Some Chide ESPN For Athlete-Centric Coverage

(From Sports Business Daily)

NEWSWEEK's DEVIN GORDON writes under the header, "It's Root, Root, Root For the Home Team.  As Its Empire Grows, Has ESPN Become The Worldwide Cheerleader In Sports?"  

ESPN "remains peerless at reporting, and breaking, news," but "too often, the network seems hellbent on sanctifying athletes, rather than merely covering them, because it's good business for both."

Also "troubling is how frequently ESPN's boosterism leads to bad television."

The network "has begun to tip unmistakably toward the kind of athlete-centric idol worship that seems more like the province of US WEEKLY than ESPN."

ESPN's partnerships with the NFL, NBA, MLB and NASCAR, among others, "have put its news operation, and SPORTSCENTER in particular, in a unique bind."

DAN PATRICK's departure from the net is a "watershed moment," as he "struck the perfect balance between wit and gravitas."

In Ft. Worth, GARY WEST writes the net's ESPY AWARDS "reflect an attitude that's at least discomfiting and, at worst, disturbing -- ESPN is more about entertainment than competition. Even worse, the network seems to possess a higher opinion of itself than the sports it covers."

NEWSWEEK's Gordon writes of ESPN's WHO'S NOW segment -- "Everything about the segment is so artificial, from concept to execution, that watching it is like chewing Styrofoam. Lots of people in the sports world took shots at WHO'S NOW last week, including ESPN's BILL SIMMONS."