Jalen Rose Laid Off by ESPN
Huge purge today at ESPN. Jalen and Jeff Van Gundy were let go, along with a bunch of other on-air personalities.
Weak, Jalen was one of their better on air personalities.
Exactly! Jalen is one of the few talented people they (previously) employed. I get canning Jeff Van Gundy as he, and Mark Jackson, are an absolutely embarrassing first team announcing duo (Mike Breen is solid).
Van Gundy is a dork but also has some good insights from time to time (imo). Mark Jackson is an absolute clown and shouldn't be paid by anyone to watch, analyze, or talk about basketball.
Uhh that’s a little harsh. Would did Jackson do to you?
well he didn't put Jokic in his top 5 for NBA MVP, for one. He also seems incapable of saying "Jokic" and refers to him as "The Joker" *literally every time* he says anything about Jokic.
That's just for starters. Jackson is an ass.
To be fair Dan Patrick also exclusively refers to Jokic has The Joker.
Mark Jackson is a turd though. On that we can a absolutely agree
The Van Gundy brothers are both intelligent commentators but if I have to listen to one if prefer Stan. And Jeff can hang around as a C or D team contributor but Breen needs someone better alongside him. It boggles the mind to think ESPN, with all of their resources, decided those two were the best color guys they could come up with. Although maybe decisions like those are why they are in their current predicament...
Has anybody ever seen Stan Van Gundy and Ron Jeremy in the same room together?
Yea, I did. It was a gangbang shoot.
Breen does PBP for most all the Knicks home games on MSG with Clyde Frazier. I encourage-- now that the Knicks are watchable again--anyone to tune in and listen to these two GOATs who are not only awesome at their jobs but have obvious chemistry and affection for each other.
Hubie Brown was and will always be my favorite NBA commentator. If not for Robbie Hummel exclusively covering college, I'd have picked him.
The dude is probably 50% responsible for changing the game of basketball. He's absolutely worth being paid to do anything related to his basketball opinion
Maximinus I agree with you 100%
I'm talking about Mark Jackson, not Jalen Rose. Mark Jackson let Steph Curry have the keys at a time when I don't think anyone else in the NBA would have done the same
My primary, and virtually only, image of Jeff van Gundy is him hanging into Alonzo Mourning's leg and being dragged all over the court.
Van Gundy (while still bad) is way better than Mark Jackson IMO.
They laid off Jalen but kept PERKINS?!?!?! Are you fucking serious?
ESPN has fully gone off the deep end unless Jalen's salary demands were astronomical or some shit.
Fucking farce.
Perkins is just an absolute complete moron.
All the reports seem to state exactly that: that the layoffs were not due to merit or competence, but were cost-cutting some high-priced personalities, and even stated that they intend to be more careful with any potential upcoming negotiations.
It was to make room for that hack Pat Mcafee and his $85M contract with ESPN. Fucking Disney-fied garbage.
I thought McAfee was great on Gameday. I can't believe that commands $85M though, but he did bring a lot to the show. Pollack on the other hand should have been shit-canned as he brings nothing to the show.
Perkins is way cheaper I’m sure. ESPN has been a dumpster fire for awhile now and it’s just getting worse.
It probably was the salary demands & ESPN’s long-held practice of booting anyone that fans start to like too much.
But mainly the cost angle. Disney is in the midst of a drive to lower costs by $5 billion (including by axing worthwhile ESPN talent, apparently).
Jalen's next job?. Jalen said he would "absolutely coach (college bb) "someday."
https://www.annarbor.com/sports/um-basketball/former-michigan-basketball-player-jalen-rose-said-hell-100-percent-coach-someday/
He'll be okay and probably better off. He's talented and had a rapid ascent for a reason.
Too bad. Looking forward to whatever he does next.
Meanwhile, Stephen A. Smith somehow still has a job.
Unfortunately, hot takes are the most valuable thing on cable news and sports programming. Measured, rational takes do not generate the clicks and views the average short attention spans move toward. And execs want more clicks and views regardless of the quality of their product.
We are literally physiologically programming society to be solely dopamine surges and emotional rushes.
This is never popular to say online because it is the belly of the beast itself, but it's true.
Agreed. And it will always feel funny talking about this on a smartphone as that is one of the biggest drivers of the decline IMO.
I work in a school and it’s crazy how big of an effect it is having on them. We are asking kids to do something that adults themselves are not consistently able to do anymore - do something they perceive as work for 8 straight hours. Adults can’t sit through a PD or staff meeting without distracting themselves with a phone or laptop, even if they’re also doing work on the device. It’s wild. I don’t see it getting much better as there will be fewer and fewer “good” options for people going forward.
Literally every single 5th grader had a phone at my school, most 4th, and many 3rd graders. Most believe it is their right to have access to it at anytime. My own son won't have one until he graduates college lol.
At restaurants I often observe and marvel at roughly 75% of diners with their head down punching away at their cell phone, while in company of others. I'm guilty of the same, have to break away from the addiction.
Do you touch your nipples why you're thinking about me?
I know you think about me a lot. For the right price I'd be willing to send you a picture of my butthole
My last post referred to elementary aged kids. From that you go to nipple rubbing and butthole pics. You’re pretty sick Chubbs.
Can’t even get parents on board with cell phone policies. They’ll be texting their kids during the school day. It’s crazy.
All the tech in society (don’t even get me started on AI and how it is negatively affecting the school experience) reminds me of the Ian Malcolm quote from Jurassic Park - “Yeah, yeah, but your scientists were so preoccupied with whether or not they could that they didn’t stop to think if they should.”
I put my phone away when I get home from work for at least an hour. Otherwise get sucked into it. Easier in the summer because I can do stuff outside. Been watching more foreign films to force myself to expand my attention span. Used to read a book a week, but I can feel my attention while reading slipping away much quicker than it used to.
There’s a lot wrong with education and it started way before the smartphone.
Absolutely. But tech has exacerbated many problems and created new ones. Talk to anybody that works in education and it’s in a really tough spot right now.
The only rush I feel when Stephan Smith starts talking is the rush to find the remote and change the channel.
Yes, numbers and eyeballs are all that matter. Mgoblog is a very unique product and has found a niche market that is very strong and reliable. I don't know that we can boast that this alone is a sign that Michigan has a more intelligent fanbase, however. At least not in the aggregate.
Try joining a fan group on Facebook, many of which are tens of thousands strong, and see how long you can make it without gouging your eyeballs out.
Stephen A. Smith was already rich from when he played George Jefferson back in the 70s.
I laughed out loud at that. He is about as loud and obnoxious as Mr. J.
Stephen A, Skip Bayless, and the rest of their ilk are insufferable.
What channel is Sterling Sharpe on? He deserves to be paid something because it can't be easy to be a total blowhard on TV for hours on end.
He actually quit the show with Skip about a month ago. Not sure why but the rumor is it was due to their relationship. I'm not exactly torn up about it because shows like First Take and Undisputed make my skin crawl. I'm constantly wondering if political discourse across all forms of media has been colored by First Take and the Skip Bayless vs Stephen A. Smith days.
Shannon. Not Sterling
Well that's today's news cycle for you. People don't respond to calm, objective, rational analysis because by and large, they don't have the attention span for it. I think the average human being's attention span is just a smidge over eight seconds.
They respond to HAWT takes. They respond to guys who get in your face and see who can yell the loudest. Who can be the most obnoxious. Who generates clicks, who gets retweeted, who ruffles the most feathers.
There's a reason that reality shows don't bring in a bunch of calm, reasonable, measured forensic accountants to live together under one roof. They bring in the ditzes and the meatheads. The blonde, busty girl with severe emotional insecurities and daddy issues. The guy who embodies the concept of Gym/Tan/Laundry, but also lives with a short trigger and a massive inferiority complex. That is what generates viewership, because you know you can easily get them to react and be over the top.
Sports, Entertainment, Politics, they all live by the same rules these days. Its not about being right. Its about being seen. And how do you get seen? You have to be louder than the next guy. More outrageous than the other girl, and on and on and on.
The 2023 NBA Draft was literally unwatchable, largely because of Stephen A.
I found the coverage on ESPN with Jay Bilas, JJ Redick, and two women that I cannot remember the names of to be quite good. For big events like that ESPN usually runs 2 different broadcasts. Try the other one next time.
Stephen A. Smith is an act. A funny one too if you don’t take it too seriously. He’s more serious on the NBA show with Jalen. I always thought it was interesting that he never fucked with Jalen. If Jalen made a comment, Stephen A almost always agreed.