OT: ESPN Layoffs

[Moosie]

They lost me when they decided poker is a sport.

 

[JohnTonelliRises]

They lost me when they decided poker is a sport.

Anybody remember the fire trail puck?

It was pretty much a terrible idea, but come to think of it, I pretty much just went off the movement of the players back in the day to judge what they were doing with the puck.

 

[Richie Daggers Crime]

That was Fox, though. If I remember correctly.

 

[PK Cronin]

That was Fox, though. If I remember correctly.

Fox track or something, yeah.

 

[redbull]

Anybody remember the fire trail puck?

It was pretty much a terrible idea, but come to think of it, I pretty much just went off the movement of the players back in the day to judge what they were doing with the puck.

In Canada, there was a lot of talk in the media (at the time) that some american fringe-fans had trouble seeing the puck, couldn't follow the game on TV. In order to grow the game among that broader audience, adding some visual enhancements would be a GREAT IDEA.

Seems bizarre now. Was bizarre at the time. In hindsight, it's a cool technology used in a poor way.

I love the on-field graphics they show on NFL broadcasts though, the first down lines, that's cool.

 

[PK Cronin]

In Canada, there was a lot of talk in the media (at the time) that some american fringe-fans had trouble seeing the puck, couldn't follow the game on TV. In order to grow the game among that broader audience, adding some visual enhancements would be a GREAT IDEA.

Seems bizarre now. Was bizarre at the time. In hindsight, it's a cool technology used in a poor way.

I love the on-field graphics they show on NFL broadcasts though, the first down lines, that's cool.

It didn't look good, and I found it to be distracting, but I understand the idea. The puck isn't exactly easy for people to follow now, so going back in time for when television sets were smaller and not as good in terms of quality, it does make some sense.

Now I want them to have a puck that changes color depending on the mood of the arena. Blue when they're sad, orange when they're excited, red when they're made, green when Crosby has the puck, and maybe yellow when they're confused.

 

[Mr Misunderstood]

It didn't look good, and I found it to be distracting, but I understand the idea. The puck isn't exactly easy for people to follow now, so going back in time for when television sets were smaller and not as good in terms of quality, it does make some sense.

Now I want them to have a puck that changes color depending on the mood of the arena. Blue when they're sad, orange when they're excited, red when they're made, green when Crosby has the puck, and maybe yellow when they're confused.

So the puck is always red in the Barclays Center?

 

[2ndGenIslander]

In Canada, there was a lot of talk in the media (at the time) that some american fringe-fans had trouble seeing the puck, couldn't follow the game on TV. In order to grow the game among that broader audience, adding some visual enhancements would be a GREAT IDEA.

Seems bizarre now. Was bizarre at the time. In hindsight, it's a cool technology used in a poor way.

I love the on-field graphics they show on NFL broadcasts though, the first down lines, that's cool.

hahahah, wow. i've never seen that. That sort of technology is great for the home run derby, but following a puck in hockey? not so much.

 

[A Pointed Stick]

So the puck is always red in the Barclays Center?

It is usually covered by an inch of melt-water. Global Barclays warming and all.

 

[bstash19]

espn lost their fans when they tried to appeal to a wider audience. in turn they basically became the tmz of sports.

the one person that should have been fired, wasn't. stephen a smith. he sucks.

 

[islesmb]

It didn't look good, and I found it to be distracting, but I understand the idea. The puck isn't exactly easy for people to follow now, so going back in time for when television sets were smaller and not as good in terms of quality, it does make some sense.

Now I want them to have a puck that changes color depending on the mood of the arena. Blue when they're sad, orange when they're excited, red when they're made, green when Crosby has the puck, and maybe yellow when they're confused.

The only good thing about the fox traxx was when the puck was along the boards at the bottom of the screen it showed where it was.

 

[LetsGoIslanders]

When I got in my car yesterday afternoon Stephen A. Smith was screaming about Jeff Perlman, a noted liberal sports columnist and author, was screaming racism about how Perlman said he deserved the boot. It warmed my heart. I devoured SportsCenter until broadband and cable internet came into existence.

How ABC/Disney could continue to employ John Skipper is a mystery. Then the ESPN Ombudsman appeared on Twitter to say confidently we're continuing down this road of politics/sports. It's like have you learned nothing? People like sports because it breaks down the wall of monotony of politics and news. A lot of good reporters like John Buccigross are going to get gigs while ESPN plummets into the toilet.

 

[LeapOnOver]

"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.

Well, that's why Foxsports adds engaging content like "The ten hottest cheerleaders" or "football players" wives section to try to drive traffic. They've embraced the free model, lol. None of this SI swimsuit issue stuff behind a paywall. That's so 1990, haha!

 

[LetsGoIslanders]

I never had an issue with the glow puck. In fact, it got my late grandfather back into hockey. As a hockey fan, you always know where the puck is going in one or two directions, therefore your eyes are trained. However, for people who don't watch the game, it's a difficult game to follow. Maybe instead of a spray paint its is simple line.

 

[LeapOnOver]

I never had an issue with the glow puck. In fact, it got my late grandfather back into hockey. As a hockey fan, you always know where the puck is going in one or two directions, therefore your eyes are trained. However, for people who don't watch the game, it's a difficult game to follow. Maybe instead of a spray paint its is simple line.

I had a problem with it because many times the trained fan could anticipate other things like whether a lifted puck might be knocked in or if a wobbling puck my give a goaltender a headache. With the glowing track it removed all ability to get excited about those types of plays and they would come as a surprise more than anything because you couldn't see the puck...it became just a glowing line.

 

[doublechili]

The glow puck was so pre HD. No need for it now, even for new fans.

In the really good old days before cable, when there were 6 channels and you got your signal via an antenna on the roof, the puck was definitely tough to follow at times.

 

[WagnerGrad96]

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.

They just let a lot of great talented people walk. I don't think talent is their paramount concern.

 

[WagnerGrad96]

A lot of good reporters like John Buccigross are going to get gigs while ESPN plummets into the toilet.

I'm not sure I would categorize him as a "reporter." He pretty much read a teleprompter.

 

[IslesFanatic]

Maybe they should have just stuck to sports rather than trying to throw politics and their "progressive" ideology at their viewers. Sucks for them. Never watched ESPN anymore anyway, When you have MLB Network, NHL Network, and NFL network what purpose is there for ESPN?

 

[BTrotts19]

Maybe they should have just stuck to sports rather than trying to throw politics and their "progressive" ideology at their viewers. Sucks for them. Never watched ESPN anymore anyway, When you have MLB Network, NHL Network, and NFL network what purpose is there for ESPN?

I tuned in yesterday for the NFL draft, was flipping between NFL network and them, but mostly agree with you, they are kinda a dinosaur, unless you wanna watch basketball non stop (which I have no interest in).

 

[WagnerGrad96]

Maybe they should have just stuck to sports rather than trying to throw politics and their "progressive" ideology at their viewers. Sucks for them. Never watched ESPN anymore anyway, When you have MLB Network, NHL Network, and NFL network what purpose is there for ESPN?

Progressive Ideology? C'mon . . . yawn . . . .

 

[Flair19Woo]

They just let a lot of great talented people walk. I don't think talent is their paramount concern.

The thing is that these layoffs won't even scratch the surface of the financial dilemma that they've gotten themselves into with their huge tv deals. My guess is We're talking about saving $5-15 million a year in comparison to the 9 year $24 billion deal they signed with the nba, the 8 year $5.6 billion deal for MLB, and the $15.2 billion NFL deal from 2011-2021. It's a ploy to show investors that they're serious about changing things. They either need to restructure deals, change their business strategy to get people to pay to play using their app like Netflix/Hulu versus having cable, or they're going to go under.

 

[Mr Misunderstood]

Maybe they should have just stuck to sports rather than trying to throw politics and their "progressive" ideology at their viewers. Sucks for them. Never watched ESPN anymore anyway, When you have MLB Network, NHL Network, and NFL network what purpose is there for ESPN?

Only thing is College Football. I don't believe they have their own network like the other sports. There is the SEC network but obviously only caters to that one conference.

 

[CodeE]

The times are changing, and you can change with them or be stubborn and end up like Blockbuster or Tower Records.

Of all the Islander games I saw last year, only a handful were seen legally. At my parents house, back in Long Island, when I visited them over the holidays. Every other game was a livestream, some great quality, some crappy quality, but every single one of them completely free of charge.

Cable companies got away with bundle packaging - you'll pay for Lifetime even if you have no interest in watching it because it's part of the bundle - for years and years before reliable free streams became an option. Like the Napster controversy in like 1999 or whatever, you can stomp your feet, go "ITS NOT FAIR YOURE STEALING JUST LIKE STEALING A CAR", and go out of business like Tower Records, or you can change your company for the better, finding alternative ways to make money as technology advances, like Itunes or Vevo.

ESPN chose to double-down, more talking heads like Stephen A. screaming controversial opinions. More Bachelor coverage. More copying news networks who give 24/7 coverage of Trump, thinking we want to hear about Colin Kaepernick not standing for the national anthem all the *** time.

Meanwhile, sports scores and highlights got easier to find online. Any amazing goals, saves, checks have threads on the main board almost instantly. There's no reason to watch evening sportscenter for the top plays anymore.

You need to adapt and evolve. ESPN wants to pretend its 2002 again and ignore the realities of the modern market. Just because you want me to stop watching free games and buy an expensive cable package + the NHL Center Ice doesn't mean I'm going to do that.

 

[sabremike]

Progressive Ideology? C'mon . . . yawn . . . .

The problem is that there's a lot of truth to saying that. When is the last time you saw ESPN cover anything even remotely political and someone said something besides leftist groupthink? That's not the main reason ESPN crashed (The ridiculous spending on rights fees while being oblivious to the cord cutting trend is the main one) but alienating half the audience certainly didn't help. And if they tried to be the Fox News of sports politically it would've been every bit as shortsighted and foolish.