ESPN Layoffs and Its Future...

[FriarJ]

I can't possibly tell you how little I want to hear about politics when I turn on a sports network and this has completely turned me off in regard to watching ESPN most of the time. Whether I agree with what their politics are or not is not the point here the point is they should never be discussing this crap. I'm not sure what they expected to get out of it but it certainly backfired in regards to my viewership (and I'm a Nielson house) and a lot of my friends feel the same way.

[milksteak]

Last thought... has anyone watched the Weather Channel lately... it turned from being a reliable, helpful station, to a station that discusses catastrophic weather events and tragedies... completely sucks, i can have it on 45 minutes and never get the forecast. MTV, The Weather Channel, and ESPN are three formerly good but now sucky stations.

I'm a huge history buff. So for me, in terms of suckiness, everything pales in comparison to the modern rendition of the History Channel.

[alduflux]

I'm a huge history buff. So for me, in terms of suckiness, everything pales in comparison to the modern rendition of the History Channel.

What? You don't find Mountain Men, Pawn Stars, and Swamp People to be interesting from a historical perspective?

[SJHooper]

FriarJ 100%. Idc what your political views are but don't push it on me when I'm trying to watch sports. I'm not someone you can put in a box I have views on both sides. NJRedman, if you can find one black person who doesn't think the confederate flag is racist, does that mean it's not? Hmm. I'm not offended by the video, I'm offended about the blatant double standards that you and your ilk promote. In any other scenario with a different group there would be top headlines on CNN and people at MTV would be fired immediately. It's not even debatable MTV and ESPN are far left. Maybe you agree with their POV so you don't think it's radical.

[GumbyDamnit!]

The Federalist is very conservative, and the article was an opinion piece. A lot of people have linked to it, but it should be expected to have a rightwing slant and jab at the other side... again, the article is someone's opinion... actually, looking at the author Sean Davis's bio, again, whether you support his opinion or not, understand that he has worked for both Rick Perry and Tom Coburn, so will look at subjects with a conservative angle... but his opinion isn't Gospel.

Also, i completely agree that few people want to hear about Caitlyn Jenner (who actually supported Trump) 24/7, nor Tim Tebow, Colin Kaepernick, or Lebron 24/7...

The simple answer, i think, is that ESPN decided incorrectly that it was a good idea to:

- fan the flames of controversial subjects that people are sick of hearing about or don't give a shit about, and have countless shows where people debate by screaming at each other.

- promote the shit out of their properties while ignoring all others, including 24/7 promotion of SEC football, ACC hoops, plus Tim Tebow and Lebron James... while shitting on G5 programs, the NHL, the Big East, and anything else they didn't own... totally and unfairly disregarding and alienating huge portions of the sports-viewing public.

- meddle and break up conferences and their longtime rivalries, causing resentment... then expecting, say, an average New Yorker to adopt a different team as their own... as if they would easily switch from watching Georgetown-Syracuse to watching Pitt-Clemson.

Also, keep in mind that ESPN is the station that once believed that hiring Rush Limbaugh would be a good idea. So a series of poor decisions, bullying, not reporting on sports, and a drip by drip realization from sports fans that ESPN blows.

Last thought... has anyone watched the Weather Channel lately... it turned from being a reliable, helpful station, to a station that discusses catastrophic weather events and tragedies... completely sucks, i can have it on 45 minutes and never get the forecast. MTV, The Weather Channel, and ESPN are three formerly good but now sucky stations.

Really nice commentary BJack. I whole-heartedly agree with most of what you stated.

I'm an independent...just got tired of the non-sense from both sides. One thing I do find funny though is any complaint from the Right about "the liberal media,"
as if it is some all-powerful force that brainwashes the masses. The left also just can't grasp the obvious right leaning of Fox. The truth is people seek out the outlets that mirror their own political agendas. None of these stations are concerned with unbiased reporting or "news." People will not tune in if their own partisan leanings are not fed. It's why many are convinced that Obama is a Kenyan muslim and that there were Russian operatives in the Trump campaign.

The Weather Channel (and all local on-air weather personalities) stokes what the viewers crave and seek out, not the boring reality of genuine honest reporting of a storm. They want it to be a like a pile up on an interstate where viewers are afraid to look away.

What's interesting about ESPN's place in all of this is that, like MTV before them, they were like Icarus trying to be more than just a great sports channel. I think fans simply want sports to be the escape from their every day stresses. Me, and the furthest right and left nuts can still sit side by side and enjoy our Wildcats with hugs and high fives. There are no other venues (not church, not family dinner tables, not drinking buddies, not in the movies or on TV) where absolutely everything can be put aside and forgotten during a game. As mentioned when ESPN veered from that with Rush, and personalities like Stephen A and that Dallas Cowboy fan douche' he used to sit across from, it was no longer an escape. I could feel my stress levels rise when watching. 25-30 years ago that was never the case IMO.

Anyway, enjoyed that discussion..thought I'd contribute.

[DeltaV]

I think that's the thing that you are going to see here- eventually they will figure out a way to prevent stealing of families login between each other. So you can't use your grandfathers login to get it. Then we'll see how committed cord cutters really are.

Well, I did get my own access, so I guess I am 'committed'.

[DeltaV]

but also the 100MBs ATT fiber plan, and its quite fast as well.

What speed do you get on a speed test?

I'm going to have to call and complain...when I first got hooked up, I checked it out and was getting 105MBs. Just went and checked now, and only getting about 30. Oddly faster (35) on upload than download.

[NJRedman]

Google "New years resolutions for white guys". MTV made that video and it was so absurd it made the national news. MTV is clearly showing their POV is the same as Slate, BuzzFeed, Salon, etc. if you don't know what those are go look it up. But leave it to me being called crazy for seeing a video as racist that you'd certainly agree was racist if it were about any other group. Trump is President right now because of the nutty far left and their ilk.

Yeah, just watched the video and as a lifelong white man i didn't find it racist. The fact you were offended by it speaks more towards you. The people calling it racist like the blaze tells me even more about you. Liberals didnt get trump elected, crazy right wing racists and mysogonists got him elected. Yes, including women.

But hey, good for you for turning a thread about espn lay offs into one about politics because you are a mid-20's nut job who doesn't know chit about chit.

NJRedman is lecturing someone about derailing a thread and pointing blame at the wrong people. Classic.

Ha! Yeah okay dude, whatever you say.

[NJRedman]

Yeah, just watched the video and as a lifelong white man i didn't find it racist. The fact you were offended by it speaks more towards you. The people calling it racist like the blaze tells me even more about you. Liberals didnt get trump elected, crazy right wing racists and mysogonists got him elected. Yes, including women.

But hey, good for you for turning a thread about espn lay offs into one about politics because you are a mid-20's nut job who doesn't know chit about chit.

NJRedman is lecturing someone about derailing a thread and pointing blame at the wrong people. Classic.

He's not wrong though.

Leftist Politics
You want to watch the Lakers game? Okay, but first you’re going to hear about Caitlyn Jenner. Want some NFL highlights? We’ll get to those eventually, but coming up next will be a discussion about how North Carolina is run by racist, homophobic bigots. You want to see the box scores of today’s baseball games? You can watch those at the bottom of the hour, but right now some D-list network talent would like to lecture you about gun control. After that we’ll have a panel discussion about how much courage it takes to turn your back on the American flag.

This is listed as one of multiple reasons ESPN is sinking.
http://thefederalist.com/2017/04/26/the-real-story-behind-espns-wednesday-massacre

Hahahaha then you link to a right wing opinion piece!

Homophobic laws being passed by local governments does effect sports since those participating in those sports and those going to watch those sports are effected. The NCAA can't allow it's athletes to be discriminated against when they go on the road to participate in their sports. Same goes for the staffs and the fans. Athletes are people and laws effect them just the same as non-athletes. Were you okay with southern states making northern schools coming to play bowls make their black athletes not to participate or to stay at different hotels etc?

If North Carolina doesn't want to be seen as racist and homophobic then they should think before they pass homophobic laws. Maybe they shouldn't threaten to pull it's state schools out of the ACC if that conferences 13 other members don't want to hold their events in a state with homophobic laws.

[gtmoBlue]

...and I came online to this site to Escape! Guess I'll jus slug, slump, and slither my way back to FS1 and ESPN...