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As a young sports fan I grew up with the TV constantly tuned to channel 35, ESPN. Every weekday I raced home from school to fill up on my favorite ESPN shows such as “Around The Horn”, “Pardon the Interruption” and “SportCenter”. I lived for this two hour block of television filled with analysis, predictions, and intelligent sports talk. But recently my love affair with ESPN has faded into a frustrating divorce.

If you have watched a one hour SportCenter episode sometime during the last year, chances are you viewed a  segment highlighted by stories such as “Will Brett Favre return for the 2011 season?”, “Where will NBA superstar Lebron James go?” or “How to build the ultimate fantasy football team”.

Do you notice anything in common with these stories? They all have nothing to do with on the field action. Instead they deal with over-used, dramatized headlines that detract from the actual game and the entire team aspect of sports.

So why would ESPN, who prides themselves on being the best in the business, take up such a frustrating trend? It is not completely clear. But it seems ESPN is catering to a market not interested in the integrity of the game. This group loves Chad Johnson’s dances, (I refuse to call him “Ochocinco”)  Ron Artest’s antics, and Randy Moss’ most recent “tweet”.

I do agree that these stories create interesting headlines and carry some value, but if I’m watching SportCenter I want pennant chases, football highlights, and player interviews. Not selfish prima donnas crying about their multi-million dollar contracts.

ESPN is headed down a dangerous path, a path which could lead to the demise of the most powerful sports network in the world. Hopefully they will return to their old policies of sports and nothing else. But soon it will be too late, and viewers such as myself will look elsewhere for coverage of the sports world.

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