ESPN Insider
I saw an article on the ESPN page today about the Redskins, which like 95 percent of ESPN.com content was Insider only. I noted a little thing that said that the ESPN Insider service is actually completely free to ESPN Magazine subscribers. I am one, and I did not know this. So I just registered (which meant having to give a credit card for automatic renewal, but that's no big deal given it's just $30 annually). And my first impression of ESPN Insider, which I got for free? I want my money back. The article promises an evaluation of why the Redskins spent their money wisely this offseason. But there is no analysis of this whatsoever. Rather, you just get the most basic of analysis (Al Saunders is now O-Coordinator, they need to figure out the QB situation). If the rest of the service is like this, well, ESPN has quite the con going.
posted by Todd Martin at 5:42 PM
4 Comments:
At least you get Rob Neyer and John Hollinger, the best baseball and basketball writers respectively, on the site. Still, it's just not worth expecting much from ESPN.
The barely updated rumor mill is always interesting...and hardly ever correct.
Otherwise, yeah, being an insider allows you to read some of the magazine articles online and that's pretty much it.
Hey that reminds me. I've been meaning to ask you about my longtime friend Antwaan "Randle" El. Are Gibbs et al going with the idea that they brought in El and Brandon Lloyd, and Lloyd is the #2 and El is the slot guy + gadgets? Or are they pretending that El is the #2 receiver since he got the big contract? Or are they just going with "we've got WEAPONS and we will get them on the field"?
I think it's the latter. Al Saunders loved those three receiver sets in St. Louis, so I think the plan a lot of times is just to have Moss, Lloyd and Randle El flying around the field in different directions. They *are* weapons, dammit.
I can't imagine they envision Randle El as a traditional #2 receiver. Lloyd fits that mold more, so I think Randle El will be lining up in the slot a lot. It's a weird mix.
The guy who really stands to benefit from this is Chris Cooley. That guy is an excellent tight end (okay H-back...whatever...), and having a bunch of fast receivers makes it hard for other teams to devote much attention to him in the middle of the field. It creates major matchup problems.
The interesting thing about the Redskins is that they haven't had a very good offense in ages, but they've actually had a good amount of talent on the offensive side of the ball each year. It's just they've trotted out a series of schemes that don't work in the NFL (Spurrier) or are outdated (Gibbs). Saunders very well might change that. If they can stay healthy and get comfortable with the schemes, this could become a pretty scary offense in a hurry.
By the way, I'm glad you've forgiven me for my comments about Roethlisberger. I figured I might become persona non grata in Steelers circles....
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