ESPN

Mr. NoFrown has graciously offered to allow me to do a guest blog from time to time. I must say it's an honor and a privilege, and I am quite grateful. I must warn any intrepid reader that my posts may be more rant than post.

With that said, my first topic: ESPN.
I would like to know if ESPN has any special marketing information is that must be guiding what seems an incredibly excessive coverage of several seemingly worthless, audience-less, waste-of-time topics:

• Manny's visit to Boston
  
• Kobe's legacy vis-a-vis MJ...or Shaq...or MJ's son
• Tiger Woods' every frakking breath

Seriously, did anyone outside of Boston -- or within Boston for that matter -- really care that Manny was gonna be visiting Boston in a Dodgers uniform? Did it really merit round the clock coverage on Sportscenter for a week beforehand? The east coast bias has a been a well-known affliction for ESPN for years, but did they really need to bust out Paul Revere style for a week straight with "The Manny is coming, the Manny is coming?!" No...one...cared.

Is Kobe better than Kareem? Magic? Shaq? Jordan? Endless discussions were apparently necessary for these all-too-important topics. They even went so far as to ask Jordan's son to weigh in on the topic. Enough already. Kobe got another ring. That's all. He is not, nor will he ever be, another Jordan.

What is Tiger Woods wearing today? Eating today? Saying today? Oh, he's playing golf today? We should probably replay every single hole he played in the first day of US OPEN on a 15 min Sportscenter segment. That's rivetting TV. Yaaaaawn.

These "stories" are annoying, artificial sports drama, concocted in the ESPN meth lab.

One bright spot: I have been pretty happy with the World Cup coverage. Tirico and Lexi have been great, and guests (Klinsman, etc) have been very enjoyable. Keep up the good work. Go USA.

Thank you very much,
Matt aka Dr. Rochester