ESPN has fallen into the journalistic trap of revenue dictating the story rather than reporting the story well and letting revenue follow.  ESPN has found it more convenient and easier to do the following:

1) Continue to promote Bonds and treat him with a soft touch (by the way – I already respected him but Hank Aaron, earned my eternal gratitude for stating that he will not be on hand when Bonds breaks the record – let Bonds pull the race card on that one).

2) Pander to the “Red Sox Nation” every chance they get to keep them interested and tuning in and humming “ba da da, ba da da.”

3) Fuel the fire on the anti-A-Rod story because A-Rod is a lightning rod even though the story is a) old; and b) not accurate anymore.  Oh by the way, they get New Yorkers interested and Red Sox nation viewers (see #2 above).

Once upon a time, ESPN served an important function on reporting the happenings in the world of sports and it was entertaining too.  Perhaps it’s a function of my age, (no longer in the 18-34 demographic) where I crave more substance than flash, or maybe I’ve outgrown their humor, but I believe the above 3 issues are valid critiques of their coverage. 

A word about Steve Phillips.  Mike is right he’s lousy.  The Mets spent a boatload of money (Alomar, Vaughn, Ventura, etc.) and it paid off they got to the World Series in 2000- not beause of anything special that Phillips did but because the Braves got picked off by the Cardinals that year.  He also got lucky after thousands of predictions, one actually coming true: The Tigers over the Yankees, not because he’s a genius but because he’s from Michigan.  If you recall, he said the Yankees wouldn’t even make the post season last year. Â