May 28, 200818 yr This channel used to be great. Old World Series and NBA playoffs broadcasts from the '70s. Great old-school NCAA hoops and football games. The SportsCentury series. Nowadays, their program staples are: Rodeo (???????) Billiards (!?!) American Gladiators (!?!?!?!?) Bowling (?!?) Poker (C'mon, haven't they beaten this fad to death?) Boxing (don't really mind it, but they have some really obscure stuff) AWA Wrestling from the '80s (actually, not too bad, but I was a fan in those days) Soccer (!?!?!) Auto racing, and not just NASCAR (?!?!) Cheap Seats (not bad, but I'm not a regular watcher) You Can't Blame (not bad, but it seems like they've only made about 10, as I see the same ones repeatedly) I ask, what happened? Is ESPN actively trying to kill off this channel? It used to be great! What the heck is up with these silly niche offerings?
May 28, 200818 yr Call it ESPN3. They are doing away with their original programming and setting the network up to be the flagship for worldwide soccer. No, I'm not kidding. I'll try and find a link.
May 28, 200818 yr Author Here you go Jim Thanks. What a dumb idea -- another soccer channel. When are they going to get the point that American sports fans are overwhelmingly indifferent about soccer? They might as well start up a WNBA channel while they're at it. The writer's side not about Australian Rules Football was right on the money, though. That was great stuff back in the days of ESPN's infancy, especially the refs' crazy hand signals after a score.
May 28, 200818 yr Author Also, if they do turn it into a soccer channel, I wonder if they'll be stupid enough to try and strongarm cable companies into carrying it, when it should be on a upgrade sports tier (like Fox Soccer Net)?
May 28, 200818 yr I feel your pain, Jim. I was pumped when I got digital cable a year and a half ago. As usual though, ESPN takes the fun out of everything.:irked:
May 28, 200818 yr It wouldn't bother me as much if they exiled Chris Berman and Stuart Scott there as full time studio hosts and the fulltime hosts of ESPN3's "SoccerCenter"
May 28, 200818 yr Hey, I don't mind the American Gladiators reruns. I still prefer the old one to the new one.
May 28, 200818 yr Thanks. What a dumb idea -- another soccer channel. When are they going to get the point that American sports fans are overwhelmingly indifferent about soccer? They might as well start up a WNBA channel while they're at it. The writer's side not about Australian Rules Football was right on the money, though. That was great stuff back in the days of ESPN's infancy, especially the refs' crazy hand signals after a score. What's wrong with the WNBA? I would love for them to have their own channel. Considering their is only one game on TV every 3 or 4 months. The only time they are on National TV is during their playoffs and when ABC can't find anything else to show, which is stupid.
May 28, 200818 yr What's wrong with the WNBA? I would love for them to have their own channel. Considering their is only one game on TV every 3 or 4 months. The only time they are on National TV is during their playoffs and when ABC can't find anything else to show, which is stupid. One game every 3 or 4 months? That would mean there was only one (possibly two) televised games the entire season. They do have a deal with ESPN2 and ABC to have games televised every week, and ESPN/ABC go out of their way to hype this... I see TONS of commercials about it while trying to watch the channels. http://www.insidehoops.com/wnba/tv.shtml That's this season's TV schedule... Not as many TV games as the NBA, but also not as many teams, and not enough interest.
May 28, 200818 yr What's wrong with the WNBA? I would love for them to have their own channel. Considering their is only one game on TV every 3 or 4 months. The only time they are on National TV is during their playoffs and when ABC can't find anything else to show, which is stupid. :sleep:
May 28, 200818 yr Author What's wrong with the WNBA? I would love for them to have their own channel. Considering their is only one game on TV every 3 or 4 months. The only time they are on National TV is during their playoffs and when ABC can't find anything else to show, which is stupid. Let me be clear about this: I think it is great that there is such an option available for women to further their basketball careers. Those who know me know that I am a big supporter of girls' high school sports. However, the bottom line is this w/re to the WNBA — The NBA has propped up the league for many, many years, and tried in vain to market it to regular basketball fans, to no avail. If the NBA wasn't propping it up as they have for more than a decade, the WNBA would've gone away long ago because of lack of mainstream interest. It's been a money pit for the NBA for a long time. A WNBA channel would be one of the most colossal money-losers in history, and any executive who tried to launch something like this would probably be drummed out of the industry for such a dumb mistake. Besides, the WNBA has its own channels right now. They're called Lifetime and Oxygen, and they cater nicely to the WNBA's microscopic niche audience.
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