April 1, 2004

Pretty interesting take-down : of SportsCenter from Slate.

"It's strange that ESPN added Dream Job to its lineup since they already have a show in which aspirants compete, with an irritating surfeit of eagerness and theatrical sarcasm, to capture the singular vibe of Dan and Keith. It's called SportsCenter."

read story | posted by holden to General at 2:44 PM CDT (14 comments total)

Great link, and I couldn't agree more...

Comment icon posted by vito90 at 4:05 PM CDT on April 1

Good points and I agree with most of them. While I would love to heap the lion's share of the blame on Linda Cohn & Company, I think it has more to do with the fact that I have aged myself out of their target demographic.

I would still bet that SportsCenter is just as popular now, if not more so, as it was on my college campus from 1991-1995.

Comment icon posted by usfbull at 5:17 PM CDT on April 1

I can't stand the following ESPN personnel, in descending order of annoyance:
Sean Salisbury - step away from the buffet, fat man, and tone down the hostility.
John Clayton - I think ESPN hired this little man just to emphasize the hugeness of NFL players. They certainly didn't hire him for his journalism skills.
Linda Cohn - someone needs to tell her she's not witty, because she's convinced she is.
Stuart Scott - I'm just embarrassed for him. Booyah.

I really like Dan Patrick and Kenny Mayne as anchors, and Len Pasquarelli is a great writer.

Comment icon posted by dusted at 5:49 PM CDT on April 1

I agree on Salisbury, Scott and Pasquarelli. I think Dan Patrick's ego has reached epic proportions, though, and find his radio show just about unlistenable.

As a Seattle partisan, I'm partial to Clayton -- and I've never understood why people bash Linda Cohn. She seems to me the most understated and professional of the anchors.

Comment icon posted by jeffmshaw at 6:17 PM CDT on April 1

I've never understood why people bash Linda Cohn

She used to be fine. Somewhere along the line she decided (apparently) she needed to be as wild and crazy as the boys to stay visible. She's awful at it. Worse than awful. It's embarrassing. And we're about to get back to baseball season, during which she will utter the word "dong" three million times.

Comment icon posted by yerfatma at 8:14 PM CDT on April 1

I LOVED the Kenny Mayne, Rich Eisen combo. I could lose everyone else. I HATED dan/keith/craig.

Comment icon posted by corpse at 8:34 PM CDT on April 1

The best SC anchor I've seen in the last year was Zach from Dream Job, and he didn't even make the finals of their little contest.

What this tells me is that the network is hyping the shrillness and ego over knowledge and proper pacing on purpose. Bummer.

Linda Cohn was great with Rich Eisen. (Maybe it was Eisen.) She's still okay doing hockey, but yeah, that's about it. And Salisbury & Berthiaume only remind me of good books I should be reading.

Comment icon posted by chicobangs at 9:00 AM CDT on April 2

Maybe it's just that Patrick and Olbermann represented an era in which hipness meant detachment, and today's with-it young anchors represent an era in which hipness means sycophancy.

Booyah, indeed.

Comment icon posted by BitterOldPunk at 12:56 AM CDT on April 4

Why has no one debated whether the ESPN anchor position is really a "dream job?"

You're required to live in or around Bristol, Conneticut; you might have to sit next to Stuart Scott; the hours suck; and you'll have every sports fan in the country criticizing your metaphors and delivery. There's more: you have to report on athlete's various trials for rape, murder and drug charges; you wouldn't be able to openly root for any teams because that would ruin your credibility; and you might be in the same building as Stuart Scott. Plus, you'd probably hate sports after about six months of all-day exposure. There are much better jobs...

Hugh Hefner has a dream job, or if you want to keep it sports-related, Mark Cuban.

Comment icon posted by dusted at 10:33 PM CDT on April 4

FIWI, dusted, the local Dallas alt-weekly is claiming the Cuban isn't as well off as he seems

Comment icon posted by Ufez Jones at 11:06 PM CDT on April 4

Um, yeah, I meant FWIW...FWIW.

Comment icon posted by Ufez Jones at 11:06 PM CDT on April 4

That's really interesting if true. It would ruin the devil-may-care attitude if the league's penalties actually hurt his wallet.

Comment icon posted by dusted at 4:15 PM CDT on April 5

Ufez, dusted, you guys realize that was a 4/1 piece.

Comment icon posted by billsaysthis at 6:29 PM CDT on April 5

Dammit, add that to the Owens story and that makes me a sucker twice.

Comment icon posted by dusted at 7:28 PM CDT on April 5

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