'Exposure' Means Programming for ESPN

With eight games from five states in the next three days, ESPN and its family of networks help kick off high school football season aross the country.

With its "ESPN Rise High School Football Kickoff," the all-sports network presents games from California, Florida, Ohio, South Carolina and Texas. Games will air on ESPN, ESPN2 and ESPNU.

According to the official news release: "ESPN RISE represents ESPN’s commitment to engage and elevate high school athletes by providing them with recognition, resources, information and inspiration that can motivate them to improve their skills and achieve their goals to be the best athletes they can."

Eight games in high definition on TV also mean something else for ESPN -- porgramming, which produces advertising revenue, and a chance to both self promote (which ESPN never avoids) and to create some media exposure loyalty with younger sports fans as well as top-notch competitors.

Eight of the teams competing in the televised this game fall in the top-50 rankings compiled by ESPN RISE. Also, seven individual players are ranked among the nation's top 150, according to ESPNU rankings. So, games brought to you by ESPN feature teams and players whose prowess has been verified by ESPN.

In its early years, ESPN did the same thing with its own separate college football rankings. The network eventually adopted Associated Press rankings like most other media outlets because it avoided confusion and was too transparent of an self-promoting act.

With high school football, though, there's no reason ESPN cannot position and promote itself as the authority. What other entity can compete nationally?

People watching the games might be inclined to visit online and check out ESPN's rating sytems or the other ESPN RISE assests -- which include ESPN RISE, GIRL, Hardwood and Gridiron magazines. There's also ESPNRISE.com and more than 160 high school events each year, including Elite 11, Elite 24, ESPN RISE Games, ESPN RISE National High School Invitational, Faster to First, Area Code Baseball and Nike Combines/Nike SPARQ Mini Camps.

Because ESPN televises the games, standout teams and student athletes then will know ESPN loves them and wants to promote them. Perhaps relationships will grow as a result.

Maybe when the recruits bound for Division I schools involved in this weekend's games declare their college intentions, they'll do so as part of a show on an ESPN network. Maybe they'll be featured on "SportsCentral" specials during their pro careers. Maybe they'll get a job as an analyst once their on-field careers end.

That's a big set of what-if dominoes and scenarios, though.

What if ESPN did not televise high school games (in any sport)? Would high school athletes not go to college? And the best of the best not advance beyond that? Or someday find a post-playing career job?

Of course not, on all counts. While ESPN and other outlets will not turn away from high school sports -- expect the growing trend to increase even more in coming years -- that does not mean it's a good thing.

Sure, the competitors get some measure of exposure, but any measurements about who truly benefits from such broadcasts invariably favors the all-sports network itself.

Little League Provides Cover for ESPN

At the start of an internally controversial week, with "Around the Horn" regular Jay Mariotti in trouble in Los Angelese because of a domestic disturbance charge involving his girlfriend, a little bit of Americana has provided at least some cover for ESPN.

With the Little League World Series already scheduled to preempt "Around the Horn," and with "Pardon the Interruption" on hiatus for the same reason, ESPN commentators and officials have been able to avoid the Mariotti matter (at least publicly) and keep it out of the limelight from two programs that would seem most likely to address the situation. Or at least shows, in the case of "Around the Horn," most impacted by the incident.

Granted, the World Series has some PR warts, especially in the eyes of people who want to argue against putting pre-teens (for the most part) in such high profile competitive situations, but it generally gets spun as a positive experience -- win or lose -- for participants. Plus, ESPN, with its vested interest in success makes judicious use of field microphones on coaches and managers, giving viewers plausibly live audio of the most encouraging and positive moments while avoiding inevitable harsh emotion or slips of the tongue.

Ironically, it's Mariotti's own tongue-lashing skills that might come back to bite him and his career depending on what happens with the charges in L.A. He's been a tough critic of athletes and sports types who put themselves in similar situations, so it'll be interesting to see how he reacts publicly, and it will happen at some point, and how ESPN handles the situation.

For at least a couple of days, though, the all-sports giant has some time to figure out its approach, though. And it can do who while Little League ballplayers get their annual moment in the spotlight.

Brewer's Tools Bring Tech Garage to Life

Amidst all the chatter about NASCAR racing, one of the best and most interesting experts works not in the press box or even in the pits. He has his own garage -- the Craftsman Tech Garage.

Former crew chief Tim Brewer provides the on-air personality for a traveling production team that produced in-race informational segments during Nationwide and Cup Series races. The enclosed studio includes a Chevrolet Cutaway Car as well as displays of engines, transmissions and shock absorbers.

Two tractor-trailer rigs, one with the studio and one as a support trailer, travel the country from race to race to make the Crafsman Tech Garage possible. Along with car parts, the moving garage and studio has mutiple plasma-screen televisions.

Still, it's most important element is Brewer -- who always shares his expertise in a manner that informs without insulting.

For more, see "In Depth: Craftsman Tech Garage" link on upper right of page.

Interesting Personnel Moves for TV Seats

While college and pro football teams move toward the regular season, working to make cuts and set their rosters, TV networks are doing the same with broadcast teams -- and this year it seems those TV teams have hardly any room for newcomers.

Plus, with the season just days away, most changes have already been made. For example, ESPN announced its shakeups to college football crews (including the addition of Brian Griese) and its iconic and important "College GameDay" studio show (a larger role for Erin Andrews) weeks ago.


Still, there were a few high-profile changes recently. They include:
-- NBC Sports adding NFL Network draft guru Mike Mayock as color commentator on its package of Notre Dame games;
-- CBS College Sports naming former Texas Tech coach Mike Leach as a game analyst; and
-- Fox Sports adding both former NFL coach Jim Mora and Super Bowl winning quarterback Kurt Warner to its roster of NFL game analysts.

All of the moves could be winners, with Mayock perhaps set to be the most successful. He's already proven he knows what he's doing when working for NFL Network and the Notre Dame job will expose him, and his expertise, to a broader audience.

Plus the move should be a win-win -- with Mayock getting on-site exposure to a variety of college football teams that will enhance his base of knowledge to share draft expertise on the NFL Network.

Both Mora and Warner seem likely to transfer well to TV, too. Unfortunately, Mora (who previously coached the Seahawks and Falcons) will reportedly work in a three-man booth and he might be good enough to shine on his own without having to battle for airtime. Likewise, media darling Warner certainly haves the expertise and seems to have the ability to transfer that information easily.

The colorful (and deposed) Leach could be the wild card in the bunch. He certainly has the skill set that makes TV analysts strong -- he's entertaining and knowledgeable -- but he's also controversial before he even begins his work, and that's not always a good thing.

Still, he's going to work in front of the smallest TV audiences of the bunch (it's not as if CBS College Sports rivals a network in terms of distribution), which should give him time to hone his skills and find success. Plus, he's probably unlikely to jump back into coaching anytime soon, so the TV gig might be most important for him. If he works at it, he could be good.

And he should work at it, because it's probably his lifeline to remaining in football. That's because Mayock is a proven talent and both Mora and Warner could get another chance in front of the camera or as a coach or consultant (in Mora's case). With Leach, the fallout of his departure from Texas Tech, including a high-profile spat with ESPN analyst Craig James's son, make it hard to believe he'll have an abundance of coaching options.

He might be darn good at TV, though, and that would be OK.

'Boys of Fall' Strikes the Right Chord

An interruption from radio and TV for a video ...

Maybe it's my anticipation for some football season -- it just cannot come soon enough -- or the pitch-perfect sentimentality (I'm a sucker for sappy stuff), but this recently released Kenny Chesney video certainly ranks as one of the best sports-related videos available. And it includes some classic TV sports images and voices.

Daredevils Do Provide Star Power at X Games

My mistake X Games. Please let me apologize.

In a tweet earlier this week, my not-so-subtle hint was that X Games 16 was without stars. That was certainly wrong.

It's just a sign of age, I guess, and having grown up on Evel Knievel (who remains my best in-person sports-related meeting even after covering the Super Bowl, All-Star Game and more) you'd think I'd have a bit more respect for action sports -- which has long outdone anything Knievel, the sports founding father, achieved.

This week's edition of the X Games -- that's X Games 16 -- originates from Los Angeles, and ESPN's made-for-TV (and Internet and mobile) action sports conclave again provides a complementary mix of action and TV coverage.

The event provides comparatively cheap programming for ESPN and serves as a testing ground, of sorts, for production technology. That includes everything from small cameras attached to competitors to 3D technology.

Also, X Games 16 has well-known competitors, even for an almost ancient action sports like me. Specifically, Travis Pastrana was the focus of Moto X Freestlye action Thursday night with his gold-medal effort, and coverage this weekend includes BMX Freestlye with Jamie Bestwick, Skateboard Vert with Shaun White and Skateboard Street with Ryan Sheckler.

They're just part of the talent pool that helps make the X Games surprisingly good TV. The access, athleticism, danger/drama and technological highlights combine to make the four-day action sports festival entertaining.

The X Games and action sports still might not be mainstream, but they're much less marginalized than they was a decade ago (or even less) -- and deservedly so.

More Than Ready for Some Football

Just 11 days remain until meaningful football returns to TV, and it comes just in time to end an otherwise dull span of sports on the tube.

While some might debate whether an NFL preseason game qualifies as "meaningful," there's no doubt the Aug. 8 Hall of Fame Game, which matches the Bengals and Cowboys, will draw interest and ratings.

Interest in that preseason game (and just about any other NFL preseason game that shows up on a national network in advance of the season) should outpace that for regular season games, and some post-season matchups, in every other sport.

Sports fans love football, the NFL in particular, and that passive-aggressive relationship (after all viewers sit at home with their emotions often stirred to an extreme) kicks into full gear in the next few weeks.

After the Hall of Fame Game, other NFL preseason games follow and college football season opens Sept. 2 with six games on the ESPN family of networks.

Since many fans last watched football on TV, we've filled the void with everything from reality TV (my favorites include "Cake Boss" and "Deadliest Catch") to boring baseball, imitation football -- although those CFL games on the NFL Network have been entertaining at times -- and on-air moves and news, such as "Moose" Johnson joining the NFL Network as a studio analyst. (He'll continue to work games for Fox Sports.)

Still, the real fix cannot come until the return of the NFL and college football. Especially NFL preseason games.

While my habits most certainly put me in a minority, I believe watching preseason games allows fans of a specific team to feel a bit more informed, to evaluate and watch for themselves regarding personnel changes. Although every team in the league probably knows 95 percent of its roster before camp begins -- meaning only a handful of spots are up for grabs during the preseason -- the ability for fans to watch preseason games actually shifts the information-control paradigm that leagues and teams have been honing the past few years.

In the preferred model, leagues and teams take information directly to fans. They become more transparent (in theory), using social media and websites to pass information onto fans and, in some cases, avoid the media. The approach usually generates praise from fans and dismay from the media.

With the current set of four preseason games, fans also get to see things for themselves, to watch how players develop and react. That first-hand experience, either in person or on TV allows fans to invest even more in their team. They can watch a potential diamond in the rough develop or witness an aging pro who has lost a step. Fans can often tell who has what it takes to make the team. Even if they're wrong, it fuels interest.

At the same time, college football games count from the start, and enough programs schedule quality non-conference games early in the season that numerous must-see matchups exist. In the first full weekend alone, the extensive list of at-least-interesting games includes: USC at Hawaii, Sept. 2; LSU vs. North Carolina, Sept. 4; and Boise State vs. Virginia Tech, Sept. 6.

All that action cannot start soon enough.

Until then, we'll have to make due with more previews and prognostications, including next week's Big Ten Conference media days, with coverage on the Big Ten Network.