ESPN Ombudsman Le Anne Schreiber wrote:

“I think the word that most divided people was “buzz” — the designated term during Who’s Now for an athlete’s pop culture status. In the segment’s graphics displays, voiceovers and discussions, producers and panelists seemed to define buzz as the technoid hum of money, media celebrity and sex appeal, as if that were the zero sum of popular culture. Which was buzzier — a Super Bowl quarterback hosting “Saturday Night Live” or an Olympic gold medal swimmer posing for “Playboy”? The divide was between viewers who thought it was fun to have that question “debated” on SportsCenter and those who found it silly but no fun at all.

No one will be surprised to find me on the no-fun side of the aisle, but what matters now is the divide itself and what SportsCenter executives think about it.”

Well, at least ESPN made a lot of buzz themselves with this series…

“No single topic has ever drawn the volume and intensity of unsolicited complaints to either my or my predecessor’s mailbox that this sports popularity contest has. On the other hand, the Who’s Now elimination tournament to determine the “Ultimate Sport Star” was one of the most trafficked user-participation features ever posted on ESPN.com.

“I feel dumber after watching the segment,” wrote one viewer, who said Who’s Now had finally cured his “addiction to ESPN.”

I only watched it once, and I already question whether I will be able to make it into college…

The executive behind the series, Glenn Jacobs, tried unsuccessfully to defend it:

“We — the SportsCenter management team — thought it sounded like a fun way to actively involve our fans. We liked the idea of combining on- and off-the-field performance, and then we threw in a little pop culture, because we believe that is how people consume sports today. People don’t pay attention to sports just ‘between the lines.”

You got me there, Glenn. My friends and I are always debating who is better in different sports based on what happens off the field. Right now on top of my fantasy football draft list is Tony Parker. I don’t care that he plays basketball or that he is not even worthy of a first round fantasy basketball pick. The fact that he is married to Eva Longoria makes him so much better than any player in football that he is worth the #1 pick. That’s how I do sports now.

“We clearly went into this with the belief that a majority of our audience is interested in both on the field and off. I don’t think there is just one person reading about Tom Brady’s personal life in ‘Us Weekly.’ I think there’s a large number of people who care about Tom Brady and Gisele [Bundchen].”

You’re right, there is more than one person reading about Brady’s personal life; maybe even three. But, most of those people are women. Us Weekly isn’t very popular among men, and SportsCenter isn’t very popular among women. Just thought I’d let you know so you don’t get your demographics mixed up again. Seems like top ESPN executives are supposed to know this stuff, but then again, they did do the series Bonds on Bonds.

Now, back to a sane person. Le Anne Schreiber gives her solution to SportsCenter’s recent sensationalism:

“With all genuine and due respect for the SportsCenter producers who try daily to find a balance between sports news and entertainment, I think that SportsCenter’s big tent is bursting at the seams from the strain of trying to reconcile irreconcilable audiences and values within one show.

I wish ESPN would consider adding to its lineup a crisp, half-hour, nightly news version of SportsCenter — just news and highlights, without gimmicks or sponsored segments or recaps, without self- or cross-promotion, with a consistent anchor team accountable for a consistent tone, with spare to no use of instant commentary. A prime-time island of clean, clear, straightforward news on which ESPN’s journalistic credibility could securely rest.

On most nights, such a show is already lurking within the expanded 60- to 90-minute editions of SportsCenter. Many viewers probably use their DVRs to seek and carve out just such a show, but ESPN’s producers could do a better job of it than we can, if they would.”

I don’t have a DVR, so I’d really like that. I don’t have time in the morning to sit for one hour, just to get twenty minutes of real news.