ESPN SUCKS!

A weak-hitting second baseman hits a bases-empty homer run. It means nothing, right? Except that this home run put an undeserving player in the baseball Hall of Fame. Why? Because it occurred in the bottom of the ninth of the seventh game of a World Series. Bill Mazeroski of the Pittsburgh Pirates in the 1960 WS for those who didn't recognize the scenario.

My point is that without context, most baseball plays don't mean too much. Last night, the Texas Rangers and the St. Louis Cardinals played one of the most exciting World Series games ever. If you missed the game, the only way you would know that it was an exciting game was because ESPN told you it was. They didn't show it to you. Oh, they showed all the big plays, with the barest of set-ups and moved quickly on to the next play without delving into the reactions or the impact on the game as a whole.

First of all, there were a total of 5 errors in the game. Did we see any of them? Nope. A player gets picked off third base with the bases loaded. Did we get to see that? Another big no. ESPN didn't even start to show "highlights" until the 7th inning, and one of the analysts even said, "This game really started in the 7th inning." Oh, really? What about the 11 hits, 8 runs, 5 errors and a crucial pick-off play that occurred in the first 6 innings?

It isn't like they are pressed for time. They have all that fruit salad advertising the fact that you're watching ESPN (in case you don't know what you tuned into) and a flash of all the special plays you are about to see, the flash being slightly faster than the real thing and containing only slightly less info than the "full" highlight. Recap the game. Build on the excitement, showing this rise and fall of the emotions in the crowd. What ESPN actually does is like having a stripper walk on stage completely nude, doing one spin, and walking off. Action and no drama, right? It's the same thing with their coverage.

The ESPN producer who puts these recaps together, ought to be forced to watch "Howdy Doody" reruns until he screams in pain. But let's show him highlights of the show first.

## I don't think Janice Hough is a big fan of Tim McCarver.
"After both listening to game six in the car, and watching it on television later, I have to hand it to Tim McCarver. He is doing as much as anyone in the game to promote the tradition of baseball on the radio."
"There's a work stoppage in Greece. According to experts this is the biggest work stoppage since the one staged by the Boston Red Sox in September." -- Brad Dickson
(Yeah, I'm still enjoying this one.)

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