ESPN, Get Your Categories Straight!
ESPN lists bother me. I don't currently have evidence to back up what I'm about to say, but on the authority of having spent many thousands of hours watching and eading ESPN, I assure you that what I'm about to say is true: ESPN lists almost invariably confuse categories. The ways in which ESPN confuses categories include (but are not limited to) the following:
1. Comparing individual plays with a series of plays. ESPN will have something like a Top Five Plays of The Week list, and four of the five will be single plays (as the list suggests). But one of the Top Five will be something like a player hitting for the cycle, or getting a quadruple-double, or scoring four touchdowns. Those feats, while impressive, do not match the category being ranked! The same can be said for Top Five Moments categories in which one moment is a single play and another moment is a season or stretch of games.
2. Not defining what constitutes a great play. A classic category mix-up on ESPN is when they compare a fantastic play (defined by difficulty of accomplishment) with a crucial play (defined by its impact on the game or season at hand). This happens on Web Gems sometimes. A shortstop makes a dazzling play, and it's a Web Gem. But another Web Gem may be an impressive-but-less-than-dazzling defensive play that was the difference in the game.
3. Trying too hard to make lists diverse (defined by type of player or sport) at the cost of consistency and accuracy. This is my favorite example: ESPN had a horse on the Top 100 Athletes of the Century list. The problem with that is, either no horses should qualify for that list, or EVERY spot should be filled with horses and cheetahs! Furthermore, some sports require more athleticism than others, yet the list was clearly made in such a way as to intentionally include a cross-section of sports. I honestly don't believe that any of the 100 most athletic people of the century were golfers, but golfers had to be on the list because ESPN needed contrived diversity.
Thoughts? I wish Bill Simmons would address this issue. Maybe he has.
1. Comparing individual plays with a series of plays. ESPN will have something like a Top Five Plays of The Week list, and four of the five will be single plays (as the list suggests). But one of the Top Five will be something like a player hitting for the cycle, or getting a quadruple-double, or scoring four touchdowns. Those feats, while impressive, do not match the category being ranked! The same can be said for Top Five Moments categories in which one moment is a single play and another moment is a season or stretch of games.
2. Not defining what constitutes a great play. A classic category mix-up on ESPN is when they compare a fantastic play (defined by difficulty of accomplishment) with a crucial play (defined by its impact on the game or season at hand). This happens on Web Gems sometimes. A shortstop makes a dazzling play, and it's a Web Gem. But another Web Gem may be an impressive-but-less-than-dazzling defensive play that was the difference in the game.
3. Trying too hard to make lists diverse (defined by type of player or sport) at the cost of consistency and accuracy. This is my favorite example: ESPN had a horse on the Top 100 Athletes of the Century list. The problem with that is, either no horses should qualify for that list, or EVERY spot should be filled with horses and cheetahs! Furthermore, some sports require more athleticism than others, yet the list was clearly made in such a way as to intentionally include a cross-section of sports. I honestly don't believe that any of the 100 most athletic people of the century were golfers, but golfers had to be on the list because ESPN needed contrived diversity.
Thoughts? I wish Bill Simmons would address this issue. Maybe he has.
posted by Astrofan at Wednesday, June 21, 2006
1 Comments:
ESPN is a Disney-owned/ABC operated conglomerate that is enslaved to "all-inclusive entertainment." In the early '90s I would say "all inclusive SPORTS NETWORK" but now a days you see the following steller athletic events flashing on your brand new ESPNHD: POKER, EATING CONTESTS, BIG STRONG DUDE CONTESTS, BOWLING, and lest we forget SPELLING BEES! So, unfortunately, it doesn't stop with Sports Center lists either. They've got to maintain political good-standing, make everyone happy; which sucks because WNBA and Hockey suck and should be banned from any highlights or lists EVER!!!
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