This is "Now"
If you aren't a reader of the ESPN Obudsman, you should be, if for no other reason than that Le Anne Schreiber weighs in derisively on "Who's Now" and other happenings in the past month of ESPN Coverage.
- "The divide was between viewers who thought it was fun to have that question "debated" on SportsCenter and those who found it silly but no fun at all. No one will be surprised to find me on the no-fun side of the aisle, but what matters now is the divide itself and what SportsCenter executives think about it."
- "(There was) another risk taken with SportsCenter last month -- having Mike Greenberg and Mike Golic of ESPN's "Mike and Mike in the Morning" radio show serve as anchors for the 6 p.m. SportsCenter on July 23. I tuned in that evening, interested to see how the duo would behave as anchors on a day when the top news stories included breaking news on the NFL commissioner's suspension of Vick and the NBA referee gambling scandal. Mike Greenberg, a former anchor, read the news in a professional manner and then joined "co-anchor" Mike Golic in passing opinion upon it, thus utterly blurring the distinction between anchor and commentator."
And, the money quote:
"I wish ESPN would consider adding to its lineup a crisp, half-hour, nightly news version of SportsCenter -- just news and highlights, without gimmicks or sponsored segments or recaps, without self- or cross-promotion, with a consistent anchor team accountable for a consistent tone, with spare to no use of instant commentary. A prime-time island of clean, clear, straightforward news on which ESPN's journalistic credibility could securely rest."
YES! YES, Le Anne! YES! I would DVR such a show and watch it in the AM. Religiously. As it is, I will not watch SportsCenter. I am so not "Now," but neither is Schreiber, who never got the memo that journalistic credibility is secondary to ratings. Unfortunately so.
