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.