Sportscenter has brought us many wonderful things. The Top Ten plays list, some of TV’s funniest commercials and nationally syndicated mascot racing. This is all very entertaining. And, so, because the Sportscenter channel brings so much joy to us, it is hard to try and tell it that it's doing something wrong. But I have to:
Sportscenter, you have to stop reporting on actual news stories. And it's not because any of your reporters lack the fortitude or panache -- it’s because you simply do not have a smooth transition into and out of certain subjects. One must know their limitations.
This was brought to my attention when, in the wake of Haiti’s recent tragedy, Sportscenter did a short segment showing the devastation that the Haitian people are dealing with. Buildings turned to rubble, city streets with surface fault lines and the heart wrenching images of the actual Human Beings. Then when the segment ended Sportscenter returned right back to their usual self. It was something like this:
“…we all feel a deep sorrow for the nation of Haiti. Donations can be made to the number on the bottom of your screen. Every bit helps in this tragic, tragic time…. CUT TO: And now -- THE-TOP-TEN-MASCOT-DUNKS-OF-ALL-TIME!!!
The cigar fell out of my mouth. Didn’t anyone have the sense for a commercial break, at least! It’s this kind of discrepancy that leads me to state that Sportscenter should stay away from taking a serious tone and covering actual news events because they must, inevitably, return to covering sports. Sportscenter, you take care of the entertainment and leave the informing up to the professionals like Glenn Beck and Jon Stewart.
But I think that sensitivity is just not in the conscience of sports networks. Have you ever noticed how many erectile dysfunction commercials are on during sporting events? Not only is it a serious buzz kill to a room full of guys, but don’t those programmers understand that the only reason a lot of those guys sit around and watch sports all day is because they can’t get it up anymore? Do you really have to remind them every commercial break? It’s a vicious cycle.
* IMPORTANT POST SCRIPT: A very quick and efficient way to donate money to the Haiti relief effort, if you have not already, is to text “Haiti” to 90999. You will get a text message right back (at least I got one instantly) to reply again with a “YES” to confirm your donation. The money will be added to your next bill. Check out the following page to verify that 100% of your donation will go to support the Haiti relief effort. ( http://mgive.com/help/Haiti.aspx )
Sportscenter has brought us many wonderful things. The Top Ten plays list, some of TV’s funniest commercials and nationally syndicated mascot racing. This is all very entertaining. And, so, because the Sportscenter channel brings so much joy to us, it is hard to try and tell it that it's doing something wrong. But I have to:
Sportscenter, you have to stop reporting on actual news stories. And it's not because any of your reporters lack the fortitude or panache -- it’s because you simply do not have a smooth transition into and out of certain subjects. One must know their limitations.
This was brought to my attention when, in the wake of Haiti’s recent tragedy, Sportscenter did a short segment showing the devastation that the Haitian people are dealing with. Buildings turned to rubble, city streets with surface fault lines and the heart wrenching images of the actual Human Beings. Then when the segment ended Sportscenter returned right back to their usual self. It was something like this:
“…we all feel a deep sorrow for the nation of Haiti. Donations can be made to the number on the bottom of your screen. Every bit helps in this tragic, tragic time…. CUT TO: And now -- THE-TOP-TEN-MASCOT-DUNKS-OF-ALL-TIME!!!
The cigar fell out of my mouth. Didn’t anyone have the sense for a commercial break, at least! It’s this kind of discrepancy that leads me to state that Sportscenter should stay away from taking a serious tone and covering actual news events because they must, inevitably, return to covering sports. Sportscenter, you take care of the entertainment and leave the informing up to the professionals like Glenn Beck and Jon Stewart.
But I think that sensitivity is just not in the conscience of sports networks. Have you ever noticed how many erectile dysfunction commercials are on during sporting events? Not only is it a serious buzz kill to a room full of guys, but don’t those programmers understand that the only reason a lot of those guys sit around and watch sports all day is because they can’t get it up anymore? Do you really have to remind them every commercial break? It’s a vicious cycle.
* IMPORTANT POST SCRIPT: A very quick and efficient way to donate money to the Haiti relief effort, if you have not already, is to text “Haiti” to 90999. You will get a text message right back (at least I got one instantly) to reply again with a “YES” to confirm your donation. The money will be added to your next bill. Check out the following page to verify that 100% of your donation will go to support the Haiti relief effort. ( http://mgive.com/help/Haiti.aspx )
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