More ESPN genius

The article at [espn.go.com] reports that UNH "took advantage of a 5-on-3 advantage to take the lead for good" from a 2-2 tie. This is a couple of paragraphs after reporting that the game almost went into OT at 3-3. Okay, they're just using AP's article, but that's pretty damn sad.

With regards to the earlier ESPN online poll issue - a good friend of mine who's now an ESPN anchor (but would probably prefer I not quote him on this) said:

"Put it this way -- the college hockey expertise isn't exactly flowing from ESPN's taps."

No kidding...

Beeeej

I sat next to an ESPN producer at Fenway Park last summer, I tried explaining the virtues of college hockey, and the ECAC in particular, she basically told me they throw on the final four because it's the final four, but no one really gives a rat's ass. At least she was nice about it, and she was buying the beer so I forgave her)

Actually, didn't I read in the alumni rag a while ago about how ESPN is overpopulated with Cornell grads?

Also, lack of inetrest is no reason to do a crappy job. They are journalists and are sworn to defend their craft to the death.

The most prominent Cornell alum at ESPN, Keith Olbermann, left a while ago - first for MSNBC, then FOX Sports, lately with occasional spots on CNN. But yes, they still have several Cornellians both on-air and off, including Jeremy Schaap, Dan Weinberg, and Whit Watson. But working there doesn't necessarily mean having a say in what gets institutional focus.

Beeeej

If the commercials that they were showing during the CU-QU and CU-UNH games are any indication, ESPN is not the only party who believes that nobody gives a rat's ass.

Every commercial break was stuffed full of NCAA commercials, commercials for the network coverage of college hockey, and NCAA-sponsored anti-gambling PSA's. I can't remember a single non-NCAA related commercial, though I do have a vague memory of actual paid-for-ads being shown. If YES or FSNE can't get any sponsors (and I am going to take the leap of faith that there are at least a few organizations that would take advantage of this alleged market oversight) the ratings stink (or the networks are shockingly poor at kistening to the market for advertising rates).

I kind of felt the same way. Other than a coulpe of Southwest Airlines commercials I don't remember any real commercials. However, I've wondered the same thing in the past duing Yankee games shown on MSG in NYC. Lot's of spots for upcoming games and other programming on the network. Now, if the Yankees can't sell a full slate of good commercials there's no way that college hockey can. I think it's just the nature of regional cable sports stations. They must find it hard to sell a lot of advertising.

Can you tell me a media outlet in which the college hockey expertise is "flowing" from its "taps", other than one devoted to college hockey? Let's have some perspective here. Try to appreciate the coverage that exists; it wasn't too long ago that the only game on TV was the finals, and ESPN only carried it because the NCAA required them to do so as part of the agreement allowing ESPN to show the opening round of the men's hoops tourney (before CBS realized what a gold mine it was and bought the whole thing).

Also, at the time Olbermann left, the "most prominent alum" was actually Dick Schaap '55.

Others alums of note include Mark Schwartz and Bill Pidto, who seems to never miss a chance to plug the alma mater, whether he's hosting Sportscenter or NHL 2Night.

As for the commercials, no doubt the NCAA required a minimum number of the NCAA spots to air. But as for attracting paying advertisers, what do you think the ratings were for 3:30 games on a Saturday and Sunday on which the men's hoops regional finals were being shown? YES is having enough trouble signing up advertisers to Yankees' spring training games.

I absolutely appreciate the coverage that college hockey has begun to get. But I also appreciate people who do sports coverage for a living caring enough to get the details right no matter what the sport is. This error in particular had nothing to do with college hockey - they simply made a dumb mistake.

Whether you do just as well at a part of your job that doesn't interest you as you do at your favorite part says a lot about you as a person or an organization.

Beeeej

With respect to the misstatement about taking the lead "for good", as you noted, the writing error was not committed by ESPN.com, but rather by the AP staffer. Yes, ESPN.com (and The New York Times for that matter) carried the story apparently verbatim and either failed to copy edit it or just missed it. An error similar in nature from a story generated outside the media institution likely appears on the website or in the newspaper several times a week, if not everyday. That type of mistake has nothing to do with some copy editor's like or dislike of or disinterest with respect to college hockey.

As for the writer, I expect that, like most game reporters on a deadline, he or she had written the story by the midpoint of the third period and then when the scoring changed towards the end of the game, he or she rewrote the lead and other early paragraphs, and missed the reference to "for good". I'm not excusing it as something OK to do, but I just can't see it being due to someone's lack of interest in college hockey (but maybe Oliver Stone can )

OK.
We were driving home from Worcester, after a 30 minute delay in the parking lot, and we saw a license plate on I-290 which said "BEEEEEJ." We assume this was you. FYI, the left lane was better than the center lane.

One other thought re college hockey coverage.
Everyone is clamoring for more media attention. I say be careful what you wish for. We were able to get tickets to the NCAA regional games this year, but it was almost full. Not that that's a bad thing ,but if it becomes too popular, it will become difficult to get tickets, and if other schools add college hockey programs this may affect our ability to compete on a national level.

I'm not concerned that that will happen.

If the license plate said "BEEEEEJ," then it wasn't me. Mine says "BEEEEJ."

After a 30-minute delay on 290 itself (which probably contributed to the backup in the garage), we passed the cleanup scene from an accident, and I noticed that the cops were talking to someone on the side of the road who was wearing Cornell gear. I hope all the Faithful made it home in one piece.

Beeeej

As a former ESPN employee - and probably the only one on this board -some things to point out...

First, there's a lot of shit going on at any one time at ESPN. Just because you don't see it, doesn't mean they aren't watching. This includes the WNBA, Canadian football, MLS, and sometimes stuff on a direct sattelite feed that you will never, ever see in your life. There are a lot of sports in this world those people have to look at, and despite the games' relative importance to us, it don't mean jack squat to a producer who graduated from Emerson. Someone in there does care though, and I actually saw some ESPN production assistants from Cornell at the games on Sunday.

Second, some small amount of props should go out to another Cornell alum who is there, Whit Watson '93. He does good work, though most of it's on ESPNews. Jeremy Schapp should also be mentioned, he's liekly one of the top "reporters" in terms of getting to the meat of the story. There are a lot of other Cornellians in the rank and file, but not nearly as many as there are from Syracuse University.

As far as ESPN.com's mistake, did it actually say iti was written by someone, or was it simply the AP story (the second is more likely, though I haven't looked). Often on the web they simply publish the AP, but they always give credit where it is due. If it has a name, it's their own piece (with the help of wire reports).

Jeremy Schapp should also be mentioned, he's liekly one of the top "reporters" in terms of getting to the meat of the story.

IMHO, Jeremy Schapp is unbearable. And not that good, either.

And it goes well beyond the highly irritating, "Jeremy Schapp.....EEEEEEEEEEEEEEE, S, PEEEEEEEE, N" out line.

The piece was credited to the AP - and I took care to mention that specifically in my first post on the subject at the beginning of this thread.

I know this is a silly question, but does ESPN (or any other outlet for that matter) ever double-check what AP/UPI/Reuters give them?

Beeeej

Nope... the AP writes an incredible amount of stories each day, and each is copy edited very thouroughly. Consequently, the most they ever get from the publisher is a quick readover. Unless the person putting it online knew about the game, they never would have caught it.

In all honesty, the error rate at the AP is VERY small in comparison to how much they write.

Jordan, you've now managed to lose all credibility with regard to sports media, if that's what you really think.

And in any case, it's more like "Jeremy Schaap, ES.......PN"

Oh no! Can't risk losing credibility over something as silly as expressing your opinion, now can we?

Speaking of ESPN sucking, ESPN.com's school information for Cornell says we have never one and NCAA Div 1 championship in anything.

[sports.espn.go.com]

I can't find a webmaster e-mail address to complain to. Maybe someone with more time to kill can figure it out.

I think (hope) this site[espn.go.com] works as I emailed them about their mistake.

Not to mention that they didn't even mention Lynah!

Lets hear it for their crack research dept! All they had to do is run it by either Berman or John Saunders...those dudes would now the "true facts"!

At first I thought there were no National titles listed because judging from the side menu on that page it only considered football and basketball, but then I looked at [college.espn.go.com]

Wow... Harvard has won 31 DI championships in men's squash. Aren't we all jealous?

And the NCAA was staging lacrosse championships in 1881. Wow.

I don't know about staging them, I suspect it was more of a voting thing like football.

I would not make light of that...squash is a pretty demanding sport. Try it sometime!

RichS - Josh was definitely not making fun of the sport. . .but the school.

Exactly.

I should have known that... Okay then!

Really, I should have...thats what happens when I work too many hours!

By the way, excuse me if this has been mentioned before, but has anyone else noticed the US Snooze and World Report special issue on collegiate athletics. Guess which program is among the 20 top programs? Yup, we made it.

Basicaly, several of the ivies is in there due mostly to the large number of D1 sports and participants.

Roy

If you want to help get some exposure for college hockey on ESPN, log onto espn.com and vote for the Frozen Four as the SportsCenter showcase. I assume they'll have the vote on Saturday for the finals as well. The showcase event gets in depth coverage and often leads the broadcast.

During last night's Isles-Leafs game, they showed both Dryden and Hughes, and then incorrectly said that Hughes captained the Cornell hockey team when Dryden was the goalie. Well, they were only a year off. Emily Hughes, Sarah's sister, skated between periods.
It was an awesome game. I'm going to Toronto tomorrow and will be at game 5. Should be fun. It certainly will be better than the 4-0 Blues-Hawks game I was at Sunday.

> I'm going to Toronto tomorrow

Wow, and I thought I was beyond envy.

Game 4 was great, and it featured the most exicitng final 5 minutes of any pro game I've ever seen. I hope the Isles didn't leave it all in Uniondale, the Leafs are going to be pumped up to compensate for the loss of Sundin.

Wait, you mean Dryden wasn't the goalie for the undefeated season? How could that be?