Credit when credit is due

I’m usually the first person to rip ESPN for poor coverage, over promotion, and any number of other misdeeds, so I felt it was only fair to commend the network for some highlights this week. First of all, last night – on what’s usually a slow night for entertainment (given that Friends is off the air and it’s usually a travel day in baseball) – ESPN showed “The Natural.” Granted, it was interrupted by commercials, but it was still fun to see on television. Even though I own the DVD, I watched it.

I’ve also come to like Gary Miller’s Clubhouse Confidential articles. While I’m not a big fan of Gary Miller in general (it’s hard to cheer for on air personalities who urinate on police officers, who are outside, from inside of buildings), his articles are entertaining and provide insight you don’t find anywhere else.

Yesterday I was also ready to commend ESPN for pulling John Kruk’s articles from their site. For whatever reason, I wasn’t even able to find a Kruk archive yesterday. Today though, it’s back, well, at least a new article. Sad, but true. I think ESPN would be better served by picking a kindergartener each week to upload a piece using only crayons.

Update: Apparently I’m not the only blogger to have noticed these sorts of developments this week. Another frequent ESPN bashing blogger, Aaron Gleeman, had some positive things to say about the network today over at The Hardball Times.