Zach shocks the world. I was quite impressed! Now if he'd just cut the hair and beard, he could be a favorite!
The guy with long hair and funny clothes: Reminded me of Dennis Miller in that I couldn't focus on the highlight because his jokes were making me think. Didn't like it. Although he was creative. I was surpised they ripped his clothing so strongly. He was trying to make himself stand out, and it worked, and then they rip him for it. But he's the one guy who jumped out at them. Ironic. The woman: Of the three I saw, I liked her best. Her presentation was clear and allowed me to watch the highlight. Plus when the highlight wasn't clear (like who won the race), she summed it up at the end. Felt like it was nicely wrapped. The Black dude: Forget about it. Totally uninspired. As far as the fact or fiction. No doubt the fat guy with blonde hair ruled. You believed him. He was the best. The woman blew that contest by rambling. I felt sorry for those people. It TV it's scripted somewhat and they talk sports all day to get ready. tough to put people on the spot like that.
Alvin Williams, you're right he was the worst of the bunch but he was the wild card so I guess we should've expected it.
Bringin this back to the front to talk about today's show... They're doing the Co-anchor thing so far... I thought the judges were a little too harsh on the 1st group (Nick Stevens, and one of the "big" guys), but were a little too lenient on the 2nd group (the girls). Think ESPN wants to make sure there's at least one "next Linda Cohn" going into the deep rounds?
this is my first time watching it due to nothing else being on. I thought that the first group was pretty good. I believe the big guys name is Kelly??? The judges seemed too harsh on him and as you said too lienent on the women, they were horrible.
they were pretty lienent on the women! the one wearing the pink blazer [i believe] was pretty eeeeeeeeh "He's Asian.. and I'm short" lol
Damn... Aarron and Casey were pretty damn good (in my opinion). In fact, if I was watching SportsCenter, I'd want to hear that type of humor MORE. Al Jaffe, senior VP of ESPN thinks not... then why did he hire Steve Berthiaume?!? He also pointed out, "this isn't Seinfeld!"... well, this also isn't or shouldn't be CNN... its the humor that's kept SportsCenter fresh all these years (and the lackthereof led to the eventual demise of CNN sports). Once again the judges were overly critical of them. I mean, who cares if they're not getting every minutie right of the highlight (as Lavar Arrington has pointed out on both guy teams so far)... its how you present yourself, and how you deliver. Both of the guy teams were HEAD AND SHOULDERS above the girls... but they've gotten the brunt of the judge's comments. There's a fix!
Agreed... while I know this is "hard", I honestly don't know how some of these guys got THIS far. Quigs just "sounds" bad, and Maggie looks like she's reporting for her High School public access sports show. I'm sure, if this show becomes a success, and they publicize it more next year... the quality of the final contestants will be MUCH better.
The last duo which includes Zach was really good. I thought I was watching an actual sprotcenter show.
Agreed... too bad that one of them WILL eventually get cut. Zach has the best stage presence, and Mike actually seems "real", instead of the other ones that are obviously trying to be smug/funny. Hell... stop this show and give a job to both these guys... give the rest of the clones a break, and let them go home early.
I just don't like Chet. I can't understand what he's saying, and he just sounds bad in general. Who cares about your native language, man? No one. Stop playing the "i'm from another country" card. Levine is great, but he also needs to stop playing the race card. Let your skills speak for themselves. Regardless, the show will be much easier to watch with Quigley gone.
This show is a joke. I hope that one of the few journalism majors actually wins this competition because they are the ones who deserve a shot at this type of gig more than the others, even though I don't they deserve this type of a job. I'm sick and tired of anyone thinking they can be a journalist, and this show only reinforces that stereotype. There are numerous studying journalists or journalists with degrees in journalism working that this insults. ESPN can do whatever they please, but there are droves of qualified sports journalists who would want that open anchor position. And this is coming from a journalism senior at UT-Austin. I am interning at KEYE-TV in Austin, and even though the sports anchors wouldn't leave the station because they have families, etc, they kick the pants off these contestants, and Austin is just a mid level market. Back to the show, the Quigley/Chet tandem was horrible. Quigley flubbed his part badly, and Chet used the same "in my native language" 4 times. Once, maybe twice is acceptable. And he never mentioned what that language was, as Tony pointed out. Also, Kit Hoover and Lavar Arrington are poor excuses for Judging. One is a pretty face journalist on a show very few people actually watch and the other is an athlete, who is on the show because of his charisma and I guess ESPN wants to know if they would accept them if the winner was interviewing them. Big deal. The last two guys were solid, especially Zach, but still I'm sick of excuses like Kelly Milligan's: "give me another chance, I won't make the same mistake twice." That reeks of ESPN just "making" journalists. I'm not perfect when it comes to my journalistic skills, but I could do as well as most of these guys if I had a week to prepare all my copy. And I don't think I'm deserving of a sportscenter job, anyway. But these people are even less deserving. It makes all the aspiring journalists and journalists period look like anyone can be taught to do your job, so why study to become one. I am an avid watcher of ESPN, but that's because they kill the rest of the TV sports competition out there. Which is precisely why they can do stupid stuff like this and get away with it. But it's also what makes it so disturbing. They are the beacon of the sports journalism profession from a TV perspective and what they do, others will try and emulate. I know America is watching this because it is entertaining "reality" TV. But to a future journalist and journalism student at the University of Texas, it's insulting to see people without journalistic backgrounds given a shot to obtain one of the most prestigious jobs in your chosen profession. Some of them do, but even they would probably admit they aren't qualified for that position yet. I like Sportscenter, I like the other sports shows ESPN produces, I can even accept ESPN putting ex athletes on their league specific shows, as it makes sense with regards to credibility. But this crosses the line. This is a horrible message to send to aspiring and current journalists, by one of the leaders in the industry. I won't stop watching ESPN, but if there was a comparable sports television outlet to see highlights and the like, I would ditch ESPN because of the way they have treated journalism lately.
I feel your pain DV, but these people are no less deserving them you or any other journalist. They took their shot. They beat out 10,000 people. And the more diversity in the field of sportscasting the better. They bring something a jounrnalist never could bring to the set. Their own experience.
So they don't have the background? Big deal. Do American Idol contestants have backgrounds in singing and/or performing. It's an entertaining contest that gives these guys a 1-year shot at a "dream job." It boosts ratings and makes the company money, which is ultimately the reason they're even in existence. Ultimately, the winner will probably get to do the showcase Sportscenter for a week or two, then be relegated to the graveyard shift on ESPNNews. I really wish I had tried out when it came to Houston, but I was too lazy to drive out in the rain to the location. I could do so much better than most of these guys (not Aaron though, he's gotta win)
I think the same of American Idol, I don't think most of the people chosen should have music careers. Reality TV has gone too far. So, I guess it would be ok if we just held try outs to make Doctors, or Lawyers or Teachers, right? That would be ludicrous, wouldn't it. And it's not like it's a reporting job or for a day. It's a real job at the pinnacle of the profession for a broadcast journalist. Anchoring at ESPN is about as good as it gets in this business. As far as the contract goes, a one year contract is pretty standard for the field. It's also my belief, you have to pay your dues in any profession, and none of these people have. Plus, Journalism is something that should be well respected, and essentially ESPN is telling all journalism majors out there, don't even bother with a degree, we can make a journalist out of most anyone. That bugs me, because a journalist is one of the most important and influential roles a person can have in today's society. Journalists deserve a lot more respect than the average person gives them, but with ESPN doing stuff like this, do you really think we will receive any? Then, as others in this thread pointed out, what if ESPN keeps this as an annual series for awhile, it just cheapens the role of a sports journalist even more. I mean I guess I could look at it like they are giving some young journalists face time so they are more well known to employers, but the probability is high that the majority of the finalists and competitors have in all likelihood little interest in journalism, but would love to be a part of Sportscenter, which is understandable. If this competition were held for aspiring journalists, I would have a lot less problem with it because to be honest, there are limited spots for journalists to even get jobs so by letting anyone in America try out and get possible face time on ESPN, it lessens the opportunities for new journalists like myself, and that is a problem, as far as I'm concerned.
