Write ESPN about BBTN

by BubbaDude on Apr 25, 2007 12:57 PM PDT Comment 23 comments

The last two days, I've watched Baseball Tonight on ESPN in hopes of seeing some A's highlights, since the games in Baltimore were not telecast on Channel 36 or FSBA.

There was no A's coverage, except for a defensive play Mark Ellis made in game 20 that they rated as the #5 Webgem. Instead, there was 20 minutes each day on the last place team in the AL East and an 0-3 day by their third baseman, Alex somebody.

This is unacceptable. Fox Sports manages to squeeze all thirty teams into a half-hour show, and BBTN has a whole hour.

This is a constant complaint on AN, I know, but why not launch a little letter-writing campaign and let the bastards know we're not happy about their programming?

Here's a link to their retarded complaint form. They only accept a few characters of text, so be concise.

Here's what I told them:

Ever hear of the Oakland A's? They lead the AL West and just set an ML record for consecutive scoreless first innings at the start of a season. Yesterday, they threw a guy right out of AAA at the hottest team in the AL East and shut them down, and the day before Nick Swisher hit two homers.

There was no coverage of either event because your show blows a third of its time on the last-place team in the AL East.

Is this Oprah or a sports network?

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Done!

by robodoc on Apr 25, 2007 1:21 PM PDT reply actions 0 recs

Okay I wrote them

I agree, you have to wade through the "non-news" on Baseball Tonight, and they =always= give Oakland short shrift, even...

...even if they play the Yankees (if the Yankees lose esp.)

"- J. Duchscherer relieved J. Duchscherer" per Yahoo! Sports Box Score

by One won lost won on Apr 25, 2007 1:34 PM PDT reply actions 0 recs

I just don't get it

This was a valid complaint 4 or 5 years ago, but nowadays, thanks to the internet, you don't need ESPN for highlights or analysis.

Everyone complains about Joe Morgan and John Kruk anyways, so why watch them? Get online and ask Rob Neyer or Peter Gammons a question. Go read what people here have to say. Go to oaklandathletics.com and see 3-4 A's highlights from any game you want.

Why sit around through commercials and hope ESPN gets to you?

And more importantly, write complaint letters to FSBA and KICU. After all, FSBA is actually choosing to broadcast the Giants/Diamondbacks game on Friday instead of the first Warriors home playoff game in 13 years.

by fadedash on Apr 25, 2007 1:43 PM PDT reply actions 0 recs

Warriors on National TV

Well I'm guessing TNT had some say in getting the Warriors game there...I'll take my chances with a nationally televised Warriors game.

by Fooch on Apr 25, 2007 2:15 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

tnt doesnt really have much say

FSBA carried game 1 and it's commonplace for the local affiliate to also carry a national game.

see: kings playoffs.

by fadedash on Apr 25, 2007 2:22 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

I watched BBTN last night

And caught the A's about 40 minutes in. Sure, it sucked to be at the end, but as others have said, it's not like I couldn't find highlights elsewhere on the internet.

There's no crying in baseball!

by gigglingone on Apr 25, 2007 1:48 PM PDT reply actions 0 recs

They must change the content then

because the one I saw was A's-free.

I don't watch this show religiously, just when an A's game wasn't televised. There's nothing like seeing the highlights, and they ought to be able to do that for all 30 teams.

"...so I figured, you know, why not test him." -- Travis Buck on One-Arm Johnny Damon

by BubbaDude on Apr 25, 2007 3:15 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

I watched Swisher's injury, and Braden k a couple

of people, but when you score all your runs without benefit of a hit, what the hell can they show?????? I am a huge A's fan, but I don't need, nor want to watch our inept offense more than once. They also did show Nick's home runs. If not on BBTN, it was on Sportscenter, which is on ALL NIGHT after 10pm basically.

by theblackpearl on Apr 25, 2007 1:56 PM PDT reply actions 0 recs

Valid point

The rookie call-up shutting down the hottest team in the AL East is a story, just as Swish's two dingers was the day before.

"...so I figured, you know, why not test him." -- Travis Buck on One-Arm Johnny Damon

by BubbaDude on Apr 25, 2007 3:16 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

/test

"Of all the things he does well, that's like second-to-last on the list, just above deer hunting." Jeff, LL

by Jennifer on Apr 25, 2007 2:10 PM PDT reply actions 0 recs

In Canada it's no better.

Last night I watched three different sporting networks on TV in the hope of seeing Braden throw a couple in the highlights package.

Two of those networks didn't show a single frame of the A's game, the third showed Swisher getting injured and the winning run scoring - 5 seconds of footage total.

But A-Rod? At least two minutes of that game on every channel, plenty of the Red Sox game, and about half an hour of hockey.

"Kotsay is 31... Kotsay's back is 127." - Jeepers

by Ozzz on Apr 25, 2007 2:30 PM PDT reply actions 0 recs

i've given up on BBTN a looong time ago.

by gotgreen on Apr 25, 2007 2:46 PM PDT reply actions 0 recs

nicely done

by fadedash on Apr 25, 2007 2:52 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

they don't have to be fair

Trust me, being on the wrong coast and getting very little A's coverage, I've been furious with ESPN and their bias before. However, they don't have to be fair and they only care about the story that's going to get them the best ratings and most ad revenue. Sadly, that's the Yanks/Sox. We're still hearing about that damn series and it was over three days ago (not to mention it was in mid April). They care more about Bonds and steroids and the Yanks/Sox because there are more idiots out there who care about them than care about teams like Oakland or Minnesota. Can't say I blame them, when you consider they are a business trying to make money. It's frustrating as hell, but there are other options (mlb.tv, extra innings, etc).

by Eric in Atlanta on Apr 25, 2007 2:52 PM PDT reply actions 0 recs

And we don't have to watch

The Yankees have their own TV network, and their fans don't need BBTN.

"...so I figured, you know, why not test him." -- Travis Buck on One-Arm Johnny Damon

by BubbaDude on Apr 25, 2007 3:17 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

I can't really sympathize

With a bunch of very rich CEOs and executive producers trying to make even more money. Maybe that's just me.

by Bleeding the Green and Gold on Apr 25, 2007 4:55 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

So they should produce a tv show...

out of the goodness of the heart? Not even broadcast news is run anymore without the idea of making money, I cannot forsee the day when anything sports related is not specifically designed to make money.

by SuperBean on Apr 25, 2007 6:59 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

A's undercovered?

Yeah, nothing new. I don't mean to be insensitive about anyone anywhere else in the country who is really deprived of A's coverage, but It doesn't bug me that the A's don't get (what I believe to be) a fair amout of coverage.

As to the A-Rod coverage. He's having a HUGE April. And the yankmees do have some interesting... issues with their struggles so far. So covering that team (adding on the fact that they are both a team with a large following AND a large throng of people hating on them (I count myself in this latter number)) more than the A's makes sense, especially now.

This is not to say that I think the NYY/Bos coverage isn't rediculous (it is, and it only gets worse throughout the season). Just that I've grown accustomed to it. It's like the leaves falling off the trees. Every effing year. I'm numb to it most nights, and on nights where nothing puts the A's over the top of this media uphill climb (Braden's performance, while really nice, isn't too much more than a local story that'll get a 10 second blurb on national TV unless he throws a near no-no), I've come to expect to get nothing from national madia in the A's coverage section.

by StewFan on Apr 25, 2007 10:30 PM PDT reply actions 0 recs

Rookie callup

I seem to remember Chase Wright on the Yankees getting 15 minutes of coverage because of 6 innings of 3-run ball in his debut. My wife, not totally aware of the east coast bias, asked me if they would have shown it at all if it had been an Athletic.

Call me crazy, but I have always liked to see my teams get their props nationally. I can watch highlights with an A's bias with the local news, but sometimes I like to see what other people think about the team.

Shoot, maybe nobody nationally does care about the team.

He's not going to try to kill you, I'm just going to try to doink you. -Rex Hudler

by JediLeroy on Apr 26, 2007 10:34 AM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

You Got It

Shoot, maybe nobody nationally does care about the team.

That's why I said in my post-title further down in this thread - let's get to the world series, then even ESPN won't be able to ignore us! :)

.. the Athletics may be small-market but they have BIG-heart! ..

by Randy Bell on Apr 26, 2007 10:59 AM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

The issue is not what's right or wrong...

Its about power. ESPN has the power to show whatever the hell they want and we have the power to flood their system with complaints if we are upset. Don't take away what little power we have. In fact, if we all stuck together and wrote letters every day we might just irritate them as much as they irritate us. And that is a comforting thought.

by Steve on Apr 26, 2007 12:03 AM PDT reply actions 0 recs

Let's get to the W.S. then even ESPN won't ..

.. be able to ignore us! .. other than that, we are small market and they could care less ... and as others have said, I have given up on ESPN, they are sensationalist, in it for entertainment and dollars, not good baseball analysts, and as one guy in ST thread said, they're like dogs on a busy street who chase the fastest and latest car that comes by .. forget them, like a lover who jilts you time and again, they aren't worth it ..

.. the Athletics may be small-market but they have BIG-heart! ..

by Randy Bell on Apr 26, 2007 7:17 AM PDT reply actions 0 recs

BBTN is pathetic but I look for an A's morsel

nearly every night. What can I say? I don't need the validation but I sure like to see additional coverage of the team I love, especially after a victory or a web gem nominee.

People are somewhat hypocritical in their hatred of ESPN but I certainly understand why. However w/o ESPN we probably wouldn't have have EI, MLBtv, etc. They have made it a possibility to actually watch sports nearly every night of the year and I, at least, thank them for that. Assholes ;-)

"Shitburger, Skip?"

by ohtobe21likehuston on Apr 26, 2007 11:57 AM PDT reply actions 0 recs