Over at SI.com, here’s Richard Deitsch on the new ESPN book:
Over the past 36 months, as he immersed himself in the nation-state otherwise known as ESPN, James Andrew Miller became admittedly obsessed with his subject. Charged with writing a book on one of the great media success stories of all time, Miller found himself struggling to condense a tale of empire building, fierce rivalries, sex and drugs, and self-reverence. He had enough information for multiple books after interviews with more than 550 subjects. The hardest part, he knew, was letting some of it go.
Ultimately, his tome, Those Guys Have All the Fun: Inside the World of ESPN, clocked in at a robust 763 pages, an oral history of how the network morphed from a muddy landfill in Bristol, Conn., to a broadcasting behemoth that airs roughly 70,000 hours of programming annually, can be seen in 200 countries and employs more than 6,000 staffers.
“They are very good at controlling the message,” Miller said of ESPN. “But at the same time, nobody has covered them the way they cover the Cowboys.”
Be sure to check out Deitsch’s podcast with Miller, embedded in the article.
Also, for more on the book, here’s a review in the L.A. Times.
The smug, jokey style of ESPN anchors is so annoying. The schtick is also lame..listend to 30 mins of Mike&Mike once and wanted to vomit. Wow, the nebbish-girly-man and dumb-jock football player!! How cutting-edge!! Not sure want to read about all these people though maybe good to poke through while killing time in a bookstore. Would like to check out the SNL one, anybody read that?
Yeah, ESPN announcers since the 90s occupy their own level of Hell. I did read the SNL one. Addicting and depressing. Just the subject matter--reading about talented, insecure people. Lots of egos. Some of it is interesting, most of it just feels like one long hangover.
I only watch the ESPN channels when a game is on. I haven't watched a minute of their other programming in years.
[3] Ditto. It was once the coolest thing in the world for a sports fan. It hasn't been that for a very long time.
I've read a few of the excepts here and there, and while its interesting on one level, on another level, its boring. Are people really surprised that in a giant media corporation where a huge ego is almost a requirement for success, some of the personalities don't like each other? I don't understand how this qualifies as news in 2011.
This is a station that employs both Colin Cowherd (radio) and Jim Rome (tv). And fired Harold Reynolds.
'Nuff said.
[5] They recently made room for Mike Lupica for an hour or two before Kay. Talk about the blind leading the blind (not to mention the obvious and phony setup for a radio cockfight)