2008 Woodie Awards
Television is airing wrong World Series
COMMENTARY
Andy Gates
Issue date: 9/30/04 Section: Sports
If you watch television on a regular basis you know that poker has become the newest fad. Until recently poker might have been on television once a year, and if it was, I was lucky enough to avoid seeing it. Now, poker is everywhere on cable. ESPN covers the World Series of Poker, the Travel Channel follows the World Poker Tour, and Bravo has celebrity poker. Ever since Chris Moneymaker won the main event at the 2003 World Series of Poker, these networks went all out with excessive poker programs.
Poker has always been a popular game, and with reality television still bustling, it makes sense for poker to be on television. In the summer, ESPN only has baseball and women's basketball; Bravo is trying to expand its viewership, and the Travel Channel, well, they have their travel shows. For these stations poker has been a good bet in filling their timeslots. It has the unpredictability that is found in sports and at the same time is cheap for companies to produce. Although I can understand why poker is on television, I still do not want it on sports television.
There are only so many times when a person can turn on their favorite station and realize the same episode is on again. Other stations do not constantly rerun the same episodes of a program; so why are ESPN and Bravo. Faithful viewers of a network should not be subjected to watching the same episodes constantly, especially when there are other programs that can be shown. You might be saying, just change the station or shut off the television, but the point is I should not have to. When I turn on my television and click to a sports station, I expect there will be an athletic event or sports talk. I should not be subjected to watching what is equivalent to a board game, in which the player with some strategy and luck wins.
A game with no athletic qualities has constantly been on a sports station for months. This game might someday be considered a sport by some. Although it requires mental ability, the only physical requirements are that the player has eyes to see their cards and a hand to move their cards and chips.
As much as I dislike poker on television, it is more popular now than it has been in years. People enjoy watching poker on television, and playing in tournaments, whether in person or online.
When I asked fellow Marist students and poker enthusiasts Brian Hodge and Mike Gelormino, why they enjoy watching poker on television Brain said, "I am interested in seeing the mind games and how they play certain hands," where as Mike thinks, "The millions of dollars that are put on the line the most interesting." They are like the millions of others throughout the country enticed by the money and the thrill from playing poker. I do not care how much time and money people put into playing poker; I just want it to stay away from sports.
Poker has always been a popular game, and with reality television still bustling, it makes sense for poker to be on television. In the summer, ESPN only has baseball and women's basketball; Bravo is trying to expand its viewership, and the Travel Channel, well, they have their travel shows. For these stations poker has been a good bet in filling their timeslots. It has the unpredictability that is found in sports and at the same time is cheap for companies to produce. Although I can understand why poker is on television, I still do not want it on sports television.
There are only so many times when a person can turn on their favorite station and realize the same episode is on again. Other stations do not constantly rerun the same episodes of a program; so why are ESPN and Bravo. Faithful viewers of a network should not be subjected to watching the same episodes constantly, especially when there are other programs that can be shown. You might be saying, just change the station or shut off the television, but the point is I should not have to. When I turn on my television and click to a sports station, I expect there will be an athletic event or sports talk. I should not be subjected to watching what is equivalent to a board game, in which the player with some strategy and luck wins.
A game with no athletic qualities has constantly been on a sports station for months. This game might someday be considered a sport by some. Although it requires mental ability, the only physical requirements are that the player has eyes to see their cards and a hand to move their cards and chips.
As much as I dislike poker on television, it is more popular now than it has been in years. People enjoy watching poker on television, and playing in tournaments, whether in person or online.
When I asked fellow Marist students and poker enthusiasts Brian Hodge and Mike Gelormino, why they enjoy watching poker on television Brain said, "I am interested in seeing the mind games and how they play certain hands," where as Mike thinks, "The millions of dollars that are put on the line the most interesting." They are like the millions of others throughout the country enticed by the money and the thrill from playing poker. I do not care how much time and money people put into playing poker; I just want it to stay away from sports.