Deep within the nether regions of ESPN's expansive online empire, Bristol has done something totally unexpected… and yet totally predictable given the current internet experience.
ESPN has launched a tumblr page.
I don't know how you get there, I don't know where it lives at ESPN.com, I don't know how long it's been in existence, but I know it's there somewhere and it features sometimes weird, sometimes disturbing, sometimes fascinating, and sometimes humorous pictures. Like the seductive pose you see above from Scott Van Pelt. You really could use any of those adjectives to describe it.
Why did ESPN launch their own tumblr page? This is all visitors are told on its About page…
"WE BELIEVE THAT WHILE THERE ARE PLENTY OF MUNDANE, FORGETTABLE THINGS IN THE WORLD, SPORTS ARE DEFINITELY NOT ONE OF THEM. SPORTS ARE CRAZY. THEY'RE UNPREDICTABLE, INSPIRING AND DRAMATIC. AND THAT'S WHY WE'RE ALL SUCH BIG FANS."
Umm… ok?
What else can you find on ESPN's tumblr? Well, it offers low-level internet stupidity as well as some clever pictures that would make it worth checking out if you're into this sort of thing. There's meme crap that looks like it was made by a 14 year old (ah yes, you used Michael Buffer's famous catchphrase and replaced "rumble" with "tumble" and superimposed those words in big white letters on a picture of Buffer, THAT IS SO CLEVER AND I CAN'T BELIEVE NOBODY HAS EVER THOUGHT OF THAT BEFORE!!!!), bizarre hashtags (#starchmadness?), and cartoons. A few examples…
Maybe it's just me and my simplistic views of the world, but I just don't get tumblr. I understand a total of 3 memes – Mo Farah, McKayla Maroney, and Grumpy Cat. That's it, that's the list. If I ever put big bolded white letters on an unrelated photograph, I'm walking away from the keyboard forever. The purpose of tumblr escapes me. Seth Curry randomly holding two pieces of bread? Sure, when in Rome… or.. err… something like that.
That said, I'm curious to see where this ESPN tumblr page goes because I don't really think of "ESPN" and "trailblazers in social media" in the same sentence too often. I'm all for ESPN not taking themselves too seriously (as long as they can stay away from copy and paste jobs from Wikipedia, that is). The concept does have potential if it features more awkward photoshops of ESPNers, though.
May I suggest Tony Kornheiser and Chris Berman hugging it out?
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