Subject: ESPN2, professional wrestling and breasts Date: Thu, 29 Oct 1998 01:40:32 -0500 From: David Bartholow To: woody@wizards.com, fkusumot@ix.netcom.com > > 1) What did you enjoy about this year's ESPN2 show of the 1998 World > Championships? The highlight was certainly Brian Selden bodyboarding. That kid is hot! I also noted that Daniel Clegg was looking rather sharp. More seriously, the actual play by plays were interesting to me. I guess the other stuff was necessary for those who might not be familiar with MtG, but it got a little boring/lame. Maybe play up some of the rivalries. Make East Coast Vs. West Coast seem like pro wrestling. NWO Black and White vs. the Wolfpack or some such silliness. That could be more engaging than talking aobut the global appeal of the game... but perhaps that would be shortsighted. > > 2) What did you not like about the ESPN2 show? I did not like the cheesy music (and this is completely serious for once :)). To capture the young audience, which it seems is the primary demographic being targeted by Magic, try using some fresher jives. Maybe a little rap (Beastie Boys would be tight), some ska (even though ska sucks, the bands are only in it for the bucks), some pop-punk (Blink 182 or similar garbage probably, though I'd really suggest Propagandhi, or maybe Toby Wachter's band ;)) and even some funkish stuff like in the much ridiculed "deck, brain, friend, stir" ads. Also did not like Mike Long. > 3) What changes were made between last year's show and this year's show > that was positive? I noticed that Deadguys did much better this year (no Wollpert-Geddon). I think this could be taken to even more of an extreme in next year's show :). > 4) What changes were negative? Jeff Donais was a laugh and a half last year. Let's get that sexy canuck back into action! > 5) What changes would you make for future shows? I've noticed that many sports shown on television, especially the popular ones like boxing (Magic on PPV? It could happen) and professional wrestling, find ways to subtly show half-naked-large-breasted women. I feel that showing a couple of hopeful crack-whores I mean Hollywood starlets playing with the Magical cards would make ratings go through the roof. In a similar vein, have you ever seen the popular Playboy TV call-in show, _Night Calls_? There is a lot that ESPN could learn from that show... David Bartholow Official Scrub of Team DeadGuy http://www.people.cornell.edu/pages/dt26/deadguy.html