Buzz is in the Air

Buzz is in the air.

ESPN knows how to create buzz. I probably have said it over and over again. But this last week I really believe they created buzz in the most unintentional way.

After their number one columnist, Bill Simmons, tweeted some obscene messages about a local Boston radio station, ESPN banned Simmons from tweeting anything beyond matters pertaining to his book for the next two weeks.

Apparently, on the day of his book signing tour, Simmons cancelled an interview with EEI radio in Boston, and as a result, the host, Glenn Ordway, crowned Simmons the “fraud of the week” and continued to rip him for several minutes after that.
The incident resulted in some bashing by Simmons on his twitter page, calling EEI employees “ deceitful scumbags.”

Unfortunately for Simmons, EEI is a recent partner with ESPN.

But while Simmons is accepting his apology and regrets his comments (http://losangeles.bizjournals.com/losangeles/stories/2009/11/23/daily5.html) one would think that a bleak eye would be placed on ESPN’s number one writer who already has a book that is selling like hot cakes and was featured in a New York Times article last week.

Sure, ESPN is in the business of protecting its image and does not want their employees picking fights and blabbing off on their twitter pages. Even I should understand the role that Disney plays in ESPN. Last summer, I interned at ESPN Radio in Los Angeles and one of the first things my boss said was, “ At the end of the day the mouse controls all.”

Sure it does. But money also controls things as well. For ESPN, the Simmons issue is just more material for him to give fans. I would guess that fans are even more excited in anticipation of Simmons new weekly column. I could just imagine the title, “ What I did during my week off from twitter.” Something tells me it will be hilarious, if in fact Simmons does tell readers something about his suspension.

And then there is the intentional way ESPN creates buzz.

This Friday night, “The Worldwide Leader in Buzz decided to show the Milwaukee Bucks on national television for the first time since 2007, when they played the Los Angeles Lakers. While that game was more about showing the Lakers, ESPN will be showing the Bucks because they have the rookie of the year thus far, Brandon Jennings. The Bucks, who had their game set for 7:30 p.m., pushed its time an hour later in order to accommodate ESPN’s prime time showing.

Jennings is averaging 23.4 points per game, including a 55 point game last week. While teams like the Warriors and Knicks passed up on Jennings in the draft, the most surprising thing about his success is that he went to Europe after high school as opposed to college last year. One year after playing in Italy, fans, scouts and players were eager to see how Jennings would do in the NBA and so far he hasn’t disappointed. However, no one outside of Milwaukee fans have seen Jennings play all that much. What better than to showcase him on Friday night?

I cannot recall how many times ESPN has picked up a game to show at the last minute like this, but it is smart. For one, fans like me are looking forward to watching Jennings play a full game. Also, I feel like most fans are tired of watching the same five teams playing night after night on TNT and ESPN. How many times can we watch Lebron, Kobe, Wade and Howard? Sure they are fun to watch but fans also want new blood.

Overall, ESPN should continue this practice, even if it comes at the risk of moving other games, that may have been good games in hindsight when the schedule was made but not in reality, for a surprisingly good game that may have been overlooked.

So there you have it. Throwing curve-balls can certainly help ratings, I believe. And while suspending one of your own may not seem like the best image move, I would not be surprised if Simmons readership went up in the next few weeks because fans will be trying to guess what he will say next.

Sounds exciting.