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The global coronavirus pandemic has forced nearly every major sports league around the world to shut down, and 24-hour sports television networks have been struggling to fill their now-vacant airtime with compelling programming. With no live action to show and barely any news to cover, giants like ESPN have leaned on classic games from various sports, but have also ventured into televising our new national pastimes: video games and remote HORSE.
You’ve got to pass the time somehow, but what is actually worth watching? Here’s a rundown of some of the best and worst sports programming you can find this spring. We’ll start with the worst, because we need to talk about the ridiculous content NBA players are putting out.
WORST: Televised HORSE
The NBA, WNBA and ESPN combined to produce a “HORSE Challenge” that debuted on Sunday night, and the results were disastrous. Players used their cell phones to shoot footage of themselves taking shots at their own home court to play against an opponent remotely, and the production value was unsurprisingly awful, and the overall competition was dull. According to J.J. Redick, it “could not have been worse.”
WORST: NBA players playing NBA 2K
ESPN also put together a tournament to determine which NBA star is the king of NBA 2K20 – without first checking that the participants were, you know, actually good at NBA 2K20. The low quality of play was glaring, but a bigger issue was the commentary. Instead of getting Mike Breen and Jeff Van Gundy to call the virtual games, ESPN relied on the in-game commentators combined with the often awkward chatter between the players. Let’s just let the NBA players sit the rest of this pandemic out.
BEST: Old NFL games
Over on the NFL Network, you can usually find a replay of a semi-recent NFL game. If you’re like me and can’t remember the results of most games from 2017 or 2018 that don’t involve your favorite team, this is basically new football.
BEST: The world’s best drivers playing iRacing
iRacing is perhaps the only virtual sport that you could be fooled into thinking is the real thing on television, and many NASCAR and IndyCar drivers are facing off each weekend in major races. The virtual crashes even lead to real life fights.
BEST: Tiger Woods watching Tiger Woods
On what would have been Masters weekend, CBS re-aired the final round of the 2019 Masters Tournament on Sunday, with Jim Nantz interviewing Tiger Woods about what might have been his biggest victory. That Sunday in Augusta was epic and is eminently rewatchable at any time, and Woods got emotional when describing his celebration with his family near the 18th green. Tiger also shared that he felt he was peaking just in time for this year’s tournament.
Monday’s Big Winner: Simone Biles
Simone Biles took the handstand challenge to an entirely different level over the weekend, and made all the celebrities who tried it out look absolutely lame in comparison. There’s only one Simone Biles.
Quick hits: NFL Draft, Ciara, Deion Sanders
– The NFL Draft is quickly approaching, and there’s plenty of teams in desperate need of a quarterback. Our draft expert Henry McKenna has the list of 11 teams in need of a QB.
– Ciara and Seahawks quarterback Russell Wilson are expecting a baby, but in the meantime, they’re doing the Toosie Slide.
– Deion Sanders made it clear that he’s cool with new Falcons RB Todd Gurley wearing his old No. 21 in Atlanta.