Mark Schlereth does not think his former employer, ESPN, has given the Nuggets a fair shake.
Schlereth, 57, won two Super Bowls with the Broncos, and now hosts sports talk radio on 104.3 the Fan in Denver.
He spoke to Brandon Contes on the Awful Announcing podcast about his impressions on how the Nuggets, who host the Heat in Game 1 of the NBA Finals on Thursday night, have been covered by the Worldwide Leader.
“I think they’ve done a horrible job,” Schlereth bluntly stated. “But I understand why. I understand the Nuggets don’t rate. I understand the game, I get it. People here in Denver are real butthurt about it, but it’s been a motivational factor for Michael Malone and his Nuggets.”
Schlereth cited his belief that the Denver market has gotten the short end of the stick from ESPN for quite some time.
“This goes back to the 2007 Rockies…that got to the World Series,” Schlereth said. “If you go back and look at that coverage, if you go back and look at what ESPN was doing, ‘Let’s introduce you to the Colorado Rockies. They play baseball in Colorado!’ It was laughable. But again, nobody in the NBA wanted the Nuggets here, nobody in television wanted the Nuggets here.”
Schlereth confirmed that the “whole city” of Denver uses real and perceived slights from ESPN, like Stephen A. Smith’s gripes about having to travel to Denver, as bulletin board material.
“It’s how the national media feels. Brian Windhorst is a guy I worked with forever at ESPN too,” Schlereth continued.
“After the Nuggets swept the Lakers, he said, ‘It was the greatest performance by a team that’s been swept in NBA history.’ WHAT?! That’s your analysis. Really?!”
Schlereth alternated between having his mind blown by the coverage, to understanding the realities of TV metrics.
“It’s mind-boggling,” Schlereth acknowledged. “But again, from a television perspective, I totally get it. I understand why they do it.”