ESPN is Overly Biased Towards Los Angeles Sports Teams

Written by: Ryan Williams

     Prior to the 2013-14 NBA season, ESPN believed the Phoenix Suns would barely reach 15 wins or even that. Even when the Suns proved them wrong, ESPN still talked strongly about the team they thought would rule the league the last two seasons. The Los Angeles Lakers. The Lakers had a powerful lineup last season, which failed, then fell apart this season when Dwight Howard departed to Houston and Kobe Bryant got injured. ESPN still gave them the spotlight on Sports Center. While the Suns were making themselves known against the OKC Thunder and the LA Clippers and if they did show the game's highlights, they showed most from the other team. On the left side of Sports Center there is a lineup of what is to come in the show. It was always biased towards every LA team. I feel that ESPN just does not like Arizona sports teams. When AZ fans are traveling around the country, they want to see what happened with their team that day on ESPN. But no, ESPN focuses on football even during off season when other sports are in full swing. There are other sports other than football, ESPN! They jump on the bandwagon if any team is #1.

      Make each and every show equal for all teams that play. ESPN is very biased towards LA sports teams. It drives me crazy that I cannot watch my favorite team on a National sports show and how they showed up another team. ESPN makes every LA team sound good in their show lineup. Also, when the word "Arizona" or "Suns" or "D Backs" or "Cardinals" or "Phoenix" or "Coyotes" shows up in their lineup, we all expect them to show it. No, instead it randomly disappears either after a commercial break or during the show. Very rarely is a AZ team mentioned on ESPN. ESPN is unfair. I am not just speaking on the side of AZ teams, I want all other teams to be equally shown on ESPN. Whether or not a team is good, ESPN needs to notice the positives about each team, not just LA teams. I am sure every AZ sports fan agrees with me. Yes, AZ teams have a bitter rivalry with LA teams but ESPN still has to talk about every other pro sports team. Sports Center is not called "LA Sports Center" therefore they cannot talk mostly about LA. Again, not every one likes football. The sports fans of the United States want to see their favorite sport shown and talked about in depth equally with others. To sum it up, ESPN is biased.

(Photo Courtesy of ESPN.go.com)

Updated NBA Power Rankings

Updated Sunday, February 2nd.

1. Oklahoma City Thunder (38-11)

2. Indiana Pacers (36-10)

3. Portland Trailblazers (34-13)

4. San Antonio Spurs (34-13)

5. Los Angeles Clippers (34-16)

6. Miami Heat (33-13)

7. Houston Rockets (32-17)

8. Phoenix Suns (29-18)

9. Golden State Warriors (29-19)

10. Memphis Grizzlies (26-20)

11. Atlanta Hawks (25-21)

12. Dallas Mavericks (27-21)

13. Toronto Raptors (25-22)

14. Denver Nuggets (22-23)

15. Chicago Bulls (23-23)

16. Minnesota Timberwolves (23-24)

17. Washington Wizards (23-23)

18. Charlotte Bobcats (21-28)

19. Brooklyn Nets (20-25)

20. New Orleans Pelicans (20-26)

21. Utah Jazz (16-31)

22. Cleveland Cavaliers (16-31)

23. Sacramento Kings (15-32)

24.  Detroit Pistons (19-27)

25. Boston Celtics (16-33)

26. New York Knicks (19-28)

27. Philadelphia 76ers (15-33)

28. Orlando Magic (13-36)

29. Los Angeles Lakers (16-31)

30. Milwaukee Bucks (8-39)

Team records courtesy of NBA.com

Suns Considering Trade for Pau Gasol

     The Suns have been looking for someone to trade with for injured center Emeka Okafor. The Suns now see hope in trading him to the LA Lakers for forward Pau Gasol. Pau is currently recovering from a groin injury and will return to playing shortly. Okafor is also injured, but for a much longer amount of time. Gasol's salary is about $30 million more Okafor's. Although Gasol plays far better and is a four-time all star.

Information courtesy of:

BleacherReport.com

Suns vs. Pacers

SUNS: 102 <<<

PACERS: 94

FINAL

   

     This was the Pacers' 2nd loss of the season at home, 10th loss overall. The Suns swept the Pacers 2-0 this season and I believe this is a NBA Finals preview.

Leandro Barbosa

     The Phoenix Suns have officially signed Guard Leandro Barbosa for the rest of the 2013-2014 season. I do not see why the Suns wouldn't sign him. He has been a major contributor during Eric Bledsoe's absence. Not only is he a 10-year NBA veteran but he was part of the Suns power team with Steve Nash, Amar'e Stoudemire, Grant Hill, Jason Richardson, Raja Bell, Boris Diaw, etc. In the time he has played for the Suns this season after returning from Brazil, he has scored an average of 8.5 points per game, 2.1 rebounds per game, 2.2 assists per game. Below is a shot chart from NBA.com showing Leandro Barbosa in his 2006-2007 season with the Suns:

PICTURE FROM: http://stats.nba.com/playerShotchart.html?PlayerID=2571&zone-mode=zone&viewShots=true&Season=2006-07&display-mode=performance

Coyotes Name Change

     The Phoenix Coyotes will officially change their name to the Arizona Coyotes for the 2014-2015 season.

Canucks 5, Coyotes 4

   "Kevin Bieksa scored his second goal of the game at 2:15 of overtime, lifting the Vancouver Canucks to a 5-4 victory over the Phoenix Coyotes on Sunday night" abcnews.go.com states.

     Kevin Bieksa shot his fourth goal of the season past Phoenix goalie Mike Smith while a power play was expiring.
     Antoine Vermette had a hat trick (3 goals) for Phoenix, and captain Shane Doan had a goal and an assist. Goalie Mike Smith ended the night with 20 saves.

Image from Google

Information Courtesy of:

abcnews.go.com

Suns 99, Cavaliers 90

     Despite Friday's loss against the Wizards, the Suns pulled off a comeback win on Sunday in Cleveland. The Suns lead scorer was Markieff Morris with 27 points. The Suns were down 43 to 61 at Halftime. In the second half, the Suns outscored the Cavs 56 to 29... winning the game 99 to 90. Over the past few seasons, the Suns have led the NBA with comeback wins. Many of these comebacks were from over a 20 point deficit. The Suns now head to Philadelphia to take on the 13th place, 14 - 30, 76ers.

Spurs 101, Heat 113

     The San Antonio Spurs fall to the Miami Heat 101 to 113. This game was the first time the two teams have met since game 7 of the 2013 NBA Finals. Lead scorer: Chris Bosh with 24 points.
MIAMI HEAT= 113
SAN ANTONIO SPURS= 101
FINAL SCORE 1/26/2014

#6 Lebron James on the Heat goes up for a layup over #5 Cory Joseph on the Spurs

Information courtesy of:

http://scores.espn.go.com/

http://bleacherreport.com/

Masahiro Tanaka

     The Arizona Diamondbacks nearly missed receiving who is called the best pitcher of all-time Masahiro Tanaka and Matt Garza. Masahiro Tanaka came from Japan to play in the MLB. The Arizona Diamondbacks made it very clear from the beginning that they planned on being in the hunt for Japanese ace Masahiro Tanaka. The news finally came Wednesday that Tanaka was headed to the New York Yankees. Tanaka signed a $155 million with the Yankees. The D-Backs simply could not afford such a player.

Masahiro Tanaka in action playing for Japan in the World Baseball Classic 

Information courtesy of:

http://bleacherreport.com