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By George M. Thomas
Beacon Journal sportswriter
Published on Friday, May 16, 2008
It's official: Americans have lost all sense of their priorities. How do I know this, you might ask?
ESPN told me with its latest programming move.
The Worldwide Leader, the 24-hour refuge for the sports junkie, the one with the music you can't get out of your head (da-na-na, da-na-na!) said this week it's abandoning morning reruns of its popular news roundup SportsCenter. What will replace them?
Live broadcasts of SportsCenter.
Beginning with the Aug. 11 start of the Beijing Olympics — yeah, I'm really looking forward to that — fresh editions of SportsCenter will air from 6 a.m. to 3 p.m. That is nine more hours of breaking news about athletes, sports executives, the daily blotter and other stuff that basically has zero relevance to the events, policies and moments that influence daily life in America. I so appreciate what many athletes do in the name of pursuing gargantuan contracts, endorsements and the babe-of-the-week so that they can look good in that Hummer, Benz or Lamborghini.
You can't fault ESPN for going this route. In all fairness, plenty of sporting events take place on the West Coast after many of us have drifted off to sleep in our Lay-Z-Boys, and there are plenty of people clamoring to know how the Los Angeles Lakers are faring against the Utah Jazz in the playoffs. Absent that minor benefit, however, it seems more like ESPN is catering to an audience that wants to be entertained more than it wants to be informed.
Given the current situation in this country and globally, that's a scary proposition.
And the talent is . . .
Give ESPN credit for landing a morning anchor with name recognition and credibility within the sports broadcasting world.
Hannah Storm will serve as a lead anchor for the new SportsCenter broadcast. What's attractive about Storm? Besides having a background in sports, covering Major League Baseball, the NBA, the Olympics, Wimbledon and Notre Dame football in the past, she also worked the news side of broadcasting, having hosted the CBS Network's The Early Show and serving as a host for the CBS newsmagazine 48 Hours.
Her presence will add perspective and depth to the sports news of the day. Her hiring is a wily move.
NBA playoff chatter
I couldn't help but tune into WKNR (850-AM) to listen to what Northeast Ohio hoops fans had to say about the Cavaliers' 96-89 loss to the Boston Celtics on Wednesday night. I caught Michael Reghi subbing for Tony Rizzo on the Really Big Show, and I don't think one fan said anything nice.
Normally, Northeast Ohio fans find some sort of silver lining in a dark cloud, but not this day. Most callers put the blame for the loss on the shoulders of coach Mike Brown.
Who am I kidding? They might as well have been screaming, ''Off with his head,'' as if Brown had a date with a guy in a black hood and carrying a scythe in England's Dark Ages. Those callers wanted blood or body parts.
To a certain degree, they weren't wrong. Brown's team came out Wednesday looking as if every player had bought into his game plan, but when the Celtics adjusted, he didn't do a lot to counter. By the same token, however, Brown wasn't the one out there missing shots, or free throws for that matter.
The Cavs shot an abysmal 68.3 percent from the free-throw line making 28-of-41 shots. Cut those misses in half and maybe they're ahead 3-2. The coach can't exactly make those for them. They're called ''free throws'' for a reason.
George M. Thomas can be reached at sportswriterabj@sbcglobal.net. Read his blog at http://www.ohiomm.com/blogs/sportsblitz/
It's official: Americans have lost all sense of their priorities. How do I know this, you might ask?
Get the full article here.
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