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This morning I woke up early and caught a Korea Baseball Organization game between the KT Wiz and the Kiwoom Heroes. Well, I watched the game — but I actually heard very little about it.
For the first two and a half innings, the ESPN presenters spent I’d estimate 90% of the time NOT talking about the game I was watching.
They were talking about Major League Baseball.
That was pretty much it. They brought on Buster Olney and talked about the current union negotiations with team owners regarding a return to the league in the time of coronavirus. They talked about former players and what they were up to.
One of the few times they spoke for more than a few seconds about a player on the Kiwoom Heroes, it was merely to evaluate him as a prospect who could perhaps make it … in Major League Baseball.
In the bottom of the third, with Kiwoom scoring a few runs, they started calling the game a bit. But after I had watched two and a half innings, and I could not tell you a single thing about either team or any players on the team, except for the fact that one might one day make it as a decent MLB player and “looked like Travis Hafner.”
This isn’t unique among these two and a half innings, by the way. It’s been a common refrain from fans that they’ve had to mute KBO games because they were tired of listening to the announcers refuse to even acknowledge what was happening on the field.
I don’t even blame the announcers here. It’s tough to speak with authority on topics you don’t know much about, and these guys clearly are much more comfortable with MLB, so that’s what they’re going to discuss.
But why not bring in an expert or two, or have a different color commentary option, who can actually illuminate things about the league?
For starters, this will make for a better viewing experience: You know, actually letting people understand what it is they’re watching, as opposed to having them essentially listen to an MLB podcast while a separate, different baseball game just happens to be playing in the background. This will make it more fun to watch.
But it also makes more business sense. ESPN paid for the rights to the KBO, but by refusing to bring in experts to announce the game, they aren’t letting fans connect with any of the players, teams, narratives, or storylines.
Fans need that. Sports don’t just work in a vacuum. If you don’t know who anyone is, if you don’t understand context, if you don’t buy into narratives, it’s just people smacking a ball around.
ESPN is, in effect, cheating itself out of a fanbase that could perhaps buy into this league in a big way. I understand the network has MLB analysts just sitting around and wants to put them to work, but a KBO broadcast right now doesn’t feel like a special appreciation of KBO … it feels like a disappointing reminder that MLB isn’t back yet.
Friday’s Big Winner: Bill Belichick
Belichick exploited a rule loophole last year, had that same loophole used against him in the playoffs, and now the league has a fancy new rule correcting that loophole that will forever be known as the Belichick Rule. I want a rule named after me. That seems like fun.
Quick hits: NASCAR and ripped James Conner
– NASCAR is BACK and things are happening, including Kyle Busch of all people consoling Chase Elliott after “heartbreak.”
– You can hear Elliott’s reaction after that heartbreak at the Coca-Cola 600.
– And then would you look at that, Elliott went and won on Thursday night.
– James Conner remains ripped.
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