What’s Happening to ESPN?

March 10, 2006

First there was ESPN, then ESPN2, then ESPN Classics now ESPN Deportes. Through the years, to fill airtime, they have added rodeo, tractor pulls, swimming, billards, and volleyball to supplement the standard fare of football, baseball, basketball and hockey.

Now they’ve sunk too low. I read an article written by Cara Buckley of the Miami Herald entitled ESPN on Hand for Miami Domino Tournament. The network sponsored a dominoes championship tournament last fall that will be broadcast, in seven parts, on ESPN Deportes and ESPN2.

Trying to target a largely Hispanic audience, ESPN Deportes attended the Calle Ocho Festival in Miami’s Little Havana neighborhood. There, 150 players competed for the $25,000 prize. The players, most from the Cuban neighborhoods in Miami were Viejitos (older people), with the final four players being 77, 56, 65, and 61.

Some snobs think that golf isn’t a sport. Others can’t understand why they televise pool tourneys or poker. If they don’t think golf is a sport, then what is the game of dominoes? If you think the Champions Tour is old, the senior tour players are spring chickens next to these guys.

Imagine the suspense when, in a heated dominoes match, the score tied, the final tile lays on the table facedown. Suddenly, a player turns over a tile to reveal nine dots and………wake me up when it’s over.


Bookmark This Post: [Digg] [del.icio.us] [Slashdot] [Reddit] [Facebook] [Technorati] [Google] [StumbleUpon]

Written by Bruce Stasch · Filed Under Media | Leave a Comment 

Steroids in Professional Golf?

November 22, 2005

I just ran across a very interesting article that appeared in ESPN.com, but was originally written by Matthew Rudy from Golf World. With steroids all the rage right now in professional baseball, he asks the question: Do steroids have a role in professional golf? Before this article, I really didn’t think about it. Most major sports test for illegal substances and the rules regarding them are outlined in each union’s collective bargaining agreement. The World Anti-Doping Agency tests nearly 170,000 samples annually and the International Olympics Committee is religious about its testing. Yet, golf has no rules to address this.

A major reason might be that golf does not have a player’s union. Another could be that golf is considered a gentlemanly sport. Gentlemanly or not, if a player can win $925,000 in one tournament like Fred Funk just did, getting a little extra help from steroids could mean a heck of a lot of cash over a golfer’s career. It might benefit our sport if the PGA and LPGA looked at this more closely before the Congress feels compelled to. Let’s use just one example. Of the 384 college golfers tested in the NCAA’s anti-doping program, 7 flunked their drug test. Perhaps steroids are more prevalent than we think.


Bookmark This Post: [Digg] [del.icio.us] [Slashdot] [Reddit] [Facebook] [Technorati] [Google] [StumbleUpon]

Written by Bruce Stasch · Filed Under Weirdness | Leave a Comment