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It's pretty hard to defend the ESPN liberal thing in the wake of Jamel Hill's latest bullshit. It's amazing that she still has a job after calling Trump a white supremascist. ESPN has told their employees not to discuss their political beliefs, but apparently this only applies to those that disagree with them. Just ask Curt Schilling.

 

One report that came out said that ESPN wanted to fire her but were afraid of the backlash, which means that they would rather support an employee who makes a baseless claim about a standing president than stay true to company policy.

 

Strange times we live in.

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It means that ESPN made a business decision. You have someone who made a comment that a lot of people agree with, about a man that is incredibly unpopular. Firing her could easily have made things way worse, and they're in the business of making money.

 

Personally, I'm leaning towards the idea that if they aren't doing it on air and it isn't illegal, who gives a shit other than gossip hounds?

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ESPN's problem is not the politics, it's that you simply don't need it any more.

 

Back in the old days you'd have to watch SportsCenter, it was the only way to see scores and/or highlights and other news. It was the only way to find out about a trade. You'd turn on SC and they'd report a trade and you'd be like "holy crap." Even for rumors, ESPN was the place. The pregame shows like NFL Countdown were must watch because they'd have info that you couldn;t get elsewhere.

 

Just not the case now, you get every score on your phone. If a player gets hurt, you see it right away.

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It means that ESPN made a business decision.

 

I'm not sure how a near company with a history of dominance in its arena facing a newly fracturing marketplace that could easily be relatively nonpartisan having a hard slant that turns off half the country is a solid business decision. It's not like the red states aren't into sports.

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Hill versus Schilling isn't apples to apples. Schilling was warned about a couple other things before he was let go.

 

As far as what she said, it blows my mind that she even got into it with some guy on Twitter. She tried to give reasons as to why she thought Trump was racist and then she just resorted to calling him and everyone around him a white supremacist. Weak on her part. Or maybe she did what she wanted to do. Who knows. Problem is people don't like being lumped in with something just because they have a particular belief. And they fight back. Rightfully so. Just because you're Republican doesn't mean you're a white supremacist.

 

I actually think she's decent on air. That pairing with Michael Smith is terrible though. He is nothing but a race baiter. That show they did at noon was bad. I was shocked they have them the 6 o clock Sports Center. Maybe ESPN was trying to be even more progressive.

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It means that ESPN made a business decision.

I'm not sure how a near company with a history of dominance in its arena facing a newly fracturing marketplace that could easily be relatively nonpartisan having a hard slant that turns off half the country is a solid business decision. It's not like the red states aren't into sports.

Reports say that they tried to replace her for a single episode and they couldn't get anyone to agree to take her place.

 

There are a lot of different things to consider in business. Not just the fact that Americans are a bunch of babies who cry when someone says something mean about someone they like.

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What's sad is that no one really wants her fired. It's more like "well if a republican said it about Obama he'd get fired." Like children when they get yelled at. "but my brother did it and you didnt yell at himmmmm".

 

It's actually pathetic.

Interesting analogy. Most parents will tell their kids they aren't treated equally. Most kids just suck it up because it's their parents. When you venture out into the real world you expect a little bit of fairness.

 

In more normal times, Hill would have been taken off of SportsCenter for the simple reason that the ratings on that show are down. Forget that the show is unwatchable. They should just fire Michael Smith because he sucks.

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It's not either of their faults. The genre of show that SportsCenter basically started and was the best of is no longer needed. There is no way to fix it.

 

Also, you expect "fairness" in the real world? Which real world is there. There is no fairness. The only thing in the entire world that's fair is the space between te white lines on a baseball field.

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Reports say that they tried to replace her for a single episode and they couldn't get anyone to agree to take her place.

 

Doesn't surprise me. It's the culture of the company at this point. They let things get out of control and all perspective has been lost.

 

It makes for lousy business and they're stuck with either continuing down the crazy lane and shedding viewers or cleaning house and shedding viewers. At least with the latter they'd eventually get the chance to recover.

 

 

 

It's not either of their faults. The genre of show that SportsCenter basically started and was the best of is no longer needed. There is no way to fix it.

 

Just because the market is fracturing and consumers have more choices, doesn't mean that destroying the brand has no consequences, it means the consequences are worse. There are a ton of legacy viewers that would still watch ESPN, but have been completely turned off by the slant. This is the time that ESPN should be hoarding its viewers while it tries to transition to whatever its next iteration will be.

 

Instead, they're specializing and turning their back on some of their most loyal viewers.

 

 

 

What's sad is that no one really wants her fired. It's more like "well if a republican said it about Obama he'd get fired." Like children when they get yelled at. "but my brother did it and you didnt yell at himmmmm".

 

It's actually pathetic.

 

Sounds like grounds for a lawsuit actually.

 

You telling me that if you got fired from your six or seven figure salary job for something that another employee got away with, you would just suck it up and be all philosophical about the inherent unfairness of life?

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Curt Schilling has every right to be angry he was fired while Hill was not. Although as has been pointed out he was a serial offender. However I doubt many people actually care about Schilling and are actually that mad/hurt about what happened to him. Plus I'm sure anyone who was upset about Schilling had the attitude of "what a bunch of babies getting mad over what he said." So then a couple years later when Hill says somehting they are mad over what she said.

 

As far as ESPN goes, the problems go alot deeper than SportsCenter. The rights fees for sporting events have gone through the roof and will likely keep going up in a world where people dont have to watch things when they are scheduled having something that demands to be watched live is more and more valuable. Plus there is just too much competition in sports now whereas there used to be none.

 

If ESPN tried to just hoard legacy viewers it would just lead to them dying a slow death.

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I'm sorry that ESPN isn't a safe space for these precious snowflakes anymore. The government should probably get involved to make sure that nobody else gets their feelings hurt.

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Curt Schilling has every right to be angry he was fired while Hill was not. Although as has been pointed out he was a serial offender. However I doubt many people actually care about Schilling and are actually that mad/hurt about what happened to him. Plus I'm sure anyone who was upset about Schilling had the attitude of "what a bunch of babies getting mad over what he said." So then a couple years later when Hill says somehting they are mad over what she said.

 

As far as ESPN goes, the problems go alot deeper than SportsCenter. The rights fees for sporting events have gone through the roof and will likely keep going up in a world where people dont have to watch things when they are scheduled having something that demands to be watched live is more and more valuable. Plus there is just too much competition in sports now whereas there used to be none.

 

If ESPN tried to just hoard legacy viewers it would just lead to them dying a slow death.

Espn's biggest problem is that they have to live with overpaying for the rights to everything. They feEl like they had to have everything on their networks. Now they're paying for it as well as their employees. Rumor is they are going to lay off another 100 or so people.
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I'm sorry that ESPN isn't a safe space for these precious snowflakes anymore. The government should probably get involved to make sure that nobody else gets their feelings hurt.

But people that are complaining are saying they won't watch ESPN anymore. Even though they will. The leftist snowflakes can't grasp the concepr of "changing the channel".

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Curt Schilling has every right to be angry he was fired while Hill was not. Although as has been pointed out he was a serial offender. However I doubt many people actually care about Schilling and are actually that mad/hurt about what happened to him. Plus I'm sure anyone who was upset about Schilling had the attitude of "what a bunch of babies getting mad over what he said." So then a couple years later when Hill says somehting they are mad over what she said.

 

So, the right has to live with yet another double standard where their living is jeopardized, but the left is protected.

 

Gotcha. And this is why we have Trump.

 

 

 

If ESPN tried to just hoard legacy viewers it would just lead to them dying a slow death.

 

So, it's better just to do it all at once and get it over with instead? I don't even know what point you're trying to make.

 

ESPN can have more than one problem at a time y'know.

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My point is ESPN has to change and find new ways to bring in viewers. I don't know what that is and I don't think ESPN knows what it is either. I do know though that showing highlights and scores that everyone already knows isn't going to work. Neither is having "news" that everyone has already read on twitter.

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Personally I don't think Schilling should have been fired for what he got fired for. But the fact is that he is a moron and likely would have done something to get himself fired eventually anyway. I'm a conservative and freely admit Schilling is a moron. I mean the guy posted a pic of a shirt encouraging the killing of journalists. That;s not right or left, thats just dumb and dangerous.

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The real fact is this, if you are angered Schilling was fired for political reasons you shouldn't want Hill fired for the same reasons. That's not the answer, the answer is not having anyone fired. If you support Schilling being able to say what he wants, you should support it for Hill even if you diagree with her.

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I think the real problem is filling up the time. As Choc said there's only so many highlights you can show. In order to kill time you need commentary, so eventually you're gonna hear butthurt liberals cry on tv and social media.

 

What's funny about this is the hypocrisy. if you're gonna get political you better make sure that your views are aligned with the boss. As ESPN is trying to get get viewers back this is a funny spectacle to watch..

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And I'll say this, ESPN has no chance to ever, ever get back where they once were. ESPN was like the biggest money maker in tv because sports fans need their sports and cable companies had to pay the fee to clear ESPN, eventhough it was very high. Also because the ratings were good they could charge alot to advertise. They are never getting back to that. They need to completely change the way they do things and find a new niche where they can be profitable.

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I think a larger point can be made that the Internet has ruined entertainment. Be it sports, movies, WWE, music, people are less inclined to enjoy simple pleasures than they used to because the can pull it up on their smartphone. I should probably start a new thread on that, but I'll save that for later,

 

With regards to ESPN, they have become irrelevant. I'm old enough to remember a time when you didn't even get the score of the game you were watching until a commercial brake, let alone the score involving your team elsewhere. Now there is so much coverage of sports that people only watch ESPN when there's nothing else on TV.

 

So yeah, when you throw politics into the whole thing and piss off half the population you're kinda fucked.

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My point is ESPN has to change and find new ways to bring in viewers.

 

Sure. But Step 1 is not to kill their own brand and jettison viewers.

 

I haven't denied that ESPN needs to change. What I'm saying is that in this very difficult time for the network, their brand as the biggest name in sports is their most precious commodity and should be guarded. If for no other reason than as a method for leveraging the ESPN name onto Disney's new streaming service and assisting in making that a success which could be a cash bonanza if it succeeds.

 

ESPN's deals with the major sports aren't becoming any cheaper because they have fewer viewers and a falling level or respect.

 

 

 

Personally I don't think Schilling should have been fired for what he got fired for. But the fact is that he is a moron and likely would have done something to get himself fired eventually anyway. I'm a conservative and freely admit Schilling is a moron.

 

Very well then. How about a more direct comparison? Hank Williams Jr. went from being an institution on Monday Night Football to either suspended or fired depending on who you ask (ESPN says fired, Williams says he quit after being suspended) because he compared Obama to Hitler. When you compare the contributions of Williams making MNF a weekly event and to Hill's, it's not even close.

 

And, yeah, Williams shouldn't have been fired. Neither should Schilling, and neither should Limbaugh who pretty much got this started off all those years ago when he had the gall to say that sportscasters were rooting for and overrating McNabb because he's a black quarterback, something they most certainly did, and was off the air.

 

But once you set the rules, yeah, I expect those rules to be followed. If calling the president Hitler is a suspension or firing offense if he's a Democrat, then the same thing should go for calling a Republican president a white supremacist. Otherwise, you're silencing your conservative employees and making them fearful for their jobs while giving the green light for liberal employees to say whatever they want. That's a culture that is slowly covering many professions, not just ESPN and is something that I actually do have to worry about. My co-worker can go on conspiracy theory rants every afternoon at lunch, but if you're conservative, you'll be hung out to dry and lose your livelihood just for making a nuanced point about a liberal sacred cow.

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