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*From John Goodson in Tallahassee, Florida:
"I used to love ESPN and I still watch it but only because they cover so much of college football. Other than that, I rarely watch it at all anymore other than college football on ESPN Classic."

Great point, John. During the football season, I usually watch the Saturday night college game of the week. One of the best moves that ESPN made was to buy the Classic Network and rename it "ESPN Classic." I caught the Miami FL-Maryland game from 1983 the other night. Bernie Kosar was throwing darts to Eddie Brown. Meanwhile, Frank Reich was Maryland's signal caller. It was pretty cool. I have to go on record as saying that I am a fan of ESPN Classic. 

*From Charles Hinder --
"Gotta disagree with you on Chris Berman. The guy is a loud mouth. Why does he feel the need to yell all of the time?"

*From John Meadors:
"…did you notice the way that Sean Salisbury and the NFL crew (Berman included) fell all over themselves bowing down to the NFL after that HORRIBLE call in the Patriot-Raider game?"

I must say, Charles, I haven't been annoyed just yet with his yelling. At least when he does yell, he speaks English, unlike Stuart Scott, who yells crap that has absolutely no meaning. Ed Amiss wrote, "Stuart Scott may think he's funny but he's not," and Jim Hendrickson wrote, "By the way, I really can't stand Stuart 'Boo Yeah' Scott. I have never understood a damn thing he says." Agreed, gentlemen. 

The problem that I have with Berman these days has nothing to do with the volume of his voice. What does annoy me about Berman? Let me tell you. Mr. Meadors is absolutely correct. Berman and company have turned into total schills for the NFL. Every time there's a bad call, Berman goes out of his way to tell us that it was the right call. It's as though the director of officials calls him and tells him what to say (considering they have a huge contract with the NFL, that's probably the case). It totally infuriates me. It almost pisses me off as much as when Scott says, "Boo-Yeah!" I mean, what the hell DOES that mean?

Many of you out there brought up the point about Disney owning ESPN and attributed that fact to their downfall. I couldn't agree with you people more. Thanks for pointing that out. Here are some of the comments made which I agree with:

*From Patrick Burgess:
"What the hell did you expect from that Mickey Mouse outfit? They have sucked ever since the Walt Dizzy boys took over." 

Well said. 

*From Thomas Mattingly in Wilton, N.Y.:
"Perhaps to see the issue for what it really is, peel back the layers. ABC. Disney. There's the story."

Thomas, be on the lookout for a rant on Disney in the future. Michael Eisner has taken one of the best American companies and turned it into crap.

Perhaps the part of my column that really seemed to hit a nerve dealt with the Jesse Jackson incident at ESPN. Many of you sounded off on the good ol' "Reverend" in some excellent e-mails like these:

*Ddd5799 (didn't give name) sent me a four page e-mail. I can't go over the entire thing in this space, but he made some great points like this:
"This ethnic sensitivity has gotten out of hand. Mr. Jackson is the national V.P. for perceived slights." 

I love that line, Ddd. I couldn't have said it better myself.

*Here is another one I laughed out loud at -- this is from Rich in Springfield, MA (I won't give his last name because he mentions the IRS):
"I agree with all of your points, particularly Jesse Jackson. It is incredible how this racist pig can get away with what he does. You didn't even mention his 'rainbow coalition' -- the scam of all scams. Where is the IRS? Certainly not auditing Enron or Jesse. We are all bleeped!"

I am not so sure about that last line, Rich. I think people are wising up to his ways and let's hope that some of his followers open up their eyes...soon.

*I especially liked this one from KrmWelsh -- even though it was IN ALL CAPS:
"Shawn, your comments about Jesse Jackson were direct and to the point and, quite frankly, were truthful. Why doesn't someone form a 'coalition' to get this guy out of the public eye and force him to get a real job?"

That's a good question, Welsh. Let me tell you why. The Left has done a wonderful job of instantly ending a debate by calling you a derogatory name like "racist" if you happen to disagree with them. How many times have you been called "homophobic" or "sexist" or some other name like that when simply debating an issue? It's absurd, of course, but it works for them. This is a common thing to do when the logical facts go against you. Could you imagine what they would do to you if you formed a coalition to attack a black "leader" like Jesse? 

*I unintentionally left out an important reason not to like ESPN anymore, and Mike English from Cleveland, Ohio, thankfully pointed it out:
Mike wrote, "Never in the history of television have I seen a network do so much self-promotion. They constantly bombard you with reminders that SportsCenter is up next, and start hyping the next week's Sunday and Monday night football games during the opening possession of the one you're watching. And don't get me started on the damn fleece ads for the magazine…the list goes on." 

Excellent e-mail, Mike. It seems like they have been hyping their first movie, "A Season on the Brink" for about seven and a half years now. And how about that idiot who actually takes the time to make a sign that says, "SportsCenter is Next" and brings it to the game in the hopes of getting a little air time? They always show him, though. 

ESPN the Magazine? It's a horrid publication. Half the time, I get to the end of a story and I don't even know it because of all the slang they use. It's like they are trying so hard to appeal to the snowboard community that they forget that not all of us are stoned out of our minds out here. I honestly get a buzz when I attempt to read that rag. 

Again, thanks for all the comments. The ESPN-watch will not die. I promise you that. And keep the e-mails coming….

See more of Shawn's columns at SportsTerminal.com!

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