ESPN's baseball coverage bias

by EddieTheAlbinoSquirrel on May 31, 2009 10:11 PM CDT

So every time I flipped to ESPNU this weekend, there was a game from the East or the West ... it seemed like an overload of SEC and Pac-10 teams. Not once did I see coverage of the Austin or Fort Worth regionals. Nor did I see coverage of OU or OSU.

Is it just me? Did I miss something?

What do you think? Is the East Coast/West Coast sportswriter bias really alive and well at ESPN - even in baseball?

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I think they do it for timing

So they can get one east coast game in before the other games start and one west coast game after the others end.

by Texas Wahoo on May 31, 2009 10:19 PM CDT reply actions

I guess I could buy that, but ...

… why don’t they provide even some reasonable cut-away coverage when the other games appear decided? Or something?!?! There weren’t even decent break-in highlights of the middle-of-the-country games … just the ribbon at the bottom.

So they just ignore the interior games, so they can have easier programming? That’s mind-boggling! Not saying you’re wrong, but it’s ridiculous!

Watch out, I bite.

by EddieTheAlbinoSquirrel on May 31, 2009 11:16 PM CDT up reply actions

Only so many crews to go around...

ESPN couldn’t send camera crews to all 16 regional sites (or rather, it was probably not economically viable for them to do so), so they picked some of them for whatever reasons they chose. I don’t know those reasons, but whatever. So they didn’t have cameras at all the sites and could only cut in with the crappy cameras we were watching online, and they also didn’t have any announcers on hand to call the game. Probably wouldn’t have made for very good television.

When it comes to baseball, I get the impression that ESPN loves us. I just think that they didn’t exactly expect drama in the regional featuring the #1 overall seed. Unfortunately for everyone, they missed out. But I’m sure they’ll have cameras at the Super Regional.

by billyzane on May 31, 2009 11:34 PM CDT up reply actions

Care to change your opinion??

Yes, there were cameras at the super. Despite Texas being the SCHEULED game on ESPNU, the game was not broadcast until the 5th inning.

Instead, it was all about the east. Again.

Watch out, I bite.

by EddieTheAlbinoSquirrel on Jun 7, 2009 12:32 PM CDT up reply actions

I thought the Sunday game was going to ...

be on the big boy ESPN but got moved to the U. I watched the little thing in the upper corner during the breaks of the NASCAR race till I saw the game was on the U (saw it in the 9th inning). It should be the coastal leader not the world wide leader.

We're Texas...and you're NOT

by Bevoboy94 on Jun 8, 2009 10:18 AM CDT up reply actions

Absolutely not.

It wasn’t broadcast until the 5th inning because the other game before it was still going on……this is how television operates! Just like when a basketball game that is on before Texas plays goes into overtime, we don’t see the start of our game. And the reason it’s an east coast game that gets the early slot is because they’re in a different time zone that is an hour ahead!

Seriously, I don’t understand the need to claim every little thing that you don’t like as bias.

by billyzane on Jun 9, 2009 11:27 AM CDT up reply actions 1 recs

ESPN loves Texas baseball

At least, their CWS broadcast crew does. I remember in 05 Joe Morgan and Co. were seriously drooling over our team. I think we’ll get a little love next weekend, then if we get to Omaha it’ll be all eyes on Texas.

But for TV purposes, I think Wahoo is right.

by BigTexBD on May 31, 2009 11:13 PM CDT reply actions

Naturally

If Joe Morgan and Augie Garrido were together and assigned Moneyball at their weekly book club, the collective universe would implode.

by jc25 on Jun 1, 2009 8:34 AM CDT up reply actions

I haven’t seen a single Texas game on the U or anywhere else in quite some time. I hate being a sports fan on the Least Coast.

by burntorangehorn on May 31, 2009 11:29 PM CDT reply actions

ESPN has always been biased

toward SEC/ACC baseball. The west coast obsession is more recent, and it’s overblown this year because of Stephen Strasburg. There was no doubt in my mind that they would cover whatever regional he ended up in.

Harold Reynolds was the one who was always obsessed with Texas in Omaha. He had a mancrush on a different Texas player every year that the Horns got to the CWS in the first half of this decade.

But I think the reason there hasn’t been recent interest in Texas is because Texas hadn’t even advanced out of regionals since 2005 until this year, and this year, there are no superstar players on this team. Despite having the best pitching staff in the country and a legendary coach, there just aren’t any super compelling stories with this team from ESPN’s perspective. Throw in the fact that our regional cohorts were Texas State, Boston College, and Army, and it’s no wonder that they didn’t want to come to Austin to cover our regional. It was their loss, though … the longest game in NCAA baseball history, Austin Wood’s performance on the mound, an 8-run 9th inning to win the regional, and 6 games that were close and hard-fought from beginning to end. Nothing at all like the joke of a regional they covered in Tallahassee.

by bassale47 on Jun 1, 2009 6:05 PM CDT reply actions

That's right, Reynolds

I remember he was absolutely obssessed on David Maroul in 05. It was well-earned, though, as he played 3rd flawlessly that series.

by BigTexBD on Jun 1, 2009 8:39 PM CDT up reply actions

Yeah, he made some insane plays

Everyone remembers the throw he made from his knees after a diving stop, but he had a ton of outstanding plays in the ’05 CWS. In fact, the whole team did. Drew Stubbs was amazing in center. Nick Peoples was amazing in right. That was a great defensive baseball team.

by bassale47 on Jun 2, 2009 8:18 AM CDT up reply actions

I think the only 2 Baseball conferences worth watching Both start with Big and No Big 10 isn't one of them Big 12 and Big West

by kcmorse on Jun 2, 2009 7:42 PM CDT up reply actions

Texas TCU

will be on ESPNU for game 1 and ESPN for game 2

http://www.ncaa.com/brackets/2009/ncaa_bracket_DI_baseball.html

by thebrat on Jun 2, 2009 1:37 AM CDT reply actions

Last Weekend...

You couldnt watch the #1 ranked college baseball team in the land, but there was non-stop coverage of women’s softball all the weekend long…in HD no less. Why does NCAA baseball get so little pub?

by TX HOCKEY! on Jun 2, 2009 1:26 PM CDT reply actions