Apparently, ESPN just doesn't get it.

[Joe Vancil]

I checked out ESPN this morning - hoping to see details of the Jazz's latest win.

Not being a particularly early riser - especially when I'm at my parents' place - I caught the tail end of Sports Center, where they were showing the plays of the day.

Now I had seen a Play Of The Day a few days ago, which was a rather impressive dunk by Ronnie Price of Sacramento against the Jazz.  Today's play?  Kobe Bryant with a rather impressive block of Deron Williams.

Apparently, ESPN has forgotten that the objective of sports is to WIN.  Two days, two plays of the day, both of them by members of losing teams, on plays not critical to the outcome of the game.

Now maybe it's just me, but shouldn't these plays be more relevant to the outcome of the game?  When I'm thinking Play of the Day, I'm thinking about go-ahead baskets, sideline catches that keep the game-winning drive going, a diving, inning-ending double-play with the bases loaded, or a kick-save of a would-be tying goal.  I'm not thinking about an irrelevant dunk or an irrelevant block, no matter how athletic it was.

Come on, ESPN.  A play of the day is "Havlicek stole the ball!", not an impressive block by Wilt in the 2nd quarter of a losing effort.  Derek Fisher's buzzer-beater at the end of the quarter makes for a better choice than a block by the losing team.  Now I understand that Kobe is an impressive athlete whereas Derek Fisher is not.  But if we're just going to show the most impressive athletes, why bother to make it "Plays of The Day."  Why not just something like, "Here are some great athletes."  Because it's not exciting - right?  So, instead, you generate false excitement?  Doesn't sound all that impressive to me.

For the two days I watched Sports Center, for it to have "Plays Of The Day" that were of no relevance to the outcome of the game sort of validates the criticism of ESPN that I've generally blown off in times past.  To have two of them AGAINST THE SAME TEAM, the hottest team in the NBA as I write this message, is just a little over the top.

[westkoast]

In all fairness I do feel that the Jazz are not getting the proper attention a team with their record and great play deserves.  Sure they are mentioned as the best team in the league but if this was Miami, LA, NY, or even Houston I think you would see more coverage/hyping/props.  I kind of have a feeling you are unhappy about that also.  I certainly would be considering they are dominating the league and were picked by NO ONE to be doing damage like this.

Now back to what you are saying...it has been like that for a while Joe.  I am not sure how long you have been disconnected from ESPN but that is what they play.  Is Vince Carter's 360 layup in the middle of the 2nd a game changing moment win or lose? Not really but they show it anyways.  Is an alley oop from Andre Miller to Carmelo Anthony 37 seconds into the 3rd a game altering play? Probably not but it is still cool to see.  The plays of the day are not always game winners, they are mainly WOW plays.  The kind of plays that make peopel flipping through the channels stop for a second and say 'DAMN'.  Like you have pointed out, sadly they only show popular players for that same WOW factor.  The Kobe Bryant block was pretty cool just like the Nate Robinson block on Yao was AWESOME.  Both not game winning or altering plays but you can admit they are great at grabbing your attention.  However, I do agree with you on what a play of the day should be.  I guess the other problem is there is not always those kinds of plays night in and night out.

This does happen to other teams and even the Lakers.  One example is that Ronnie Turiaf had TWO game saving blocks.  The Lakers pulled away with a victory in that game because he stopped them on the last play with two blocks.  Was that one of the plays of the day? No.  It was in the highlights for the game when they covered it but it was not one of the plays of the day.  Why?  Cuz most people don't know who Ronnie Turiaf is and most people like to be dazzled by players they know.  You have to realize that everyone here and other die hard bball fans  follow the sport much differently then the masses.  Where you are looking for team play, good decision making, and defensive foot work...Steve down the street maybe looking for alley oops, fade away 3s with the 24 down to 1, and open court dunks.  He probably doesn't want to see Deron pick a guy and then hold the ball until the time runs out.  He probably does want to see Lebron James slam dunk on Tim Duncan.

[Reality]

I like seeing both.
The athletic cool plays irregarless of when they happen, and the game altering plays, which sports media very often fail to identify anyways.

[JoMal]

This does happen to other teams and even the Lakers.  One example is that Ronnie Turiaf had TWO game saving blocks.  The Lakers pulled away with a victory in that game because he stopped them on the last play with two blocks.  Was that one of the plays of the day? No.  It was in the highlights for the game when they covered it but it was not one of the plays of the day.  Why?  Cuz most people don't know who Ronnie Turiaf is and most people like to be dazzled by players they know.  You have to realize that everyone here and other die hard bball fans  follow the sport much differently then the masses.  Where you are looking for team play, good decision making, and defensive foot work...Steve down the street maybe looking for alley oops, fade away 3s with the 24 down to 1, and open court dunks.  He probably doesn't want to see Deron pick a guy and then hold the ball until the time runs out.  He probably does want to see Lebron James slam dunk on Tim Duncan.

And you know who Ronnie Price is? If it had been Dwayne Wade instead, would that dunk somehow be less impressive?

Otherwise, I have to agree about the priorities of ESPN. Years back, when the Kings were, shall we say, baaaaad, a typical Kings' highlight on Sportscenter went like like: Knicks highlight; Knicks highlight; Knicks highlight; talk about a Knicks player and how good he was, then at the end, the guy would say "but in the end, the Kings won 128 to 70."

[westkoast]

This does happen to other teams and even the Lakers.  One example is that Ronnie Turiaf had TWO game saving blocks.  The Lakers pulled away with a victory in that game because he stopped them on the last play with two blocks.  Was that one of the plays of the day? No.  It was in the highlights for the game when they covered it but it was not one of the plays of the day.  Why?  Cuz most people don't know who Ronnie Turiaf is and most people like to be dazzled by players they know.  You have to realize that everyone here and other die hard bball fans  follow the sport much differently then the masses.  Where you are looking for team play, good decision making, and defensive foot work...Steve down the street maybe looking for alley oops, fade away 3s with the 24 down to 1, and open court dunks.  He probably doesn't want to see Deron pick a guy and then hold the ball until the time runs out.  He probably does want to see Lebron James slam dunk on Tim Duncan.

And you know who Ronnie Price is? If it had been Dwayne Wade instead, would that dunk somehow be less impressive?

Otherwise, I have to agree about the priorities of ESPN. Years back, when the Kings were, shall we say, baaaaad, a typical Kings' highlight on Sportscenter went like like: Knicks highlight; Knicks highlight; Knicks highlight; talk about a Knicks player and how good he was, then at the end, the guy would say "but in the end, the Kings won 128 to 70."

I know who Ronnie Price is and no the dunk wouldn't be less impressive if it was by Wade instead of Price (Or vice versa).  A good dunk is a good dunk to me.   I was speaking on what the average person flipping through the channels is thinking who does not follow the sport the same way we all do.  Not sure what you are getting at with this though.

Sportscenter is trying to fit in the most bang for the amount of time it is on so they are trying to go for the grab your attention plays moreso then anything else.  Did anyone see Smush Parker strip Jason Kidd last night in the plays of the night?  Nope because it wasnt there.  His steal from a short clip standpoint wouldn't have been all that great to watch but the steal sealed the deal for the Lakers last night.

[JoMal]

Cuz most people don't know who Ronnie Turiaf is and most people like to be dazzled by players they know.

 

I know who Ronnie Price is and no the dunk wouldn't be less impressive if it was by Wade instead of Price (Or vice versa).  A good dunk is a good dunk to me.   I was speaking on what the average person flipping through the channels is thinking who does not follow the sport the same way we all do.  Not sure what you are getting at with this though.

My point was that Sportscenter actually DID show the Ronnie Price dunk, though he is hardly well-known to the average NBA buff any more then your guy Turiaf is known. Somebody at ESPN spends considerable time analyzing all the plays in nightly NBA games to find what is competitively worthly to highlight.