The Sport and politics of ESPN
There are many theories about the downfall of ESPN as the “Worldwide Leader in Sports.”
I am a sports fan. Most sports fans take sports much more seriously than politics or religion. Most sports fans know more about their favorite teams and players than they do politicians and religious leaders. I quit watching ESPN years ago, and it has nothing to do with political views.
What struck me the most in reading this is the phrase, “Worldwide Leader in Sports.” For me growing up, sports news was one part of the nightly news broadcast. There was no television network that was devoted to sports. When ESPN was started they were indeed the “Worldwide Leader in Sports” because they were the only sports network.
The first place where ESPN failed for me, is the same place where many news shows have failed for me. The attitudes and egos of the announcers became bigger than the stories they covered. Another area where ESPN failed for me, is not in any political bias, but in a regional bias. They appeared to favor the New York and New England sports teams.
When individual sports networks came on the scene, now I have even less reason to watch ESPN. I love hockey. Because ESPN has no current affiliation with the NHL they don't cover hockey. I only listen to ESPN on the radio where I have no other options for a local sports station. It is frustrating during the NHL playoffs to have no updates on the NHL playoffs, but talk about the NFL, which is not even in season. When I get home from work, I watch the NHL network. When the NHL playoffs are over, I will switch over to the MLB network. I have no need for ESPN.
There are more people fired up over sports franchises moving from city to another, than they are the political views of the announcers on ESPN. There are many reasons I gave up on ESPN. I've offered a few here, but political views is not a reason.
“I still just wanted to watch sports” – That was always my reason to quit watching ESPN. It has nothing to do with their political views, it was they went from sports reporters to social evangelists. I watch sports as an escape from reality, not to hear a sermon.
The Guru 42 Universe is not run by a university professor with a team of editors and advisers working to developing a website. Tom Peracchio is simply someone who loves technology and history and is amazed by how little people know about the great minds in the world of technology.
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