ESPN tallies triple-bogey on AFL Scorecard
Tom Goodhines
Tuesday August 8, 2000
I pulled up the old recliner. Got my beverages and snacks ready -- no notepads, just the television and me, just pure enjoyment -- when it happened.
It was 4:30 p.m. and all that was on was LPGA golf? What the heck?!
The Nashville at Iowa game that was scheduled to appear on espn2 was bumped due to the LPGA’s Michelob Light Classic’s rain-delayed final round?! A tournament that wasn’t even close?! The winner won by an overwhelming 4 or 5 strokes! (I’m still too mad to look for the exact final results!) [She won by 3 strokes after blowing the easy putt at the end –Ed] With the fate of the tournament long decided, they stayed with it to make sure that we saw the winner get doused with cans of beer. But the topper – they even did a post-tournament interview!
ESPN, which has been an AFL partner from the beginning, has really put bitter-tasting icing on this cake of disappointment. Rain-delay or no rain-delay, there are no excuses!
I try to remain as objective as possible when it comes to writing reviews on Arena Football League broadcasts, but I became frustrated, disturbed, and baffled. Like I said in the beginning, I didn’t plan on doing a review this week, but I was encouraged to do so by staff at Arenafan and AFL fans in general. A voice needs to be heard!
“We are disappointed that programming decisions at ESPN did not take into consideration our fans," said AFL Vice President of Communications, David Cooper. “We allowed ESPN to delay our kickoff, with the game being shown in its entirety. After that threshold, it was out of our hands,
unfortunately.”
According to Cooper, the league was asked to delay the start of the game by 15 minutes – and the league ended up delaying it 20 minutes only to have ESPN join the game an hour and a half after the original kickoff time.
The league was told that the game would be shown in its entirety, but the only solution that the network offered was a “midnight to 2:30 a.m.” time slot.
Thanks for your efforts, ESPN! In case you didn’t know – it was the broadcast version of giving the league the middle finger.
“A playoff game with huge implications or a golf tournament well decided in advance? Easy choice to football fans on a Sunday afternoon,” Cooper continued. “Luckily, fans didn`t miss one of the best finishes in playoff history.”
The effect was felt much deeper by the teams involved. “We had fans at the Nashville Arena to watch the game – it was a big event,” Cooper continued. “There was a lot more involved then what appeared on the surface. Many things were affected by this decision and the biggest concern with all of this is that we were not notified of [ESPN’s] intentions until it was too late. This is totally unacceptable.”
The game was “joined in progress” with a little over four minutes remaining in the first half and the score tied at 21. I wasn’t around to totally understand the frustration of NFL fans during the “Heidi” game in the late 60’s, but I think I truly have a sense of it now! The tape delay of the exciting Albany and Arizona game was bad enough, but now even that decision looks like a wise one compared to missing half of the game. [The Albany/Arizona tape delay was due to arena availibility.]
“We are looking into making sure that this does not happen to our semifinals. Our legal staff is considering all options,” Cooper said.
After a regular season where The Nashville Network has taken the AFL to new heights with coverage, exposure, and creditability – ESPN has single-handedly shoved them back to square one. It’s a shame. Right when it appeared that the self-proclaimed “Worldwide Leader in Sports” had an opportunity to shine and had a chance to match TNN’s coverage, they failed miserably.
Before I get too carried away, let me say that it is not a reflection of what the crew puts out as a product. Mike Gleason and Merril Hoge have improved tremendously over the last year. Gleason has become more familiar with the game, and Hoge appears to have gained a new found respect for the players in the league (thanks Kurt!) and adds great player perspectives.
Heck, ESPN/espn2 producer, Mike Moore, is the same producer that TNN used all season!
In this year’s playoffs, ESPN included a halftime feature for the first time since 1994, but should use a sideline reporter to liven up the telecast. I have no doubt that Tina Cervasio (“Arena Tina”), of the New Jersey Red Dogs’ broadcasts on the Comcast Network, would do sideline reporting in a heartbeat – and would be excellent at it.
The argument is that the LPGA broadcast brings in more sponsorship dollars, therefore they have to bump the AFL broadcast. I can, begrudgingly, see that view.
But why was the game scheduled at 4:30 in the first place? The time for Iowa wasn’t the most ideal. As a matter of fact, I have heard from numerous Barnstormer fans, that 3:30 CST on a Sunday was disappointing to begin with. At the very least, we’ll take a tape-delay! What’s worse then missing half of a game? Nothing.
Horse racing and drag racing were two of the broadcasts that filled the airwaves for the “deuce” following the game. Are you telling me that the AFL, and soon to be partner with the NFL, could not fill the 7:30 p.m. time slot because of horse racing? Oh yeah, that’s right! I forgot that this was the same network that had a horse in the century’s top 50 greatest athletes.
Seriously, ESPN, if you don’t want the AFL – then get rid of it! I think we found somebody who is interested in delivering this fifth major league sport to its rightful place.
My suggestion is to send e-mails and letters to ESPN to let them know how disappointed you are with their “second-class” treatment of the AFL.
Here’s where you can start: http://espn.go.com/sitetools/s/contact/espntv.html
So, although this isn’t like my regular reviews – I am still handing out my Oops! Award this week.
Never mind – I’ll just tape-delay it for you until next week.
NOTE: Efforts to reach ESPN for a comment were unsuccessful.
PARTING THOUGHT: Remember Ed Cunningham? Well, rumor has it that he will soon be landing with ABC as a part of their college coverage. Hey, isn’t ABC doing the Arena Bowl? From what I’ve been able to gather, Cunningham would be the color commentator for Arena Bowl XIV, with Gleason doing play-by-play, and Hoge doing some sideline work. Sounds like a winning combo to me!
Tom Goodhines was a writer for ArenaFan Online during the 2000 season.
