Back to Univision

I tried watching the ESPN World Cup commentary over the weekend in the hope that I might actually learn the game a little bit.  Most Americans being occasional casual soccer fans like myself could really benefit from some basic analysis that familiarizes us with the rules and strategy in the context of each match.

ESPN can't provide this, though, because they're too busy trying to be ESPN.

But still: watching every World Cup game and halftime show produced for an American audience this weekend, it was hard not to realize just how wedded ESPN remains to everything else about The Brand™ that so dumbs down its coverage of every other sport to which it owns the broadcast rights. Anchors holding a tenuous familiarity. Soft-focus features high on emotion and low on data. An aversion to analytics and a commitment to game breakdowns based on intangibles, delivered by the "authority" of ex-jocks. A pathological fear of politics or social context whatsoever.