RebKell's Junkie Boards
Board Junkies Forums
 
Log in Register FAQ Memberlist Search RebKell's Junkie Boards Forum Index

ESPN UConn Bias Official Thread
Goto page 1, 2, 3, 4  Next
 
Post new topic   Reply to topic    RebKell's Junkie Boards Forum Index » NCAA Women's Basketball - General Discussion
View previous topic :: View next topic  
Author Message
PickledGinger



Joined: 04 Oct 2013
Posts: 1350



Back to top
PostPosted: 03/22/21 2:15 am    ::: ESPN UConn Bias Official Thread Reply Reply with quote

This it the current headline on ESPN's Women's Basketball Page:

"Which teams can erase the chalk in the 2021 Women's Basketball Tournament?
Higher seeds went 16-0 Sunday. Which games Monday might be the bracket-breakers?
And which players step up for UConn if Nika Muhl is sidelined by injury?"

What?!?!? Why!?!?!? How the hell is this a headline? This isn't even a Top 100 storyline! She's the backup to the friggin National Player of the Year, but her minor injury is somehow a major story for ESPN?

Ridiculous. Insane. Disrespectful to every team not named the UConn Huskies. It might not be blatant but it is insidious. I'm fucking over it.



_________________
Unspoken expectations are just premeditated resentments.
undersized_post



Joined: 01 Mar 2021
Posts: 2862



Back to top
PostPosted: 03/22/21 2:33 am    ::: Reply Reply with quote

This thread is long overdue! Razz My submission for the day is ESPN showing the same Bueckers fluff piece at half-time of every damn game today.


WNBA 09



Joined: 26 Jun 2009
Posts: 12494
Location: Dallas , Texas


Back to top
PostPosted: 03/22/21 6:52 am    ::: Reply Reply with quote

undersized_post wrote:
This thread is long overdue! Razz My submission for the day is ESPN showing the same Bueckers fluff piece at half-time of every damn game today.


Its disgusting how much they feature 1 team no matter what time of the day or who's playing. And yet the fans believe ESPN hates them Laughing Laughing Laughing WTF If i was a recruit and i watched today's version of WCBB id definitely want to go to UCONN where I will be seen the most.



_________________
3-Time WNBA Champion-3-Time National Champion-4-Time Olympic Champion....And Yes DT "We Got Confeti" lol
ucbart



Joined: 21 Nov 2004
Posts: 2811
Location: New York


Back to top
PostPosted: 03/22/21 7:10 am    ::: Reply Reply with quote

As a resident UCONN fan, this pisses me off. They have IGNORED us all season because we moved to the BE and our league has a contract with Fox. Now, they showcase us far too much because they know we bring ratings with them. Sorry, but ESPN has always done this. They did it with Parker, Maya, Griner and Diggins, Stewie, and most recently and the most intense, with Ionescu.

IMO, they are building the Paige hype up so much in an effort to see of it gets to her, because UCONN losing is much more valuable to ESPN than UCONN winning.


Ex-Ref



Joined: 04 Oct 2009
Posts: 8835



Back to top
PostPosted: 03/22/21 7:32 am    ::: Reply Reply with quote

During one game I watched yesterday, the announcer (can't even tell you if it was a studio person or an at-home person) said that UConn was the overall #1 seed in the tourney.



_________________
"Women are judged on their success, men on their potential. It’s time we started believing in the potential of women." —Muffet McGraw

“Thank you for showing the fellas that you've got more balls than them,” Haley said, to cheers from the crowd.
undersized_post



Joined: 01 Mar 2021
Posts: 2862



Back to top
PostPosted: 03/22/21 7:44 am    ::: Reply Reply with quote

ucbart wrote:
As a resident UCONN fan, this pisses me off. They have IGNORED us all season because we moved to the BE and our league has a contract with Fox. Now, they showcase us far too much because they know we bring ratings with them. Sorry, but ESPN has always done this. They did it with Parker, Maya, Griner and Diggins, Stewie, and most recently and the most intense, with Ionescu.

IMO, they are building the Paige hype up so much in an effort to see of it gets to her, because UCONN losing is much more valuable to ESPN than UCONN winning.


I'm sorry but y'all were not ignored all season. Maybe when you're used to an insane amount of over coverage and you just receive a normal amount at times, it feels like you're being ignored Rolling Eyes Laughing

Edit: re: your point about them hyping Paige to "see if it gets to her" -- I have no way of discerning their intention, but I do feel sorry for the players who are subjected to this. This much media attention on a single player can't be good for the mental health of the player, and really isn't good for the game as a whole, either.




Last edited by undersized_post on 03/22/21 8:44 am; edited 1 time in total
purduefanatic



Joined: 10 Aug 2011
Posts: 2819
Location: Indiana


Back to top
PostPosted: 03/22/21 8:07 am    ::: Reply Reply with quote

I'd blame the NCAA. I'm sure they are directing ESPN as to what to post on their website.


WNBA 09



Joined: 26 Jun 2009
Posts: 12494
Location: Dallas , Texas


Back to top
PostPosted: 03/22/21 9:31 am    ::: Reply Reply with quote

purduefanatic wrote:
I'd blame the NCAA. I'm sure they are directing ESPN as to what to post on their website.


+1



_________________
3-Time WNBA Champion-3-Time National Champion-4-Time Olympic Champion....And Yes DT "We Got Confeti" lol
pilight



Joined: 23 Sep 2004
Posts: 66773
Location: Where the action is


Back to top
PostPosted: 03/22/21 9:51 am    ::: Reply Reply with quote

purduefanatic wrote:
I'd blame the NCAA. I'm sure they are directing ESPN as to what to post on their website.


The NCAA would have directed them to put up another article on the men's tournament



_________________
Let us not deceive ourselves. Our educational institutions have proven to be no bastions of democracy.
undersized_post



Joined: 01 Mar 2021
Posts: 2862



Back to top
PostPosted: 03/22/21 9:54 am    ::: Reply Reply with quote

WNBA 09 wrote:
purduefanatic wrote:
I'd blame the NCAA. I'm sure they are directing ESPN as to what to post on their website.


+1


Curious what evidence you have for this or how you imagine it would operate?


purduefanatic



Joined: 10 Aug 2011
Posts: 2819
Location: Indiana


Back to top
PostPosted: 03/22/21 10:33 am    ::: Reply Reply with quote

undersized_post wrote:
WNBA 09 wrote:
purduefanatic wrote:
I'd blame the NCAA. I'm sure they are directing ESPN as to what to post on their website.


+1


Curious what evidence you have for this or how you imagine it would operate?


Hopefully you were joking. My comment is pure sarcasm, but it wouldn't surprise if some on here do think the NCAA is somehow responsible for what is posted on ESPN. In fact, the hatred of all things NCAA runs so deep that I think some blame them for global warming, the Space Shuttle explosion, world hunger and covid.


WNBA 09



Joined: 26 Jun 2009
Posts: 12494
Location: Dallas , Texas


Back to top
PostPosted: 03/22/21 11:01 am    ::: Reply Reply with quote

pilight wrote:
purduefanatic wrote:
I'd blame the NCAA. I'm sure they are directing ESPN as to what to post on their website.


The NCAA would have directed them to put up another article on the men's tournament



_____X That Part



_________________
3-Time WNBA Champion-3-Time National Champion-4-Time Olympic Champion....And Yes DT "We Got Confeti" lol
ucbart



Joined: 21 Nov 2004
Posts: 2811
Location: New York


Back to top
PostPosted: 03/22/21 11:04 am    ::: Reply Reply with quote

purduefanatic wrote:
undersized_post wrote:
WNBA 09 wrote:
purduefanatic wrote:
I'd blame the NCAA. I'm sure they are directing ESPN as to what to post on their website.


+1


Curious what evidence you have for this or how you imagine it would operate?


Hopefully you were joking. My comment is pure sarcasm, but it wouldn't surprise if some on here do think the NCAA is somehow responsible for what is posted on ESPN. In fact, the hatred of all things NCAA runs so deep that I think some blame them for global warming, the Space Shuttle explosion, world hunger and covid.


.......and don't forget about the Kardashians. HAAAAA. That was so funny.


PickledGinger



Joined: 04 Oct 2013
Posts: 1350



Back to top
PostPosted: 03/22/21 2:39 pm    ::: Reply Reply with quote

I figure as long as UConn is the *best* team in the country, they don't have to pay to cover all the other teams that aren't right down the road. That's why I'm surprised they covered Ionescu as intensely as they did. Up until recently, they've basically ignored west coast basketball because it's more expensive for them to cover. It wasn't really until Kelsey Plum's senior / Ionescu's freshman season that the league in general was getting any coverage.



_________________
Unspoken expectations are just premeditated resentments.
summertime blues



Joined: 16 Apr 2013
Posts: 7746
Location: Shenandoah Valley


Back to top
PostPosted: 03/22/21 3:56 pm    ::: Reply Reply with quote

I just wish to God they would stop talking about Paige Bueckers during games she's not playing in....although they are doing better the second day.



_________________
Don't take life so serious. It ain't nohows permanent.
It takes 3 years to build a team and 7 to build a program.--Conventional Wisdom
Queenie



Joined: 18 Nov 2004
Posts: 18013
Location: Queens


Back to top
PostPosted: 03/22/21 5:05 pm    ::: Reply Reply with quote

summertime blues wrote:
I just wish to God they would stop talking about Paige Bueckers during games she's not playing in....although they are doing better the second day.


That was the thing that got me during the Kentucky game. It was like they couldn't acknowledge Rhyne Howard is pretty damn good at basketball without immediately putting her into a head-to-head with Bueckers. They're different classes. They're different positions. They're different styles. Why shoehorn Bueckers into the conversation? It's not even comparing apples and oranges, it's comparing, like, idk, grapefruit and radishes. If they felt the all-fired urge to put up a head-to-head stat comparison, her presumptive next-round opponent Clark would have made more sense!



_________________
All your Rebecca are belong to the Liberty.

(now with spelling variations)
undersized_post



Joined: 01 Mar 2021
Posts: 2862



Back to top
PostPosted: 03/22/21 5:35 pm    ::: Reply Reply with quote

Queenie wrote:
summertime blues wrote:
I just wish to God they would stop talking about Paige Bueckers during games she's not playing in....although they are doing better the second day.


That was the thing that got me during the Kentucky game. It was like they couldn't acknowledge Rhyne Howard is pretty damn good at basketball without immediately putting her into a head-to-head with Bueckers. They're different classes. They're different positions. They're different styles. Why shoehorn Bueckers into the conversation? It's not even comparing apples and oranges, it's comparing, like, idk, grapefruit and radishes. If they felt the all-fired urge to put up a head-to-head stat comparison, her presumptive next-round opponent Clark would have made more sense!


THIS^^ As an Iowa fan, I'm seriously annoyed that everyone's already talking about the hypothetical Bueckers v Clark match-up when, as you say, Howard is just as incredible on her own and Howard v Clark is the next match-up anyway. (Not to mention their respective teams....)

Also, Iowa is in all likelihood going to get steamrolled by Kentucky which is just going to make us look bad because the media is essentially already "projecting" us as a sweet-16 team bc they want to push the Bueckers/Clark thing. I can already hear the Bueckers stans coming out of the woodwork saying, "ha caitlin sucks couldn't even make the sweet-16 like paige." Evil or Very Mad


ClayK



Joined: 11 Oct 2005
Posts: 11105



Back to top
PostPosted: 03/22/21 6:10 pm    ::: Reply Reply with quote

ESPN is a business. They have professional marketing people who have historical data on how best to attract an audience, and thus generate ad revenue.

The marketing people could care less about UConn or Paige Bueckers -- they want ratings, plain and simple, and if history suggests that pumping a particular team or player boosts ratings, then that's exactly what ESPN will do.

Or to put it another way: Should ESPN promote players and teams that won't help ratings? And won't help get more eyes watching women's basketball?



_________________
Oṃ Tāre Tuttāre Ture Svāhā
linkster



Joined: 27 Jul 2012
Posts: 5408



Back to top
PostPosted: 03/22/21 6:22 pm    ::: Re: ESPN UConn Bias Official Thread Reply Reply with quote

PickledGinger wrote:
This it the current headline on ESPN's Women's Basketball Page:

"Which teams can erase the chalk in the 2021 Women's Basketball Tournament?
Higher seeds went 16-0 Sunday. Which games Monday might be the bracket-breakers?
And which players step up for UConn if Nika Muhl is sidelined by injury?"

What?!?!? Why!?!?!? How the hell is this a headline? This isn't even a Top 100 storyline! She's the backup to the friggin National Player of the Year, but her minor injury is somehow a major story for ESPN?

Ridiculous. Insane. Disrespectful to every team not named the UConn Huskies. It might not be blatant but it is insidious. I'm fucking over it.



Muhl is the starting pg for UConn, not a backup.

What I love about UConn detractors is their "intimate knowledge" of the UConn program while professing to never watching their games.


PickledGinger



Joined: 04 Oct 2013
Posts: 1350



Back to top
PostPosted: 03/22/21 6:59 pm    ::: Re: ESPN UConn Bias Official Thread Reply Reply with quote

linkster wrote:

Muhl is the starting pg for UConn, not a backup.

What I love about UConn detractors is their "intimate knowledge" of the UConn program while professing to never watching their games.


Wait, I'm confused. How does me not knowing their starters indicate that I have an "intimate knowledge" of the program? Wouldn't that suggest the opposite.

I would say the biggest issue for me that hasn't been discussed is the recruiting advantage that UConn is implicitly given by being given so much more airtime than anyone else. You can't really blame UConn for taking advantage of it, but I'm absolutely positive that Geno is aware that it's a thing. It's the opposite effect of why I respect players like Kelsey Plum and Sabrina Ionescu for taking a chance on up-and-coming programs. THAT is how you grow the game on a national level. I get the point about marketing but I definitely don't think the stockpile of talent is good for the game overall.



_________________
Unspoken expectations are just premeditated resentments.
undersized_post



Joined: 01 Mar 2021
Posts: 2862



Back to top
PostPosted: 03/22/21 7:59 pm    ::: Reply Reply with quote

ClayK wrote:
ESPN is a business. They have professional marketing people who have historical data on how best to attract an audience, and thus generate ad revenue.

The marketing people could care less about UConn or Paige Bueckers -- they want ratings, plain and simple, and if history suggests that pumping a particular team or player boosts ratings, then that's exactly what ESPN will do.

Or to put it another way: Should ESPN promote players and teams that won't help ratings? And won't help get more eyes watching women's basketball?


I get where this point is coming from. And, I'm certainly not a marketing expert and I'll acknowledge that upfront.

But. There seem to be some problematic assumptions here. Imagine applying this same argument to cable news companies. Should CNN promote clickbait, superficial stories just because they know it will get clicks? Your argument suggests that this would be good for society at large simply because "it gets more eyes reading the news." But your argument doesn't address whether that is healthy, sustainable growth. Do these clickbait stories deepen our understanding of complex issues, instill a sense of civic duty, or strengthen our democracy? Certainly not.

Back to ESPNW. "More eyes watching women's basketball" (whatever that means) is not equivalent to "good growth for the game."

Also. As a fan, I don't really care about ESPN's profits. The point of this thread is bemoaning a trend that is bad for the game overall. I get that it's good for the company. But I don't think, as fans, that that should not be our primary concern.


PickledGinger



Joined: 04 Oct 2013
Posts: 1350



Back to top
PostPosted: 03/22/21 8:25 pm    ::: Reply Reply with quote

The current topic of discussion during the Louisville-Marist game is how devastating losing Muhl would be for UConn.

...cough cough...
EYEROLL

Another thing I just thought of regarding marketing the game. Is the average potential fan more or less likely to be interested in the game of women's basketball in general if the narrative that they are being given through media - which is where they are going to get the vast majority of their information at least at first - is that it's UConn ... and everyone else? I would think more people would be intrigued by the sport on a wider scope if there was more of a image of parity.

For example, FOX wants people to watch Animation Domination, but they don't just advertise for Family Guy because it's the most popular. No, they advertise all four shows equally because variety and abundance are attractive to consumers. Why is this different?



_________________
Unspoken expectations are just premeditated resentments.
SDHoops



Joined: 09 Nov 2007
Posts: 1183



Back to top
PostPosted: 03/22/21 8:45 pm    ::: Reply Reply with quote

PG eat a pizza and calm your chones. As a UConn fan, I agree ESPN can be over the top. However, when I mentioned the Sabrina hype last year some of you same fans were calling me a hater so I'll say the same. Quitcher bitchin' and hatin'..to the victors go the spoils. Hey ESPN, give the Stanford Cards some love!


huskiemaniac



Joined: 24 Nov 2004
Posts: 1049
Location: NE CT


Back to top
PostPosted: 03/22/21 8:58 pm    ::: Reply Reply with quote

Never a thread to bitch about the mind-numbing coverage of any NON-UConn player. I wonder why.

Is this a sign UConn is soon to be bad for basketball again?

I fucking hope so. Laughing


undersized_post



Joined: 01 Mar 2021
Posts: 2862



Back to top
PostPosted: 03/22/21 9:43 pm    ::: Reply Reply with quote

More evidence (not that we need it)

Onyenwere currently has 15 points in 15 minutes in the game against Wyoming. What do the Commentators talk about? Well, naturally, UConn's winning streak over Syracuse! Rolling Eyes And the fact that Nika Muhl's sprained ankle tomorrow will be a "gametime decision."


Display posts from previous:   
Post new topic   Reply to topic    RebKell's Junkie Boards Forum Index » NCAA Women's Basketball - General Discussion All times are GMT - 5 Hours
Goto page 1, 2, 3, 4  Next
Page 1 of 4

 
Jump to:  
You cannot post new topics in this forum
You cannot reply to topics in this forum
You cannot edit your posts in this forum
You cannot delete your posts in this forum
You cannot vote in polls in this forum


Powered by phpBB 2.0.17 © 2001- 2004 phpBB Group
phpBB Template by Vjacheslav Trushkin