The slowest week of the sports year has spawned another horrendous ESPN concept. You may have seen “Titletown,” the follow-up to the award winning “Who’s Now” from one year ago. Again, we don’t blame ESPN. It’s tough for good topic material right now. So rather than come up with our own creative solutions, we’d rather mock theirs. Given that, Burnsy has launched the tournament to settle, once and for all, what is the worst ESPN concept of all-time? Last night two of the brackets were unveiled: The Stuart Scott Region, and the Dick Vitale Region:

Dick Vitale Region:

1. Who’s Now was a daily series aired during SportsCenter throughout July 2007, in which viewers helped ESPN determine the ultimate sports star by considering both on-field success and off-field buzz. Based on fan nominations, ESPN Research selected 32 finalists to square off in a single-elimination bracket. The show received more than 5 million votes on ESPN.com,[1] and on August 5, 2007 ESPN announced that Tiger Woods was the winner. The show received heavy criticism from fans and sportswriters, citing it as nonsensical and irrelevant.[2]

Scouting Report: Heavy favorite in this tournament. I have yet to hear one person who liked this concept, and I forget who won the damn thing. I will give ESPN some credit for including Erin Andrews on most of the panels discussing “Who’s Now.” What she was saying or advocating I’m still not really sure…

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4. The ESPY Awards is an annual sports awards event created and broadcast by American cable television network ESPN. Begun in 1993, the event confers eponymous awards, fully styled as Excellence in Sports Performance Yearly Awards, for individual and team athletic achievement and other sports-related performance during the calendar year preceding a given ceremony.[1] As the similarly-styled Grammy (for music), Emmy (for television), and Academy Awards (for film), the ESPYs are hosted by a contemporary celebrity.

From their inception until 2004, the awards were chosen variously through voting by fans; sportswriters, broadcasters, sports executives, and sportspersons, collectively experts; or ESPN personalities. Award winners have been selected thereafter exclusively through online fan balloting conducted from amongst candidates selected the ESPY Select Nominating Committee.

Scouting Report: Some people actually like the ESPYs. I’m not one of them, but they are out there. Typically people like sports because it’s not subjective- the best team or person wins. This cuts against that, but it does give a lot of ESPN execs and celebs an excuse to dress up and look nice. So again, if Erin Andrews is among that group- it’s not quite as annoying…

2. Bonds on Bonds was a 10 part reality TV series starring former San Francisco Giants outfielder Barry Bonds that aired on ESPN. The show revolved on the life of Bonds and his chase of Babe Ruth and Hank Aaron’s home run records. It was produced by Tollin/Robbins Productions, producers of the Nickelodeon series All That and many other shows and movies.

Scouting Report: Virtually no one likes Barry Bonds. Not then, not now. So why would anyone care to watch a bad person carry on his day. It was hard enough watching him on the field- when we had to.

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3. Hustle is a TV movie about baseball player Pete Rose created by ESPN that first broadcast on September 25, 2004. The movie follows Rose as he gambled on Major League Baseball while managing the Cincinnati Reds, then was caught and banned from baseball for life. The title, Hustle, is a reference to both Rose’s gambling problem and his nickname, “Charlie Hustle.” The movie stars Tom Sizemore as Pete Rose and was directed by Peter Bogdanovich.

Scouting Report: OK, nobody really likes Pete Rose either. But unlike the Bonds show, they can dress him up a little by letting a likeable, straight-laced gentleman portray him in the movie. Wait, scratch that…

Stuart Scott Region:

1. Rush Limbaugh on NFL Countdown: On July 14, 2003, ESPN announced that Limbaugh would be joining ESPN’s Sunday NFL Countdown show as a weekly analyst when it premiered on September 7. Limbaugh would provide the “voice of the fan” and was supposed to spark debate on the show.[47] On the September 28 episode of Countdown, Limbaugh commented about Philadelphia Eagles quarterback Donovan McNabb’s role in his team’s 0-2[48] start to the season, as well as the media’s coverage of McNabb:

“Sorry to say this, I don’t think he’s been that good from the get-go. I think what we’ve had here is a little social concern in the NFL. The media has been very desirous that a black quarterback do well. There is a little hope invested in McNabb, and he got a lot of credit for the performance of this team that he didn’t deserve. The defense carried this team.[49]”

On October 1, 2003, Limbaugh resigned from ESPN with the statement:

“My comments this past Sunday were directed at the media and were not racially motivated. I offered an opinion. This opinion has caused discomfort to the crew, which I regret. I love Sunday NFL Countdown and do not want to be a distraction to the great work done by all who work on it. Therefore, I have decided to resign. I appreciate the opportunity to be a part of the show and wish all the best to those who make it happen.[50]

Scouting Report: How was this going to work anyway? It made absolutely no sense. What it amounted to, I’m presuming, was ESPN trying to garner some attention for an increasingly competitive Sunday morning football market. They got some headlines alright…

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4. Dream Job was an American reality television show from ESPN, which began on February 22, 2004. It was the network’s second reality show, with two editions of Beg, Borrow & Deal having previously aired. However, this was the first reality show from a network to offer its winner an on-air place on one of its shows. The show was hosted by Stuart Scott.

Scouting Report: I remember this. That is, I remember not watching this. It’s all well and good to give someone a job on ESPN. Problem is: I don’t think I’ve ever seen the guys who won this thing. And the bigger problem is: I still see Stuart Scott.

2. Around the Horn premiered on November 4, 2002, hosted by Max Kellerman. It replaced the interview show Unscripted with Chris Connelly. On February 2, 2004, Tony Reali, known as “Stat Boy” on Pardon the Interruption, became the show’s new host when Kellerman left ESPN due to a contract dispute. The show is unique as it “scores the argument” - points are awarded or taken from panelists at the discretion of the host depending on the strength or weakness of their arguments. The rewarding - and deduction - of points has changed throughout the series.

Scouting Report: This show is just annoying. No other way to describe it. Grown men acting like idiots, a confusing point system, Woody Paige. In my book, you get points for not watching crap like this. This show is nothing more than filler until PTI and Sportscenter. Horrible.

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3. ESPN’s Rockin’ New Years Eve 2005- Steven Van Zandt (Silvio from the Sopranos) & ESPN’s Stuart Scott hosted ESPN’s Rockin’ New Years Eve from The Hard Rock in Times Square, NYC… with The New York Dolls, The Troggs (performed “Wild Thing” on the Mayor’s stage), The Mooney Suzuki, The Chesterfield Kings, The Woggles, The Charms, and of course, the Garage Girls A Go-Go dancers.

Scouting Report: I’ll be honest: I didn’t know this even existed until I ran a google search on “bad ESPN shows.” Moreover, I’m glad ESPN’s Rockin’ New Years Eve 2006, 2007 or 2008 didn’t pop up. ESPN shouldn’t be doing New Years’ shows. Or original movies, award shows, or anything not involving Erin Andrews.

Feel free to chime in, and tomorrow the Skip Bayless and Stephen A. Smith brackets will be unveiled…

July 16, 2008: ESPN.com senior writer Ivan Maisel