Happy Birthday - ESPN

30 years....it's hard to believe ESPN has been around for so many all their lives!!!


Thirty years ago today marked a historical beginning but what did folks think of it on the time?

From a tiny studio in Bristol, Connecticut ESPN signed on with its first Sports Center broadcast beginning the first 24 hour cable TV network dedicated exclusively to sports. On September 7, 1979, however, how many households much less sports fans had cable television? Sure in remote cities “pay” television had been available for a long time given only medium and large cities are likely served by all the major networks, but as the 1980’s were on the horizon, at that was about to change.

In its early days, ESPN was a rather quirky experiment. Sure Sports Center brought viewers national sports highlights several times daily with far more detail than fans typically got from the sports segments from their local news. In its early days, ESPN broadcast such things as pro wrestling, Australian Rules football, and boxing, but quickly they found a niche from which they could build a substantial audience picking up on college football and basketball not carried by major networks.

In 1980, ESPN began broadcasting the NCAA Men’s Basketball providing substantial coverage through the season then filling out the Tournament giving full coverage highlighting games from all elimination rounds giving fans access to the event as never covered before. The tournament’s success grew tremendously during ESPN’s reign which included Michael Jordan’s victory shot to give University of North Carolina the championship over Georgetown in 1982. The following year provided one of the tournament’s ultimate Cinderella stories, NC State’s run to the Championship under Coach Jim Valvano. While the finals were shown on CBS, the lead up helped create a following the sport had never seen. ESPN’s success would be its undoing as the tournament became so popular, CBS assumed full broadcasting rights in 1991 for the entire tournament, an arrangement in maintains today.

In its first year, ESPN would be drawn to quite a Pittsburgh affair with the Pittsburgh Pirates who are on the verge of setting the mark for seventeen consecutive losing seasons beat the Baltimore Orioles, now losers of thirteen consecutive seasons, in the 1979 World Series. The Steelers would win the first Super Bowl during ESPN’s reign.

1981 saw ESPN’s first NASCAR broadcast from North Carolina Speedway in Rockingham. EPSN would contract with individual tracks for broadcasting rights showing the majority of races with some on TBS, TNN, and over air networks until 2001 when again their success lead to the sport being so big others would jump in with the national contract putting NASCAR on FOX, NBC/TBS. Since 2007, though Sprint Cup racing is on ESPN and ABC from the Brickyard forward and ESPN, mostly ESPN2 carries the Nationwide series for the entire season.

After the famous CBS broadcast of the 1979 Daytona 500, the sports world was ripe for NASCAR coverage and ESPN was instrumental in feeding that hunger. They covered the building rivalry between Dale Earnhardt and Darrell Waltrip who dominated the 1980’s. They saw Bill Elliot win his championship, set the speed record at Talladega, and win the Winston million. ESPN covered the meteoric rise and fall of Tim Richmond all in the first decade which concluded with Rusty Wallace winning his loan championship.

As ESPN grew, soon there was no room for quirky sports like Australian Rules football, but it was fun while it lasted. ESPN also showed society was overcoming many limitations of the past as female anchors joined the team from Gayle Gardner in its early years, then Robin Roberts and Linda Cohn just to name a few. Sports Center anchors and other ESPN personalities became as well known as sports commentators with the traditional networks. Chris Berman (ugh!) and Bob Ley have been with the network since its beginning.

In 1983 an upstart football league, the USFL which had spent big bucks on big talent became another one of ESPN’s big draws feeding fans’ year round appetite for football. In hindsight the USFL did a better job of promoting ESPN than ESPN did helping the USFL become a legitimate sport, but bigger fortune was on the horizon as in 1987, ESPN began its Sunday night football coverage shared with TNT during some of the early years but expanding the extent to which the nation watched select games.

Jon Miller and Joe Morgan were teamed together as a broadcast team in 1989 marking ESPN’s start broadcasting Sunday night baseball. EPSN would maintain a schedule of weeknight telecasts which continue to the present.

ESPN had a brief run with the NBA in the early 80’s before their current engagement and covered the NHL at times as well.

The 1990’s saw ESPN’s popularity explode as cable television had spread to become almost a household necessity. In 1992, they launched ESPN radio which would start grabbing up events held by the traditional networks eventually providing 24 hour a day sports programming to local stations. ESPN2 was born in 1983 originally attempting to target a younger hip audience with such programming as the beginning of extreme sports, largely an ESPN creation. ESPN Classic became a sports oldies station – some games just being days old. ESPN provides instant sports highlights and news 24 x 7. Soon ESPN was worldwide.

ESPN.COM began operation in 1995 quickly becoming one of the web’s most popular sites with scores, team rosters and information, player biographies, and commentary.

By 2000, ESPN was truly a cultural institution.

It’s hard to imagine how any sports fan can avoid a steady diet of ESPN thirty years after its beginning. Love ‘em or hate ‘em, ESPN personalities like Dick Vitale, Chris Berman, Stuart Scott, and many others while stirring up pro and con passion have added their share of catch phrases to the sports vocabulary.

As popular as sports programming is, it’s remarkable to note that ESPN remains the only long lasting nationwide sports network with both ESPN and ESPN2 providing full coverage of live events and original shows. Turner attempted to launch CNN-SI, essentially the same concept as ESPN News. It was short lived. Now Comcast is attempting to make the former Outdoor Life Network (OLN) network into a legitimate sports network branded as VERSUS which carries the NHL, IRL motorsports, some college events, and even the Davis Cup tennis which helped launch ESPN. VERSUS also got on the map with extensive Tour de France coverage. Ironically, they moved their headquarters from Comcast Corporate in Philadelphia to Stanford, Connecticut not far from ESPN’s domain in Bristol. As VERSUS attempted to go primetime, they could not seize ESPN’s Major League Baseball.

Love ‘em, hate ‘em, or a little bit of both, sports fans are drawn to ESPN every week. ESPN served as one of the networks that originally helped make cable television such a desirable commodity along in the early 80’s. We admit we love them, but GADS CHRIS BERMAN, we’ve been sick of him since around 1990!!!

GOSSIP ON THE MAIN LINE: Prove It! or SHUT THE HELL UP!!!

CHALLENGE TO NBC: REPORT THE NEWS DON'T FABRICATE IT!!

Why Should a Good American Kid Have To Put Up With This Kind Of Garbage??

NBC Publishes Story, "Phelps Emphatically Denies Doping Allegations."
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Here's the story, your humble wordsmith almost feels like a sleaze repeating it as this kind of journalism sickens me along with the scandal-hungry gullible segment of the public who thinks in terms of "oh it must be" not what really is -- the hateful Kool-Aid brigade whose puny little excuses for an intellect live in the world of conspiracy theories and gossip. These sorry souls live in an alternate reality where Oliver Stone and Michael Moore on the left and talk show flame throwers like Michael Savage on the right form their piss poor excuse of a knowledge base. It's no surprise, though this story looks innocent enough on the surface, that NBC would give it press space. Sure there are probably other news outlets who carry it as well, but NBC looks particularly bad. Here's the story:

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http://www.nbcolympics.com/swimming/news/newsid=219455.html?GT1=39003

The American swimmer's superhuman performance has amazed many, but given the number of athletes who recently have been linked to doping, questions about how Phelps has produced such fast times are inevitable

Following his win in the 200m IM, Phelps emphatically denied using any performance-enhancing drugs.

"Anybody can say whatever they want, but I know I'm clean," Phelps said. "People can question it all they want, but the facts are the facts. I have the results to prove it."
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He is taking part in "Project Believe," a U.S. Anti-Doping Agency volunteer initiative where athletes provide additional testing that is more frequent and more sophisticated than the usual regime of tests.

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This is the language direct from the story. This is all they offer. Tonight, it's a big story with no additional elucidation on SportsCenter, good old ESPN, the clearinghouse of all things in the sports world. At least to redeem itself, ESPN presented a thorough biographical segment going into the rigors of training Phelps has endured to prepare for his stunning accomplishments.

What's important here is not so much what is reported. It's what's not reported. Who is making the allegations? On what basis are they making the allegations? What evidence can they provide to support their conjecture?

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Once again, at this point, all that we have to work from are logical fallacies. The first is since his performance is so dominant and recording breaking he must be using performance enhancing drugs. Facts: plenty of stories with cameras present and reporters witnessing have documented the extreme training program Michael Phelps. Phelps, together with his coach, Bob Bowman, have carefully studied the science of swimming to develop a training and nutrition program to achieve ultimate results. Along with Phelps exceptional results is an exceptional routine. What the Kool-Aid brigade can't accept that knowledge and hard work yields results. The other logical fallacy is found in the argument, that because a number of other record breaking performances were accomplished by athletes later found to dope up; therefore Phelps must be doping too. Sorry, Kool-Aid kiddies, the premise does not support the conclusion.

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NBC and SportsCenter are both guilty of reporting pure conjecture as news. That so far, they haven't even produced the names of those who are suggesting Phelps has used drugs much less vetting these sources and substantiating their charges is shoddy dishonest journalism of the highest degree.

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For the record, the article even concedes that Phelps participates in Project Believe, a program where participants volunteer to submit to even more testing to prove they are drug free.

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Hard core, specific evidence that supports Michael Phelps is dope free. Idle, unsubstantiated conjecture suggests otherwise but still gets reported?

What do you believe? x

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Here's some conjecture. Why would NBC repeat inflamatory gossip leveled against the true superstar, the best American performer, as the flagship network covering the Olympics? Is this just another extention of "hate all things American" undercurrent that is a platform so prevalent in left wing journalism of which the NBC/MSNBC consortium exhibits on a nightly basis? Why is NBC romanticizing the conduct of the Chinese hosts instead of practicing straight forward, present the facts, let the viewers draw the inferences style of journalism we should have a right to demand?
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The problem is, once the gossip is out there, it never gets completely eradicated. There will always be enough of the "alternate reality - conspiracy theory" crowd who will at least keep these absurd questions coming up again and again in the mainstream.

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What is is about the news media that NBC represents better than any other broadcast outlet that simply cannot tolerate that there are some true all-American success stories where hard work, intelligence, dedication, and a sense of purpose accomplishes amazing things?

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It can't happen in their world. There always has to be something else.

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Pocono Postmortem

Edwards Goes Head Over Heels Once Again Celebrating Victory

(photo from "That's Racin'" Charlotte Observer)

The NASCAR Sprint Cup racers headed to the Poconos, that great mystical moutainous land for honeymooners, and a real NASCAR race actually broke out. Given the horrible tire fiasco one week earlier at the Brickyard and all the whining about the Pennsylvania track including some negative comments from high profile drivers like Jeff Gordon amid speculation that Bruton Smith is ready to open his wallet to buy one or both of the Mid-Atlantic tracks to gain a date for his Kentucky track and possibly a second event in Vegas, the August Pocono race was the raciest event in the tranquil setting of Long Pond, PA in ages.

Each pit stop meant something where twelve drivers lead a lap and Mark Martin, a huge fan favorite looked poised to dominate the race early on leading the most laps before some pit crew errors ruined his day. Showing just how competative the "Race for the Chase" is, Matt Kennseth finished a respectable 11th but slipped back to 13th spot in the standings down two positions, 11 points back, and outside looking in were this the determining race at Richmond on what would normally look like a brilliant day for the Roush-Fenway team having the winning driver and all five cars in the top 13.

Despite ESPN's dreadful quick exit at the end of the race never giving the point standings as in "oh well, they're going to watch SportsCenter anyway" they at least had time to stuff a microphone in Tony Stewart's puss, who acted downright cheerful and friendly finishing second. Tony must have gotten all the vinegar out of his system after last week's USAC race that got him in hot water and $10,000 poorer for "faulty behavior" blasting officials for "playing God" on calling cautions. Kurt Busch haters were rewarded with a miserable performance from the brash overnight sensation who looked more like an over anxious rookie than a championship contender. Kasey Kahne and Kevin Harvick in addition to Stewart, Martin, and Edwards were racers who saw the greatest gain in the standings at race's end.

All in all, the second Pocono race was one of the most exciting races at the track in a long time where recently it has seemed like a handful of drivers have found the right setup and the rest of the teams struggle. NASCAR fans and press were anxious to pounce on anything wrong this weekend given how the Indy experience tested their patience the previous week. Even the rain delay was quick and ESPN's coverage was rather substantial and not the usual chit-chat to kill time during such events.

While watching the race and looking at the clock even prior to the rain delay, this fan couldn't help but thinking that calling the Coca Cola 600 the longest race in Charlotte might be a little bit of a misnomer. It would be interesting to check if the Pocono races take more time though the Charlotte event is 100 miles longer. If NASCAR's premier division is going to continue to peform on the "tricky triangle," the race should be shortened so there is high impact racing for the whole event. It's also not fair to the fans who generally have substantial drives home to Philadelphia, New York, Baltimore, Washington, and further on a Sunday night. The ESPN commentators discussed that one even suggesting they go as low as a 300K race which might be a little too short. Still, the expectation should be a race should finish in no more than 3 1/2 to 4 hours under normal circumstances. It's just asking too much of fans to be locked into race coverage from noon until after six allowing for the necessary pre and post race coverage. In truth, there was virtually no post race coverage yesterday anyway as ESPN wouldn't want to shorten either SportsCenter for fear of stepping on their anchor's shtick, hype for the X Games, whatever they are, the Brett Favre soap opera, and baseball. At times, ESPN appears overbooked as calamity would surely break lose if the end of a race conflicted with their Sunday Night Baseball. That should be less of a problem in the east as sunset approaches the 8;00 pm mark, but in September, the coverage moves to ABC, over the air, where the network showed an anxiousness to cut early for the sake of prime time programs.

There is little disagreement the Pocono races need to be shortened. Who benefits from the longer events? Fans surely have purchased all the race trinkets and t-shirts they can possibly carry by about 3:30 in the afternoon, leaving only the beer and food vendors benefitting. Given the extra time is dedicated to beer guzzling more than anything, the driving public and the Pennsylvania State Police would probably also benefit from shorter events. The downside of such a good race for this year's second trip to Pennsylvania will subdue some of that fervor that was getting quite loud after Pocono I in June.

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On to another race in Yankee territory next week as the NASCAR fellows descend upon Watkins Glen to test their skill at turning right a few times as they navigate the road course. The entry list should be available soon as road course ringers like Boris Said and Marcos Ambrose will compete against the regulars some who will be given the afternoon off in favor of these "specialists." As there was not much movement in and out of the crucial top 35, the "go or go home" competition becomes ever more intense as drivers need to please sponsors and start looking toward locking in a spot in next year's Daytona 500 and first five races. Yes, it's that time of year already.