ESPN was cool at the beginning. They turned out to be absolute garbage. Utterly useless tabloid shit.
In the dorms we had free cable, and it included ESPN. The early years featured boxers with records like 3-12.
Here are some of the ways they ruined sports:
- Too many interviews, TMI regarding these miscreant players. Before cable they'd interview the star of the game for a few minutes and that was it
- They started playing up stars. It was no longer the Cetlics or Bulls are coming to town, it was Larry Bird or Michael Jordan is coming to town. This encouraged more selfish play in what were supposed to be team sports
- Highlight selection. Home runs, slam dunks, etc. No slick double plays, assist, blocks, stellar defense etc. This encouraged more selfish play in what were supposed to be team sports
- Injecting politics. Massive turn off. It was bad enough to do that - but to make it even worse, it's the PC and fake news variety.