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ESPN Layoffs

seawolf17 Apr 26 2017 05:47 PM

Major bloodletting at ESPN today: http://deadspin.com/a-running-list-of-e ... 1794664091 [tweet:3swdj463]https://twitter.com/jaysonst/status/857285136357900288[/tweet:3swdj463]

Edgy MD Apr 26 2017 05:48 PM Re: ESPN Layoffs

Somehow, I thought Stark would get passed over.

seawolf17 Apr 26 2017 05:52 PM Re: ESPN Layoffs

You'd have to go back not one, not five, but SEVENTEEN years to find an article by him that wasn't exactly the same as the last one.

John Cougar Lunchbucket Apr 26 2017 06:11 PM Re: ESPN Layoffs

Stark was and is great. I used to read him in the Sunday Philly Inquirer when I lived there, a million years ago. His "Rumblings & Grumblings" where he ran down the goofy stats (last guy to get a hit, etc), was a big influence on the uni-number project I did.

seawolf17 Apr 26 2017 06:18 PM Re: ESPN Layoffs

John Cougar Lunchbucket wrote: Stark was and is great. I used to read him in the Sunday Philly Inquirer when I lived there, a million years ago. His "Rumblings & Grumblings" where he ran down the goofy stats (last guy to get a hit, etc), was a big influence on the uni-number project I did. I joke, but I enjoyed those columns too. I love little statistical tidbits like that.

G-Fafif Apr 26 2017 06:53 PM Re: ESPN Layoffs

One would figure the whole idea of having Jayson Stark is to keep Jayson Stark. Also gone from ESPN MLB coverage, thus far, are Mark Saxon and Jim Bowden. Richard Deitsch, who's been following the bloodletting for SI, reports ESPN may "outsource" its studio baseball shows from MLBN. So much for worldwide leading this sport.

Frayed Knot Apr 26 2017 06:57 PM Re: ESPN Layoffs

One thing I've noticed over the last, oh maybe six months or so, is that ESPN-related gossip has become a major staple of websites. And it goes beyond just the speculation of these impending layoffs, which has more to do with cord-cutters cutting into their seemingly ever-upward pointing profit margins, but including also stories of personal feuds and intra-office sniping, or the two-way trash talk involving those who recently left on their own, etc. The locals papers have long done that sort of stuff with WFAN (particularly if it involved Russo and/or Francesa) but dishing on the behind the scenes from Bristol, CT was unheard of until recently at which point it suddenly seemed like it was all over the place.

Fman99 Apr 26 2017 07:00 PM Re: ESPN Layoffs

We live in a nation of busybodies, tattletales, and assorted other lifeless wonders. Do your thing and let others do theirs. People in that racket are all parasites.

Frayed Knot Apr 26 2017 07:24 PM Re: ESPN Layoffs

Oh I agree, I just found it strange how, in addition to the usual suspects of Hollywood and Washington, the gossip mongerers, even those not normally concerned with sports, suddenly had their crosshairs trained on the backroom machinations from Bristol Freakin' Connecticut.

Edgy MD Apr 26 2017 07:28 PM Re: ESPN Layoffs

Pop will eat itself.

d'Kong76 Apr 26 2017 08:15 PM Re: ESPN Layoffs

Disney should have spun off ESPN like four years ago. If Mickey was still in charge, they would have...

Edgy MD Apr 26 2017 08:34 PM Re: ESPN Layoffs

Last I checked it was Dizz's biggest property. Marvel and Star Wars and stuff may have displaced it, but it's still a cash cow with a long-assed tail. ESPN.com, on the other hand, is probably more valuable as a landing place for a brand than as a quality product all on it's own. It's blocked at work for me. The only other non-porn sites I can think of that are blocked are a few dating sites. I wonder if the number of companies blocking them particularly hurt their bottom line.

d'Kong76 Apr 26 2017 08:50 PM Re: ESPN Layoffs

Edgy MD wrote: Last I checked it was Dizz's biggest property. Marvel and Star Wars and stuff may have displaced it, but it's still a cash cow with a long-assed tail. Right, and always buy the spun-off company because it's the best on it's own. It'd been talked about for years, just never happened for whatever reason.

metirish Apr 26 2017 10:08 PM Re: ESPN Layoffs

In Depth report on the layoffs http://thefederalist.com/2017/04/26/the ... -massacre/ agree on Starks , excellent to follow online etc.

MFS62 Apr 27 2017 12:45 AM Re: ESPN Layoffs

Edgy MD wrote: Somehow, I thought Stark would get passed over. Is Gammons still there or has he been put out to pasture already? If he's still there I would have canned him instead of Stark. OE, he's still there. (sigh) Later

Nymr83 Apr 27 2017 01:15 AM Re: ESPN Layoffs

Stark and maybe Ed Werder the only real surprises on that list - many are people who report on sports that barely anyone follows, ex-athletes/execs whose 5 minutes are over, etc

Nymr83 Apr 27 2017 01:24 AM Re: ESPN Layoffs

metirish wrote: In Depth report on the layoffs http://thefederalist.com/2017/04/26/the ... -massacre/ agree on Starks , excellent to follow online etc. article is spot on.

Frayed Knot Apr 27 2017 01:45 AM Re: ESPN Layoffs

Yup. This passage in particular -- The near-universal sentiment of former ESPN addicts I’ve spoken to is that the content provider sidelined actual sports in favor of carnival barkers. Sure, you clicked over to ESPN to watch sports, but what you’re actually going to get are “Crossfire”-esque segments of non-athletes making dumb arguments about topics you don’t care about. -- mirrors what I've been saying about the Sunday Night Baseball package for a while now; that while you may be under the impression that you've tuned in to watch a baseball game, they're downright positive that you tuned in to see how ESPN presents a baseball game and at all the bells, whistles, gimmicks, and promos they can tack on to it. And if it comes down to showing the gimmicks vs showing the game, well shit, that's an obvious choice for them even if not quite so obvious to you or me.

Nymr83 Apr 27 2017 02:43 AM Re: ESPN Layoffs

yup, the politics too. they just don't get it - people don't tune into sports for politics!

Frayed Knot Apr 27 2017 03:29 AM Re: ESPN Layoffs

Maybe I just don't tune in enough to hear political talk on the Four-Letter network, that was the one part of that piece that I didn't really get. I mean, sure they go all politically correct on issues (although who in the media doesn't?) and the corporate part of the empire probably swung too far in the other direction in trying to make up for the frat-house antics of their early days -- like the tennis announcer who recently got canned for saying Serena employed 'guerilla' tactics in her match because it sounded too much like he was calling her a 'gorilla' and therefore must be a card-carrying racist. But the obvious biggest problem is the rights fees. They pay more money to the NFL than any other network even though they just get the one game per week -- and often the bottom of the barrel game at that -- because what they're really paying for is the rights to game films that they can then spend 12 hours per day dissecting on their regular weekday shows. Except how many unemployed sports fans must there be to goose up the ratings for mid- week/mid-day programming to make that strategy work? And they've just like tripled the amount of money they'll be shoveling to the NBA in a contract that I'm not even sure has begun yet even though the good teams pretty much clinch playoff spots by Thanksgiving, the shitty teams are eliminated by Christmas and now openly admit that they're trying to suck, and there's only so many times you can show LeBron and Curry on your national telecast even while you're hoping that their coach won't go all wholesale 'resting' of his starting lineup. It's like they've taken a page from the three-letter network playbook where overpaying for sports is considered OK because it's good for the network's prestige and visibility and so you'll wind up making it up the difference in ratings elsewhere. But a business model where you lose money buying sports doesn't seem like a good idea when you're a network that exists only to show sports.

Edgy MD Apr 27 2017 03:42 AM Re: ESPN Layoffs

There's a theory out there, though, that the total $$ of these salaries shed won't really cut meaningfully into their obligations owed to the leagues for these rights, and what they're really doing is about symbolic austerity, trying to keep investors from bailing by demonstrating that they can make the hard cuts now to guarantee profit$ down the road.

bmfc1 Apr 27 2017 11:26 AM Re: ESPN Layoffs

From the baseball side, Dallas Braden, Doug Glanville and Raul Ibanez, too. Braden was prominently featured on a recent Sunday night game but now they can live without him.

seawolf17 Apr 27 2017 12:22 PM Re: ESPN Layoffs

bmfc1 wrote: From the baseball side, Dallas Braden, Doug Glanville and Raul Ibanez, too. Braden was prominently featured on a recent Sunday night game but now they can live without him. Read that as "Dallas Green" at first and thought, "well, that's nice, considering he's already dead."

G-Fafif Apr 27 2017 01:39 PM Re: ESPN Layoffs

Whoa, Jim Caple is among the axed. A brilliant writer -- as if that would make a difference.

Edgy MD Apr 27 2017 01:41 PM Re: ESPN Layoffs

A lot of brilliant writers looking for work in 2017, in a world where we all give it away for free, and half-baked guys get the clicks. I know there's an answer. I know now but I have to find it by myself.

G-Fafif Apr 27 2017 02:51 PM Re: ESPN Layoffs

ESPN2 will simulcast MLBN's worst program, "Intentional Talk," the one with Kevin Millar and Chris Rose.

HahnSolo Apr 27 2017 02:53 PM Re: ESPN Layoffs

G-Fafif wrote: ESPN2 will simulcast MLBN's worst program, "Intentional Talk," the one with Kevin Millar and Chris Rose. Two idiots who yell a lot. Fits right in with ESPN's programming model.

d'Kong76 Apr 27 2017 03:10 PM Re: ESPN Layoffs

Is there a complete list of the beheaded? I was thinking yesterday about the notion that these networks need 5-6 guys doing pre-post-during NFL 'analysis' and what a waste of time and money (and brain cells) it is.

Frayed Knot Apr 27 2017 03:11 PM Re: ESPN Layoffs

HahnSolo wrote: Two idiots who yell a lot. Fits right in with ESPN's programming model. I once heard that type of show described as 'Facts vs Volume', which is just plain perfect.

bmfc1 Apr 27 2017 03:51 PM Re: ESPN Layoffs

G-Fafif wrote: ESPN2 will simulcast MLBN's worst program, "Intentional Talk," the one with Kevin Millar and Chris Rose. Now I will have to avoid this awful show on two channels.

bmfc1 Apr 27 2017 03:52 PM Re: ESPN Layoffs

d'Kong76 wrote: Is there a complete list of the beheaded? I was thinking yesterday about the notion that these networks need 5-6 guys doing pre-post-during NFL 'analysis' and what a waste of time and money (and brain cells) it is. http://deadspin.com/a-running-list-of-e ... 1794664091

G-Fafif Apr 27 2017 03:52 PM Re: ESPN Layoffs

At least it's not the one with Mad Dog.

d'Kong76 Apr 27 2017 04:03 PM Re: ESPN Layoffs

bmfc1 wrote: http://deadspin.com/a-running-list-of-espn-layoffs-1794664091 Thanks, what a train wreck...

Frayed Knot Apr 27 2017 06:05 PM Re: ESPN Layoffs

I kind of had to chuckle at reading that they played off some of their hockey correspondents ... I didn't know they had any. But at least they'll have Rex Ryan this fall so I'm sure that'll keep the masses tuned in.

Edgy MD Apr 27 2017 06:08 PM Re: ESPN Layoffs

He's a tubby lout that can't hold down a job in a competitive endeavor. He's perfect. America 2017: (Mediocrity + Confidence) X Volume = Excellence

d'Kong76 Apr 27 2017 06:24 PM Re: ESPN Layoffs

It's Kahnfidence, not confidence -- F X Healy

Frayed Knot Apr 27 2017 06:35 PM Re: ESPN Layoffs

I just find it funny that essentially the last move they made prior to massive layoffs which acknowledged a payroll overstuffed with with yakkers and ex-jocks was to continue the pattern that got into that mess in the first place, namely deciding that they can't possibly live without whichever newly-retired player or out-of-work coach was available. Rex just happens to be the this year's example. Although, to be fair to ESPN, it's not like that same practice hasn't been SOP at news orgs too. 'Hey, we got a chance to steal Katie Couric away from ______' 'But what would we do with her?' 'I don't know, but we got a chance to steal Katie Couric ... think of the pub we'll get from that!!!!'

cooby Apr 27 2017 06:41 PM Re: ESPN Layoffs

bmfc1 wrote: Is there a complete list of the beheaded? I was thinking yesterday about the notion that these networks need 5-6 guys doing pre-post-during NFL 'analysis' and what a waste of time and money (and brain cells) it is. http://deadspin.com/a-running-list-of-e ... 1794664091 A lot of surprisingly gracious comments there

d'Kong76 Apr 27 2017 07:30 PM Re: ESPN Layoffs

Not burning bridges is always the way to go; especially these days when everyone's undies are flappin' in the breeze.

seawolf17 Apr 27 2017 07:34 PM Re: ESPN Layoffs

d'Kong76 wrote: Not burning bridges is always the way to go; especially these days when everyone's undies are flappin' in the breeze. Yeah, all these folks are going to want jobs. Gotta take the high road.

Frayed Knot May 01 2017 01:25 AM Re: ESPN Layoffs

ESPN just did another one of their in-inning interviews, y'know the ones where the game gets stuffed into a small box in the upper left-hand corner of the screen while Jessica talks to Addison Russell about his Pokemon collection. But at least it ended in time for viewers to see the final four pitches of the half-inning. They then started the next half-inning doing their seemingly mandatory in-game manager interview blocking out the first two pitches of the that AB. And the kicker here is that this is the Cubs at Fenway which they can't keep from telling us how great/historic/fun such a matchup is. If it's so great then why do you seem to doing as much as possible to prevent us from seeing it?

bmfc1 May 01 2017 01:52 AM Re: ESPN Layoffs

Exactly. It's a 3 hour baseball talkshow and it's terrible. They might as well bring Stephen A. Smith in to yell about something as the game is going on.

Frayed Knot May 02 2017 02:47 AM Re: ESPN Layoffs

So tonight, after our game ends, I flick over to 'Baseball Tonight' on ESPN to hopefully catch some highlights of other games (the Yanx got blow'd out tonight and I wanted to wallow in it). But despite the fact that the guide Said that BB2N was airing from 10 to 11, I was instead treated to a LeBron press conference because he apparently won Game 1 of a series which no one on earth thinks his team has even a shot at losing. Hey "Worldwide Leader in Sports", do you think that maybe your increasing insistence that there are in fact just TWO sports in this country might be part of the reason your subscriber base is plummeting?

HahnSolo May 02 2017 12:48 PM Re: ESPN Layoffs

I think after the layoffs that they've limited to BB2N to one night per week

MFS62 May 02 2017 01:09 PM Re: ESPN Layoffs

Frayed Knot wrote: Hey "Worldwide Leader in Sports", do you think that maybe your increasing insistence that there are in fact just TWO sports in this country might be part of the reason your subscriber base is plummeting? Maybe they'll do what The Sporting News did when they announced they would "begin to cover other sports". Here comes the NASCAR coverage. Lots of beered up fans to show while the action is going on. They'll love it. (S/C = 92) Later

Edgy MD May 02 2017 01:14 PM Re: ESPN Layoffs

bmfc1 wrote: Exactly. It's a 3 hour baseball talkshow and it's terrible. They might as well bring Stephen A. Smith in to yell about something as the game is going on. What's the deal with that guy? I don't know anybody who isn't just embarrassed when that guy is on. Does he get good ratings by people hate-watching? Is he sort a black Francessa, where he has a large and vocal he's-a-tool-but-he's-our-tool base. He's still working? Is Bayless?

MFS62 May 02 2017 01:29 PM Re: ESPN Layoffs

Edgy MD wrote: bmfc1 wrote: Exactly. It's a 3 hour baseball talkshow and it's terrible. They might as well bring Stephen A. Smith in to yell about something as the game is going on. What's the deal with that guy? I don't know anybody who isn't just embarrassed when that guy is on. Does he get good ratings by people hate-watching? Is he sort a black Francessa, where he has a large and vocal he's-a-tool-but-he's-our-tool base. I'm hoping the phenomenon of Smith is like that of comedian Andy Kaufman when he used to beat up women. Viewers thought it was an act. Later, they realized it was for real, he was a sick person and he dropped off the radar screen. I watched about 3 minutes of Smith, saw the pony's one trick and haven't watched since. Later

Fman99 May 02 2017 02:12 PM Re: ESPN Layoffs

Frayed Knot wrote: But at least they'll have Rex Ryan this fall so I'm sure that'll keep the masses tuned in. If "jerking off on the internet while looking at foot pics" is ever going to be a major sport in this country, well, you've got to start with the experts.

Ashie62 May 02 2017 02:23 PM Re: ESPN Layoffs

ESPN used to be a big fish in a small pool. Now? Not so much.

HahnSolo May 02 2017 02:38 PM Re: ESPN Layoffs

Edgy MD wrote: He's still working? Is Bayless? Bayless jumped ship a year ago to FoxSports, where he is now basically hosting the same show with Shannon Sharpe in the role of Stephen A. Smith. Stephen A. is still on the show, now joined by Max Kellerman. I'll watch clips of their show online sometimes just to see the dreamy Molly Qerim.

Lefty Specialist May 02 2017 07:15 PM Re: ESPN Layoffs

bmfc1 wrote: From the baseball side, Dallas Braden, Doug Glanville and Raul Ibanez, too. Braden was prominently featured on a recent Sunday night game but now they can live without him. Boy, Braden was annoyingly awful. Trying much too hard to be a 'character' in the ESPN infomercial that Sunday Night Baseball has become. An excellent firing.

Frayed Knot May 02 2017 10:36 PM Re: ESPN Layoffs

HahnSolo wrote: Edgy MD wrote: He's still working? Is Bayless? Bayless jumped ship a year ago to FoxSports, where he is now basically hosting the same show with Shannon Sharpe in the role of Stephen A. Smith. Stephen A. is still on the show, now joined by Max Kellerman. I'll watch clips of their show online sometimes just to see the dreamy Molly Qerim. Yeah, it's kind of sad that when FOX Sports went to take on ESPN their best idea seemed to be to copy the most ESPN-ish things they did and as such decided to throw mega-bucks to lure away both Skip Bayless and Colin Cowherd, two guys whom they might have been able to pick up on the (relative) cheap had they waited until this recent bloodbath in Bristol. And now for ESPN, as they all but admit that they're now going to stop even pretending to cover baseball on their own and so will farm out all but the Sunday night coverage to outside vendors, they're picking up the most clownish of the MLBN shows to simulcast.

Ashie62 May 02 2017 11:20 PM Re: ESPN Layoffs

ESPN also lost just about all that was left of boxing. Friday nights Teddy Atlas is/was a quality guy.

Edgy MD May 03 2017 12:42 AM Re: ESPN Layoffs

People are actually "throwing money" at Colin Cowherd? Every day I feel stupider for having been surprised by the rise of Trump.

Benjamin Grimm May 08 2017 08:39 PM Re: ESPN Layoffs

Some guy named "Tim Tebow" just signed a multi-year contract extension at ESPN. https://www.si.com/mlb/2017/05/08/tim-t ... -extension

Ashie62 May 08 2017 10:06 PM Re: ESPN Layoffs

There will be more layoffs at ESPN as more learn to "cut the cord."