3 Likes about ESPN Chicago

I turned on ESPN Radio 1000 here in Chicago Monday morning, excited to hear what the midday hosts, Tom Waddle and Marc Silverman had to say about the Cubs opener at Wrigley.

And while we got plenty of baseball chat, we also got a taste of the ESPN promotion machine.

ESPNChicago.com was live for its first day, and let me tell you, our fair city has never been exposed to anything as innovative. A breathless Silverman could barely contain his excitement--any why wouldn't you be? You can link directly to Adam Abdalla's blog!--while partner Waddle (or T-Wizzle as some callers like to refer to him as) was his typical indifferent self, passing the time until the show started its latest Jay Cutler conversation thread.

All of the things you love most about the world-wide leader, Sliverman shouted (the writing, the reporting, Scoop Jackson!), only now it's been compartmentalized into bite-sized, regionalized chunks.

And while it remains to be seen whether the new site will enlighten us consumers of the Chicago sports scene, one thing we do know--it's here to stay.

After a few days of surfing the site, here are 3 things we like about the site:

LIKES

1. It's local! I admit I'm a provincial snob. Although I like my San Diego Padres (being the son of a Navy seaman will do that to you) and my Washington Redskins (John Riggins my all-time favorite NFL player), I care mostly about Chicago sports. With the ESPN machine funding a site devoted to local teams, it's a slam-dunk win for the consumer

2. Deeper, contextual content. Here's a for instance--on the site today, you have a piece by Bears reporter Jeff Dickerson on the Bears 2009 schedule. A game-by-game breakdown of each opponent. About 1,000 words. That probably would have been published on the radio site before, but now with ESPN's synergistic promotion behind it, you can actually find it. This is what online journalism should be about--convergence. There are no space restraints in the internet.

3. Chicago SportsCenter. Now, if you don't want Stan Verrett bloviating into your computer screen like an uninvited relative over Easter, then turn the auto play off. Otherwise, you get about 4 minutes of local highlights, rolling as soon as you log in. If you're like me, I don't want to have to watch a full SportsCenter to get to what I want to watch. Now it's on demand--how I want it, when I want it.

A quick bonus--I am a big fan of the StubHub partnership. OK, this is a bit shamelessly selfish on my part, but as a Cubs season ticket holder, I appreciate the StubHub ad banners all over the site. You need 3 for the Cubs-Marlins on May 2nd? Plenty of options just one mouse click away.

Coming Later: 3 things we don't like about ESPN Chicago