Skipper Out at ESPN

[TKG]

Substance abuse issues.

http://www.espn.com/espn/story/_/id/...espn-president

[Mtn.Devil.91.92.01.10.15]

Substance abuse issues.

http://www.espn.com/espn/story/_/id/...espn-president

Hey, it wasn't sexual assault! Yay!

/seriously, hope he gets the help he needs

[UrinalCake]

I hope this means I can finally bring all of my clever signs into the UNC game this year.

[arnie]

I hope this means I can finally bring all of my clever signs into the UNC game this year.

Also, will see if Bilas finally agrees that UNC was/is corrupt. Guess that depends on Skipper’s replacement.

[UrinalCake]

Yeah it will be really interesting to see how UNC coverage changes if a non-alum is in charge.

[mattman91]

Addiction is no joke.

Hope he is able to get the help he needs.

[53n206]

Good luck to Skipper
ESPN has problems, but ESPN has provided me with many enjoyable hours.

[sagegrouse]

Good luck to Skipper
ESPN has problems, but ESPN has provided me with many enjoyable hours.

Nice responses, all. Impressive.

[PackMan97]

Skipper did his job and is not needed any longer.

[madscavenger]

STREET JUSTICE. It can raise its its head in many forms.


But honestly, mattman91 is right. He needs to get help and confront this head on ASAP.

[Dukelogger]

Nice responses, all. Impressive.

Agreed. A topic that shouldn't devolve into personal, petty attacks, because none of us, either personally or by association to someone close to use, are immune to the pitfalls of addiction.

[elvis14]

First, I hope he gets the help he needs and gets healthy.

For most of us, this is too little too late as ESPN always ignored the cheating done my OJU/UNCheat. It's not like they can show up on SportsCenter and say "hey guys UNC cheated for decades and we helped sweep it under the rug...sorry about that...no harm, no foul". It was foul and there was harm.

You have to figure that UNCheat will make up a job for Skipper to pay him back.

[Billy Dat]

Hey, it wasn't sexual assault! Yay!

/seriously, hope he gets the help he needs

There are a lot of cynical takes that this is some kind of diversion from a soon-to-come sexual harassment explosion at ESPN.

[Mtn.Devil.91.92.01.10.15]

There are a lot of cynical takes that this is some kind of diversion from a soon-to-come sexual harassment explosion at ESPN.

Nothing surprises me anymore, but lots of things disappoint me.

[WiJoe]

better health

good riddance

[UrinalCake]

Delivering sports programming to 18-35 year old males should be a pretty straightforward and easy gig. Back in the day, ESPN had a virtual monopoly over the market. But they failed to adapt with the times. They invested heavily in NASCAR and fringe sports like the X Games and women’s soccer. They failed to make their content available to cable cutters, trying to force people to buy cable TV subscriptions. And they adopted a tone that was more in-your-face, let’s argue about everything rather than just showing us sports. Those were the reasons for the network losing so much market share IMO.

No idea how much control the Skipper had over these types of decisions. As others have said I wish him well in his recovery, but based on how he swept UNC’s cheating under the rug I am glad he is gone. ESPN literally sent out a memo before every UNC-Duke game in Cameron that prohibited signs referencing the scandal, threatening to throw out any fans who brought them. This was the largest case of academic fraud in the history of college sports, and the “worldwide leader” completely ignored it.

[TKG]

No idea how much control the Skipper had over these types of decisions. As others have said I wish him well in his recovery, but based on how he swept UNC’s cheating under the rug I am glad he is gone. ESPN literally sent out a memo before every UNC-Duke game in Cameron that prohibited signs referencing the scandal, threatening to throw out any fans who brought them. This was the largest case of academic fraud in the history of college sports, and the “worldwide leader” completely ignored it.

I am sure John Swafford and Erskine Bowles will provide a nice landing spot as a reward for a job well done.

[cato]

Delivering sports programming to 18-35 year old males should be a pretty straightforward and easy gig.

Should it? It was when I was 18, but I’m now out of that demographic and have been for a while. I also never watch any sports channel except to watch actual sports.

At any rate, the young men I know in the 18-25 range basically never watch ESPN, unless they are watching actual sports. And they seem to watch a lot less of that than I did.

When my brother and I watch sports over the holidays, my 21 year old nephew will at some point end up in the gaming room playing video games with his friends.

[flyingdutchdevil]

Delivering sports programming to 18-35 year old males should be a pretty straightforward and easy gig. Back in the day, ESPN had a virtual monopoly over the market. But they failed to adapt with the times. They invested heavily in NASCAR and fringe sports like the X Games and women’s soccer. They failed to make their content available to cable cutters, trying to force people to buy cable TV subscriptions. And they adopted a tone that was more in-your-face, let’s argue about everything rather than just showing us sports. Those were the reasons for the network losing so much market share IMO.

No idea how much control the Skipper had over these types of decisions. As others have said I wish him well in his recovery, but based on how he swept UNC’s cheating under the rug I am glad he is gone. ESPN literally sent out a memo before every UNC-Duke game in Cameron that prohibited signs referencing the scandal, threatening to throw out any fans who brought them. This was the largest case of academic fraud in the history of college sports, and the “worldwide leader” completely ignored it.

I know he's hated around here, but some really good insight from Bill Simmons on the ESPN downturn: https://nypost.com/2017/05/31/bill-s...kes-espn-made/

The leadership dynamics between Bodenheimer and Skipper is really interesting.

[Mtn.Devil.91.92.01.10.15]

Delivering sports programming to 18-35 year old males should be a pretty straightforward and easy gig

Today I learned I am no longer ESPN's target demographic. This explains a lot actually.