Fellow distinguished lovers of the game,

I just discovered that ESPN plans to tape delay the Mar 7 & 8 CL games and show them at MIDNIGHT. Can you believe this? Well, sadly, you probably can. However, that doesn't make it any less shamefull. I can easily understand that College Basket ball and the World Baseball thingy going on would trump the CL in the USA. However, then why the F*** aren't they showing the CL games on ESPN classics?!

Please join me in airing your grievances with ESPN. Here is the feedback link:

http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/news/story?...=contact/espntv

Below is my letter to the bastards:


I just discovered that you plan to air the Champions League games on March 7 and 8 at 12:30 am the following day in the United States. This is absolutely disgraceful to ESPN. Either show the games or give up the rights to showing them.

I am well aware that soccer has a small following in comparison to the other major sports such as Football, Basketball and Baseball. So, of course, ESPN must cover those sports. However, I also noticed that at the time of the Champions League Games, you are showing some sports features on "ESPN Classics" that are NOT live and could easily be rescheduled.

There is a fast growing following of soccer in the United States. If you choose to actually prevent us from watching the games, please just give up the rights to them. Otherwise, please do us the courtesy of actually showing them live.

Josh
St. Paul, MN

What the fuck? I am pissed right now. This is the attitude which makes me hate ESPN. I guess I will be sticking to sportingstreams.com for the games.

On one hand, I always miss the games for practice, so this works for me, on the other I can see what an absolute joke it is to you guys who can watch it.

Well, I tape it during the day and then watch it right when I get home from work. So, if they follow through with this tape delay, then I'll have to wait an additional day....and stay of the internet soccer sites in order to avoid finding out the score.



Please just take a second to complain to ESPN though. They could still change it.

Thats fucking bull shit!
ESPN Deportes is even on delay. I hate ESPN so much right now. First they think Dave O'Brien and Marcelo Balboa should be announcing soccer games now they put the World Baseball classic on Tv.

Off to email the morons at ESPN

I emailed the stupid assholes. Still dont expect anything though. These mofos love to marginalise the sport.

Their TV coverage is tragically poor. This is true. The ironic thing is that their Website is one of the best on the net for footie.

Is it maybe because the british do the footie website?

Probably so. I imagine the website is quite divoriced from the crap ass tv station.

heres what i wrote

you guys suck and your stupid espn sucks show more soccer damm it

ESPN has been trying to kill soccer in the US for ages because they don't understand the sport.

They have the rights to the MLS, the CL, and the USMNT and they can't manage to show one highlight on SportsCenter!!!

Sportscenter is their most watched show, and maybe someone would be watching that and catch some MLS highlights where Landon Donovan did something amazing, then they would watch his next game on ESPN....they don't show highlights however and then they wonder why the ratings are low, they don't even support their own programming.

This is BULLSHIT, put the game on Classic.

I'm going to take some time and write a thought-out letter to ESPN. Might as well voice my opinion about how we as soccer fans continually get shafted by ESPN.

haha, they pass them live here and again in night and again in middle night, they pass them again next day... so bad for you

It's rediculous, they are huge european matches and they play replay stuff during the time they are shown... UGH, ESPN why are you so American?

Despite all this we can't forget they are showing, all the World Cup games. I suprised we get any soccer in America. I thankful for the little bit we get. It's another thing though when they show pointless things in it's place.

Espn would probably rather show poker than soccer

Probably? They show it all the time, re-running and re-running old episodes. I like poker, but damn I'd rather not watch the same stuff and I'd really rather them show an EPL game or two.

Poker is probably dirt cheap to produce, alot of editing in it, but I doubt there was alot of fight for the rights of it before that 2003 or 2004 boom.
EPL probably cost alot to get the rights to.
The CL games are back on live now though, that shitty WBC screwed the soccer schedule up. Its a joke.