Tag: sports media (Page 2 of 2)

Dear ESPN: Could Your New Site Make Things More Difficult?

3 February, 2009 / Kat

I woke up Tuesday morning and literally bounced to work from my new apartment. I woke up early, stopped by my neighborhood Dunkin’ Donuts, got my iced coffee, put on the iPod, put on Kevin Rudolf’s Let it Rock (my obsession since October) and bounced to work.

I bounded up the three flights of stairs to my office, jumped through the door, smiled to the student who was working the main desk, skipped into my office, and fired up the trusty laptop. I fired off a few emails, and then opened up Google Reader to catch up on the morning’s recaps of the event that had made me full of so much bounce – BU’s blood-pressure-raising win against Harvard in the Beanpot semifinal the night before.

And then, there it was, in the Terrier Hockey Fan Blog. Yet another BU Beanpot goal had made the Sportscenter Top 10. In 2006, it was Chris Higgins’ crazy “How’d He Do That?!” slide into the boards goal. Monday, it was his classmate from down Route 1 North, Jason Lawrence’s game-winning goal that made the Top 10.

A La Carte Cable – What Would You Choose?

14 January, 2009 / Kat

A few days back, I posted the following as a Facebook status message:

“Kat thinks the only things on TV worth watching are on her digital sports tier. Who needs CNN and MTV when you can have Fox College Sports Central and the like?”

That may be the truest Facebook status message in the history of status messages. Continue reading

Mr. Young, I Have a Problem With Your Hair.

25 November, 2008 / Kat

Dear Mr. Young:

You have been the object of my squee since I was old enough to have a celebrity mega crush. Even though I am now older, engaged, and have moved on to other objects of squee like Gabe Kapler and Jason Bay, you will always be my number one.

I try to catch your commentary on Monday Night Football every Monday. (I must say, Emmitt Smith makes you sound even more eloquent than you already are.) Although I had to work late on Monday, I was able to catch your post-game analysis after the Packers-Saints game. While watching, I had one overwhelming question:

What happened to your hair?

Did you dye it? It looked much lighter. Is your hair negatively reacting to the New Orleans weather? If so, I can point you in the direction of some excellent anti-frizz products. (Then again, so could your ex-model wife.) Are you so busy with your multiple children that you didn’t have time to comb it? If so, that is completely excusable – you have like five now, and not everyone can look as good as Kate Gossalin when running after their multiple young children.

I feel bad for you, and I feel even worse for pointing out in a public forum. However, I just want you to know that I’ll still be a fan, through good hair and bad, through ESPN moving you off Sunday NFL Countdown because they no longer wanted commentators with an IQ higher than 80 and your Samsung HD television advertisements where you are inexplicably wearing shabby flip-flops.

Best wishes,

Sports Girl Kat

Your #10 fan since 1992

*************

I am off to see the Boston University Terriers take on the Crusaders of the College of the Holy Cross. The Terriers have played very well against non-conference opponents this season – they are undefeated against them – but we know what we’re pretending didn’t happen last weekend. Let’s hope this evening ends well.

Well, This Just Stinks – CN8 Shutting Down, According to Sources

6 November, 2008 / Kat

Updated below with comment from Comcast Sports Net.

A big blow to Boston University and University of Vermont hockey fans – according to David Scott, of Scott’s Shots (one of my favorite sports blogs, by the way – when he speaks, I listen),
CN8 will be shuttering it’s New England operations. This includes closing the studios right across from the College of Fine Arts building on the BU campus.

Both BU and UVM had contracts with CN8 for broadcast rights to several men’s hockey games. CN8 was to televise six remaining men’s hockey games –

Dec. 5 vs. Boston College (CN8)
Jan. 3 at Denver Cup (CN8)
Jan. 17 vs. Boston College (CN8)
Jan. 24 at New Hampshire (CN8)
Feb. 21 at Northeastern (CN8)
Feb. 28 vs. Massachusetts (CN8)

According to Scott, CN8’s operations will cease in “early Janaury 2009,” leaving five of those six games without a TV home. Scott does say, however, that Comcast Sports Net may pick up the sports programming. However, their primary responsibility is to the Celtics, so I worry that college hockey might get lost in the shuffle.

If CSN decided to pick and choose what games they select, an educated guess would be that January 17 game against BC will be of most interest, if the early part of the season is any indication. One would also hope that CSN would pick up the Denver Cup game on January 3rd, since many of us Terrier fans can’t afford the $400 plane fare right after the holiday season (but trust you me, I tried!)

It remains to be seen what BU or UVM will do in the wake of this announcement. Big kudos to Scott for getting this news.

UPDATE: According to the comment below, Comcast Sports Net will pick up several games on CN8’s college hockey schedule. Thanks to Tim from Comcast Sports Net for responding right away, and for Comcast for taking care of us college hockey fans.

I Feel Smart, or Bill Simmons Hates His Job

12 September, 2008 / Kat

I was reading the new Bill Simmons column during lunch this afternoon, when I tripped over the following paragraph:

Here’s something I’ve been thinking about a lot lately: With any job, you’re going to have your ups and downs. At some point, you have to decide whether the downs outweigh the ups to the point that it’s not worth it for you to have that job anymore. You could call it a satisfaction/misery ratio. If that ratio swings past 20/80, it’s time to go.

And then this paragraph just totally turned on my “he’s trying to tell us something” alarm:

Speaking of Jay, I joked in last week’s NFL preview that “Any time ‘Our QB should be better this year because he’s finally treating his Type 1 diabetes’ is your best reason for making the playoffs, I can’t pick you to finish higher than 7-9.” That led to a few readers who either have diabetes or know someone with diabetes e-mailing to say they were disappointed that I made fun of diabetes just for a laugh, which immediately got me excited — since that clearly wasn’t the case — and secretly hoping the whole thing would snowball and ESPN would ask me to apologize, creating my dream scenario of me standing up for a harmless joke and the depressed state of comedy in general, eventually getting suspended because the American Diabetes Association was protesting me in Bristol, then having our ombudsman write a post about me to cap things off. That didn’t happen.

Simmons’ growing dissatisfaction with his position at ESPN is well documented throughout sports media blog circles. However, to come out and say that in a column, and let your editor run with it, makes me beleive that he is on his way out.

Do I blame him? No. Bill Simmons needed ESPN to reach a better place in his career, but he has a fan base that could easily transfer to his own site. He is his own brand. He was “Boston Sports Guy,” then became “ESPN’s The Sports Guy,” and, with the right web developers and savvy new media PR staff, could be just the plain “Boston Sports Guy” again. He could write as long as he wanted, as much as he wanted, whenever he wanted. He wouldn’t have to mince his words about ESPN personalities. Bill Simmons, if you are really thinking of the above, go assemble yourself a crack staff and get ready to strike out on your own.

But until then, don’t post loaded thoughts like the quotes above in your column for your current employer. Not a good idea, Bill Simmons. Up there with posting photos of you drinking with scantily clad underage girls on Facebook or MySpace (which he hasn’t done, but college students do all the time), blasting your current employer is not advisable if you want a successful career. We tell students that all the time.