Well, our modern day evil empire, known as ESPN, has now gobbled up the US Open tennis championship. Is nothing sacred to this network which now carries the NBA, NFL and way too many RedSox/Yankee baseball games?
For 25 years our summers came to a close with the start of the US Open on USA Network. It was a fixture in households across America, particularly over the past 17 years with John McEnroe as their lead analyst. The best moments were always the ones under the lights. Tennis in Flushing, Queens with the rowdy New York crowd, as night fell, was and still is a thing of beauty. The energy in the old Louis Armstrong stadium carried over to the epic coliseum that is now Arthe Ashe Court. Ask guys like Andy Roddick, Andre Agassi and Jimmy Connors what impact the "hometown" crowd had on them in many-a-nights throughout their US Open career.
So when I read that ESPN had bought the rights to this sacred event which USA Network had covered with style and class, my first thought was, please don't let Chris Berman or Stuart Scott anywhere near this major championship event! Chris Fowler, the man with one of the best gigs in sports, has been covering tennis for ESPN of late and he's in a word, serviceable. He's definitely not Ted Robinson, the best voice in tennis today. (Come to think of it....are there "voices" in tennis today? I'll have to check on that one.) The only saving grace by ESPN was their hiring of John McEnroe to call their primtime men's matches. Good 'ol Johnny Mac will be paired with his brother Patrick in the booth. That's tolerable.
However, there was still nothing quite like laying awake in bed, well past midnight, watching a classic Roddick or Agassi five-setter. Ted Robinson and John McEnroe were the narrator's to those unscripted moments. Those moments might be duplicated this year, but the soundtrack won't be the same...
you should REALLY consider yourself lucky. Here in Thailand (and all of southeast asia which gets the same ESPN feed) we get 80% soccer and 20% dog shows and x-games reruns. Dog shows!!! I shit you not. Even thier sportscenter promos are so lame that you really need to find some on youtube to laugh at. So this year for the first time ever, there will be a USC football game (vs San Jose state) on ESPN. Halleluja!!! Somthing other than soccer, dog shows, and x-games! (and amazingly the perfect thing!) Have you got some perspective now??? :)
ReplyDeleteAs much as I love ESPN and it's stable of Sports VJs, it is going to kill televised sports as we know it. No one network should carry so many high profile events. It becomes watered down. I agree USA did a fine job of covering The US Open of Tennis with voice of Bill MacKafee.(sp) The smae has happened with Golf. TNT used to carry certain events exclusively but now these events are on the golf channel. You want a good nap, just turn on the GC and you will sleep so good!
ReplyDeleteSomethings are better left untouched. Let's hope the US Open will stand the test of time on ESPN...
You are begging for blog subjects right now. Are you watching tennis or listening to some has beens? Tennis was still on in primetime last night and on a channel everybody gets. USA should stick to Monk and Law & Order reruns.
ReplyDeleteI'm probably the only person that remembers this, but the signature voices of tennis to me (besides McEnroe, of course) are the guys who did Wimbledon in the 80's for NBC: Dick Enberg and crazy Bud Collins. I agree, hope ESPN doesn't let their idiots near this event.
ReplyDelete