Ok, Now It's Going Too Far, ESPN

You want to have your opinion. Check. You want to be the worldwide leader in sports. Check. You want to hire guys who will comment on the sports fair and balanced. Check.

Whooaa, waiiit just a minute on that one. I'm still trying to figure that one out.

ESPN sure ain't no FOX and Friends round this Big Blue Blog, and with each aching day, ESPN proves to me they're becoming a joke of a franchise or corporation or whatever you want to call them these days in terms of providing biased free sports commentary and articles online. Let me stray for a moment.

ESPN is the ‘mainstream DEADSPIN’ of sports news, and now ESPN is getting to the point where they're over hyped, overrated, and over saturated in the sports biz with guys writing their opinions. Since bloggers now have a voiced opinion worth reading, it makes me think that ESPN allows biases to figure into their opinions without any second thought just to keep up with the popularity with other bloggers (didn't ESPN just hire a blogger - True Hoop?), however guys like me are of course not going to worry about showing our biases because we aren't getting paid behind a media giant, in fact, a majority of us aren't getting paid at all for maintaining our blogs because we do it out of passion. Now all of a sudden, EVERYONE has a blog. I mean even newspaper reporters have a blog to keep up with the bloggers. Kinda redundant no? I mean if you're a reporter for, let's say, ESPN, why must you have a blog and require people to pay you to read it anyways? Isn't that what ESPN was to begin with anyways, just one huge blog - which was free to read I might add. But now back to what's really itching my back side and inspired me to write this.

Courtesy of ASoB's comment section, ASoB commenter GregJ points us to a poll on ESPN' College Basketball Main Page that asks viewers Should Kentucky be forced to travel to UMass for a scheduled game?

The result -I voted a (heck) no- is surprising. Somehow 66% of 3,754 current votes seem to think communism is the way to treat Kentucky after paying their way out of a series with UMass this November when it was allowed, allowed people, it was put into the contract which was agreed by both sides, to be part of the contract should either, either side folks, wants to back out. Kentucky, with a coaching change, decided to do so. Now all of a sudden ESPN wants to paint the picture and make an example of Kentucky's choice to back out of playing UMass because, well, just because they can. What makes ESPN to put up poll questioning whether UK should be forced is beyond my understanding. Since when should any sports team or any entity be forced to do anything Mr. ESPN? Should we just let the NCAA dictate to each school who, when, and where each school in the nation in each sport should play? Is that where you're going with this Mr. ESPN?

This was a poor decision to put up a poll like this by ESPN. It shows their character and their ill-spirit against Kentucky lately. It only adds to the fuel. Instead of focusing on Kentucky, why not put a poll asking fans if buy-outs of contracts in such instances should be banned? UMass is just as guilty as Kentucky because they knew the option of backing out of the series was there. Come on, Kentucky knew UMass had that option as well. You don't think Kentucky knows that UNC has that option. I'm sure they do, I'd be surprised if they don't. If it's such a problem for just Kentucky, then maybe the NCAA should explore the possibility of making such agreements between schools permanent. As in eliminating the back out option for either school. You agree to play them for a certain amount of years, you have to own up to it. There's no backing out. How's that sound for the 66% of you ESPN Kentucky haters out there? Sounds pretty communistiliscious to me.

ESPN chose by putting up this poll to make this issue a Kentucky issue when in reality Kentucky AND UMass agreed to the contract between them, but instead of involving UMass in a poll such as asking fans should UMass have agreed to let Kentucky have a back out option in their series contract, or instead of putting a general poll involving neither school asking fans if buy out options in general should be allowed in series contracts between schools, ESPN CHOSE to make this personal with Kentucky, and I deplore them for doing so.

My boys UK Bias should be all over this. I, on the other hand, don't intend to ever put much weight to whatever ESPN ever says about Kentucky.

Starting.

NOW.

Should Kentucky be forced? Are you kidding me? ESPN should be ashamed of themselves, if for anything for their choice of vocabulary in the matter.

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