The Worldwide Leader in Sports...Except Rugby
Fans of rugby here in the U.S. got another kick in the shins from ESPN Saturday–just as they did from its corporate sibling ABC back in February. Back then, the emails went out among the game’s 65,000 registered players here in the U.S. to tune in to ABC to watch a sevens tournament out of Los Angeles (sevens is the fast-moving 7-per-side version of rugby). Alas, an NBA game went long, and the 5 p.m. rugby program kicked off at 5:27, and an hour-long program was downsized to 33 minutes.
Saturday was the World Cup qualifier match between the U.S. and Canada, starting at 4 p.m. on ESPN Alas, toward the end of the first half, announcer Dave Sitton said the match–a 6-6 nailbiter at the time–would shift to ESPN2 at 5 due to breaking news.
Which was fine, except for those who were recording the match on their DVR because it had rained for like 20 straight days where they live, and the day was 80 degrees and beautiful and ideal for just about anything except sitting at home watching TV.
So I had the first half of U.S.-Canada on the DVR, then an hour of coverage of former NFL QB Steve McNair’s death. That hour featured call-in commentary from a few of McNair’s former teammates, a Nashville police department spokesperson providing essentially no information other than confirming that McNair had indeed been killed, and some highlights of his career.
I don’t argue that a murdered former NFL All-Pro trumps a Rugby World Cup qualifier involving the U.S. But it was still a bitter pill to swallow for fans of the game–particularly those who’d DVR’d the match.
And for what it’s worth, the U.S. won 12-6 and are a step closer to the World Cup in New Zealand in 2011.
Hopefully ESPN, which owns the rugby Website Scrum.com, does better with English soccer.
Bram Weiser commented:
Alan Alda,
Actually, I was watching, too, and I recall seeing an on-screen graphic about the switching game several minutes before 5:00 ET struck.
I'm not absolving ESPN here -- they really didn't need to interrupt a live game to talk about Steve McNair's sudden and untimely death...what, was ESPN2 "busy"? -- but they did show something onscreen as far as I can recall.
Bram
Get a Grip commented:
You guys need to get a grip. Breaking news doesn't just push rugby off a network/ESPN - the OJ Simpson chase, if you remember, pushed the NBA Finals between the Knicks and Rockets to a split screen (and if I remember correctly, off entirely for a while). You can argue that was also stupid, but let's get real - a Super Bowl quarterback being murdered is big news - and should the Worldwide Leader have to change up their programming just so it's DVR-proof?
HieroKid02 commented:
The same thing happened to me. I watched the first half, then left to go to a 4th of July BBQ (with the intention of watching the rest of the match later), but all I got was repeated coverage of Steve McNair's unfortunate death.
Alan Alda commented:
I was there, the game was meant to be a showcase for US rugby and ESPN didn't even put the usual "Rugby can now be seen on" on the crawl at the bottom.
Mike T. Scot -- I read the same thing. Rugby Canada are trying to get money together.
Mike T. Scot commented:
I could not agree more. Have you heard the latest? ESPN may have to make up the game to USA Rugby.
There is a report from a rugby writer on Examiner.com about it this morning!
WVrugby commented:
I attended the match and was trying also to DVR it. Not only do I not have the second half recorded, but I am certain that with an opportunity to clinch a World Cup berth next weekend, I will be forced to watch more Steve McNair highlights and speculation over his death rather than an intense rugby rivalry.