Witness Bill Simmons In Tight Tight Tights

The E-Ticket section on ESPN.com has always been one of the stronger elements of the site, and the show, while occasionally lapsing into the same soft-focus weeper segments that permeate Chris Connelly's "reports," trades off it well. Jeremy Schaap's Cecil Fielder story was fascinating; it was hard not to feel bad for the guy, even if he probably has a lot of it coming. Even Rachel Nichols' segment on gambling was well-done, and she didn't once ask how the bookies were "feeling." We even like the "reporter explains his/her story" black-and-white newsroom footage; it's kind of a clever riff on the "Real Sports" studio segments where Bryant Gumbel interviews Frank Deford. A little of Schaap's This Is An Important Story And I Am Saying Important Things voice goes a long way, but on the whole, not a bad show.

Bill Simmons' segment at the end, in which he plays one-on-one with Paul Pierce while wearing a motion capture suit, wasn't an embarrassment either, though we question the appropriateness of following four serious investigative stories with a man in spandex joking about ruining his "career."

But look! See! An ESPN show we kind of liked! We're fair!