Results tagged “ESPN” from The Sports Desk

More and more sports media types acknowledge the eastern bias that's most noticeable on ESPN and most annoying in the network's overcoverage of New York and Boston teams.

The latest? The media type who, to many people, inspired ESPN's Red Sox obsession: Peter Gammons, the Boston Globe baseball writer turned ESPN baseball oracle.

I didn't hear it myself, but the Daily News' Vinny Bonsignore says ESPN radio talk-show host Colin Cowherd complained today that NBA Finals games start too late. Yet another example of ESPN's eastern-time-zone bias.

There seems to be no time period so short that sportscasters and writers can't turn it into a "Not since ..." angle.

On ESPN this morning, an anchorman led off coverage of the Lakers' series victory over San Antonio with something to the effect of: "The Lakers haven't been to the NBA Finals since 2004 ..."

Wow, 2004! So it's the first time since George W. Bush was president!

Maybe four seasons feels like a long time to some people -- for example, 7-year-olds. For the rest of us, four years seems like an incredibly short time between Lakers Finals appearances (and six years would seem like a blink of an eye between Lakers championships), given that the breakup with Shaquille O'Neal and the first departure of Phil Jackson was supposed to cast the franchise into the wilderness for decades.

Chicago Tribune columnist Mike Downey is part of the growing chorus against ESPN's New York-Boston bias, one of our favorite topics.

Chipper Jones is hitting .410, Downey writes in a notes column. If this guy played for the Red Sox or the Yankees instead of the Braves, ESPN would give you hourly Chipper updates and plan a made-for-TV movie of his life.

During this week of the Indianapolis 500, Coca-Cola 600 and Monaco Grand Prix, ESPN.com is rolling out its experts' list of the top 25 race drivers of all time. In a well-argued rant, ESPN magazine writer Ryan McGee wonders how Richard Petty can be no higher than No. 6.

McGee's speculation includes this: "Could it be that Petty's relationship with the media kept him from compiling enough support to crack the ESPN.com top five? Is he the Jim Rice of NASCAR, doomed to pay the price for his contentious ways with sportswriters and sports fans?"

Read the whole thing by clicking here.

Of all the sports news in the past week, none had bigger implications than this:

MEXICO CITY (AP) -- Julio Franco finally called it quits.

Franco last played in the majors in 2007, when he played in 55 games with the New York Mets (40) and the Atlanta Braves (15). He batted .222 with one home run and 16 RBI in 90 at-bats.

Somebody pointed out that when Franco entered the big leagues in 1982, Manny Mota was still active. To take it further: When Mota broke in, Stan Musial was in the league, and when Musial hit the scene, Charley Root and Gabby Hartnett were still going. So Franco was only three generations removed from Babe Ruth's called shot and the Homer in the Gloaming.

The biggest implication of Franco's departure from the scene is that there is no longer a major-league ballplayer as old as me -- or anybody else between the ages of 46 and 49.

Having written recently about ESPN's East Coast bias -- all those Red Sox-Yankees games and so forth -- I was happy to hear TV's Gary Miller's take.

Click here to watch Miller's video commentary.

Do you agree?

I wrote a column recently about ESPN's eastern bias. The network seems to think the sports world revolves around its Bristol, Conn., HQ. New York and Boston stories get bigger play, and fans waaaay over here in California get short shrift.

Unfortunately it's not just my pet peeve. I'm getting e-mail agreeing with me, including one today from a reader who says ESPN's eastern slant is "so unsetting that I refuse to listen or watch" and one from a man in radio marketing who wonders why ESPN isn't "blowing up the LA/SF rivalry" as it does New York-Boston.

Latest example of all this: Sunday night's SportsCenter, right after the White Sox-Tigers game on ESPN. First story: White Sox-Tigers, of course -- extended highlights of the game you just watched, a huge game because it was on ESPN. Second: Red Sox game. Third: Yankees game. Commercial break. Then: Mets game.

At least they're consistent.