ESPN’s “simulated Red Sox news conference?” WTF?!
Okay. I just had the TV on mute, so maybe I didn’t get the introduction, but what in the hell was that “simulated news conference” by the Red Sox on tonight’s SportsCenter? What is ESPN thinking? What is this crap? Steve Phillips (who is that?) is playing the Red Sox GM? What?
And to cap it off, they had “technical difficulties” during their fake news conference, so Stuart Scott and his barking sidekick had to stammer and cut to commercial.
Was anyone else watching that?
Oh, and to anyone who didn’t get the memo that ESPN is ruining sports… well, that was it.
UPDATE 11/7/05: Thank God a couple of other people noticed this upardonable crap.
UPDATE 11/9/05: Shawn Morton noticed ESPN’s perfect melding of hubris and idiocy, too, and he even caught a mention of the fake press conference on CNN.com. Earth to the Eastern Seaboard Sports Network: the world despises you.
November 7th, 2005 at 3:06 pm
That’s the Eastern Seaboard Programming Network for you…
November 9th, 2005 at 5:48 pm
Apparently its a running gag that some idiot at ESPN greenlighted!!! Its the most moronic, gimicky, unfunny, mentally retarded, WTF are they thinking, piece of cable tv I’ve ever witnessed!!!
What is the point? Its bad enough that ESPN rehashs every Sports Center story throught the day without mercy. Who thinks this is funny or cute?
November 11th, 2005 at 8:21 am
Even ESPN’s ombudsman agrees that these things suck.
Who Knows What’s Real?
Standing at the kitchen counter Monday morning, drinking a cup of coffee, I was startled to hear a tease for an upcoming news conference involving the Boston Red Sox. My first thought was that Red Sox management had made peace with whiz kid Theo Epstein and that Boston’s former GM would be returning to The Nation.
That is, until I read the crawl on the bottom of the screen (”Simulated news conference”) and saw ESPN’s Steve Phillips, a former general manager for the New York Mets, at the lectern, acting the part of Red Sox GM. I also thought I saw ESPN reporters Buster Olney and Jeremy Schaap, among others, asking questions. And before breakfast?
I’d been had. And so were many other viewers who, like me, simply could not understand why ESPN, a news-gathering organization of stature, would simulate a news conference.
“We wanted to present the traditional offseason hot stove speculation in a platform that would deliver the same information in a more entertaining way,” Doria said. “We hoped that might get our viewers’ attention, as opposed to the conventional piece or discussion.”
Phillips was to spend the rest of the week pretending to be the GM of the New York Yankees, Chicago Cubs, Los Angeles Dodgers and Houston Astros, providing viewers information on these clubs in what ESPN hoped would be a weeklong series of offbeat features.
I know, I’m past the age of the target audience. And I also know my limited sense of humor disappears quickly when the news-gathering process is spoofed, even when the goal is to entertain. I also know that ESPN attempted to make its intent clear.
In this instance, though, I missed the joke and ESPN missed its mark.
Full article scroll to the bottom
November 15th, 2005 at 2:21 pm
I’m looking for Hawkeye Nation. He needs to be put in the hurt locker by my 54″ arms.
November 15th, 2005 at 2:21 pm
Hey I hate the Red Sox. Did’nt you know that Jonny Damon is a caveman?
November 15th, 2005 at 2:25 pm
Hey Tom Sherman! Why don’t you put back on the message posts on the Michigan site before I get angrier, better yet, why don’t you provide me with Hawkeye Nation’s location.
November 21st, 2005 at 12:17 pm
Hey I thought that it was ridiculous, but I was intrigued to see how they would pull off such a ridiculous idea. It was rather funny actually, but I definitely wouldn’t suggest that they do it again.
P.S. I think SportsCenter is designed for you to only watch ONE episode. I guess they’re assuming that normal people would do something with their lives other than watching ESPN.
November 27th, 2005 at 5:29 pm
Hey Gemil, your next!