Sure, it's a niche sport that gets TV time in the spring when things are generally slow, but ESPN's coverage of women's softball -- with regional action this past weekend and super regionals and later the Women's College World Series -- was often silly (almost offensively so) this past weekend.
While the all-sports network plans a record amount of coverage in the coming weeks and seemingly tries to treat the games in a meaningful manner, the lack of criticism (let alone any meaningful critiques) of poor play was a problem. Not addressing or pointing out mistakes, something that does get done with coverage of college baseball, hurt the credibility of the announce teams and the participants.
One of the most glaring examples of this came when an Oregon player's bunt became a home run. That's right, a one-base throwing error by the pitcher was followed by a two-base fielding error by the right fielder and what should have been a bang-bang play at first base for an out became a solo homer.
Despite the obvious, ESPN's on-air crew almost ignored the mistakes and camera angles were lacking for a quality replay of what happened as the ball hugged the right field wall and the outfielder misplayed the ball. It was not a shining moment for ESPN or the sport.
The consistently staged images of teams walking to the ballparks or lingering in a team huddle in the outfield games were worse, though.
They were just silly -- the same kinds of shots viewers get without end during the Little League World Series. Using the same techniques, and staging those shots or at least encouraging teams to conduct themselves in a certain manner, again belittles the college competitors.
Energy and enthusiasm, often exemplified on camaraderie and team cheers in the dugouts, do make softball different and special. Those things even play well on TV. But, when winning teams simply linger in the outfield after a game, allowing cameras to pan their smiling faces for no real reason other than those "Hi mom!"-types of shots, it makes the competition itself a little less meaningful.
How about interviews with the participants? How about an update on what's next or key plays? Even a feature/focus on some player's redemption as the team has advanced would be fine. But, please, not some immature approach better suited for youth sports -- if it has a place on TV at all.
While the all-sports network plans a record amount of coverage in the coming weeks and seemingly tries to treat the games in a meaningful manner, the lack of criticism (let alone any meaningful critiques) of poor play was a problem. Not addressing or pointing out mistakes, something that does get done with coverage of college baseball, hurt the credibility of the announce teams and the participants.
One of the most glaring examples of this came when an Oregon player's bunt became a home run. That's right, a one-base throwing error by the pitcher was followed by a two-base fielding error by the right fielder and what should have been a bang-bang play at first base for an out became a solo homer.
Despite the obvious, ESPN's on-air crew almost ignored the mistakes and camera angles were lacking for a quality replay of what happened as the ball hugged the right field wall and the outfielder misplayed the ball. It was not a shining moment for ESPN or the sport.
The consistently staged images of teams walking to the ballparks or lingering in a team huddle in the outfield games were worse, though.
They were just silly -- the same kinds of shots viewers get without end during the Little League World Series. Using the same techniques, and staging those shots or at least encouraging teams to conduct themselves in a certain manner, again belittles the college competitors.
Energy and enthusiasm, often exemplified on camaraderie and team cheers in the dugouts, do make softball different and special. Those things even play well on TV. But, when winning teams simply linger in the outfield after a game, allowing cameras to pan their smiling faces for no real reason other than those "Hi mom!"-types of shots, it makes the competition itself a little less meaningful.
How about interviews with the participants? How about an update on what's next or key plays? Even a feature/focus on some player's redemption as the team has advanced would be fine. But, please, not some immature approach better suited for youth sports -- if it has a place on TV at all.
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