Parting shots
On second thought, LeBron going to Miami might be the best thing any of us could ever have dreamed for, based on the early bitterness coming out of Cleveland. In fairness, the guy did basically tell the city to [expetive] off during ESPN’s one-hour farce dedicated to everything wrong with sports, but the reaction out of Cleveland has thus far been priceless, from Cavaliers owner Dan Gilbert’s vicious – and accurate – dressdown of Lebron to today’s Cleveland Plain-Dealer front page.
LeBron created this, the former sports network turned public relations firm helped perpetrate it. Both deserve every shred of criticism they’re getting after the most deplorable hour of sports television in the history of the earth. This thing made “Sox Appeal” look like an Edward R. Murrow Award-winner.
Up until 9 p.m. last night, ESPN was simply a media outfit you couldn’t take seriously. One hour later it is ultimately a network that you should legitmately be angry with. ESPN has finally manipulated you the viewer to such a degree that it’s simply time for a divorce. The network is now geared to the lowest common denominator anyway (“Let’s play Fact or Fiction!!!”) so it’s not like you’re missing anything. Highlights? No time for those, not with another edition of Truth or Dare, Up or Down, Purple or Blue, or whatever stupid time-filler they’ve got coming down the line.
The real winner in all this? The MLB, NFL, NBA, and NHL Networks, which oddly enough may be the only places to get straightforward information without gimmicks and inflated self-worth. Or, at least less. When the leagues’ own outfits seem more dependable than the one that’s supposed to have journalistic integrity, that says something.
Anyone affiliated with ESPN, at any level, should be embarrassed.
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