Posted Saturday, January 15, 2011 02:15 PM
I thought ESPN was on to a pretty good idea when it hosted its “National Town Hall” last night in honor of Martin Luther King Jr. Now, I am wondering if the network is regretting what transpired as much as I am regretting watching it.
ESPN broadcast live what was supposed to be a two-hour long discussion about racial equality in the realm of sports, how far it has come and where it needs to go. Instead, we mostly got a group of panelists who appeared intent on pushing their own agendas.
“Pardon The Interruption” co-host Michael Wilbon seemed to be the only panelist who truly understood the spirit of the “Town Hall” discussion. Without him, the show would have gone from a disappointment to a disaster.
Wilbon repeatedly bailed out other guests who either couldn’t quite articulate their thoughts, or were starting to dig a hole that would have gotten deeper had Wilbon not intervened. He was terrific.
I was also impressed with Marion Jones, who was ser... [More]
Posted Thursday, January 13, 2011 05:37 PM
We’re only a few days removed from the BCS title game, and already I am getting bowl withdrawals.
I am an admitted bowl junkie who’s in denial that the 35-game bowl slate really is over. I keep craving another helping of Beef O’ Brady to cure my appetite, or another Sun Bowl to brighten the bowl-less winter days.
I keep browsing the cable networks in hope that there’s some bowl quadruple-header that I failed to notice in the original schedule. But alas, I haven’t found it yet.
So the next-best thing that came to mind was paying homage to the 2010-11 bowl season by compiling this list of highlights and lowlights that kept us entertained for the past month.
Bowl that most live up to its hype: Rose Bowl between TCU and Wisconsin.
Bowl that least lived up to its hype: The BCS National Title Game (not that it was a bad game, just didn’t quite meet the hype).
Bowl that was surprisingly entertaining: Little Caesars Pizza Bowl between Florida International and Toledo. [More]