Yahoo Sports Twitter roasts 'potato' video quality of ESPN's horse competition
The basketball world has never more appreciated the fortune spent on cameras used to televise NBA games.
As the NBA’s horse competition commenced to fill the sports gap left by the coronavirus pandemic, one thing became very clear very quickly. It was not going to be a fun time for people with motion sickness. Or the ones who insist a 4K television is worth it.
Unlike the state-of-the-art, steady cameras used to broadcast games, players used their own cameras to film themselves making shots from home. The result was shakier, choppier and blurrier than arguably anything aired on ESPN in years.
A sampler:
Trae got him with the left handed free throw!
Trae:
Chauncey: H-O-R pic.twitter.com/ooY3htUhnf— Atlanta Hawks (@ATLHawks) April 12, 2020
This is, of course, still better than nothing. Sports fans currently have a choice between video game tournaments and professional wrestling for their viewing pleasure, so seeing real basketball players attempting real shots has its value.
As you could imagine, Twitter still had some fun with the surreal situation.
Twitter squints, still can’t quite see NBA’s horse competition
im sorry but is trae young using a sidekick 3
— Matt Ellentuck (@mellentuck) April 12, 2020
The production quality of the HORSE competition is like the NBA's answer to the Blair Witch Project
— Nick Bromberg (@NickBromberg) April 13, 2020
Who would’ve thought that NBA2K would have better graphics than H-O-R-S-E?
— Dan Woike (@DanWoikeSports) April 13, 2020
Watching a HORSE competition broadcast on spotty wifi, someone please build the sports bubble.
— Chris Burke (@ChrisBurkeNFL) April 12, 2020
Chauncey Billups playing HORSE on 3G connection pic.twitter.com/W3UN4QlyXy
— Ahmed/Tinashe, Plz Notice Me (@big_business_) April 12, 2020
Paul Pierce maybe having the best looking video feed is the upset of the century.
— Paolo Uggetti (@PaoloUggetti) April 13, 2020
If we've learned anything from this hiatus, it's that the professional cameras they use to shoot NBA games and stream them all over the world are very, very good.
— Jeff Siegel (@jgsiegel) April 12, 2020
folks, this is the grainiest video of HORSE since the groundbreaking 1877 chronophotographs of Leland Stanford's thoroughbreds pic.twitter.com/GwGyrKQ50Z
— Rodger Sherman (@rodger) April 12, 2020
i took my glasses off and it didn’t impact the quality of the stream on my tv
— whitney medworth (@its_whitney) April 13, 2020
N-O-P-E
— Seerat Sohi (@seeratsohi) April 12, 2020
Well, we tried.
— Hardwood Paroxysm (@HPbasketball) April 12, 2020
These dudes make millions of dollars but their HORSE footage looks like this pic.twitter.com/KmutWsj15U
— 𝑪𝒐𝒏𝒆 🌩 (@Three_Cone) April 12, 2020
The 2020 NBA H-O-R-S-E contest, brought to you by Motorola razr
— Justin Phan (@jphanned) April 12, 2020
if youve ever wondered what it's like watching basketball players record themselves with a potato, turn on espn
— Matt Ellentuck (@mellentuck) April 12, 2020
They're actually airing this on ESPN pic.twitter.com/EbbU4tnN6O
— Andrew Joseph (@AndyJ0seph) April 13, 2020
H-O-R-S-E could not be worse. I gave it 5 min. Hard pass.
— JJ Redick (@jj_redick) April 12, 2020
What this HORSE competition is being shot on... pic.twitter.com/CmAiG0i9SY
— Yahoo Sports (@YahooSports) April 12, 2020
There was also some questioning of the fairness of the competition, given that some people (cough, Mike Conley) could shoot from their indoor home gyms while others were shooting outdoors in the wind.
this is slightly unfair lmao pic.twitter.com/U6S2Bi7yZl
— whitney medworth (@its_whitney) April 12, 2020
Tamika is outside in windy Indiana. Mike Conley Jr. is inside somewhere. I don't know how I feel about that!
— A homebody (@jessicawluther) April 12, 2020
tamika catchings, wearing ear muffs, gloves and a wool coat while staring into the sun and swishing a shot from behind the backboard: ok u got that?
mike conley, wearing shorts, unable to sweat in a 68 degree gymnasium: bet— Matt Ellentuck (@mellentuck) April 12, 2020
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