Fuck you, Adam Shein

The BBQ Pit
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I have been trying to find an alternative for ESPN for any and all sports programming, as I loathe what it has turned into.

CBS has a cable sports channel called CBSSN, or the CBS Sports Network, which is currently airing a show called That Other Pregame Show, which airs on Sundays from 9 AM to 1 PM.

I’ve given it as much of a chance as possible, and I’m sad to report that ESPN has nothing to worry about.

This show’s host, Adam Shein, is a complete and total tool. He speaks in a strange, Merv Albert-esque phony delivery, and shouts continuously. If it was held in front of a live audience, I’d be tempted to go just so I could throw a brick at his head to shut him up. I would venture to guess he suffers from a napoleonic, short-man’s syndrome, and it appears he sits on phone books during the broadcast… But it looks as if he’s shorter than Napoleon, so his insecurities and reasons for shouting far outweigh anything I picked up in Psych 101. (No, I’m not a fan).

Anyone else stumble onto this steaming pile of “entertainment”? How did this short, loud, no-talent ass clown get to host any show, yet alone a 4 hour football-fest?

I’m dying for an alternative to ESPN. FUCK YOU, ADAM SHEIN, for ruining yet another opportunity for us to have a viable alternative to the “world-wide leader”.

<sigh>

The dumbing down of America continues. I realize I am no longer in the target demographic for many of the TV channels I used to watch. But it is more than that… When I was a kid, i wanted to see music videos on MTV. Now, MTV doesn’t even show music videos. Kids today are drawn to the reality-based television programming which has polluted our world. This just isn’t an age thing, it is a change in what and how people are avd want to be entertained. Today’s youth demands confrontational programming, which is why EVERYTHING has turned into a shout fest. All of ESPN’s “sports programming”, from ESPN’s First Take (i’m looking at YOU Skip Bayless and Stephen A. Smith), Around The Horn, and even PTI, which used to be an intelligent discussion on sports issues and is now a shouting match between Kornheiser and Wilbon.

Why?

Oh, and GET OFF MY LAWN!

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He’s been doing Sirius NFL for years. Never thought much about him one way or another.

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Maybe he’s better on radio. He certainly has a face for radio.

It’s just such a disappointment to see a network like CBS make an attempt to cut into ESPN’s market share just a bit, because I believe there are so many people like me dying for an alternative sports outlet that is geared toward people with a brain, and who don’t enjoy the screaming. But clearly, CBS is following the example set by ESPN, figuring the only way they will gain any viewers is to steal those who are currently watching ESPN. this is a bad strategy to me, but I’m sure their market research has dictated this format.

Shein is a squirrelly looking fucker, with thick black glasses and a pompous attitude. What’s worse, though, is it is clearly a schtick, a made up voice he created to make himself more recognizable. His speech patterns are also over the top, and he inflects his voice constantly, making sure he is heard over every other voice in the studio. I turned it off after he talked over one of the ex-NFL players who are on the show, giving his uneducated opinion over the opinion of ex-players who know what they are talking about. The program was actually good except for Shein. The mix of talent they had on the show was decent, and the players weren’t caught up in the screaming/voice raising that is so popular now.

Shein reminds me of Jim Rome, another guy with questionable talent who used his “shock-jock” approach to attract knuckle-draggers and mouth breathers to his radio and TV shows by having them write down 3-5 minute rants about nonsense, and finish it with the “I’m out.”

Jim Rome is not cool. He is another short little man who seems to desperately need to be thought of as cool. But if you are over 25 years old, he wears thin, and if you are over 30, you stop listening to him after a show or two.

Shein is a cross between Kenny Albert and Rome. Not a good combo.

small trivia tidbit: did you know that the Alberts have invented their broadcast voice? They don’t sound like what we hear on broadcasts in real life. I seriously suspect Shein has done the same thing.

Dammit.