The Final Days of ESPN

ESPN headquarters circa 2020

I think I need to take a moment today to talk about the mass exodus that is happening at ESPN right now.

I've been known to bash on ESPN on this site, but that's because they are an incompetent network that hires stupid people. They also act like they are the biggest and best thing since sliced bread. That was true about 25 years ago, but times have changed and ESPN refuses to keep up with that. They have barely changed anything about themselves since the internet has basically taken over the world. The only big difference that I have noticed, yes I still watch, but it's an anger watch, is the new set. They also have people hosting their own versions of "SportsCenter", but it's still pretty much the same. The higher ups at the company are either oblivious, or they just don't care, about the changing culture.

Nowadays, almost everything is done on the internet. I wouldn't be able to write if it weren't for the internet. In fact, a lot of people wouldn't have made it without the internet. But, ESPN doesn't seem to care. I wonder if they think it is a fad, or something that will just disappear. Sorry to break the news, but being the millennial writer and podcaster on this site, the internet is no fad and it will only continue to get bigger and bigger. I can't even fathom what it will be like when my kids are my age.

That's another thing, ESPN refuses to get with the times, what with live streaming now. Hell, if I want to watch a Michigan football, basketball or even a baseball game, I can see it in real time on the BTN2Go app. ESPN claims to have a live stream, but you have to pay for the stream, or they just have the "live" stream that is just some random person writing down what happens on each play, waiting what seems like an hour to write it, and the game is so far behind when they finally give you the info. For example, after my daughter was born, I had to watch a Michigan-Northwestern football game on my phone and I started with the ESPN "live stream". It was incredibly bad. I was getting zero updates. I couldn't find out which team had the ball or what they were doing. My dad asked me how the game was going and I could not give him a proper answer. After dealing with this nonsense for almost a half an hour, my older brother told me to go to the BTN2Go app. I downloaded it, searched the game, found it immediately, and was even able to watch it on my iPhone in a hospital room. Side note, Michigan thumped Northwestern that day. When I finally got to see the game, the first quarter was just about over and they were up 21-0. So, why does a channel, BTN, that has only been around for about 15 years have a better app and better internet capabilities that a company, ESPN, that's been around for 35 plus years? That is absolutely insane.

I think the "talent" at ESPN is starting to realize that the company will not get with the times and they have no chance of advancing any further than they already have. Sure, they fired Bill Simmons after he deservedly crushed Roger Goodell, but I guarantee that, had HBO came in and made an offer before he was let go, he would have left in a heart beat. Simmons outgrew that place, so instead of letting him leave on his own terms, they decided they would save face and fire him. That completely backfired on ESPN. Simmons has throngs of fans, me included, that will follow him to whatever network he goes to. They also decided, after letting Simmons go, it was time to shut down Grantland. Another huge mistake from ESPN. They lost a ton of great writers after doing this. Most of those writers are back with Simmons now. Grantland was huge for ESPN, but they wanted to rid themselves of everything Bill Simmons, and that was idiotic. Simmons and his staff write for the younger generation and, as I've said, we will follow him and his writers anywhere. I'm pumped for his show on HBO, I'm an avid listener of his podcast and I have subscribed to and follow The Ringer, his new site, on Twitter. 

Then, there was the news that Mike Tirico was leaving to go to NBC. This is a huge problem for ESPN. While Mike Tirico may not be the nicest, most pleasant person to be around, he was a crucial member of their staff. He was the co anchor on "Monday Night Football". He called big time college football games. He called NBA games. He was huge in college basketball. I mean, the guy is a jack of all trades. And the people at ESPN just lost him. I was legitimately shocked when I read that he was leaving. I don't know who they will replace him with, but I will bet it will someone who is incredibly under qualified.

Hell, they are even losing "journalist" that are not even mediocre, they are terrible. Last year they lost the racist piece of human garbage, Colin Cowherd. And now, the most moronic, nonsensical, I think I'm right because I'm the loudest, idiot Skip Bayless is leaving to join Cowherd at Fox Sports. This gives me a newfound hatred for Fox Sports, but damn, they can't even keep terrible people over at ESPN. Skip Bayless is a flat out dummy. The guy says some of the dumbest things I've ever heard on TV. Some, wait, everything he says is filled with stupidity and an arrogance that he should never, ever have. He is so dumb and so out of his mind. This is a guy that has said that Tim Tebow is an all time great QB, if you need a reference at how truly moronic he is. But, he too is leaving ESPN. I cannot believe they couldn't keep him on board. I wouldn't be shocked if the equally stupid and equally loud Stephen A Smith is the next to go. Yeah, they let Lou Holtz go, but he is about a million years old, so not a very big deal. Sure, they let Mark May go a year ago, but he is so much better off where he is now. They let Robert Smith go, but he was pretty good on TV and I'm sure he will find a job soon. And, after repeated racial slurs and racially insensitive things he put on the internet, they finally let Curt Schilling go.

Therein lies a huge problem for ESPN. If you bad mouth the NFL, a la Bill Simmons calling out Goodell, you get fired immediately. But, it took Schilling being incredibly racist, homophobic and mysoginistic many times before they actually fired him. Bill Simmons says one bad thing about the NFL, boom, he's gone. But, it's not until Schilling takes the side of the backwards ass people in North Carolina, he agreed with them that transgender people shouldn't be able to use the bathroom with the gender they now identify with, to fire him. Schilling is a horrible excuse for a human being. It's a travesty that it took ESPN that long to fire him. And what a crock from people that claim to be forward thinking.

It's just a matter of time now before everyone leaves ESPN, or they just shut down because they refuse to keep up with the change in the world. ESPN is an inept network and that ineptness will soon catch up to them.

Ty

Ty is the Pop Culture editor for SeedSing and the other host of the X Millennial Man Podcast. He does not remember the early days of ESPN, but he sure remembers the last days. The network ended in 2006 if he recalls correctly. Ty is on the internet, follow him on twitter @tykulik.

In an era of bad sports announcers, Cris Collinsworth is the worst

Mic to be used for analysis, not opinion

My beloved Packers played the Seahawks on Sunday Night football last night, and as a fan I of course was tuned in.

It was a pretty good game. Green Bay outplayed the Seahawks for three quarters, with the Seahawks briefly taking the lead early in the third, but the Packers eventually won the game. I was happy with the outcome, it's always great when your team wins, but that's not the point of today's blog. Today I want to talk about my dislike for Cris Collinsworth.

He's a god awful football announcer. I have problems with a lot of different commentators, but Collinsworth is the worst. I watch a lot of college football, so I've grown to dislike guys like AJ McDonough and Chris Spielman. They always seem to do Michigan games, and I am always upset when I see them calling the game. Lee Corso, who a lot of people like, is unwatchable to me. He's a gimmick. He was a tremendous failure as a coach and, in my opinion, he's much worse as a TV personality. I couldn't care less about his "pick of the day" bull shit. Take pretty much anyone from ESPN for that matter. Mike Tirico and Jon Gruden couldn't be more annoying calling Monday night games. They act like two best friends that speak a language only the two of them understand. It's pretty unpleasant. With college basketball on ESPN you have morons like Digger Phelps and Dick Vitale. Digger Phelps is a poor mans Lee Corso, and I've been sick of the "Dickie V" character for a decade now. Jay Bilas is just as bad. Whenever anyone bad mouths Duke, his alma mater, he's quick to defend them. I'm sorry, but if you're going to be an analyst on TV, you can't have a favorite team. You're not doing your job fairly. Same thing can be said for Tony Kornheiser and Mike Wilbon. I watch "PTI" everyday, but the two of them are completely biased for players and teams they like. Wilbon won't say a bad thing about anyone from Chicago, or any team from Chicago. Take the recent Patrick Kane story. He plays for the Blackhawks, and was accused of sexual assault this offseason. Wilbon hasn't said one bad thing about him because, as he put it, "we don't know all of the story yet". That's horse shit. If he played for any other team in hockey you'd say he needs to be suspended, if not kicked out of the league. Kornheiser is just as bad with East Coast teams. Anyone from New York gets a pass, except for the Knicks, and he is a huge fan of all the professional teams in Washington. Forget the fact that the NFL team from Washington is terrible and the Wizards, Capitals and Nationals never live up to expectations, he still defends them to the high heavens and jumps all over teams that aren't on the East Coast for being chokers. It's such a joke.

But, with all these terrible, biased announcers and TV personalities I've mentioned, Cris Collinsworth takes the trophy for most insufferable. He is so in the bag for the Seahawks, it's hard to listen to him call a game. I'll get to last night in a minute, but let's look at last season. He and Al Michaels, I like Al Michaels and feel bad for him that Collinsworth is John Madden's replacement, called the first game of the 2014 season. It was also Green Bay and Seattle. Seattle was coming off a big Super Bowl win over Denver and you would have thought that Collinsworth was part of the team. Everything he said was praise for the Seahawks. They were the greatest defense ever, even better than the 85 Bears he said. Marshawn Lynch was the second coming of Jim Brown in his opinion. Russell Wilson was the second coming of John Elway. It was made worse by the fact that Seattle beat Green Bay pretty handily in that game last year. Collinsworth couldn't have sounded happier. Everything was praise for how great of a team the Seahawks were last season. And, that was the case since they made it to the Super Bowl, which he called with Al Michaels. Collinsworth sounded on edge the whole game. You could clearly tell that he was pulling for and wanted the Seahawks to win this game badly. Every time the Patriots scored, Collinsworth would make a claim that Seattle blew a coverage, or that New England got away with a penalty. It was never that New England was outplaying them for most of the night, it was something Seattle or the refs did wrong. He never pointed out the fact that Tom Brady picked apart Seattle's secondary. The Patriots dinked and dunked their way up and down the field all game, but you'd never know that if you listened to Collinsworth. No praise for New England during the game. Seattle had a chance to win that game as we all now know. As they drove down the field, with one of the luckiest catches I've ever seen, Collinsworth sounded almost giddy calling this drive. Then the infamous one yard line pass happened. You guys remember the face that Richard Sherman made when Malcolm Butler intercepted Russell Wilson (behold beauty)? I bet that Collinsworth wasn't just making that same face, I bet he was crying. He sounded audibly upset that the Seahawks lost that game. You can't pick sides when calling games as an announcer, especially in the Super Bowl. It's fine to have a favorite team, we all do, but when you do TV, you CANNOT be biased. It's unfair to all the watchers.

Last night was probably the worst I've ever heard from Collinsworth. Once again, whenever Green Bay did something good, or drove down the field, or stopped Seattle's drives, it was never because the Packers did something right, it was Seattle doing something wrong. When Seattle took the lead in the third, he sounded like a proud father, heaping praise on Wilson's performance. Wilson played well in the game last night, but he threw a crucial interception on a screen pass. A linebacker dropped into coverage and picked him off one handed. The linebacker fumbled at the end of the play, Green Bay clearly recovered the ball, but that's not what happened in Collinsworth's perspective. First, he claimed the running back that the screen was set up for, didn't show himself quick enough to Wilson. Then, the line left their blocks too quick. Then, what a lucky interception he kept saying. Finally, he was convinced that the Seahawks recovered the fumble. He insisted, even after the game, that the refs blew that call and cost them the game. Never mind the fact that right after the turnover Aaron Rodgers, and more importantly, James Starks drove the Packers right down the field for the go ahead touchdown and two point conversion. The Packers would later add a field goal to make it a ten point lead and they stripped Fred Jackson with thirty seconds left to seal the game. But, after it was all said and done, you would have thought that the Seahawks got screwed over by the refs if you listened to Collinsworth. He's the worst kind of announcer. Not only does he have a team he roots for, but he openly roots for them while calling their games on national TV. That is unacceptable. He needs to stop with the Seahawk love and do his job correctly. I long for the days of Keith Jackson and John Madden calling games, but, unfortunately, we seem to be moving into an era of commentators openly rooting for teams while they call games. Collinsworth has started it, and it's only going to get worse from here.

That's a bummer.

Ty

Ty is the Pop Culture editor for SeedSing. He does not have any strong religious beliefs, yet he does think God wanted the Packers to win because that is what matters in the world. Follow Ty on twitter @tykulik.