If TMZ Sports Happens, Then ESPN Hollywood Was Ahead of Its Time

by Ryan Ballengee on Dec 22, 2009 7:19 PM EST

Remember that godawful show called ESPN Hollywood? It was ESPN's attempt to thrust athletes into the same kind of celebrity culture that surrounds actors, musicians, and talentless socialites. The show was hosted by Saved by the Bell alum Mario Lopez and some girl named Thea Andrews.

Its premiere episode garnered an audience of 0.08% of US households. Born in August 2005, the show died a death in January 2006. The ratings told the story.

But, if TMZ launches TMZ Sports as Sports by Brooks is predicting today (though the first place I heard it mentioned was at golf.com's PGA Tour Confidential), then ESPN looks rather propehetic in seeing our culture's interest in the selacious details of our pro athletes' lives.

The Tiger Woods scandal probably had a lot to do in escalating this concept to a possible moneymaker, but the guys at Sports by Brooks and Deadspin were the guys that set the stage for something like this - well before ESPN Hollywood ever hit the airwaves.

ESPN Hollywood wasted time kissing butt to athletes while it was on the air. It had to because it presented many of these athletes in their element on ESPN's air. Were it on in '09, ESPN Hollywood could not have been the first to air pics of Josh Hamilton's escapades like Deadspin did and then feature Hamilton on Sunday Night Baseball. That probably would've been frowned on by their contracting and accounts receivable departments.

Deadspin and Sports by Brooks can do that, though. They don't broadcast sports. They don't have allegiances that they have to maintain. There's no need to get a press pass. These sites have done great without formal access. TMZ Sports should use these sites as the model for how to make the follies of athletes into a cultural phenomenon. (And then, as Dan Shanoff points out, Deadspin and SbB will one up them with follow-up angles. Also, read AJ Daulerio's take on the rumors at Deadspin.)

As for ESPN Hollywood, one alumnus lives on in the celebrity news business. Mario Lopez now hosts the celebrity news show Extra.

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I believe like you do that

day of the ‘soft glove’ treatment of athletes is over. The OJ Simpson trial showed an entire nation could and would follow a sensational story about a heretofore revered sports figure.

In the pre-blog era, press, magazine, ESPN and network sports coverage let an incident die relatively quickly and rarely speculated past the given facts. Not so these day. Within 24 hours of hitting that tree, the new sports media had these FACTS:

Tiger was drunk
Tiger was on drugs
Elin clobbered Tiger with an 8 (SW,PW,9,7,6) iron
Before he left the house or
After he left the house or
Both ’em
He had one girlfriend
He had ten girlfriends
He had 200 girl friends
He paid off millions in hush money
His people knew it was going on
They actually pimped for him
Elin was only entitled to $20M
Elin wanted $100M
Tiger was changing the pre-nuptial agreement
Elin bought a house in Sweden
Elin is taking the kids to Sweden
Tiger was cruising the Bahamas on his yacht
Tiger would play the Masters

To the best of my knowledge, not a single one of the above have been confirmed after all of these weeks.

Until such time we actually get some facts, the only news person I will believe is Walter Cronkite

...from the land of pleasant living, Baltimore. Stop by and visit us anytime at www.oneeyedgolfer.blogspot.com

by One-Eyed Golfer Guy on Dec 23, 2009 4:54 AM EST reply actions

No smoke

…without fire…Tiger’s silence says it all.

by Easingwold on Dec 23, 2009 3:45 PM EST up reply actions

Amen!

by em66 on Dec 23, 2009 4:34 PM EST up reply actions

This is just an extension of the concept of "Sports Entertainment"

The boundaries between the genres of news/entertainment/sport are increasingly blurred. Supposedly serious news channels make no qualms about including a Paris Hilton update in their news bulletin next to Iraq or US Economy news.

So it really shouldn’t come as a surprise to anyone that the boundary between sports news and tabloid junk has also been blurred (and in the case of the T-Dub scandal, destroyed).

It seems only natural that there be a tabloid (E! type) news program dedicated to sports. I mean, half of the sports coverage here in Australia seems to be about sportsmen getting in drunken brawls and pee’ing in public anyways. Might as well make it official!

Dare to Dream

by PureGolfJourney on Dec 23, 2009 10:10 AM EST reply actions