ESPN is one of those networks that matters in the total consciousness of the American mind because it's one of the actual central points of culture. If you enjoy sports of any kind, and most Americans do, you're going to deal with ESPN on some level. And yet, increasingly, the channel that should be the easiest to figure out has lost its mind.

Many of the refrains center on politics. A piece on Awful Announcing summed up the commentary, "Is ESPN too woke? Not woke enough? Are they carrying water for the SEC? Can they still do journalism and reporting? Who is fighting with whom?"

But the easier point is this: ESPN doesn't know how to cover sports anymore. And its top-dollar talent is more interested in itself than sports. This matters because one of the central water-cooler topics in America is setting itself on fire and ruining a common entertainment topic for everyone. 

Earlier this year, ESPN did something astonishing: they took a step back in time. Rich Eisen kicked off a SportsCenterepisode for the first time in 22 years. They brought back the music, graphics, and Rich did a classic intro. It was a blast of fresh air and startling because that's not what ESPN is anymore.

The common refrain from everyone watching it, including on YouTube later: why won't you do this now, ESPN? You know, do the basics of being a sports highlight show with fun commentary along the way.

It's a network that has a stranglehold on sports, with a massive number of exclusive deals, that has somehow forgotten to do the one thing that matters: cover sports.

As the NBA's ratings have collapsed over the years, one bright spot has been the return of NBC's coverage and the addition of Amazon. The coverage was so good that it's leaving everyone looking at ESPN/ABC, asking, ' Why can't they cover the NBA this well? ' It's worth nothing, a month in, fans are watching more.

That competition is good, ultimately. We need more of it. The NFL has been able to balance out multiple networks and maintain high product across the board. When it was announced ESPN would gain control of NFL RedZone, it was noteworthy that everyone assumed ESPN would ruin a great product - and they still might.

This isn't an isolated opinion. ESPN and Disney have had two notable fights this year. First, the carriage fight with YouTube TV. While many people left YouTube TV, polls showed that ESPN/Disney lost the fight. ESPN might be the first company and content provider on air to be blamed for customers losing access - people blame ESPN and perceive it as greedy and untrustworthy.

Second, Disney got into another fight with Sinclair and Nexstar over Jimmy Kimmel. They were able to iron things out, just like YouTube, but Disney took a black eye here, too. It's a sign that the entertainment giant is losing its grip, with people pushing back on all fronts.

But the biggest problem I have with the coverage is the talent. Some of ESPN's most prominent names make the coverage less about sports and more about themselves. You don't have to look far for proof. 

Just this week, Stephen A. Smith asserted, in a segment about Ole Miss and Lane Kiffin's coaching decision, that black players don't go to Mississippi. Paul Finebaum later noted that the point was ludicrous: Ole Miss has an entire team of black players right now, is on the verge of playoff contention, and the state as a whole hired one of the first black college football coaches, Sylvester Croom. 

Smith made the point; the sole proof of it was his statement, and it left anyone else with an unfalsifiable moment. That in turn gets reporters to ask everyone involved with Ole Miss if Smith is right - he's not. It was the entire point and segment to give Stephen A. Smith the spotlight, so people talked about him instead of Ole Miss, Lane Kiffin, and the actual story impacting the sport.

He's not alone. Ryan C. Clark is trying to follow in those same footsteps. In a bizarrely heated segment, Clark blasted NFL reporter Peter Schrager, calling him wrong because he was a "non-player." Schrager is universally regarded as one of the best NFL reporters in the industry, and Clark was forced to apologize. But again, the point was the same: talent elevating itself over the subjects it's supposed to cover.

It's a bizarre mix to call yourself the worldwide leader in sports. Yet, fans openly root for cable and internet companies when they clash with them, and hosting talent that's more interested in itself than the sports it has to cover. And none of this gets into the bizarre position ESPN is in, where it is trying to get into sports gambling while also covering the sports leagues themselves. 

All anyone wants is for ESPN to return to its roots and cover actual sports in a manner everyone enjoys. Instead, we're getting these not-stop screeching sessions full of hot takes - which is fine when nothing else is happening - but when actual games are being played, I'm left wondering what ESPN thinks matters to the sports fan. 

I get that they're raking in the money. They have leverage over everyone else because they've cut all the sports league deals. We're all forced to watch them.

But a decade ago, I looked forward to watching ESPN. It's becoming a chore to endure ESPN while watching the sports I like. How many more carriage fights will it take for the network to get the point?

If fans side with internet utility companies after you, it's quite a look.