It’s been 11 days since ESPN’s John Saunders died and while the praise for his career and testimonials about him as a colleague and person have been appropriate, compelling, emotional and honest, there’s still something missing about the story… any form of journalism.
Not to be morbid, but viewers who invested hundreds of hours
of their lives, probably more, watching Saunders great work through the years
still do not know how he died.
Sure, we’re not his family, and his family can certainly
choose to share what they wish, but TV and radio provide a special forum, one
that helps build a bond, between those who work in the industry and those of us
who consume their work.
In Saunders’ case we got quality every time, no matter the
assignment. He was solid, in studio or on play by play, whether it was college
football or some other sport. He seemed unflappable, and that’s how his
colleagues have portrayed him in the past week or so.
In that way, we as viewers feel validated -- that the person
we saw was the person he was. Maybe it’s just me, but it would be nice to know
what really happened. It would not make us feel less of him, but it might help
us better understand the circumstances of a family member or someone else we
know. Maybe we could better support a cause or an individual as a result.
What’s frustrating is that had any other 61-year-old sports
personality of Saunders’ stature died ESPN would have at least provided some
context and indication about the person’s death. In this case, though, everyone
at ESPN seems to close to the story to step back and report.
Kudos to Saunders’ colleagues on the Sunday morning roundtable,
“The Sports Reporters,” for at least acknowledging Saunders’ ill health and
battle with diabetes during on-air testimonials last week. Other reports have hinted
at depression and long-standing injuries.
Viewers, folks who pay a cable bill or want to trust ESPN
for its journalism, might not deserve all the specifics but they do at least
deserve some reporting related to the story. It’s too bad that has not
happened.
Cliché corner
It seems like the start of football season inevitably means
an onslaught of more sports clichés and unchecked silliness than almost any
other time of the year.
Two examples came to mind again this past week, and each
prompted either a question or a need for more information, which is why such
clichés fail and frustrate audiences (whether they’re listening, reading or
watching).
First, a TV report stated that a football player “gained 10
pounds of muscle in the offseason.” No media member ever reports if someone
gains 10 pounds of fat. Maybe the media might note that someone gained weight
or looks overweight but if you start a sentence with “gained 10 pounds …” and
ask a long-time sports consumer to finish the sentence, they know the cliché as
well and will invariably state “… of fat.” It’s just lazy work.
Second, over use of jargon is often the result of a reporter
trying to show their expertise while consistently not serving the audience.
It was prominent in Penn State football stories recently
about the linebackers, who play the “mike,” “sam” and “will” positions. Sure,
there are savvy football fans who know that means middle, strong and weak side,
respectively. And they might even know how a team defines its strong and weak
side alignments.
Here’s the thing, though, journalists and media should serve
an audience by making things easy to understand or even educating them. Just
tossing out the mike, sam or will does none of that. Providing context would be
helpful, and is honestly necessary.
‘Tailgate’ time
Big Ten Network plans to unveil an on-site, Big Ten
Conference-specific pregame TV show similar to ESPN’s ultra-successful “College
GameDay” this fall.
“BTN Tailgate” will debut Sept. 24 from the
Wisconsin-Michigan State game in East Lansing, Michigan, that morning. The show
airs live, beginning at 10:30 a.m., hosted by BTN’s Dave Revsine with analysts
Gerry DiNardo and Anthony Adams, the former Penn State standout who played for
the Chicago Bears.
Network officials expect the show, like “GameDay,” to rotate
among campus sites during the season.
If Penn State can start strong, its home games with
Minnesota (Oct. 8), Ohio State (Oct. 22) and Iowa (Nov. 5) all could be worthy
of consideration for a “Tailgate” visit.
“GameDay” has not visited Happy Valley since Sept. 26, 2009,
when Iowa traveled to for an 8 p.m. game and secured a 21-10 victory.
Tuner tidbits
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The Steelers’ third preseason game, a trip to
New Orleans to play the Saints, airs at 8 p.m. Thursday on WTAJ-TV (Channel
10).
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This week means a full slate of action at the
Little League World Series. While the money that drives the event, both for
ESPN and Little League itself, seems obscene, and the happy-happy, joy-joy
stories for the week probably are more true than false, its fairly easy for me
to get over those critiques because the approach and intimacy of the broadcasts
do produce generally good TV. Plus, my affinity for the event probably dulls my
cynicism a bit.
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Man, UFC’s Conor McGregor knows how to shape
himself as a media spectacle and try to sell tickets for his pay-per-view
events. His match Saturday night with Nate Diaz at UFC 202 ended after press
time, but there’s no doubt McGregor is a champ in terms of promotion -- and
UFC, despite a supposedly strained relationship with him, has milked that skill
for all the media attention it can. That’s a big part of what can drive what
it’s all about it boxing and UFC. But, while boxing has not been able to build
or support such breakout personalities, several UFC types play well in the
media.
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In recent months ESPN has devoted more and more
airtime and online attention to pro wrestling. Weekly segments with WWE
“superstars” and more stories online about events and news, including tonight’s
“SummerSlam,” represent a hopeful approach for ESPN, as it hopes to attract a
few more TV and web viewers. It’s hard to argue that attention for the troupe’s
scripted events represent any form of journalistic progress for ESPN. At the
same time, because ESPN has lost multiple millions of subscribers (it’s base
had dropped from nearly 100 million to just under 90 million in the past couple
of years because many have moved away from cable), it’s probably happy to
secure any form of consistent audience it can find.
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