Kornheiser was on vacation, and after the sit in host (bob Ryan) got stuck in NY in the Blackout, they canned it until both hosts return.

The funny thing was that the episode before the blackout, Ryan critiscized Kornheiser for never leaving the town to go see a game.....

Needed an ESPN thread to resurrect and I picked this one - it fits too with the MTV reference by the OP. The mods can feel free to move it to sports if they want.

SC today offered a perfect demonstration of how ridiculous ESPN has become. The question offered to the PTI guys - Who is the perfect Yankee? Deter Jeter or Joe DiMaggio?

Are you fucking kidding me?

ESPN blows anymore...it's all baseball and random other sports. They made a HUGE mistake not going after the NHL contract. But whatever...they can rebroadcast the 2003 worlds strongest man competition for the 22nd time instead of the Stanley cup. Or maybe the 2005 stars of poker reno events.

Only time I watch ESPN anymore is if Big Ten football is on...hate basketball, baseball is boring for me on TV, and I can't stand Turico on MNF (or Kornheiser).

While I would prefer them to have the NHL contract (huge hockey fan) just so we'd get more games in HD, I don't think it would make economical sense for them - I honestly think a repeat of the 2004 WSOP would get better ratings than the Cup finals. Sad but true, I think.

ESPN is only good for college football and basketball. The rest of filler.

ESPN overkills everything they cover.NFL highlights get old come Tuesday.Nobody besides Yankee fans give a damn about Roger Clemens pitching in a minor league baseball game.Whenever I am in the mood for an NBA game they will show nothing but college hoops.ESPN is too busy tooting there own horn to sign a contract to show the NHL.Don't they know that we can record Sports Center instead they broadcast it non-stop for half the morning.Televising a radio program on ESPN2 shows a lack of original programming.

I was thinking the same thing, but I also watch the men's national soccer team when they carry them, though they really give them the bare minimum coverage, and completely miss out on carrying most tournaments (Gold Cup, etc).

And enough already with the endless poker nonsense. Bring back Australian rules football. Or Irish hurling. Or rugby.

Agreed. Poker isn't a sport. Neither is bowling. Or taking a chainsaw to a tree. They don't really have enough content for one network, yet they run count 'em FIVE networks. They should have hockey games. They should probably have NASCAR races. I don't mind the in-depth sports coverage shows and I like The Sports Reporters on Sundays, but yeah, there's a lot of crap on.

Uhhhhhh...they do. They have (with ABC) the second half or so of the Nextel Cup season for several years starting with this one, and ESPN2 is the new home of the Busch Series.

The good thing was that both PTI guys said that it was a stupid question an anwsered Babe Ruth.

Espn definitely sucks.

Cowboys, Lakers, Red Sox, Yankees, NFL Draft, Clemens is about all they talk about.

And they just added Keyshawn to their list of annoying loud mouths (Steven Smith, Chris Berman, etc).

Annoying SC hosts...that's levitation homes!

Oh yeah, and Stuart fucking Scott.

Keyshawn will be a great addition to the team, didnt you see how good he was during the draft?

the NHL messed up by not giving the contract to ESPN.......NBC is pathetic, they moved a playoff game to VS b/c it was in overtime

Keyshawn might not be a Sterling Sharpe, but he's a vast improvement on Michael Irvin.

I'd give them credit but, hello, it is the obvious answer, and it really should stop there. I was hoping that they both would say "who thought of this stupid question?" But even beyond that, to put Derek Jeter and Joe DiMaggio in the same playing field.

And speaking of Keyshawn, how many NFL analysts does a network need?


I'm ecstatic that they lost hockey. I'm not even a big hockey fan - I only start watching when the playoffs start. Now this is the rare occasion where it pays to be a Comcast subscriber because we get Versus-HD, but the coverage that Vs. can devote to the NHL dwarfs what ESPN would do with it.

Considering the fact that Dimaggio was a TREMENDEOUS douchbag...even to me when I was 8 years old, the question is not so stupid

I actually watch this in the mornings when I'm getting ready for work. One of the few things I am able to watch semi-religiously. I get home too late for PTI, etc.

its a shame because i used to love espn. but now if you arent a fan of a HUGE team/player (Yanks, red sox, lakers, cowboys, lebron, etc) they dont care and you have no reason to care. reminds me of sports illustrated - used to love that magazine but now i can go years without finding one damn article in that magazine worth a shit.

my favorite is how espn classic doesn't show anything classic anymore

unless you consider endless repeats of the 2004 world series of poker main event "classic"

God forbid they show some classic Lakers/Celtics 1980s games or something.

They took ESPN Classic off of my basic cable package. Not that I ever watched it, but it was good for about 2 hours a year.

I don't think they have the rights to old NBA games. NBA-TV has them.

But your point about classic poker is well taken.

Actually, Mike & Mike in the Morning has become a surprisingly huge moneymaker for ESPN because the on-air chemistry between Mike Greenberg and Mike Golic has found a huge audience on both ESPN Radio and ESPN2. I expect both "Greeny" and Golic to get substantially more lucrative salary contract within the next two years--probably not much less than the best top-flight talent at ESPN.

Good point, but they could at least play some old baseball games or football games. What about those old Home Run Derby shows that featured all the 50's & 60's stars?

Even if they don't have the rights, there's tons of shit out there that's better than watching poker on TV (and I love poker on TV).

Speaking of which -- how come ESPN has been airing the US Poker Championship repeats almost nonstop the last 4 months?

I don't know, but I can't wait until this year's World Series of Poker just so I'll have something different to watch at 1am or so when I have insomnia.

when is the 2007 main event being televised?

The 2007 main event isn't until mid-July. Give it a couple months for editing and such and you can expect it on TV in September/October.