When I was younger, one of the few things that could get me up early on a Sunday morning was The Sports Reporters. It was a collection of the best sports reporters across the country (mostly the northeast) hosted by a giant in the industry, Dick Schaap. However, over the years, my interest has waned, and it was no longer appointment viewing. Apparently, many feel the same way as Sports Illustrated has reported the show will be cancelled in May.

By sheer coincidence, I caught a piece of it Sunday. Watching the show, I began to understand why it is being cancelled.

On the panel were Mike Lupica, who took over hosting duties after the untimely death of John Saunders, and Mitch Albom. If you were to go back 25 years ago, it is a near certainty that Lupica and Albom were going to be on the panel. In essence, this show has not only had the same format, but it has had the same voices on the show for it’s entire run. Considering that Lupica had his mid-day ESPN Radio show cancelled a couple of years ago, no one was that interested in what they had to say anymore.

Then there is Albom who once lauded Miguel Cabrera winning the AL MVP Award over Mike Trout as a victory against sabermetrics saying, “We need to slow down the shoveling of raw data into the “what can we come up with next?” machine. It is actually creating a divide between those who like to watch the game of baseball and those who want to reduce it to binary code.” (SB Nation).

It’s odd seeing Lupica and Albom becoming irrelevant in terms of both ratings and opinions. Twenty-five years or so ago, they were among the best read in the industry. Their opinions mattered, and in an age before the internet made their opinions easily attainable, this was the best way to hear their voice, to learn. Unfortunately, not only are they still stuck in the mindset they have roughly a quarter of a century ago, but people can look elsewhere.

The elsewhere are writers not brought on to participate in the Sports Reports. You don’t see a Mike Vaccaro or a Jonah Keri on the show. Chances are if there is a younger or fresher voice, it is a regurgitation of an ESPN personality that is a contributor to another show like Around the Horn. In some ways, shows like Around the Horn killed the Sports Reporters. Instead of intelligent debate and discussion, we got soundbites, writers fighting for attention, and writers looking to “win” rather than provide thoughtful analysis. Instead of writers, they could have invited analysts with sufficient experience in the field and used it as a way to boost ratings at the very least. Furthermore, today, when the demand for sports is soaring high, even careers like sports performance analyst career are gaining the attention they deserve.

No matter what the issue, the time for Sports Reporters has passed. It has passed because the show failed to bring on newer voices to counter-balance the voices of the Lupicas and the Alboms. It has passed because of the focus of “debate shows” like Around the Horn or First Take. It has passed because it has partially become an ESPN vehicle instead of a show featuring sports writers across the country. It has passed because each and every single one of these writers have become more and more accessible. It has passed, well, because its time has passed.

So today, like most Sundays over the past couple of years, I’m going to go make breakfast with my son, and go about my day. Most likely, I’m not going to turn on the Sports Reporters even though, admittedly, I am now more cognizant of it. At some point before May, I may even grow to feel nostalgic about it. Not today however . . . that time has passed.