Hey, there! Log in / Register

Somebody at NESN got paid to inflict stupid idea on viewers

Joy of Sox found the joy of watching a Sox game drain away last night and not just because of what happened on the field: NESN added a sidebar to the screen that featured not just game info but regular old news as well, making their telecast look like a Web site from 2003.

News headlines? Are you fucking kidding me?

Comey was scheduled to testify? For god's sake, it's after 9:00 PM, why not tell us about the testimony he gave about 12 hours ago (if you really have to tell us something)? Nope, just provide a fact that everyone who gives a shit already knew several days ago. ...

What non-baseball stuff will NESN inflict on us tomorrow night? Updates on various Kardashians/Jenners? Summer fashion tips? Top-grossing movies from last week?

Steve Perrault, meanwhile, followed the thing to its logical conclusion:

Topics: 
Free tagging: 


Ad:


Like the job UHub is doing? Consider a contribution. Thanks!

Comments

While he may have too much time on his hands, this is a detailed and humorous take down of NESN.

The real take home message is great:

"NESN should work on trying to show every pitch of the game - which it consistently fails to do, even tonight - before adding any bells and whistles." Mastering the basics should be the first step. And NESN remains a long way from graduating from that class.

up
Voting closed 0

PLEASE tell me that's a photoshop...

"He's fat and bad at baseball" Heh.

up
Voting closed 0

They're not going to call their own employee "fat." Well, maybe they would have if Larry Lucchino was still there.

up
Voting closed 0

IMAGE(https://s9.postimg.org/ey1yt2gxr/idisoxracy.png)

up
Voting closed 0

...is one hell of a quality photoshop.

up
Voting closed 0

'baitin'!!

up
Voting closed 0

I get that this shit drives purists insane, but for most people, baseball is fucking boring. They've done some things to speed of the pace of play, but shit like the pitcher pacing around the mound for 30 seconds, getting back on the mound, staring in for 15 seconds, and then having the hitter step out of the box...this is the "drama" that purists love (or tolerate) but drove away many. Eventually purists die and you're left with no one. The World Series has by far the oldest viewing cohort.

I agree that the execution is poor in some regards, but this isn't much different than the Xfinity sidebar thingie that people seem to really like. Coincidentally, most improvements to telecasts over the past 15 years have actually improved the experience: the straight-on camera, pitch zones, listing pitch counts, etc. Showing only the game only caters to the dying off purists, while making the constant downtime between plays less boring caters to everyone else. The league needs "pink hats" too in order to sustain the league past this generation.

up
Voting closed 0

Baseball is still a lot more popular than Tennis which is pretty fast paced and interesting. Go figure.

Meanwhile people watch professional golf on TV which without a doubt is the Most Boring Sport on TV™.

Anyway, in a few years the stadium sports will be replaced with video game broadcasts. Some of us will pine for baseball even if it consisted of watching the pitcher scratch himself for an hour.

up
Voting closed 0

Ever watched curling? MESMERIZING!!!

up
Voting closed 0

I actually enjoy watching curling. Cool game (no pun intended).

up
Voting closed 0

When I see curling on TV, I can't look away.

up
Voting closed 0

It's like a slow motion car crash. Literally.

up
Voting closed 0

They have curling with CARS now?!?

up
Voting closed 0

...shouldn't watch baseball.

up
Voting closed 0

I don't disagree with you there, but it is still funny to me. "You know what we could add that will spice up this boring old game? News!"

up
Voting closed 0

Constantly answering questions that nobody asked.

"Hey, this Don Orsillo sucks, can you force days off on him before eventually getting rid of him?"

"I don't want to see live footage of this Aaron Hernandez verdict, how about an informercial instead?"

You watch other RSN's when their games end up on MLB Network, then you see NESN, and you wonder how such a valuable franchise can make such cheap-looking television sometimes.

Also, I don't have a widescreen TV, so I saw like half the stats display on the left, and I would have had no idea that there was news on the right if this hadn't been posted.

up
Voting closed 0

That's when broadcasts of Red Sox games were worth watching.

up
Voting closed 0

We had NESN on cable but not WSBK. So I got half the Sox games.

90s sports TV was (expletive). I didn't see a single game of the 1995 ALDS, because the three games were played the same time as a Yankees series, and those games ended up on the air instead.

Also, BVT is Giants country, so Bledsoe going 45 for 70 against the Vikings in 1994 wasn't on TV either.

up
Voting closed 0

how games are broadcast is (expletive). The NFL rule that games must be broadcast to the local market over an open channel serving that city (which is why Patriots games not featured on CBS or FOX are aired on Channel 5) should be extended to ALL sports.

up
Voting closed 0

Maybe get more games on free TV. Every Pats game is on free TV. The Sox might have five or six out of 162.

If professional sports wants to be the hobby of the rich with the cable TV and the new stadiums, fine, but don't wring your hands like morons when a generation of cord-cutters shrugs its shoulders.

up
Voting closed 0

Having their product behind a 100% pay wall will kill interest in the long run. The Sox did a thing years ago where every Friday night the game was on TV38. That was GENIUS marketing. Kids knew it was going to be on and they could stay up and watch it. They still showed all the commercials and I bet an unmeasurable number of people dropped NESN because they could see one game a week for free.

Bring back Friday night games on TV38!

up
Voting closed 0

Those Channel 38 Friday games were the best. Sean McDonough called only those games, he is so much better than Orsillo.

up
Voting closed 0

I'm sure that's why they stopped with the Friday free broadcast. They also did not have to pay McDonough's salary in addition to Orsillo's.

up
Voting closed 0

I grew up with the Bruins on snowy channel 38, with Fred Cusick, Johnny Peirson and Tom Larson in studio.

up
Voting closed 0

What drives me nuts is them making this whooOOOM whoom noise every time they change a graphic or show a replay.

up
Voting closed 0

It's a bit ironic that the writer calls out NESN for supplying unrelated information, all while having a bunch of 9/11 Truth links off to the side of their ostensible Red Sox blog.

I agree with everything said in the article, but still. That made me laugh a little bit.

up
Voting closed 0