Heath Bell: ESPN Bias

[ehh]

Re: Heath Bell: ESPN Bias

I believe them to be a very east coast centric network. Most of their "journalists" are east coast sports writers or based in that region. I am not sure they even know that the other time zones exist. When the Angels were beating the Yankees in 2001 you had "analysts" on that network trying to figure out who Garrett Anderson was, and were shocked he was hitting against New York as well as he was.
.

The "neglected little brother" syndrome out of some of you West Coasters is hilarious. ESPN didn't know who Garrett Anderson was in 2002? LOL, let's not blow things out of proportion here.

[yvesdereuter]

Re: Heath Bell: ESPN Bias

Which is in line with the point that I'm trying to make which is that if ESPN could go back to more balanced highlights with two minute highlights on each game they would. That's not a possibility anymore. Bell does have a great point about ESPN not even mentioning the Padres during the Mets' home opener ads cause that is bush league but his complaint about Peavy's lack of highlights is meh. Even the Yanks and Sox don't get THAT live highlight footage anymore.

I hear what youre saying and agree that $ is ESPNs motivation but whether thats the cause of their bias or not, that doesnt change the fact that there is one. I agree that money is a motivation but its also a case of ESPN being a regional network pretending to be a national network. For example, a lot of their analysis doesnt have to be on only the Red Sox and the Yankees. Also, when the Mets play at Wrigley, ESPN wants to not only get its beak wet by covering the game but also it has the game moved up an hour.

[Lordcledus]

Re: Heath Bell: ESPN Bias

I agree 100% with Bell. It's pretty bad when you turn on a baseball highlight show and you only get to see a score, unless its the mentioned teams.

[SPTO]

Re: Heath Bell: ESPN Bias

MLBN gets my love already (even if I don't have access to it) as they're showing the Jays and Twins tonight. When was the last time the Jays were on SNB?!

[RedheadKingpin]

Re: Heath Bell: ESPN Bias

It's not like Heath Bell isn't telling us something we don't already know

[snepp]

Re: Heath Bell: ESPN Bias

It's not like Heath Bell isn't telling us something we don't already know

Unfortunately we're the minority.

[Sportsforever]

Re: Heath Bell: ESPN Bias

A) ESPN works on contracts with all individual professional sporting leagues. They are only allowed to show X number of minutes per day (or hour) of live MLB highlights and that total shrunk with the birth of the MLB Netowrk, obviously for business reasons (the MLB wants to drive a bigger audience to their network). On the flip side, the MLB Network obviously has unlimited resources and time allotment for highlights and live footage which is why their coverage is superior.

I'm not sure exactly what the time allotment is for MLB but it's very low, something along the lines of 3-4 minutes per hour. For the NCAA tournament it was three minutes per hour. Unless it's a game broadcast on an ESPN network then you will never see extensive highlights. You think they just randomly decided to stop showing tons of highlights one day to squeeze in more BS?

B) As much as I hate to have this turd back me up, Colin Cowherd was making the same points about the Master's and how people were whining that Tiger and Phil were shown a majority of Sunday and the leaders were rarely shown until Tiger and Phil finished. It's the directors job to get the biggest ratings and give people what they want. In baseball, the biggest fan bases are the Yankees, Red Sox, Cubs and Mets. That's why you see the most highlights from them, so ESPN can get the highest ratings and earn the most money. In other words, no one gives a flying **** about the Padres, the Astros or the Diamondbacks and ESPN knows it - so why should they focus on it? They focus on what gets them the highest ratings and the most money, it's a business.

None of that explains why we get daily updates on the Yankee clubhouse mood, how Alfonso Soriano's hammy feels, what Papelbon thinks of Manny, or what's wrong with CC. Fine, if they have limits on how many minutes of highlights they can show, so be it. That doesn't mean they have to focus everything that goes on with those 4 teams. I understand what your saying, but just as an example, take Jake Peavy.

This offseason was a soap opera for the Padres, with daily speculation on where Jake was going/if he was going, etc. It seemed ESPN would give us an update on that situation once every other week while daily we heard about "what will the Yanks do to return to the playoffs?"

I lived on the East Coast my entire life and didn't really buy into the East Coast bias until I moved to San Diego...West Coast teams gets the shaft on coverage.

[sportsdude]

Re: Heath Bell: ESPN Bias

None of that explains why we get daily updates on the Yankee clubhouse mood, how Alfonso Soriano's hammy feels, what Papelbon thinks of Manny, or what's wrong with CC. Fine, if they have limits on how many minutes of highlights they can show, so be it. That doesn't mean they have to focus everything that goes on with those 4 teams. I understand what your saying, but just as an example, take Jake Peavy.

This offseason was a soap opera for the Padres, with daily speculation on where Jake was going/if he was going, etc. It seemed ESPN would give us an update on that situation once every other week while daily we heard about "what will the Yanks do to return to the playoffs?"

I lived on the East Coast my entire life and didn't really buy into the East Coast bias until I moved to San Diego...West Coast teams gets the shaft on coverage.

part of the reason the West Coast teams get the shaft on coverage is because their games don't typically end until after SC or BBT. This should change with the new West Coast SC.

Sure it's annoying to only hear about the Yanks, Sox and Mets but some of you act surprised or offended by it. Like this **** doesn't happen elsewhere. The largest market teams with the biggest names are going to grab the top headlines. Go watch a Sky Sports broadcast (UK for those that aren't sure what that is) and see three of their first four segments deal with Manchester United, Liverpool and Arsenal, every single day of the week unless there's a big cricket or golf match going on.

[ehh]

Re: Heath Bell: ESPN Bias

None of that explains why we get daily updates on the Yankee clubhouse mood, how Alfonso Soriano's hammy feels, what Papelbon thinks of Manny, or what's wrong with CC. Fine, if they have limits on how many minutes of highlights they can show, so be it. That doesn't mean they have to focus everything that goes on with those 4 teams. I understand what your saying, but just as an example, take Jake Peavy.

Actually my point B explains it perfectly.

Sure it's annoying to only hear about the Yanks, Sox and Mets but some of you act surprised or offended by it. Like this **** doesn't happen elsewhere. The largest market teams with the biggest names are going to grab the top headlines.

Exactly, I didn't hear complaining about ESPN's East Coast bias in their NBA coverage from 2001-2007 when the Knicks and Celts weren't contenders and it was heavily focused on the WC because that's where the best teams where. The Knicks had one game televised on ESPN this year, just one.

[bkrich83]

Re: Heath Bell: ESPN Bias

]The largest market teams with the biggest names are going to grab the top headlines. Go watch a Sky Sports broadcast (UK for those that aren't sure what that is) and see three of their first four segments deal with Manchester United, Liverpool and Arsenal, every single day of the week unless there's a big cricket or golf match going on.

The Dodgers for example are the 2nd largest TV market in the nation. They get pushed aside for east coast teams as well.

[sportsdude]

Re: Heath Bell: ESPN Bias

The Dodgers for example are the 2nd largest TV market in the nation. They get pushed aside for east coast teams as well.

because, and I'm sure you're aware of this but I'll state it anyway, the Dodgers don't fit into the TV schedule properly like the Sox or Yanks do. There's no dispute in the market size or the fan base but when your games routinely start at 10 pm, there's just not a good chance the highlights from the entire game will make it on a highlight show, for example SC or BBT. It does not make sense to spend too much time in a broadcast reporting on a game in progress compared to the ones that are already finished. Obvious exceptions would include postseason games.

It's not fair, not in the least, but in a country that spans so many time zones like ours, stuff like this happens.

[yvesdereuter]

Re: Heath Bell: ESPN Bias

because, and I'm sure you're aware of this but I'll state it anyway, the Dodgers don't fit into the TV schedule properly like the Sox or Yanks do. There's no dispute in the market size or the fan base but when your games routinely start at 10 pm, there's just not a good chance the highlights from the entire game will make it on a highlight show, for example SC or BBT. It does not make sense to spend too much time in a broadcast reporting on a game in progress compared to the ones that are already finished. Obvious exceptions would include postseason games.

It's not fair, not in the least, but in a country that spans so many time zones like ours, stuff like this happens.

The bias doesnt only exist in the showing of highlights. It also exists in the analysis.

[Chip Douglass]

Re: Heath Bell: ESPN Bias

Heath Bell just appeared on Baseball Tonight...and had a giant mea culpa. He now says it's one of his "favorite shows".

Thanks for manning the barricades, Heath.

[rsox]

Re: Heath Bell: ESPN Bias

Once apon a time ESPN used to have Wednsday night doubleheaders in which they featured a game from the east or central time zone and followed by a game from the west and things seemed a little more balanced. Once they did away with that (be it contractual or otherwise) the west coast in Baseball basically ceased to exist unless it had to do with either Barry Bonds and all his drama or more recently Manny Ramirez. And odds are if Manny had been with the Indians instead of the Red Sox when all of his nonsense started and then being traded to the Dodgers we never would have heard about any of it.

I barely watch ESPN anymore. I had MLB Network on my tv for like 3 hours the other night and that is probably how it will be from now on.

I don't know about anyone else but i enjoyed watching the Blue Jays/Twins game tonight (something you won't see on ESPN) If i get a chance to i will also check out the Padres/Phillies on saturday and in a few weeks they even have the Orioles at the Royals. When was the last time the Royals were on sunday night, or even wednsday night Baseball?.

[yvesdereuter]

Re: Heath Bell: ESPN Bias

Once apon a time ESPN used to have Wednsday night doubleheaders in which they featured a game from the east or central time zone and followed by a game from the west and things seemed a little more balanced. Once they did away with that (be it contractual or otherwise) the west coast in Baseball basically ceased to exist unless it had to do with either Barry Bonds and all his drama or more recently Manny Ramirez. And odds are if Manny had been with the Indians instead of the Red Sox when all of his nonsense started and then being traded to the Dodgers we never would have heard about any of it.

I barely watch ESPN anymore. I had MLB Network on my tv for like 3 hours the other night and that is probably how it will be from now on.

I don't know about anyone else but i enjoyed watching the Blue Jays/Twins game tonight (something you won't see on ESPN) If i get a chance to i will also check out the Padres/Phillies on saturday and in a few weeks they even have the Orioles at the Royals. When was the last time the Royals were on sunday night, or even wednsday night Baseball?.

Im in the same boat. Im a Cubs fan and its amusing watching E!SPN trying to cater to that demographic (and theyre worse with the Red Sox and Yankees). Like I really need E!SPN for analysis of the Cubs. Im sure its the same for you with NESN. ESPN is a joke. Now they have ESPNChicago, which is basically admitting that theyre a regional network. If they werent so intent on favoring their region, why do that? I like that I can watch baseball coverage for at least a half an hour and not have discussion that is focused on NY, Boston, or Chicago. Plus, I like the analysis better aside from the biases. The analysts on there actually talk about the game more. The other night Magrane was talking about a pitcher getting more vertical movement bacause he was doing a better job at rotating his hand over the ball. They really dont go into mechanical elements like that on ESPN. Basically, MLBTV is turning into the equivalent of NFLN on Sirius (namely moving the chains). E!SPN is irrelevant.