MUScoop

The Ombudsman Listens

Written by: noreply@blogger.com (Rob Lowe)

Last week, after the abomination that was "ESPN Interactive Tuesday", we had enough and decided to vent our frustrations online.  The result was a Letter to ESPN's Ombudsman (http://www.crackedsidewalks.com/2009/02/letter-to-espns-ombudsman.html).  The frustration we felt had been echoed elsewhere on the web, and our blogging friends Villanova by the Numbers (http://vbtn.blogspot.com/2009/02/interactive-tuesday-no-thanks.html) and I Bleed Blue and White (http://ibbw.wordpress.com/2009/02/12/please-lord-make-it-stop-signed-fans-everywhere/) also chipped in.  In addition, Dan from the great blog Yet Another Basketball Blog (http://yetanotherbasketblog.blogspot.com/2009/02/bratwurst-hands-down.html) had his own light-hearted commentary.

However, what was far more important than the blog impact was the decision by countless fans (Villanova, Marquette, and whoever) to write their own letters to the Ombudsman.

Evidently we got her attention.  After scrolling through paragraphs and paragraphs of ARod coverage, Le Anne Schreiber concludes with (http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/columns/story?columnist=schreiber_leanne&id=3910033),

QuoteI have been remiss in not using this column to relay to ESPN the unanimous dislike my correspondents have expressed for a certain Interactive Tuesday feature employed during college football and basketball games. They have called the top screen scrolls of text messages from viewers silly, bothersome, worthless and "the dumbest, most distracting gimmick I've ever been subjected to." After the Feb. 10 Marquette-Villanova game, fed-up fans of both teams mounted a write-the-ombudsman campaign that outweighed, by far, any mail I received about the A-Rod coverage. Thanks for the feedback, but you can stop now. You have been heard, loud and clear.

Well done, everybody.  Well done, indeed.

http://www.crackedsidewalks.com/2009/02/ombudsman-listens.html

Yes, KUDOS to all of those who wrote to the Ombuds(wo)man.

Good work to everyone who wrote to the Ombudsman. I didn't think ESPN could find a new way to annoy fans...until I saw that "feature" during last week's MU/Nova game. I know that wasn't the first time it was used but it was the first I had watched an entire game with it crawling through the top of the screen.

They heard the complaints, sure, but are they going to stop their madness?  I bet not.  Is there a Tuesday interactive game tonight?

Quote from: mu_hilltopper on February 17, 2009, 05:27:35 PM
They heard the complaints, sure, but are they going to stop their madness?  I bet not.  Is there a Tuesday interactive game tonight?

Good point.

Bad press is STILL press...

I didn't save a copy of the letter I sent them, but I'm pretty sure the quote "the dumbest, most distracting gimmick I've ever been subjected to." was pulled word for word from the letter I sent in.

I also told them if they did it again I would petition the BE to cancel their contract with ESPN and have all future games broadcast by CNBC that way I would have a shot at earning a buck or two from the annoying crap scrolling across a basketball game.