Notice in the upper right hand corner that the schedule still shows the Red Sox game at 7:00pm.
And here's the actual time the screenshot was taken.
Now it turned out to be only fifteen minutes, and in the grand scheme of things it wasn't a big deal. But you know how enough little things add up and eventually it pushes you over the edge? Well my breaking point was last night when I had to watch (and I literally mean "watch" because I listened to the radio broadcast in it's entirety as my television was muted. And let me stress to you that the benefits of the mute button during most ESPN telecasts can not be overrated.) Patrick and Cossack "discuss" what the judge in the Bryant case might actually do with the Bryant case (I'm guessing that's what they were doing, because like I said, I had the TV on mute). Why do I need a preview of what I'm going to inevitably find out in a few minutes anyway -- at the expense of missing a game I'd much rather see?
Seriously, would anyone prefer to see these two goofballs go back and forth about what might happen instead of watching a baseball game -- or even a logrolling competition for that matter? ESPN incorporates all the crappy things that make television so hard to watch with hardly any of the benefits. When's the last time you were able to watch SportsCenter with out some silly segment within a segment (Budweiser Hot Seat!). Why is it interesting to watch John Clayton wear Sean Salisbury out in Fact or Fiction week after week (to be fair, that is kind of funny because Salisbury is such a meathead)? Who watches Around the Horn, and why (other than morbid curiosity)? Ugh.
Oh yeah, ESPN also broke away from the game at 8:45 to show the actual press conference by the Colorado district attorney's office saying they were dropping the case -- but his version took another fifteen minutes. Here's an idea, why not run this on the 'ESPN ticker' and if people are actually interested in seeing this guy, they can turn over to "the Deuce" (In my book the "Deuce" stands for "Crap" -- as in, "my 8-month old nephew dropped a "deuce" in his pants -- not the second ESPN network) or ESPN News. But hey, what do I know, I just turned to ESPN because I thought they'd show some sports.
Like most things that drive me crazy on TV, I can complain all I want, but there's not much I can do about it short of actually attending these games in person. Otherwise, I'm stuck watching two dudes talk about the implications of the implications of Kobe's case being dismissed. Add it to the list.
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