Around the League: The Offseason

Discussion of the league and of our favorite team.
Post Reply
User avatar
carey
Posts: 12052
Joined: Wed Feb 26, 2014 1:06 pm
Contact:

Around the League: The Offseason

Post by carey »

https://twitter.com/WojVerticalNBA/status/857995242078785536

Go Suns!

Og Snus!

User avatar
Indy
Posts: 19339
Joined: Sat Aug 16, 2014 9:21 pm
Contact:

Re: Around the League: The Offseason

Post by Indy »

Good for the Pacers

Online
User avatar
Mori Chu
Posts: 20878
Joined: Wed Feb 26, 2014 10:05 am

Re: Around the League: The Offseason

Post by Mori Chu »

Pritchard ... Didn't he run the Blazers a while back?

User avatar
carey
Posts: 12052
Joined: Wed Feb 26, 2014 1:06 pm
Contact:

Re: Around the League: The Offseason

Post by carey »

Marty [Mori Chu] wrote:Pritchard ... Didn't he run the Blazers a while back?
Yep.
Go Suns!

Og Snus!

User avatar
ShelC
Posts: 12253
Joined: Fri Feb 28, 2014 6:00 am

Re: Around the League: The Offseason

Post by ShelC »

They'll be fine with Pritchard on the day to day and Donnie overseeing things. Pritchard could be better for the Pacers right now since they're looking at a bit of a rebuild. He can draft and deal with the best of them.

User avatar
Shabazz
Posts: 7425
Joined: Wed Feb 26, 2014 11:16 pm

Re: Around the League: The Offseason

Post by Shabazz »

Bird made some questionable decisions these last 2 years.

User avatar
Shabazz
Posts: 7425
Joined: Wed Feb 26, 2014 11:16 pm

Re: Around the League: The Offseason

Post by Shabazz »

Crazy what's happening at ESPN. Among NBA-related people they just laid off: Marc Stein, Chad Ford (after the draft), David Thorpe, Henry Abbott, Ethan Strauss, Justin Verrier.

Their coverage will look drastically different going forward. At least they kept Stephen A Smith.

User avatar
carey
Posts: 12052
Joined: Wed Feb 26, 2014 1:06 pm
Contact:

Re: Around the League: The Offseason

Post by carey »

Steven A is a rating monster as annoying and pompous as he is. I'm sad for Stein though. Genuine good dude. Don't care much about Ford because all his articles were behind a pay wall.
Go Suns!

Og Snus!

Online
User avatar
Mori Chu
Posts: 20878
Joined: Wed Feb 26, 2014 10:05 am

Re: Around the League: The Offseason

Post by Mori Chu »

Why so many layoffs? Did they lose a lot of money recently? I heard some dumb rumor that it was politics related, like as in Republican vs Democrat, but I think that sounds preposterous.

User avatar
ShelC
Posts: 12253
Joined: Fri Feb 28, 2014 6:00 am

Re: Around the League: The Offseason

Post by ShelC »

Some of the anchors have come out recently and said it's hard to hold conservative viewpoints in Bristol and you need to toe the company line. There are also articles written and guys like Whitlock have called out ESPN for infusing liberal politics and viewpoints into their coverage and talk shows.

The bottom line is....the bottom line. They committed a lot of money to TV deals/rights and are cost cutting. It began last year and a bit before that and the general feeling was that they weren't going to start overpaying or getting into bidding wars for on-air talent. The brand is strong enough to move on with newer, younger, cheaper talent blah blah blah. We'll see. They're losing a lot of knowledgeable, credible and talented people (Stein, Werder, Abbott, Strauss, etc) but also cutting ties with behind the scenes type. Meanwhile, they're keeping the entertainers and personalities who don't necessarily provide insight or knowledge, but drive ratings. And they'll probably start hiring and putting on newer talent that may or may not be as good as the talent they let go.

A few good articles:

http://awfulannouncing.com/espn/colin-c ... ecade.html

http://www.espn.com/blog/ombudsman/post ... l-dynamics


User avatar
Indy
Posts: 19339
Joined: Sat Aug 16, 2014 9:21 pm
Contact:

Re: Around the League: The Offseason

Post by Indy »

ShelC wrote:Some of the anchors have come out recently and said it's hard to hold conservative viewpoints in Bristol and you need to toe the company line. There are also articles written and guys like Whitlock have called out ESPN for infusing liberal politics and viewpoints into their coverage and talk shows.

The bottom line is....the bottom line. They committed a lot of money to TV deals/rights and are cost cutting. It began last year and a bit before that and the general feeling was that they weren't going to start overpaying or getting into bidding wars for on-air talent. The brand is strong enough to move on with newer, younger, cheaper talent blah blah blah. We'll see. They're losing a lot of knowledgeable, credible and talented people (Stein, Werder, Abbott, Strauss, etc) but also cutting ties with behind the scenes type. Meanwhile, they're keeping the entertainers and personalities who don't necessarily provide insight or knowledge, but drive ratings. And they'll probably start hiring and putting on newer talent that may or may not be as good as the talent they let go.

A few good articles:

http://awfulannouncing.com/espn/colin-c ... ecade.html

http://www.espn.com/blog/ombudsman/post ... l-dynamics

So they are following the trend of less journalism, and more sensationalizing. They are basically the Fox News or MSNBC of sports 'news.'

User avatar
ShelC
Posts: 12253
Joined: Fri Feb 28, 2014 6:00 am

Re: Around the League: The Offseason

Post by ShelC »

Yup, definitely going the way of the mainstream news organizations in that sense.

User avatar
jonh
Posts: 1266
Joined: Sun Oct 16, 2016 1:34 pm

Re: Around the League: The Offseason

Post by jonh »

ShelC wrote:Yup, definitely going the way of the mainstream news organizations in that sense.

Thank heavens. I like my sports like I like my news--light on content and heavy on the hot takes.

I wonder why they kept on Zach Lowe.

User avatar
Indy
Posts: 19339
Joined: Sat Aug 16, 2014 9:21 pm
Contact:

Re: Around the League: The Offseason

Post by Indy »

jonh wrote:
ShelC wrote:Yup, definitely going the way of the mainstream news organizations in that sense.

Thank heavens. I like my sports like I like my news--light on content and heavy on the hot takes.

I wonder why they kept on Zach Lowe.
Did you forget the green font?

User avatar
ShelC
Posts: 12253
Joined: Fri Feb 28, 2014 6:00 am

Re: Around the League: The Offseason

Post by ShelC »

I was watching NFL Live yesterday thinking...."They got rid of Marc Stein but Herm Edwards still has a job?"

User avatar
LazarusLong
Posts: 3140
Joined: Wed Mar 05, 2014 6:58 pm

Re: Around the League: The Offseason

Post by LazarusLong »

ShelC wrote:I was watching NFL Live yesterday thinking...."They got rid of Marc Stein but Herm Edwards still has a job?"
I have one word for it ... "Infotainment"
Window is open again ... blue skies ahead?

User avatar
Split T
Posts: 25468
Joined: Wed Jul 16, 2014 9:51 am
Location: Provo, Utah

Re: Around the League: The Offseason

Post by Split T »

jonh wrote:
ShelC wrote:Yup, definitely going the way of the mainstream news organizations in that sense.

Thank heavens. I like my sports like I like my news--light on content and heavy on the hot takes.

I wonder why they kept on Zach Lowe.
Zach Lowe is the best thing they've got imo. The guy knows basketball

Online
User avatar
Mori Chu
Posts: 20878
Joined: Wed Feb 26, 2014 10:05 am

Re: Around the League: The Offseason

Post by Mori Chu »

I bet they kept Zach Lowe just to try to keep him away from Bill Simmons. You just know The Ringer would try to snatch him up the second he became available.

User avatar
Indy
Posts: 19339
Joined: Sat Aug 16, 2014 9:21 pm
Contact:

Re: Around the League: The Offseason

Post by Indy »

Marty [Mori Chu] wrote:I bet they kept Zach Lowe just to try to keep him away from Bill Simmons. You just know The Ringer would try to snatch him up the second he became available.
He is better than anything they got, so yeah.

User avatar
Indy
Posts: 19339
Joined: Sat Aug 16, 2014 9:21 pm
Contact:

Re: Around the League: The Offseason

Post by Indy »

Split T wrote:
jonh wrote:
ShelC wrote:Yup, definitely going the way of the mainstream news organizations in that sense.

Thank heavens. I like my sports like I like my news--light on content and heavy on the hot takes.

I wonder why they kept on Zach Lowe.
Zach Lowe is the best thing they've got imo. The guy knows basketball
Exactly

Post Reply