Yes, I was referring to its beginning on TV (for the obvious reason).
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Who's The Moron At ESPN/ABC?
- Thread starter landtuna
- Start date
Then I will change my opinion from broadcasters to their lawyers. You know, the ones who fail to take into consideration the real environment. Anyone who remembers the 'Heidi' NFL game will remember how much outrage it generated. I would have thought modern programmers would have learned from that but apparently not.
When there is a need for what can't be called by any other name than draconian decisions, then there is likely a hierarchy of criteria used to decide which of two games (or a game and an important show) is more important. That would include team standings and followings, and things like whether the specific game affects standings or finals.
And, as BigA mentioned, there may be contractual factors where there is no choice.
I'm betting that such decisions are not purely arbitrary.
The Heidi game was an entirely different era. That would not and could not happen in 2022. All NFL games today are shown to completion by contract in their local markets. Out of market can move to a more competitive game. But If I remember correctly the Heidi game was nationally televised. Big difference.
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I remember many moons ago when ESPN would air AWA Wrestling.
Late '80s, in a knee-jerk reaction to the mid-'80s wrestling boom and the success of wrestling on USA Network and TBS. The shows I referred to were in ESPN's very early years, circa 1980.
they began by airing scrabble tournaments, there was also a Twitter freakout when they aired e-sports, they don't seem to mind them airing poker
The answer to your first paragraph is yes; these were the finals of the 'American' teams. Both teams from the USA.
I never said they were arbitrary. The game in question was an elimination game with both teams exchanging the lead. The score was but one run apart at the time they cut it off. The game on the go-to service was still in pre-game warmups and interviews. The actual game didn't begin until about 25 minutes after the switch.
If they had waited those 25 minutes to switch viewers on ABC would have seen one of the greatest comebacks in LL history but the new channel didn't even mention the old game score at all. At the time of the switch the losing team was one run behind but scored 7 runs in the next two innings to win 12-6.
A historic event lost to posterity because of some fool or contract. Unforgivable!
No, it is exactly the same. The ABC audience may be smaller than the NFL's Heidi game but otherwise it was a nationally televised game with one team coming from behind in the final innings and although ABC couldn't have known the final outcome they cut the game when the issue was still greatly in doubt - and the service they cut to wasn't even showing a game at that time. Remember, I'm talking about Little League here and not the NFL.
There was absolutely no justifiable reason to switch feeds at that time.
I guess that's why they added 'entertainment' to their name - so they could air any piece of garbage.
And there it is. The timelessly silly Heidi reference. Time to let it go.
You mean the name that was there from day one?
It was LITTLE LEAGUE BASEBALL, a novelty event for TV, like midget wrestling used to be. Not historic, not significant, not lasting in impact. The only people who "follow" these teams are the parents and friends of the children playing the games. For years, it was something televised on exactly one day, the day of the world championship game, usually won by Taiwan. Why are you even watching this???
and also World Class Championship Wrestling (the Von Erich territory)
Even though I probably wouldn't be watching a lot of it almost any sports on weekend afternoons is better than turning the time over to local stations who will most likely fill the time with infomercials. I've ranted before about WREG in Memphis filling non-sports times on weekends with infomercials, and they're doing it again tomorrow afternoon for 5 hours! 
Thankfully on Sunday afternoon CBS has LPGA golf and preseason football, so there will be little or no time for WREG to put in infomercials.
Thankfully on Sunday afternoon CBS has LPGA golf and preseason football, so there will be little or no time for WREG to put in infomercials.
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Yeah, how dare stations make some extra money. Terrible. Just terrible.
You are dead wrong if you think only the player's families are interested. It is probably the best of American baseball with sportsmanship (which is not seen in the majors). It is the only baseball I watch because MLB is boring to the max trailing only golf as a good reason to take a nap.
Your comment that it was a one day televised event is not a factor in today's LLWS.
Midget wrestling is a circus act, just like the WWE. Trash 'sport' where the outcome is preordained and the highlights include an old lady tossing a metal chair at one of the participants. Look to the college or Olympic matches if you want real wrestling.
Comparing the NFL to little league baseball is ridiculous.
The comparison was ABC to the NFL. LLWS was the victim and obviously had no control over what happened.
So of course that can be extrapolated. 🤣
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