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PickledGinger
Joined: 04 Oct 2013 Posts: 1350
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Posted: 03/22/21 2:15 am ::: ESPN UConn Bias Official Thread |
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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.
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undersized_post
Joined: 01 Mar 2021 Posts: 2862
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WNBA 09
Joined: 26 Jun 2009 Posts: 12494 Location: Dallas , Texas
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ucbart
Joined: 21 Nov 2004 Posts: 2811 Location: New York
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Posted: 03/22/21 7:10 am ::: |
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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.
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Ex-Ref
Joined: 04 Oct 2009 Posts: 8835
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Posted: 03/22/21 7:32 am ::: |
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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.
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undersized_post
Joined: 01 Mar 2021 Posts: 2862
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Posted: 03/22/21 7:44 am ::: |
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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
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 |
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purduefanatic
Joined: 10 Aug 2011 Posts: 2819 Location: Indiana
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Posted: 03/22/21 8:07 am ::: |
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I'd blame the NCAA. I'm sure they are directing ESPN as to what to post on their website.
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WNBA 09
Joined: 26 Jun 2009 Posts: 12494 Location: Dallas , Texas
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Posted: 03/22/21 9:31 am ::: |
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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
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pilight
Joined: 23 Sep 2004 Posts: 66773 Location: Where the action is
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Posted: 03/22/21 9:51 am ::: |
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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.
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undersized_post
Joined: 01 Mar 2021 Posts: 2862
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Posted: 03/22/21 9:54 am ::: |
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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?
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purduefanatic
Joined: 10 Aug 2011 Posts: 2819 Location: Indiana
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Posted: 03/22/21 10:33 am ::: |
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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.
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WNBA 09
Joined: 26 Jun 2009 Posts: 12494 Location: Dallas , Texas
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Posted: 03/22/21 11:01 am ::: |
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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
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ucbart
Joined: 21 Nov 2004 Posts: 2811 Location: New York
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Posted: 03/22/21 11:04 am ::: |
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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.
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PickledGinger
Joined: 04 Oct 2013 Posts: 1350
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Posted: 03/22/21 2:39 pm ::: |
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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.
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summertime blues
Joined: 16 Apr 2013 Posts: 7746 Location: Shenandoah Valley
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Posted: 03/22/21 3:56 pm ::: |
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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
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Queenie
Joined: 18 Nov 2004 Posts: 18013 Location: Queens
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Posted: 03/22/21 5:05 pm ::: |
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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)
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undersized_post
Joined: 01 Mar 2021 Posts: 2862
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Posted: 03/22/21 5:35 pm ::: |
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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."
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ClayK
Joined: 11 Oct 2005 Posts: 11105
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Posted: 03/22/21 6:10 pm ::: |
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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
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linkster
Joined: 27 Jul 2012 Posts: 5408
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Posted: 03/22/21 6:22 pm ::: Re: ESPN UConn Bias Official Thread |
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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.
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PickledGinger
Joined: 04 Oct 2013 Posts: 1350
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Posted: 03/22/21 6:59 pm ::: Re: ESPN UConn Bias Official Thread |
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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.
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undersized_post
Joined: 01 Mar 2021 Posts: 2862
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Posted: 03/22/21 7:59 pm ::: |
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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.
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PickledGinger
Joined: 04 Oct 2013 Posts: 1350
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Posted: 03/22/21 8:25 pm ::: |
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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.
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SDHoops
Joined: 09 Nov 2007 Posts: 1183
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Posted: 03/22/21 8:45 pm ::: |
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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!
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huskiemaniac
Joined: 24 Nov 2004 Posts: 1049 Location: NE CT
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undersized_post
Joined: 01 Mar 2021 Posts: 2862
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