker]

I love that Deadspin has someone (or a team?) on staff to analyze how ESPN spends their time. Not like ESPN gives a fuck about being accountable, but at least it's out there for all of the doubters, if there are any left these days.

 

[Villain]

Deadspin puts out these numbers every week. I wish you could go back and look at the breakdown when LINSANITY was taking over. It was an absurd amount of coverage just dealing with Lin. It's no secret Sportscenter sucks. I do love me some SVP though, and one thing I think we can all agree on is that ESPN has mastered the art of background television. Anytime some friends are sitting around or even at parties, ESPN is always the channel of choice to put on just to have on.

Bristolmetrics: SportsCenter Said "Lin" More Often Than "If" Or "But" Last Week

When last we met, we were starting to see the early onset of Linsanity. What happened next? SportsCenter went and mentioned Jeremy Lin 350 times in a single week. That's nearly one mention per minute, if you're scoring at home (or even if you're not humping a Fathead poster of Jeremy Lin).
Total time: 500.5 minutes
Time (minus commercials): 378.25

TIME DEVOTED TO INDIVIDUAL SPORTS
NBA: 148.75 minutes (39.3%) (last week 22.8%)
College basketball: 68.25 (18%) (last week 23%)
NFL: 40.75 (10.8%) (last week 36.8%)
Golf: 19.5 (5.2%) (last week 1.9 %)
NHL: 15.75 (4.2%) (last week 2%)
MLB: 12.75 (3.4%) (last week 0.8%)
College football: 4.75 (1.3%) (last week 0%)
Other sports: 7.25 (1.9%) (last week 0.3%)
SportsCenter staples (things like the "Top 10," "Encore," "What 2 Watch 4," etc.): 60.5 (16%) (last week 12.4%)

MOST-COVERED TEAMS BY SPORT
New York Knicks (NBA): 58.5 (15.5%)
Indianapolis Colts (NFL): 21.25 minutes (5.6%)
Duke Blue Devils (college basketball): 12.75 (3.4%)
Detroit Red Wings (NHL): 5.75 (1.5%)
Penn State Nittany Lions (college football): 3.25 (0.9%)
Oakland Athletics (MLB): 1.25 (0.3%)

MOST-MENTIONED ATHLETES
Rather than break down the amount of time a specific sports figure was covered, we counted how frequently names were mentioned in the transcripts from the week. The 15 most-mentioned sports people for Feb. 10-16:

Jeremy Lin: 350 mentions
LeBron James: 70
Tiger Woods: 61
Peyton Manning: 56
Phil Mickelson: 46
Kobe Bryant: 44
Blake Griffin: 42
Carmelo Anthony: 37
Amar'e Stoudemire: 32
Dwyane Wade: 30
Chris Paul: 26
Jim Irsay: 24
Rajon Rondo: 23
Tim Tebow: 22
Randy Moss: 20

CUMULATIVE STATISTICS: JAN 7-FEB 16
Total time: 2,579.5 minutes
Time (minus commercials): 1,952.25

NFL: 617.25 minutes (31.6%)
NBA: 465.75 (23.9%)
College basketball: 316 (16.2%)
SportsCenter staples: 252 (12.9%)
College football: 100.5 (5.1%)
NHL: 54.25 (2.8%)
MLB: 46.5 (2.4%)
Other: 100 (5.1%)

Notes

It's a Linfestation!: Lin's 350 mentions destroyed the record of 154 mentions set by Tim Tebow in the first edition of Bristolmetrics. That shakes out to 0.93 Jeremy Lin mentions per minute. Jeremy Lin's name was uttered more times than "if" (132) or "but" (241); his last name alone was mentioned 291 times, more than "are" (229), "be" (216), or "what" (207). Lin was discussed so much that Carmelo Anthony moved into the ranks of the most-mentioned athletes despite not playing a game since Feb. 6—all 37 mentions of Anthony came in the context of discussing whether or not his return would ruin the Lin magic.

Let's express this another way: The NHL needed six weeks to log more than 50 minutes total of SportsCenter airtime; in a single week, the Knicks got 58.5 minutes all by themselves. The saddest thing I witnessed this week, amid the joy of Linsanity, was NHL analyst Barry Melrose giving over his meager share of airtime to talk about Jeremy Lin with Linda Cohn. Poor Barry.

It's not even overkill, really. Linsanity is a great story, and it happened to arrive during a relatively boring sports month in the biggest media market in the country. Saturation coverage was inevitable, and not at all unwarranted. A lot of people make facile comparisons to Tebowmania, but I don't see it. Tebowmania was a media event. The coverage of Tebow was primarily coverage of the coverage of Tebow. Lin is a still-unfolding surprise. Even the most reductive version of his story—guy parachutes in from the minors and plays a brilliant point guard for a team that didn't have a competent one—is the sort of thing that ESPN has all but rendered extinct. No one comes out of nowhere anymore.

You got your Tebow in my Lin: Even though the two stories have very little in common, ESPN couldn't stop themselves from trying to combine the forces of Linsanity and Tebowmania. Tebow was mentioned 22 times this week; 20 of those mentions involved Jeremy Lin. Thanks to ESPN, we now know what Lin thinks of Tebow (he's a fan), and what Tebow thinks of Lin (he's a fan, too).

The NFL has finally been dethroned: All it took was for its season to end. Yet even with the season over, ESPN still managed to talk about professional football for 40 minutes this week. Every talking point (Peyton Manning's future, whether Andrew Luck or Robert Griffin III will go No. 1 in the draft, where Randy Moss will end up) was speculative in nature. The only new news we heard about Peyton Manning was that the Colts hoped to keep him and that he may have had additional surgery on his neck a few months ago. ESPN essentially manufactured its own football storylines for the week.

ESPN likes golf when Tiger and Phil are involved: With both golfers in contention at Pebble Beach last weekend, SportsCenter spent more time than normal covering the sport. Sunday's show gave 9.5 minutes to Mickelson's come-from-behind victory, along with some analysis on why Tiger was unable to stay close to Phil for most of the round. ESPN also sent national reporter Colleen Dominguez to Pebble Beach for the duration of the tournament, where she produced several lengthy stories on Saturday and Sunday. Without Tiger or Phil, the tournament probably gets a minute of highlights. With them, it gets more coverage than baseball.

We have our first Mel Kiper sighting of 2012: The NFL draft guru and his partner, Todd McShay, gave us their top quarterback and wide receiver prospects—based, no doubt, on their extensive work in the Draft Lab. This is what the Draft Lab looks like. There are beakers. The draft is more than two months away.

 

[NAHSTE]

Thanks for the heads up, I didn't know SportsCenter sucked.



























Until I realized it five years ago.

 

[Villain]

Thanks for the heads up, I didn't know SportsCenter sucked.

Until I realized it five years ago.

Congrats you're a sports hipster.

 

[Ravin]

Basically take the NBA and flip it to NHL for us up here in Canada. Basically the show starts with NHL highlights, then press conference, then goes to the NHL on TSN Panel for 5 minutes, then they do other highlights, then a player report at some point in the show on some aspect of the series, then after the half hour, a recap of the game, back to the panel for another look at the game.

 

[FedEx227]

I'm more surprised ESPN took a break from the NFL's teet to actually talk about another sport with some equal footing.

 

[Houston]

Changing the channel is exactly what I did. I mentioned earlier how I switched over to MLBN instead of ESPN last week. All last night I only watched NHLN.

Congratulations, I'm happy for you. No need for insults and groans though.

 

[Fappin Raptor]

Today one of the greatest NHL defenseman retired. I wonder if they'll give that any airtime.

 

[NAHSTE]

Today one of the greatest NHL defenseman retired. I wonder if they'll give that any airtime.

Depends on whether or not Tim Tebow lines up in any quirky formations at the Jets voluntary mini-camp.

 

[ralaw]

Are people arguing in favor of more hockey just because they're in the finals? ESPN is like e-entertainment they talk about what the masses want to hear........in comparison to the other sports people in Amurica don't care about hockey.

 

[RosettaStoned]

As much as ESPN sucks.. hockey sucks worse.

 

[Fappin Raptor]

As much as ESPN sucks.. hockey sucks worse.

I forgot you declared that hockey sucked. I have to stop watching it.

 

[RosettaStoned]

I forgot you declared that hockey sucked. I have to stop watching it.

Did I say you had to stop watching it? Was there any instruction given you butthurt fag?

 

[Fappin Raptor]

Did I say you had to stop watching it? Was there any instruction given you butthurt fag?

Everyone knows your word is gold. You are the greatest human being ever. I'm not butthurt, just in awe of your awesomeness.

 

[ralaw]

As much as ESPN sucks.. hockey sucks worse.

Having moved to Northern VA and having to constantly hear abot the Capitols during their playoff run I've grown to have a higher level of respect for the sport; but for me it still isn't basketball football or soccor. I put it on the same level that I put baseball on................I can watch it in stints, but other than that I'm pretty casual. I know enough to know what people are talking about and I am familiar with a good amount of the players, but I wouldn't get into a debate over anything in eitiher.

 

[FedEx227]

Are people arguing in favor of more hockey just because they're in the finals? ESPN is like e-entertainment they talk about what the masses want to hear........in comparison to the other sports people in Amurica don't care about hockey.

The issue mostly is this becoming a self-fulfilling prophecy. "We devote hours of buildup to regular season Red Sox-Yankees but why do all other MLB games that we don't spend time building up not get as good of ratings as Red Sox-Yankees?!"

 

[ralaw]

The issue mostly is this becoming a self-fulfilling prophecy. "We devote hours of buildup to regular season Red Sox-Yankees but why do all other MLB games that we don't spend time building up not get as good of ratings as Red Sox-Yankees?!"

IDK, ESPN does a great deal of research in what interest people and they tailor their programming around it. I see what you are saying though. However, if Sportscenter spent as much time on hockey that they do with the NFL or the NBA they'd lose a lot of viewers.

 

[Maynard]

i cant remember the last time i watched sportscenter. its all about analysis. they just beat shit to death. plus the guys they have giving the analysis are retards who i hate listening to. if i want sports reporting i will read stuff on espn.com or other internet sites. espn is still great at covering sporting events