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I wondered if anyone else out there had the same thoughts as I did while watching ESPN's coverage of the 2006 draft. In short, I thought they absolutely blew it. I was extremely disappointed in their coverage of the draft and specifically of their coverage of the Packers selections. They had the most anticipated and talked about draft in years and they pick this draft to change their format? I got the feeling they were trying to reach out to a new demographic with the whole model intro's and the constant fluff pieces about emotional crap that I sure as hell didn't tune in to watch.
I also felt that they downplayed Mel Kiper's role too much in order to allow their cast of idiots like Michael Irvin and Hodge and Salsbury to get their two cents worth in.
When I say they changed their format I mean that they went away from what they've done for years. They went away from a more informative, in-depth analysis of the players and picks and moved more towards the emotion of the event and a more diverse set of opinions from a larger chunk of their staff then usual. It was all pictures of emotional family hugs and tears and if I have to watch Vernon Davis break down again and sob....I'm going to puke! If there's no crying in baseball then that applies double for football!
For years they'd go through at least the first 3 rounds of the draft with the following format...
1. They stop when a pick is being made and announce the pick or explain the trade.
2. Mel Kiper tells everyone what he knows about the background of the player being selected.
3. An immediate roundtable of Boomer, Mel, Tom Jackson and whomever else they have sitting at the main table discuss whether this was a good pick or a bad pick.
4. When available, they go to a correspondent who is at certain teams headquarters, and have the correspondent explain reasoning from the teams as to why they did what they did.
Beyond the Jets and Dolphins, did they have anyone at other cities to bounce back and forth to.
Starting in the second or third round, they didn't stop to announce pick by pick and started grouping and announcing picks. The audience didn't get a player by player run down with background....it was a grouping of players...5 picks or so at a time..and then some reaction to whatever the guys wanted to point out. Of course, the same teams picks got pointed out time and time again. The Packers make big back to back trades and these guys just keep talking about some other crap and they don't even stop to explain what's going on? No special analysis of what was happening...
It was just crap coverage all around. Kiper started to talk about how he had Jennings ranked as high as Jackson and suddenly he's cut off so that some other bozo can talk or because they ran out of time and had to go to commercial. It was just garbage. I didn't get the normal insight that I crave and watch the draft for. I was severely disappointed. It's been over a decade since the Packers had such an important and early role in the draft and I feel ripped off by ESPN's B.S. coverage. Where was the correspondant in G.B.?
And again, I think it's all because they were trying to appeal to a larger demographic. It was a damn shame.
I also felt that they downplayed Mel Kiper's role too much in order to allow their cast of idiots like Michael Irvin and Hodge and Salsbury to get their two cents worth in.
When I say they changed their format I mean that they went away from what they've done for years. They went away from a more informative, in-depth analysis of the players and picks and moved more towards the emotion of the event and a more diverse set of opinions from a larger chunk of their staff then usual. It was all pictures of emotional family hugs and tears and if I have to watch Vernon Davis break down again and sob....I'm going to puke! If there's no crying in baseball then that applies double for football!
For years they'd go through at least the first 3 rounds of the draft with the following format...
1. They stop when a pick is being made and announce the pick or explain the trade.
2. Mel Kiper tells everyone what he knows about the background of the player being selected.
3. An immediate roundtable of Boomer, Mel, Tom Jackson and whomever else they have sitting at the main table discuss whether this was a good pick or a bad pick.
4. When available, they go to a correspondent who is at certain teams headquarters, and have the correspondent explain reasoning from the teams as to why they did what they did.
Beyond the Jets and Dolphins, did they have anyone at other cities to bounce back and forth to.
Starting in the second or third round, they didn't stop to announce pick by pick and started grouping and announcing picks. The audience didn't get a player by player run down with background....it was a grouping of players...5 picks or so at a time..and then some reaction to whatever the guys wanted to point out. Of course, the same teams picks got pointed out time and time again. The Packers make big back to back trades and these guys just keep talking about some other crap and they don't even stop to explain what's going on? No special analysis of what was happening...
It was just crap coverage all around. Kiper started to talk about how he had Jennings ranked as high as Jackson and suddenly he's cut off so that some other bozo can talk or because they ran out of time and had to go to commercial. It was just garbage. I didn't get the normal insight that I crave and watch the draft for. I was severely disappointed. It's been over a decade since the Packers had such an important and early role in the draft and I feel ripped off by ESPN's B.S. coverage. Where was the correspondant in G.B.?
And again, I think it's all because they were trying to appeal to a larger demographic. It was a damn shame.
Can I talk to my local provider and get it?
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