"My Wish" on Sportscenter.

[billyhallfan]

I love this segment of Sportcenter, does anyone else watch, or have seen this, if not you should really check it out. The make a wish foundation, disney, and espn all find a very sick child and get them to meet their "hero" which in this case are athletes, so far this year they have been Wade, Johnson, Ortiz, and tomorrow is Michele Kwan, or tonight. Anyway, when ever watching these things it just kind of makes you "feel good" inside, to know that those kids probably won't live much longer, anyway it is a great job by espn, even if you do hate their network.

[ryne100]

Did anyone see the one last night with Ortiz? I think on of the pics of the kid had him wearing a Timber Rattlers hat. It was black with a purple "W", then some design on it.

[ajgodson]

It's nice to occasionnally see an athlete being something other than a complete prick. It smacks a little bit of disney/corporate self-righteousness, but I can deal with that if it helps kids. I don't think it's great, but I also don't hate it completely.

 

Of course, Deadspin has a take: deadspin.com/sports/the-i...272366.php

[billyhallfan]

ryne, i was thinking the same thing, but how would the kid get that?

[samwise]

I wish they would take these things off.

 

I watch Sportscenter to either see highlights or watch a couple hours of TO/Barry Bonds/Mets/Yankees/Red Soc/Kobe speculation. Not really really sad stories about terminally ill children.

 

I feel for the kids and their families, and I believe that what the players are doing is wonderful, but I just don't want to watch human interest stories when I am watching sports news.

[Roscoe Chill]

I was hoping the title of this thread echoed MY wish for Sportscenter, which is to have Sportscenter go away forever. I never watch anymore, and last night I just found nothing else on and decided to watch Sportscenter and Baseball Tonight...let me just tell you, that ESPN is about dead to me. There's some new lame tournament with all sports guys involved? I wasn't watching carefully, but Stuart Scott says "find out who got snubbed!" Are you serious? And Baseball Tonight with Eric Young is like watching baseball highlights with the sound down and one of my buddies providing "analysis." That analysis of course is limited to giggling and one word responses to home runs that apparently the guys didn't know were coming because they prepared absolutely nothing for their show.

 

Sorry for the rant, but that's my wish for Sportscenter and ESPN.

[JimH5]

I wish they would do something nice for a sick child, and not exploit the gesture and the child to create tv programming for their network.

 

It rings hollow when they do something great, and then tell and show you the great thing they did.

[Schlitz001]

Man you guys are harsh. I think it's a nice gesture for a dying child. I'm not a huge Sportcenter fan, nor a BBTN fan, nor a David Ortiz fan, but I am certainly a fan of seeing a smile of a terminally ill child. Lighten up people.

[billyhallfan]

wow...I know that none of you like ESPN, and none of you wish that a kid is dying but, that sure isn't the way that it came out.

 

amazing.

[JimH5]

I hear you Schlitz. . .but here's where I'm going in my criticism.

 

I love donating to charitable causes. There aren't many things that give me pleasure like knowing that I can make a difference in making the world a better place. I would encourage everyone to seek out a charity that matters to them, and to give freely and abundantly. It certainly benefits the cause, and it also benefits the giver, with a sense of pride and the knowledge that you're doing good works in the world.

 

Now onto the ESPN stuff. . .I honestly can't say that I've seen the full context of these spots--so you can whack me around and call me a blowhard with all the gusto that you can muster, and all I can do is take it.

 

But here's what I suspect it is. . .

 

ESPN doing a wonderful thing for a very needy child. And then they take every opportunity they can to tell you all about it. Why do they need to toot their own horn? Why do they have to draw attention to themselves, and paint themselves in a glowing light?

 

It just seems exploitive to use this kind, wonderful gesture, and then make tv programming out of it, in between Yankees highlights and NFL offseason reports.

 

Sure it's a good thing they're doing. But it's like the (Red) project that the Gap and other companies are doing to raise money for African AIDS relief. That project really seems more about hawking T-shirts and other premium priced consumer products than about supporting the real cause.

 

Now I'll stand and take my lumps. . .

[dadofandrew]

ESPN may well be increasing Make A Wish's donations by 2-3x this week, and a small amount the next couple weeks. Good for them.

[jason21nl]

ESPN isn't doing this to make themselves look better. I'm sure they do thousands of things each there that go unknown. I think the My Wish is an awesome thing that they have been doing for the last couple of years. Last year they did a my wish on a little girl who died earlier this year. It was very sad.

[Thurston Fluff]

I guess ESPN should only show the bad things athletes do. It makes for better tv and no one will be accused of milking sick kids for ratings. I'd be fine with sportcenter if they simply reported and analyzed sports and stayed completely away from the personal side of athletes. If they are going to get into their personal lives though I think it's nice to have a little nice stuff to balance out Balco, football arrests and wrestlers murderering their family a little.

[uecker9]

I don't mind the My Wish segments, the one where the kid meets the Eagles is very cool. I'd rather watch that than the stories about the backup middle sweeper for the obscure college.

" Mindy was born in the poor parts of Oslo and had to bobsled to America at the age of 3. Living in a matchbox and eating her own toenails to survive, Mindy had dreams of being the next Randy Breuer. Since they went to the same daycare she chose his number...blah, blah, blah"

[ccbrew]

I don't mind the segment considering that I hardly watch anyway, but I can't help but notice that for two years in a row, SportsCenter has been conveniently granting wishes during the time of year where there is only one major sport being played.

[Schlitz001]

Jim, thanks for making the donations that you have. I don't think there is anything self centered about making a donation and then telling people about it. What I see ESPN doing is helping Make-A-Wish gain publicity and encouraging more people to donate. I just don't understand where you are coming from.

[tyguy20204]

How do you not understand?

 

I hate to break it to you, but ESPN is owned by Disney, and Disney is a corporation. Corporations have the sole interest of making money. A company's survival is based upon how well it trades on the stock market, and how well it trades on the stock market is based on EARNINGS and PUBLIC PERCEPTION.

 

Now, first of all, ESPN wouldn't be airing this segment if it wasn't commercially viable. Little kids + tragedy = big ratings. Big ratings = big ad revenues = EARNINGS.

 

Secondly, the segment helps to create the image of ESPN as a benevolent institution. By filming the segment, ESPN improves the PUBLIC PERCEPTION of their company, which will in turn, either increase their stock price, or attract more viewers.

 

Now, the athlete, by appearing on this segment, automatically helps his chances at receiving top-money endorsements, and possibly increasing memorabilia sales, etc...

 

This is how capitalism works.

 

And that's not to say that the whole effort doesn't have any positive side-effects. I'm sure it does help promote the foundation, and of course it is a great thing for these kids. I am in NO WAY belittling the actual act of what is going on here.

 

However, if it wasn't a commercially viable segment, it wouldn't be put on the air.

[samwise]

My beef is not with the kids or their families or the people helping them out.

 

I am just expressing frustration that when I sit down to watch MLB/NBA/NHL/NBA highlights I get a story more suited for 60 Minutes or Outside the Lines. The reason I follow sports is to remove myself from the sad/boring/dificult things in life.

[Schlitz001]

Corporations have the sole interest of making money.

 

While any corporations goal is to make a profit, this doesn't automatically mean that they are heartless money grubbing machines. ESPN has made many large donations and started several viable charitable organizations

 

ESPN's V foundation for instance has raised over $60 million for cancer patients since it's inception is 1993. Every dime raised by the V foundation goes directly to cancer research. On top of that Disney-ESPN donated $2.5 million dollars of their earnings toward Katrina. ESPN has also started "ESPN's Play Your Way" program and is the number one corporate donor at The Special Olympics.

 

You can read all about ESPN's contributions HERE at the website that they have set up dedicated to giving. In short, they are doing a lot for charity that we never get to hear about.

 

The "My Wish" show that we are talking about is about just one of the 5000 kids every year that Disney and ESPN grant a wish to. Disney-ESPN are the number one granter of Make-A-Wish wishes.

 

What I am talking about when I say, "I don't understand where you are coming from", is how people can get so upset at ESPN for showing one tidbit of the charity that they do every year and still claim that they are money hungry whores. If you claim ESPN is just doing this segment for ratings, fine, but those ratings fuel the sponsers who pay ESPN, who in turn gives it back to less fortunate people.

[Roscoe Chill]

For the record, I don't hate ESPN because they are airing these "My Wish" segments. I hate ESPN because they are full of themselves, and have watered down their niche that made them what they are to unwatchable. I didn't mean to go off on them on this thread, in fact, I just saw the words My Wish, saw that it had nothing to do with wishing that Sportscenter would cease to exist and just went on my rant because I watched Sportscenter last night for the first time in ages...sorry if I came across cold in regards to these children.

[mikevan1818]

Quote:

---

ryne, i was thinking the same thing, but how would the kid get that?

---

 

I know Ortiz played for the Timber Rattlers back in the day and also has a house of some sorts in the Apple-ton area. He met his wife here in Wisconsin. I don't know if that has anything to do with why he had a hat, but it might.

[JimH5]

Well that puts things into a better perspective for the Worldwide Leader.

 

I'm glad to hear that they have been so benevolent over the years, and that their contributions to Make-a-Wish go beyond the segments we see on SportsCenter.

 

If what you say in your post is true--and I have no reason to think its not--then I stand corrected, and applaud their efforts.

[bigredrobbo]

Disney has exploited children for profit?

 

 

Say it ain't so, Joe....

[thablingster]

I don't mind the human interest stories. It gives me a break from gagging at "Roger Clemens is starting on Friday! For full coverage of his bullpen session and trip to the restroom we send it to Rachel Nicols!" or "Daunte Culpepper wants to be released, the Dolphins want to trade him, and oh yeah Tom Brady is the best QB in the NFL, what will the Dolphins do!?" talk.

 

I like SportsCenter for the extended highlights, and the human interest stories are a nice break from that in comparison to some of the other stuff they do as a break to the highlights.

[packfan79]

It wouldn't shock me if in the Ortiz segment the kid had a t-rats hat as Big Papi used to play for the t-rats back in the day.