PTI’s newest intern, Ash McDaniel will be giving you an inside look at what it’s like to work on the set of the hit ESPN show all summer long in her blog, Pardon Me and Juiced Sports is happy to peer in on the ride

ASH McDANIEL

Welcome sports fans to my first ever post on Juiced Sports. I’ve wanted to write here for awhile now and finally have the time to get on and get started. First let’s cover all the basics: I’m a Fort Lauderdale native who spent the majority of my childhood in the perpetual state of trying to forget the past season of Miami sports and frying like an egg at Joe Robbie Stadium. I guess you could say that sports have always been there for me and I cheered in the stands (or on my couch) every chance I could. Now I’m interning for ESPN’s daily hit show Pardon the Interruption. 

My blog here will be devoted to my sports experiences and my plight as an unpaid intern working with two of the greats: Tony Kornheiser and Mike Wilbon.

The other day I was cutting a story about the NBA Draft Lottery when it hit me: We spend so much time on the unimportant and more uneventful moments in sports (in this case the lottery for the draft) that we sometimes focus too much on strategy and not enough on the substance of the game. ESPN even added to my troubles when Hannah Storm did a segment on ESPN during the day where she had a mock lotto and pulled out ping pong balls from what looked like a clothing hamper.

Yes, the lottery is important. Without it greats like LeBron James, Dwight Howard and Yao Ming wouldn’t be where they are today. But, is it really necessary for ESPN to have coverage of it days before, to talk about it constantly the day of, and for little interns like me to sit in a booth and cut up video clips for a minute and 30 second segment on it? I think no.

I know that the NBA lottery is no comparison to the actual draft and even that looks like a quiet tea party compared to how ESPN hypes up the NFL draft. But you have to wonder why sports broadcasting and sports writers devote some much time to something that you don’t see immediate results for.

I thought Wilbon and TK did a great job covering the event in their segment because they talked about how the teams with the most need and the most chances to get the first spot are normally not picked first in the order. But I even wonder if that is all that newsworthy.

You have to wonder why sports broadcasting and sports writers devote some much time to something that you don’t see immediate results for

I do look at the alternatives and it could have been worse—another story on Mark Cuban and his endless need to fight with everyone or even worse, Brett Favre’s ever-changing saga of retirement or returning to the NFL. But there was a lot we missed in yesterday’s news—extra hockey coverage (I say this because I feel the NBA playoffs get more coverage, but that’s a whole other post there), Brian Grant’s announcement that he has Parkinson’s, Papi’s return to the Sox line-up, or Clayton Kershaw’s near no-hitter through eight innings that came out to be a four hit game which I still think is pretty impressive.

Again some coverage is needed; after all, it is the job of the sportswriter to report on what’s happening. But long segments and the mock lotteries that ESPN does are truly pointless. Give more time to things that matter and Hannah next time leave the ping pong balls at home.

Photo: AP

Popularity: 3% [?]