As ESPN scrambles to cut costs, they keep shedding the components of their empire that require actual thought and free speech. ESPN for grown-ups is pretty much just 30 for 30, Outside the Lines and E:60. Now that Grantland and Olbermann are gone, there are far fewer free thinking adults in the room.
Of course, First Take continues to be a cash cow and ratings bonanza. That’s life- pure idiocy and mediocrity are rewarded while the intelligent painfully learn first hand, time and time again that it pays to dumb it down.
Sorry Grantland and Bill Simmons, we over-spent on broadcast rights and need to make up the financial windfall somewhere.
Let’s appreciate ESPN Films’ Peabody and Emmy Award-winning 30 for 30 series, before it gets cut too.
Next up is “Chasing Tyson,” which premieres Tuesday, Nov. 10, at 8 p.m. ET on ESPN. Directed by the Oscar- and Emmy-nominated filmmaker Steven Cantor, the film examines why so many years went by before Evander Holyfield and Mike Tyson finally met in the ring.
Here’s more on the Mike Tyson 30 for 30 via ESPN PR. We’ll have a review of the film posted by Monday morning articulating what you should expect when you watch “Chasing Tyson.”
Holyfield was a journeyman boxer who had earned respect with victorious bouts against greats like Buster Douglas, Riddick Bowe and George Foreman. He won the heavyweight championship belt four times. But it was Mike Tyson ’s outsized personality and ferocious punches that cast a commanding shadow over boxing in the 1980s and ’90s.Even when “Iron Mike” was in prison, the heavyweight division belonged to him. Meanwhile, Holyfield endured years of delay while waiting for the opportunity to take down Tyson.
Though Holyfield dramatically lost and recaptured the heavyweight crown, and then lost it again, even he understood that his career would ultimately be defined by how he stood up to Tyson – if he ever got his chance. By the time of their much-hyped and oft-delayed heavyweight title bout in November of 1996, Holyfield was 34 years old and considered past his prime.Four years younger, Tyson was heavily favored to be standing over another meek and easily vanquished opponent at the end. Instead, the world got not one, but two of the sport’s most memorable fights – for very different reasons.
Check back here for a review of Chasing Tyson in the next couple of days. I must warn you now though, that my general interest in boxing starts and ends with the old Nintendo game Mike Tyson Punchout.
Paul M. Banks owns, operates and sometimes writes The Sports Bank.net, which is partnered with FOX Sports Engage Network. The website is also featured on News Now.
Banks, a former writer for the Washington Times, currently contributes to the Chicago Tribune RedEye. He also appears regularly on numerous television and radio talk shows all across the country. Catch him Tuesdays on KOZN 1620 The Zone.
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