LionDen
03-15-2007, 05:00 AM
Jim Ross has posted his latest blog entry, and I highly recommend checking this one out.
- Ross deals out a pretty heavy blow to ESPN, noting the tongue-in-cheek way they cover wrestling and, well, I will quote Ross' passage on this one, as recapping won't do it justice:
I saw the Cold Pizza show on ESPN, which I watch most mornings, and their coverage of the Battle of the Billionaires was done, as usual, tongue-in-cheek, so as to make sure their audience of “hard core” sports fans will not mistake the on air personalities as being “wrestling fans”. Of course, the ESPN on-air personalities are opinionated, speak in sound bytes, attempt to have the most controversial statement on a given show and that is o.k. for their hip, edgy programming. For the record that’s what wrestling personalities have been doing for decades and long before cable. But wrestling is show biz and ESPN are legit sports or so they want you to believe. They are entertainment, perhaps in their own way “sports/entertainment” because if their cute repartee isn’t entertaining, the hosts are gone. Days of straight forward sports casting are dead and buried. I can assure you from personal experience that many of the ESPN staffers are HUGE WWE fans and, in confidence of course, several of the ESPN on air “stars” are all fully aware of the WWE and the WWE’s global success because they all live and die with the ratings and the Monday Night Raw cable ratings by and large kick any thing ESPN does with the exception of an occasional “Special” or a big time NFL game. I am a fan of ESPN and watch their programming a great deal, but if Monday Night Raw went into a ratings dumpster like many of the ESPN shows, i.e. SportsCenter, get on a regular basis there would be MAJOR changes to the look of Raw starting, perhaps, with yours truly. I would surmise that should come as no surprise to any one who has followed the product over the past few years. Being young and being perceived as “hip” is a fact of life in the TV business and the WWE is no different than any other producer of television. It’s just sad that some ESPN on air personalities are so fragile and these individuals are so insecure that they have to place tongue in cheek when making any reference to the WWE or the business in general unless it is a tragedy. Then it is o.k. to lay it on thick because bad news or scandals are what draw ratings. On an airplane I once sat next to the former head of ESPN, whose name escapes me, who left them to go to work with Daniel Snyder, owner of the Washington Redskins, and he was one of the most conceited and arrogant individuals I can remember meeting. A non jock that probably got hell from his athletic friends as a kid and evolved into a first class jackass as an adult. This “I’m better than you” attitude is sad for any one to have. Of course I reminded him that Monday Night Raw on cable earned about 4 times the rating his beloved “SportsCenter” earns in multiple airings. He did not take that well. Tough. I hope he has gotten over it.
- Ross then moves on and notes that The Rock has no contract with WWE, but he would expect to see him make an appearance on Raw again in the future. However, Ross makes it clear he isn't talking about the Rock returning to wrestle.
- In regards to Christian someday returning to WWE, Ross notes that he didn't "burn any bridges" when he left and he is a talented performer.
- He doesn't know what match will close Wrestlemania, but he suggests that it should be Undertaker vs. Batista.
Ross also talked about the Tower Of Doom, what he looks for when he reviews his work on Raw, John Cena vs. Shawn Michaels, appearing at MIT in Massachusetts for a lecture next week and more. As always, the blog is a great read, and I suggest you check it out by clicking here (http://www.jrsbarbq.com/blog/2007/03/14/espn-bs-regis-philbin-the-great-one-tower-of-doom-mit-bound-wrestlemania-closer-christian/).
Source: PWInsider.com
- Ross deals out a pretty heavy blow to ESPN, noting the tongue-in-cheek way they cover wrestling and, well, I will quote Ross' passage on this one, as recapping won't do it justice:
I saw the Cold Pizza show on ESPN, which I watch most mornings, and their coverage of the Battle of the Billionaires was done, as usual, tongue-in-cheek, so as to make sure their audience of “hard core” sports fans will not mistake the on air personalities as being “wrestling fans”. Of course, the ESPN on-air personalities are opinionated, speak in sound bytes, attempt to have the most controversial statement on a given show and that is o.k. for their hip, edgy programming. For the record that’s what wrestling personalities have been doing for decades and long before cable. But wrestling is show biz and ESPN are legit sports or so they want you to believe. They are entertainment, perhaps in their own way “sports/entertainment” because if their cute repartee isn’t entertaining, the hosts are gone. Days of straight forward sports casting are dead and buried. I can assure you from personal experience that many of the ESPN staffers are HUGE WWE fans and, in confidence of course, several of the ESPN on air “stars” are all fully aware of the WWE and the WWE’s global success because they all live and die with the ratings and the Monday Night Raw cable ratings by and large kick any thing ESPN does with the exception of an occasional “Special” or a big time NFL game. I am a fan of ESPN and watch their programming a great deal, but if Monday Night Raw went into a ratings dumpster like many of the ESPN shows, i.e. SportsCenter, get on a regular basis there would be MAJOR changes to the look of Raw starting, perhaps, with yours truly. I would surmise that should come as no surprise to any one who has followed the product over the past few years. Being young and being perceived as “hip” is a fact of life in the TV business and the WWE is no different than any other producer of television. It’s just sad that some ESPN on air personalities are so fragile and these individuals are so insecure that they have to place tongue in cheek when making any reference to the WWE or the business in general unless it is a tragedy. Then it is o.k. to lay it on thick because bad news or scandals are what draw ratings. On an airplane I once sat next to the former head of ESPN, whose name escapes me, who left them to go to work with Daniel Snyder, owner of the Washington Redskins, and he was one of the most conceited and arrogant individuals I can remember meeting. A non jock that probably got hell from his athletic friends as a kid and evolved into a first class jackass as an adult. This “I’m better than you” attitude is sad for any one to have. Of course I reminded him that Monday Night Raw on cable earned about 4 times the rating his beloved “SportsCenter” earns in multiple airings. He did not take that well. Tough. I hope he has gotten over it.
- Ross then moves on and notes that The Rock has no contract with WWE, but he would expect to see him make an appearance on Raw again in the future. However, Ross makes it clear he isn't talking about the Rock returning to wrestle.
- In regards to Christian someday returning to WWE, Ross notes that he didn't "burn any bridges" when he left and he is a talented performer.
- He doesn't know what match will close Wrestlemania, but he suggests that it should be Undertaker vs. Batista.
Ross also talked about the Tower Of Doom, what he looks for when he reviews his work on Raw, John Cena vs. Shawn Michaels, appearing at MIT in Massachusetts for a lecture next week and more. As always, the blog is a great read, and I suggest you check it out by clicking here (http://www.jrsbarbq.com/blog/2007/03/14/espn-bs-regis-philbin-the-great-one-tower-of-doom-mit-bound-wrestlemania-closer-christian/).
Source: PWInsider.com