SportsCenter Jumps The Shark

Originally, Sports Center ("SC") existed to show sports highlights from around the country and the world on a fledgling cable network called ESPN. In the mid 80's to early 90's, the show grew in popularity with the emergence of sportscasting legends Chris Berman, Bob Lee, Dan Patrick, Craig Kilborn, and Rich Eisen, with up and coming stars Kenny Mayne and Stuart Scott. [Blogger's Note: Chris Berman has fallen from stardom like Tori Spelling. He lives off his prior reputation, he offers nothing to any show he's on, and he gets paid ludicrously well for sucking at life. While Berman was instrumental in building SC into a franchise, he now offers nothing to sports or sports entertainment.] The show was a hodgepodge of great bits, amazing writing, and it was driven by the anchor personalities. It wasn't about advertising or market share, it was about good TV and a solid broadcast. ESPN built a monopoly by hiring the best talent and putting out the best broadcast. I used to watch it 3 times a day in middle school, high school, and college...

Flash forward to 2006, and the show has long-since become a parody of itself. The legendary anchors have moved on with their own failed projects, and the new generation of sportscasters have become self-centered douchebags more concerned with their own exposure than the quality of their work. The writing is painfully cliched, the show is formulaic, and the anchors, with few exceptions, don't seem to have any passion. Let's not forget that there are so many sports being televised these days, that the anchors can't even devote enough time to sports anyone cares about. Do you think I care who won the Texas Regional 4H Club Sheep Humping Contest? NO! I want the major sports, college athletics, and interesting stuff. Trust me, no one needs to see the guy in Bangledesh who runs straight into an elephant's anus. This may be good TV, but it has its place on FOX. The Budweiser Hot Seat, the Coors Light Sixpack Bullet Points, and all the other idiotic promotions annoy the hell out of me. And let's not forget that every 3 minutes of crappy television product must be matched with 2 minutes of even worse advertisements. ESPN: Just because you essentially have a monopoly doesn't mean you are not responsible to put out a quality broadcast. Get off your butts, hire some quality talent, play the highlights, and cut the commercials, product placements, and cheesy question segments. No one cares about them. Get back to the basics, use your capabilities, and give the consumer a good show.

I tried to reach Sports Center to comment on this piece, but the show claimed to be doing more important things...