OT: ESPN Layoffs

[puckstopper55]

According to Newsday, ESPN pretty much gutted their hockey coverage. I wonder if MSG would want to pick any of them up for our coverage?

ther ESPN employees who tweeted that they had been laid off include college football reporter Brett McMurphy; MLB analyst Jim Bowden; hockey reporters Scott Burnside, Pierre LeBrun and Joe McDonald; college basketball reporters Dana O’Neil and Eamonn Brennan; ESPN Dallas columnist Jean-Jacques Taylor; MLB writer Mark Saxon; Big Ten football reporters Austin Ward and Jesse Temple; college football recruiting reporter Jeremy Crabtree; ESPNU anchor Brendan Fitzgerald; and soccer writer Mike Goodman. ESPN’s Tennessee Titans beat reporter, Paul Kuharsky, tweeted Monday that he will not be back with the company beginning in July

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[PK Cronin]

Is Barry Melrose still with the network?

 

[eoin92]

Is Barry Melrose still with the network?

ESPN would not let such a great hockey talent just walk. Of course they're gonna hold on to him. He coached the Kings all the way to the Stanley cup finals with the ever mediocre Gretzky and couple of other scrubs, Robatille, Kuri, Coffey, and an Islander cast off in net.

 

[xECK29x]

Buccigross was let go also. He would be great for MSG, or he can host another Isles draft party. I would imagine LeBrun goes back to TSN and others go to SportsNet/NHL.com, I doubt they remain unemployed the NHL Hockey Writers Association seems to take care of their own pretty well.

 

[BTrotts19]

Ed Werder to me was definitely a shocker. Also didn't see any major cuts to NBA staff, which I guess is not surprising. Feel bad for the people financially but I know I rarely watch it anymore because of terrible content.

 

[JohnTonelliRises]

Who cares, I feel bad for the writers/pundits (obviously, that's a horrible life event), but if ESPN fell off the face of the earth tomorrow, I don't think I'd even blink.

They started their steady decline when they dropped hockey almost altogether years ago. Now, they're laughable trash. It's really hard to watch ESPN now.

The weird aspect to this all, is that ESPN caused their own demise. Senior management went ahead and made the decision to dumb down every show and every discussion.

 

[Mr Misunderstood]

Buccigross was let go also. He would be great for MSG, or he can host another Isles draft party. I would imagine LeBrun goes back to TSN and others go to SportsNet/NHL.com, I doubt they remain unemployed the NHL Hockey Writers Association seems to take care of their own pretty well.

Last I saw was that Bucci wasn't let go today, but his contract is up during the summer and there was no update regarding an extension. He even tweeted out "WHAT A DAY TO BE ALIVE" since he was not let go. (sorry at work and cannot access twitter to link).

I agree, that he would be great at MSG if his contract wasn't renewed this summer but I think he would go towards Boston as he is already close and all of the ties to "Cawlidge Hawkey" with BC/BU/Beanpot/etc.

 

[Strummergas]

According to Newsday, ESPN pretty much gutted their hockey coverage. I wonder if MSG would want to pick any of them up for our coverage?

None of them are big enough Rangers shills to work for MSG. Besides, Trautwig, Maloney, Duguay and Valiquette are great at keeping it wet.

 

[Costigan77]

Last I saw was that Bucci wasn't let go today, but his contract is up during the summer and there was no update regarding an extension. He even tweeted out "WHAT A DAY TO BE ALIVE" since he was not let go. (sorry at work and cannot access twitter to link).

I agree, that he would be great at MSG if his contract wasn't renewed this summer but I think he would go towards Boston as he is already close and all of the ties to "Cawlidge Hawkey" with BC/BU/Beanpot/etc.

Pretty sure he would be up for the Liam McHugh's sport at NBC. MSG would be a step down

 

[PK Cronin]

Danny Kanell was one of the layoffs, and he was one of the few people I'd actually stop to listen to if he were on the t.v. or radio. The television isn't very good.

 

[BMOK33]

As soon as I finally won a Bucci challenge he gets layed off

 

[A Pointed Stick]

I have no idea why my previous post in here disappeared.

ESPN does a horrible, a pathetic job covering the NHL after the league gave their gimmee games to Comcast. It is petty to the point that they list the three other major sports in their tabs, then other soft sports, then the NHL on their website.

This politics first sports-zine masquerading as a sports news site should be left alone to die a normal network death. Considering most of their Islander coverage was like letting trailer-park quality Ranger fans write commentary we aren't going to miss them at all. TSN Canada might be Toronto blue biased, but I'd rather go there for NHL coverage long before heading to ESPN.

Good riddance, and hence why I posted a gif showing much happiness at another step down the path of their going away.

 

[seafoam]

As soon as I finally won a Bucci challenge he gets layed off

It was originally reported that he was let go, but he's staying on till the end of his contract, which is up in <1 year if I remember correctly.

Still.

 

[Flair19Woo]

ESPN is almost unwatchable at this point. They grew to much and try to do too much and in the process do lots of things poorly. Feel bad for the journalists but with less and less people buying cable they really need to rethink their long term vision.

 

[Richie Daggers Crime]

I don't get the thing on ESPN where they make all the anchors stand there out in the open and talk with the camera panned out. Nobody knows what to do with their hands or their feet. It also has a bit of a gross vibe because I get the sense they ask the female anchors to wear skirts. Give these people their desk back.

 

[eoin92]

ESPN is almost unwatchable at this point. They grew to much and try to do too much and in the process do lots of things poorly. Feel bad for the journalists but with less and less people buying cable they really need to rethink their long term vision.

I haven't watched ESPN in years. It IS unwatchable.

 

[Dutch Frost]

I grew up watching sports center every morning as a kid, it was the best! I still catch the Dan Patrick show when I am off from work but ESPN has become garbage for over a decade now. I hated their infatuation with the Redsox and how they tried to always control a narrative. Its Sports!! Every game does not need a freaking background story.

I catch PTI but even then its like watching CNN at the airport. You just look up and stare when you arent playing with your phone.

 

[danteipp]

The amount of missteps that ESPN has had is truly amazing. They overpaid for the NBA and rather than just report on sports, break some news and maybe put forth some quality documentaries, they tried to control the narrative, tell their audience what they should care about and thought people would tune in to watch that and their "talent". In the end, I assume they are getting destroyed by competition from local, regional networks like MSG, SNY, etc. What made it even more uncomfortable is that the place and many of their personalities wreak of a mix of sad desperation and/or are simply loathsome people. There is a lot of work ahead for ESPN.

 

[LeapOnOver]

The amount of missteps that ESPN has had is truly amazing. They overpaid for the NBA and rather than just report on sports, break some news and maybe put forth some quality documentaries, they tried to control the narrative, tell their audience what they should care about and thought people would tune in to watch that and their "talent". In the end, I assume they are getting destroyed by competition from local, regional networks like MSG, SNY, etc. What made it even more uncomfortable is that the place and many of their personalities wreak of a mix of sad desperation and/or are simply loathsome people. There is a lot of work ahead for ESPN.

Lots of this. ESPN has done a terrible job growing with the times. They got too greedy and hide most of their stuff behind a paywall and wonder why nobody goes to their website anymore when they can get the same stuff for free on every other website.

 

[sabremike]

I don't get the thing on ESPN where they make all the anchors stand there out in the open and talk with the camera panned out. Nobody knows what to do with their hands or their feet. It also has a bit of a gross vibe because I get the sense they ask the female anchors to wear skirts. Give these people their desk back.

Fox News is notorious for that. On the sadly departed Red Eye they always sat a woman on the end where you could see their legs. The panelists even made jokes about it being "The Leg Chair".

 

[Mr Misunderstood]

Besides games themselves, the only thing worth watching on ESPN is the midnight sportscenter with Scott Van Pelt. He seems genuine, funny and even does a bit on gambling called "bad beats" (oh no, not gambling!). And guess what, he still sits behind the desk.

When the student-run Maryland radio station reached out to him on twitter asking if he could donate some money to keep it running, SVP did one better and told them he'd fund the whole darn thing.

I love to hate on how dumb ESPN has gotten, but I do think credit has to be given where credit is due.

 

[2ndGenIslander]

i dont remember the last time i actually sat down and watched ESPN. I simply don't care enough about the NBA, MLB, and college sports, since that seems to be the majority of what they care about.

 

[seabass45]

Lots of this. ESPN has done a terrible job growing with the times. They got too greedy and hide most of their stuff behind a paywall and wonder why nobody goes to their website anymore when they can get the same stuff for free on every other website.

"They can get it for free elsewhere" is a big problem for every media company and it's going to continue being a problem. I don't need to watch ESPN because I get the highlights I need on Twitter or a team's FB page.

 

[seabass45]

Also my guess is Bucci is gone at the end of his contract. He has to be one of the better paid SC anchors and he's very replaceable.

 

[PK Cronin]

Besides games themselves, the only thing worth watching on ESPN is the midnight sportscenter with Scott Van Pelt. He seems genuine, funny and even does a bit on gambling called "bad beats" (oh no, not gambling!). And guess what, he still sits behind the desk.

When the student-run Maryland radio station reached out to him on twitter asking if he could donate some money to keep it running, SVP did one better and told them he'd fund the whole darn thing.

I love to hate on how dumb ESPN has gotten, but I do think credit has to be given where credit is due.

There are a few good personalities on ESPN (or were), but the whole network as a whole isn't very good. They show more billiards and bowling than NHL, how is that even possible?