Eastern bias petering out?
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.
Gammons was on the phone this morning with Tim Kurkjian and Erik Kuselias, guest hosts for ESPN's "Mike and Mike" show. They were talking about Evan Longoria and Corey Hart winning the fans' internet vote for the final spots on the All-Star teams. Gammons saw significance in players from Tampa Bay and Milwaukee beating out candidates from New York (Jason Giambi, David Wright), Chicago (Jermaine Dye) and Philadelphia (Pat Burrell).
"I think we in Bristol, Conn. (ESPN's headquarters), lose touch with what's out there," Gammons said. "People get tired of the Red Sox, Yankees and Cubs being the major leagues."
He meant the way it sometimes seems, the way baseball is covered on TV, that the Red Sox, Yankees and Cubs are all that matters. I'll say again that if ESPN had set up shop in Fresno, instead of Bristol, the Dodgers and Giants would be the biggest rivalry in baseball. Maybe we Californians should be happy it's not the Dodgers and Giants that most of the nation is sick of -- it's the Sox and Yanks.
About this blog
Kevin Modesti watches sports from a new angle since his promotion from sports columnist to sports editor for the Los Angeles Newspaper Group. In his new blog, Modesti not only comments on the big sports stories of the moment-- he talks about what makes them big. Think of it as a conversation with readers about how these stories should be covered.
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