{"id":7933,"date":"2020-05-22T12:21:26","date_gmt":"2020-05-22T16:21:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.ceros.com\/inspire\/?p=7933"},"modified":"2021-03-10T11:46:17","modified_gmt":"2021-03-10T16:46:17","slug":"ceros-quarantine-sports-awards","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ceros.com\/inspire\/originals\/ceros-quarantine-sports-awards\/","title":{"rendered":"The True Grit Awards: Valiant Attempts at Sports Content in Quarantine"},"content":{"rendered":"<span class=\"rt-reading-time\" style=\"display: block;\"><span class=\"rt-label rt-prefix\">Reading Time: <\/span> <span class=\"rt-time\">4<\/span> <span class=\"rt-label rt-postfix\">minutes<\/span><\/span>\n<p>Every major sports league around the globe has postponed its season. Massive annual events like the NCAA Tournament were cancelled; the Masters, the Olympics, and the Kentucky Derby were all rescheduled. Millions of fans, readers, commenters, and gamblers now float adrift, completely rudderless without sports leading the way. But no one has been left quite as high and dry in quarantine as the 24-hour sports broadcasting business.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Some sports networks have pulled off moments of magic with some incredibly inventive strokes of genius. Others went down trying. But all of them tried their best! So we\u2019re here to honor the booms and busts from the past 60 days of sports (or lack thereof). Congrats to the nominees!<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2>The Awards<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<h3><strong><span style=\"text-decoration: underline\">Best Sports Radio Theme<\/span>: \u201cOnce and For All Week\u201d on 94 WIP<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>Philadelphia\u2019s sports talk leader is putting some of the city\u2019s most hotly-debated subjects to bed\u2026 by debating just <a href=\"https:\/\/94wip.radio.com\/media\/audio-channel\/once-and-for-all-week\">one topic per day<strong> <\/strong>for a week<\/a>, and then hopefully never again. The highlight? To close it out, host Joe Giglio will go on the radio and defend former Philadelphia Phillies manager Gabe Kapler from all attackers (and there will be many) for <em>sixteen<\/em> straight hours. Stay tuned to see if Kapler calls in to say thank you.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3><strong><span style=\"text-decoration: underline\">Best Attempt to Lower the Bar<\/span>: Special Edition of \u201cESPN 8: The Ocho\u201d<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>Every August 8th (8\/8) since 2017, ESPN has brought a joke from the movie <em>Dodgeball: A True Underdog Story <\/em>to life. For 24 hours, the network turns into \u201cESPN 8: The Ocho,\u201d and exclusively broadcasts sports appropriate for such a low-grade network. In quarantine, ESPN gave The Ocho an extra day to shine, featuring events like sign-spinning, stone skipping, and cornhole.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed-youtube wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<iframe title=\"ESPN 8: The Ocho&#039;s best moments: Slippery stairs, dodgeball, sign spinning and more | ESPN\" width=\"840\" height=\"473\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/ys0hCegBp7I?feature=oembed&#038;enablejsapi=1&#038;origin=https:\/\/www.ceros.com\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe>\n<\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<h3><strong><span style=\"text-decoration: underline\">Most Honest Mistake<\/span>: FC Seoul<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>Korean soccer club FC Seoul had the purest of intentions\u2014to make its empty stadium appear more full by placing mannequins in seats around the stadium. Only problem? These weren\u2019t your standard issue mannequins. They were <a href=\"https:\/\/www.theguardian.com\/world\/2020\/may\/18\/south-korean-football-team-apologises-for-using-sex-dolls-to-fill-stands?CMP=Share_AndroidApp_WhatsApp\">sex dolls<\/a>, and they were prompty replaced. Unfortunately, the K-League didn\u2019t consider this such an innocent mistake. FC Seoul was fined a record 100 million won (about $80,000) for the mishap.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3><strong><span style=\"text-decoration: underline\">Best Buy<\/span>: Ad space for Tiger &amp; Peyton vs. Phil &amp; Brady&nbsp;<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>Turner\u2019s broadcast of the rematch of the golf titans\u2019 Black Friday 2018 faceoff is expanding by two competitors. NFL legends Peyton Manning and Tom Brady will participate, as well\u2014Peyton will join Tiger, and Brady will play with Phil. Fans aren\u2019t the only ones excited about the match\u2014three weeks before the event is scheduled to take place, Turner has sold out of ad slots for the broadcast.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3><strong><span style=\"text-decoration: underline\">Biggest GOAT<\/span>: <em>The Last Dance<\/em><\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>For 10 hours across five Sundays, ESPN\u2019s <a href=\"https:\/\/www.ceros.com\/originals\/the-last-dance-michael-jordan-espn\/\">documentary<\/a> about Michael Jordan and the Chicago Bulls made things feel normal again. The in-depth look at Jordan\u2019s career pulled back the curtain on one of the most fascinating dynasties in sports and highlighted many of the reasons we love watching sports in the first place. Was it perfect? No. At times, It felt like an MJ propaganda piece. Many of Jordan\u2019s teammates, like Scottie Pippen and Horace Grant, were disappointed at their portrayals in the doc. And we didn\u2019t learn a whole lot of new stuff about Jordan off the court. But big kudos to ESPN for rushing its release forward by two months to accommodate bored quarantiners.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div style='position: relative;width: auto;padding: 0 0 62.5%;height: 0;top: 0;left: 0;bottom: 0;right: 0;margin: 0;border: 0 none' id=\"experience-5ee1313c103da\" data-aspectRatio=\"1.6\"><iframe allowfullscreen src='\/\/view.ceros.com\/editorial-content\/landing-page-1-2-1-1-2-1-1' style='position: absolute;top: 0;left: 0;bottom: 0;right: 0;margin: 0;padding: 0;border: 0 none;height: 1px;width: 1px;min-height: 100%;min-width: 100%' frameborder='0' class='ceros-experience' title='Inspire Curious Sign-up Embed' scrolling='no'><\/iframe><\/div><script type=\"text\/javascript\" src=\"\/\/view.ceros.com\/scroll-proxy.min.js\" data-ceros-origin-domains=\"view.ceros.com\"><\/script>\n\n\n\n\n\n<p><\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3><strong><span style=\"text-decoration: underline\">Most Unexpected Consequence<\/span>: Tips for UFC fighters<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>Perhaps the most interesting effect of no-crowd sports came from the UFC in early May. Without fans in the building, the competing fighters could hear the ringside TV broadcasters pretty clearly. A few of them, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.tmz.com\/2020\/05\/09\/ufc-greg-hardy-joe-rogan-daniel-cormier-no-fans-tips\/\">including Greg Hardy<\/a>, said they took critiques from the broadcast to heart, made adjustments, and ended up winning their fights because of them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3><strong><span style=\"text-decoration: underline\">Best Pivot to Twitch<\/span>: Head Coach Gus Duggerton<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>Not only did Barstool blogger Dan Katz\u2019s <em>NCAA Football 14<\/em> Twitch stream shoot to the top of the worldwide leaderboards, often becoming the most-watched stream each evening it aired. But he also got pro athletes (like reigning NFL MVP <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/patrickmahomes\/status\/1257498334421532673?s=21\">Patrick Mahomes<\/a>) the social accounts behind the real teams involved in his career mode, like <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/vol_football\/status\/1263286095065894914?s=21\">Tennessee<\/a> and <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/texastechfb\/status\/1261722992687677441?s=21\">Texas Tech<\/a>, to tweet as if \u201cGus Duggerton\u201d was <em>really<\/em> their head coach.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3><strong><span style=\"text-decoration: underline\">Best False Hope<\/span>: The NFL\u2019s three-hour schedule reveal show for \u201chope\u201d<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>Thank you for your service, football. On the night of the NFL\u2019s planned release of the 2020 game schedule, the league and ESPN partnered for a three-hour primetime broadcast. ESPN reporter Adam Schefter <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/AdamSchefter\/status\/1258344040183083009?s=20\">said<\/a> the event would highlight \u201ckey matchups, schedule flexibility and, ultimately, hope.\u201d So congratulations to the NFL for ending the coronavirus.<strong>&nbsp;<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3><strong><span style=\"text-decoration: underline\">Best Antidote for Gambling Withdrawal<\/span>: Late-night KBO League broadcasts on ESPN<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>New Jersey, the American model for sports gambling, only processed $54 million in sports bets during the month of April. That\u2019s not even 15% of what was initially projected. And if you have a sports gambler in your life, you know how bad they\u2019re hurting right now. So what does it matter that the level of play of South Korea\u2019s KBO League is roughly equivalent to America\u2019s mid-tier minor leagues?&nbsp;There are still winners, losers, and spreads to cover. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3><strong><span style=\"text-decoration: underline\">Best Try<\/span>: ESPN\u2019s Remote H.O.R.S.E.&nbsp;<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>Indeed, this was a valiant effort. And it came very early in the quarantine, when we all were just trying to figure out what was going on. But unfortunately, this broadcast kinda stunk. On a technical level, each player had varying Internet quality, But bigger than that, frankly, it just wasn\u2019t very fun. If there was a positive, it was that NBA Twitter got the opportunity to complain about something together, just like the old days.<strong>&nbsp;<\/strong><\/p>\n<!-- AddThis Advanced Settings generic via filter on the_content --><!-- AddThis Share Buttons generic via filter on the_content -->","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<div class=\"myclass\">We&#8217;re honoring the best and the worst in sports during the coronavirus pandemic, from great TV to honest mistakes regarding sex dolls. <\/div>\n<p><!-- AddThis Advanced Settings generic via filter on get_the_excerpt --><!-- AddThis Share Buttons generic via filter on get_the_excerpt --><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":102,"featured_media":7982,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":true,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[],"tags":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v15.3 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Quarantine Sports Awards from Ceros - Ceros Inspire<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"We&#039;re honoring the best and the worst in quarantine sports news, from great TV to financial faux pas to honest mistakes regarding sex dolls.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.ceros.com\/inspire\/originals\/ceros-quarantine-sports-awards\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_GB\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Quarantine Sports Awards from Ceros - Ceros Inspire\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"We&#039;re honoring the best and the worst in quarantine sports news, from great TV to financial faux pas to honest mistakes regarding sex dolls.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.ceros.com\/inspire\/originals\/ceros-quarantine-sports-awards\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Ceros Inspire\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2020-05-22T16:21:26+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2021-03-10T16:46:17+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.ceros.com\/inspire\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2020\/05\/2020-05_Ceros_Quarantine-Sports_V01Lead-Blog-1024x594.png\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1024\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"594\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\">\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Tom DeVoto\">\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\">\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"4 minutes\">\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.ceros.com\/inspire\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.ceros.com\/inspire\/\",\"name\":\"Ceros Inspire\",\"description\":\"Just another Ceros Sites site\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":\"https:\/\/www.ceros.com\/inspire\/?s={search_term_string}\",\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-GB\"},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.ceros.com\/inspire\/originals\/ceros-quarantine-sports-awards\/#primaryimage\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-GB\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.ceros.com\/inspire\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2020\/05\/2020-05_Ceros_Quarantine-Sports_V01Lead-Blog.png\",\"width\":4288,\"height\":2488},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.ceros.com\/inspire\/originals\/ceros-quarantine-sports-awards\/#webpage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.ceros.com\/inspire\/originals\/ceros-quarantine-sports-awards\/\",\"name\":\"Quarantine Sports Awards from Ceros - 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