READ TODAY'S STORIES AND E-EDITION SUBSCRIBE |  CONTACT US |  SIGN IN
Sports Extra!



SPORTS EXTRA BLOGS

FOR THE RECORD
LOCAL PROS

ALL SPORTS

PHOTOS & VIDEOS

OUTDOORS

FIND A STORY

EMAIL ALERTS

SOCIAL MEDIA

RSS FEEDS

CONTACT US
BUY PHOTOS & PAGES

ADVERTISE ON SPORTS EXTRA


Print story only Print story with comments Email Twitter Facebook Pinterest
Self and Stoops; How Low Can ESPN Go?
Published: 3/28/2011 11:26 AM
Last Modified: 3/28/2011 11:26 AM

What do Self and Stoops have in common?

Quite a bit.

One, they operate in small towns and have an adoring local media comprised of big fans that say they'll be great virtually every year.

Two, they have each won one fortunate national championship. KU's was slightly luckier than OU's when a Jayhawk threw in a long shot with no time left after Memphis failed to foul. Otherwise, Self would be feeling some heat. Stoops caught a score-poor Florida State more than a decade ago.

Three, each has performed horribly as favorites on the national level.

Now, about the dogs of ESPN: Now that the all-sports channel has lost the national tournament to CBS, suddenly, according to hack analysts and slapstick talk hosts, March Madness is lame. Suddenly, what we need is a vote, like the BCS. Which ESPN televises.

Here is the truth.

ESPN is a disgrace. Just because it doesn't televise the games, and just because its analysts can't pick a thing, suddenly the tournament is a joke?

Hardly. It's the best tournament ever. The ESPN chumps say the problem with college hoops is that the regular season doesn't mean anything. Yes it does. It seeds the teams for the tournament, heretofore the most important element of the post season.

The one-and-done rule has deleted the college game. Good for us. Bad for suckers like Vitale and Bilas and Dugout Phelps.

At ESPN, only Knight has kept his head, saying VCU is actually pretty good.

And Kenny Smith and Charles Barkley have stolen the show on the CBS coverage, with Barkley having hit more picks than anybody.

College basketball is the greatest.

ESPN has been petty.




Reader Comments 24 Total
DomoArrigato (last year)
Did Digger Phelps (ESPN Basketball) and Lee Corso (ESPN Football) ever have any success as coaches??? They can surely point out the bad points about a team, but neither could coach a victory over Booker T even.

But people hang on their every word, waiting for Lee to make his "pick" in the GameDay game...which he is usually wrong with.
tulsandn (last year)
When Lee Corso puts on the mascot head then you know it's time to pick the other team, so he is a good barometer....

Digger, he didn't know nothin' a long time ago, his news is old news & it's always been that way.... That's why I use the remote control when he gets his time to share....

I really don't watch the talking heads because my view is every bit as informed as their's is & I don't get any insider information, I just watch sports on TV....

My viewpoints are just that, mine, so if anyone thinks I don't know what I'm talking about because it's not what they heard on TV, then they're probably right....
dcood (last year)
Digger Phelps had a .667 winning % in over 20 years as a D-1 head bb coach.... I woudlnt say the FSU team OU beat in the Orange Bowl way back when was poor on offense, they averaged over 39 points/game... OU had a few decent defenders...
Ferris Bueller (last year)
Barkley is the man. Love to watch him tear up the "know it all's".
Pokey (last year)
Is it just me, or does Bilas take himself a tad too seriously? When he gets two sources for a story he needs to go no further than to Jay and Bilas. He trusts them implicitly and has never found either to be wrong. I believe he hears their voices in his head.
The Picker (last year)
Pokey, exactly, Bilas wouldn't know a laugh if it bit him on his Duke underwear.
MexiMike (last year)
Colin Cowherd made the exact same OU/KU analogy earlier. Same reasoning and everything.

Maybe not everything is so bad at ESPN, eh Pick?
D-MANN (last year)
I too am really disappointed in ESPN and their coverage tournament coverage. I made the mistake of watching Mike and Mike this morning as they announced the BCS was a more credible way of picking a true champion. WHAT????? In addition, ESPN's talking heads obviously need to both get a clue and at the same time lighten the hell up. At the same time, Chuck and the gang are definitely having a ball with it. Great studio analysts, upgraded game talent(Marv!!),and every game shown. Good for CBS for finally getting this thing right. (Giving them a hall pass, at least for now, with Jim "I announce every play of every sport like somebody is putting on 18 at Augusta" Nantz)
derokie (last year)
Picker, I have noticed lots of similarities between OU football and KU basketball, not just the coaches but the entire programs: teams, facilities, fans, etc. Not sure what it means, probably nothing. I've hated Digger since his "We can still win this" comment against TU in the NIT finals lo' those many years ago...
Glenn616 (last year)
If the BCS had determined the national champion in college basketball: NC State wouldn't have won the NT in 1983, 'Nova wouldn't have won it in 1985, KU wouldn't have won it 1988, Jim Boeheim wouldn't have won a national title, Lute Olsen would never have won a national title, Butler wouldn't have made the finals last season, etc.
Glenn616 (last year)
If the BCS had determined who would play in the national championship game in college basketball: NC State wouldn't have won the NT in 1983, 'Nova wouldn't have won it in 1985, KU wouldn't have won it 1988, Jim Boeheim wouldn't have won a national title, Lute Olsen would never have won a national title, Butler wouldn't have made the finals last season, etc.
The Picker (last year)
Nantz is sappy all right.

Doesn't that other guy on the CBS studio report look like he'd enjoy strangling Barkley!
Who just sits there grinning and picking winners.

Self and Stoops have many fans in the media, that's for sure.
Gene M (last year)
Mr. Picker, who is forcing you to watch ESPN in the first place? NCIS re-runs would be better for your blood pressure.
The Picker (last year)
It is the only sports game in town. Every sports fan has to watch. Thinking it has to get better. But it seldom does. I also watch so I can know when to bet the other side. Any more questions?

Sounds like you're getting edgy about your Tiger even making the cut at the Masters!
SixGunSam (last year)
Only when one forgets that ESPN is a subsidiary of Disney do the lines between reality and artificially produced fantasy become blurred.

How low can they go?

Erase the line between reporting College Sports News and producing it perhaps?

Subvert the nature of College Sports by purchasing a financial interest in a chosen school, maybe?

I wonder how tempted ESPN will be to borrow their parents (Disney's) Magic Wand in regards to their latest acquisition? I wonder if they stand to make financial gain if Texas does well (fantasy or otherwise) in the near future?

Word has it that ESPN will be broadcasting Texas' Spring Football Game live (imagine that). I can hardly wait to see how they wield Daddy Walt's Wand for that. It should be Magic.
tulsandn (last year)
I listened the stupidity of Mike & Mike w/Dick Vitale this morning, good thing I hadn't had breakfast yet....

Dicky V. is never wrong in his own mind & that's why March Madness is a poor way of deciding a champion....

Before March Madness was nirvana to Dicky V. now according to him & the talking heads at ESPN the BCS is better because it decides a true champion....

Sickening....
MexiMike (last year)
Mike and Mike didn't say that the BCS was a more credible way of picking a champ.

They made the comparison of choosing a champ in the NCAA tourney versus the BCS route, and then said that the NCAA tourney doesn't necessarily crown the best team in basketball that year...which is true.

The Big Dance crowns who plays best in that particular tournament. VCU could end up winning and I really doubt many people outside of Virginia would believe that they are the absolute best team in the nation this year.
SixGunSam (last year)
"... the NCAA tourney doesn't necessarily crown the best team in basketball that year...which is true."

If that's true and the Champ can't even take credit for being the best, then why even bother playing any games, Omega Mike?
The Picker (last year)
Mike and Mike and Vitale and Bilas and the rest of ESPN are angry because upsets are coming through? And the best way to create a championship is not by playing, but is instead by having somebody vote on which teams should play? They're nutty. So is anybody agreeing with them. If you want the regular season to mean more, do away with the stupid post-season tournament seeds.

Pete51 (last year)
"Now that the all-sports channel has lost the national tournament to CBS, suddenly, according to hack analysts and slapstick talk hosts, March Madness is lame."

Did I miss something? Hasn't the tournament been on CBS (and sometimes it affiliates) for decades? How did the all-sports channel lose something it didn't have?

I haven't been watching their coverage, but it sounds like their discontent is based on the low seeding of the final four and the fact that a team can lose half their conference games and still win a national title by stringing together 6 wins, which is a valid point.
MexiMike (last year)
Sam, did you miss the whole point? They take credit for being the best...of the tournament.

Not necessarily of the entire season.

I don't know how much more clear that can be.
The Picker (last year)
All the early stuff used to be on ESPN.
traija50 (last year)
"Stoops caught a score-poor Florida St team over a decade ago?" That Fla St team averaged 44.5 points per game up until we gave them the only two points they scored. Mike Stoops had one of the greatest defensive schemes set up for the high flyin Heisman Trophy winner I've ever seen. They couldn't do anything. Bowden was hilarious after the game. Quote... "we couldn't move anywhere against them... everything we called was stopped in it's tracks!!" They weren't score poor.... except again Rocky and Torrance and the boys.
sassygirl (last year)
For all you ESPN bashers....Do I detect a bit of jealousy in each of you ESPN wannabe announcers/analysts..I think so.....
24 comments displayed


To post comments on tulsaworld.com, you must be an active Tulsa World print or digital subscriber and signed into your account.


Out Pick The Picker

The Picker began entertaining – and infuriating – sports fans in 1993. Each week during football season, he writes about his picks of college and NFL games in his Thursday Sports column. He's never afraid of sharing his opinions about the game and the personalities who play it. Readers have a chance to go against him each season in the Outpick the Picker contest. He welcomes the competition.

Follow The Picker on Twitter

Subscribe to this blog


Archive

Past Articles By The Picker

1/31/2013
      The Picker: Super Bowl merely a distraction from OU woes
 
The Picker's Blog Archive:

2/2013  1/2013  12/2012  11/2012  10/2012  9/2012  
8/2012  7/2012  6/2012  5/2012  4/2012  3/2012  
2/2012  1/2012  12/2011  11/2011  10/2011  9/2011  
8/2011  7/2011  6/2011  5/2011  4/2011  3/2011  
2/2011  1/2011  12/2010  11/2010  10/2010  9/2010  
8/2010  7/2010  6/2010  5/2010  4/2010  3/2010  
2/2010  1/2010  12/2009  11/2009  10/2009  9/2009  
8/2009  7/2009  6/2009  5/2009  4/2009  3/2009  
2/2009  1/2009  12/2008  11/2008  10/2008  9/2008  
8/2008  7/2008  6/2008  5/2008  4/2008  3/2008  
2/2008  1/2008  12/2007  11/2007  10/2007  9/2007  
8/2007  7/2007  6/2007  5/2007  4/2007  3/2007  
2/2007  1/2007  12/2006  11/2006  10/2006  9/2006  
8/2006  





Home | Contact Us | Search | Subscribe | Customer Service | About | Advertise
Copyright © 2013, World Publishing Co. All rights reserved.