So ESPN is now Mystery Science Theater 3000

[Jake]

those announcers weren't at the game. They called it from the studio in Connecticut watching it on monitors like you and I.

I'll be the first to say that I didn't know that while watching, other than some odd situations like Anish not knowing Battle was in the game.

Bad bad new trend in sports broadcasting. Going to lose the nuanced information that on site announcers bring to the broadcast.

 

[Cusefan0307]

Saw that on twitter. I suppose ESPN has to cut costs somewhere as they’ve continued to lose subscribers.

 

[OrangeXtreme]

That's gotta be Anish on the right...

 

[20Plus]

those announcers weren't at the game. They called it from the studio in Connecticut watching it on monitors like you and I.

I'll be the first to say that I didn't know that while watching, other than some odd situations like Amish not knowing Battle was in the game.

Bad bad new trend in sports broadcasting. Going to lose the nuanced information that on site announcers bring to the broadcast.

Wow

 

[skurey]

I agree with your point but don't you dare insult MST3K like that!

 

[Dinkyspond]

I thought the sound was weird, was wondering about that. Was it the weather that grounded them?

 

[Jake]

I thought the sound was weird, was wondering about that. Was it the weather that grounded them?

Yep. Hasn't been raining $ like it used to.

 

[orangecuse]

"Broadcasta's only."

 

[cto]

ESPN has totally jumped the shark. I used to be a Sports Center addict (when they had smart, good commentators). Now it is a joke. All they seem to care about are "production values" (and the values are terrible). I hate to say this (as a woman), but most of their new female "talent" is unwatchable. They dress like the bimbos on Fox News ... and make about as much sense.

 

[Alsacs]

If he was at the game and it didn’t realize Battle was back in it would have been worse.
At least this makes some sense now as to why the commentary was brutal.
I got no problem with announcers calling the game from a studio but fans should be aware of it.
Anish was off the whole game and now this makes some sense.
ESPN used to be the gold standard but man John Skipper really tarnished it.
Hopefully his replacement brings old school back but it’s highly unlikely to happen.

 

[OttoinGrotto]

Shoot, I'm gonna apply.

 

[shandeezy7]

They do this stuff on NBA TV called Players Only where it's a couple former NBA players calling the game from a studio. It makes the games borderline unwatchable.

 

[cliftonparksufan]

those announcers weren't at the game. They called it from the studio in Connecticut watching it on monitors like you and I.

I'll be the first to say that I didn't know that while watching, other than some odd situations like Anish not knowing Battle was in the game.

Bad bad new trend in sports broadcasting. Going to lose the nuanced information that on site announcers bring to the broadcast.

I thought Gaudio was bad. I've like him in the past doing in studio work but not last night. I'll give him a pass given the circumstances he had to announce the game.

 

[STEVEHOLT]

those announcers weren't at the game. They called it from the studio in Connecticut watching it on monitors like you and I.

I'll be the first to say that I didn't know that while watching, other than some odd situations like Anish not knowing Battle was in the game.

Bad bad new trend in sports broadcasting. Going to lose the nuanced information that on site announcers bring to the broadcast.

there have been plenty of announcers who were actually at Syracuse games that didnt know who was who. Billy Packer even used to try and convince us that Billy Thompson played for us in the mid to late 80s

 

[KaiserUEO]

I thought the sound was weird, was wondering about that. Was it the weather that grounded them?

Yea, the sound was very quiet, it was weird.

Not really any crowd and damn if I don’t remember the horn.

Pathetic by ESPN.

 

[tbonezone]

several people in chat commented on the weird overhead camera angles . saving money there too i guess.

 

[Brooky03]

I don't have a big problem with this for the smaller games like ours last night. Announcers are like officials to me; as long as they're not terrible, they're good enough for me. If it helps cut costs and keep ESPN afloat, then more power to them. As much as people hate on ESPN, it's still the best place on tv for sports coverage (FS1 isn't as close as people like to think), so I'd prefer if it stuck around for a while.

 

[OrangeXtreme]

I don't have a big problem with this for the smaller games like ours last night. Announcers are like officials to me; as long as they're not terrible, they're good enough for me. If it helps cut costs and keep ESPN afloat, then more power to them. As much as people hate on ESPN, it's still the best place on tv for sports coverage (FS1 isn't as close as people like to think), so I'd prefer if it stuck around for a while.

Disney just spent $52.4 Billion (with a B) to take over Fox.

I don't think ESPN is sinking.

 

[SoBeCuse]

I thought Gaudio was bad. I've like him in the past doing in studio work but not last night. I'll give him a pass given the circumstances he had to announce the game.

Yeah, I agree. Usually Gaudio is pretty sharp but he seemed vague and off.

This all makes more sense now. I did catch that Anish blunder about putting Battle back in when he already was before that timeout/commercial!

The whole concept of this beyond asinine. Not good.

 

[Jasoncuse]

I'm ok with this, as every company will look to cut costs any way they can, but they need to improve it. You cannot simply mute out the crowd. It sounded like there was nobody there and made for a really boring watch. You can pipe in the crowd noise with the two announcers speaking over it, not that hard.

This is probably along the same lines as the local guys Higgins and whoever doing the ESPN3 games over the first month. I guess Wake didn't have any local guys that could do the game in person?


Probably an easy decision with the storm hitting NC afterward, too.

 

[Townie72]

those announcers weren't at the game. They called it from the studio in Connecticut watching it on monitors like you and I.

I'll be the first to say that I didn't know that while watching, other than some odd situations like Anish not knowing Battle was in the game.

Bad bad new trend in sports broadcasting. Going to lose the nuanced information that on site announcers bring to the broadcast.

If
Yes, yes the announcing was atrocious. They missed Battle's reinsertion into the game. But more importantly they never shut up. It was like they were being paid by the word.

Kudos to you, however, for bringing this up and for the hilarious comparison to that exceedingly strange TV program.

 

[Jeremy L.]

As a former employee at ESPNU, they started making this transition a few years back with softball, baseball, etc. Basically, everything is produced in the Charlotte office from the on-air talent, to producers and behind the scenes production (graphics, directing, etc.). Essentially, all ESPN really needs to do is hire a camera crew for the game and have some tech people on site to broadcast these games. Saves on travel, room, for not only on air talent but every single person on the crew.

 

[orangecuse]

What I noticed the most (have DirecTV) was that on several outside/3 point shots that went in, there was like a half second or so delay after it was quite clear that the ball went through the hoop before Anish would utter goooooood!!!

 

[HakAttack]

ESPN has totally jumped the shark. I used to be a Sports Center addict (when they had smart, good commentators). Now it is a joke. All they seem to care about are "production values" (and the values are terrible). I hate to say this (as a woman), but most of their new female "talent" is unwatchable. They dress like the bimbos on Fox News ... and make about as much sense.

They lost me for good when they kicked Sarina Morales out the door. As a former classmate of hers, she's one of the top Latina sports talents in the industry right now and gave the "AM" show some real punch.

ESPN says they're committed to increasing POC in on-air roles, and then she gets the axe. Sounds like they don't want to put their $$ where their mouth is.

 

[UnknownOrange]

Okay so if it was Bilas, Raftery, and Sean Mcdonough from a studio... would you care?