The Danica, Ray and Michael Network

Remember when ESPN SportsCenter used to be fun to watch? Remember when watching SportsCenter meant getting highlights and stories from all the major sporting events going on at the time?  Not 20 minutes of 7 foot guys dunking and 20 minutes of 7 foot guys who used to dunk telling us how and why today's dunkers are so good at dunking.

Watching SportsCenter the last month or so has been especially brutal. First, it was the Ray Lewis channel, then , when the Super Bowl was over, it was the Michael Jordan tribute channel.  He turned 50....congratulations and so what?  A few high lights here and there, a few interviews would have been plenty, especially since there really are sports fans who aren't necessarily hoops fans, particularly NBA fans.

Once the Jordan Jubilee was over, it became Danica's turn. I'm not a big "drive fast, turn left" fan, but I do appreciate what she accomplished by winning the Daytona pole is a significant milestone for the sport, but C'mon....For a week now it's been "Can Danica win?"...How Can Danica Win?"....How Can Danica Lose?"...If I was one of the other 40 or so drivers, I think after all this monotonous non-stop Danica talk, I would be ready to run her into the wall on the first turn.  She is not going to win the Daytona 500.  Someday, maybe. Not Sunday.

Sometimes, when watching the anchors strain to come up with a new, "hip" catch phrase, when listening to Chris Berman's amateurish play by play calls, or watch another "Top Ten Plays" that I know will include at least 8 of the aforementioned dunks, I think back to the early days of the channel. Yeah, I'm THAT old. Old enough to remember George Grande, Tom Mees, Gayle Gardner and non-stop Australian rules football. I also remember thinking." this channel will never make it."

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