TRUE STORY
August, 1991
i am a PA at the worldwide leader of sports and living in bristol (actually, new britain - which was about 10-12 miles away for very few people who work at espn live in bristol - and just about NONE of the "talent" does at all).
I arrange to meet with the NUMBER ONE guy (at the time) at ESPN, Steve Anderson, son of famed columnist, Dave.
i come in fully prepared with ideas and what-not for espn to consider.
one of them was as follows:
***********************************************
Let's have a contest where people send in tapes (1-2 minutes-ish) and we look at them and pick a winner who will then win the right to do some on-air hosting assignment on ESPN. this will be great publicity and allow everyone at home the chance to live out a dream and do some work for ESPN.
Anderson heard the idea and thanked me for it - but then rattled off some reasons why they couldn't and/or wouldn't do it. The entire meeting lasted about 30 minutes - at most and I know when I left my carefully thought out ideas were "carefully" placed in the shredder in his office.
***********************************************
for those who will suggest suing espn for stealing my idea - thanks - but since i was an espn employe at the time - i doubt i could do that. they would just say since i was an employee it was part of my job. also - i shredded all of that stuff a good 7-10 years ago.
and if truth be told, as much as sporstcenter SUCKS (one of the WORST shows on TV right now - not even close) i'm not sure i'd want to claim anything to do with that show - or this one, either. robfunk was too kind to stuart scott - the #1 reason the MUTE button and remote control was invented.
for those who missed dan patrick's radio show today - go back to espnradio.com and listen to it. he blasted management for this idea - but in a nice way. and as for what tatiana said - supposedly the contract is for one-year although espn can simply fire the person after "X" amount of time and pay them the rest of the deal - and as much $$$$$$ as espn makes - the piddly sum this chump is getting will be chicken feed. guys like berman and patrick make several million a year (kirk herbstreit makes $600k!) but this chump won't make more than about $200k - if that.
August, 1991
i am a PA at the worldwide leader of sports and living in bristol (actually, new britain - which was about 10-12 miles away for very few people who work at espn live in bristol - and just about NONE of the "talent" does at all).
I arrange to meet with the NUMBER ONE guy (at the time) at ESPN, Steve Anderson, son of famed columnist, Dave.
i come in fully prepared with ideas and what-not for espn to consider.
one of them was as follows:
***********************************************
Let's have a contest where people send in tapes (1-2 minutes-ish) and we look at them and pick a winner who will then win the right to do some on-air hosting assignment on ESPN. this will be great publicity and allow everyone at home the chance to live out a dream and do some work for ESPN.
Anderson heard the idea and thanked me for it - but then rattled off some reasons why they couldn't and/or wouldn't do it. The entire meeting lasted about 30 minutes - at most and I know when I left my carefully thought out ideas were "carefully" placed in the shredder in his office.
***********************************************
for those who will suggest suing espn for stealing my idea - thanks - but since i was an espn employe at the time - i doubt i could do that. they would just say since i was an employee it was part of my job. also - i shredded all of that stuff a good 7-10 years ago.
and if truth be told, as much as sporstcenter SUCKS (one of the WORST shows on TV right now - not even close) i'm not sure i'd want to claim anything to do with that show - or this one, either. robfunk was too kind to stuart scott - the #1 reason the MUTE button and remote control was invented.
for those who missed dan patrick's radio show today - go back to espnradio.com and listen to it. he blasted management for this idea - but in a nice way. and as for what tatiana said - supposedly the contract is for one-year although espn can simply fire the person after "X" amount of time and pay them the rest of the deal - and as much $$$$$$ as espn makes - the piddly sum this chump is getting will be chicken feed. guys like berman and patrick make several million a year (kirk herbstreit makes $600k!) but this chump won't make more than about $200k - if that.
I thought the guy that led off the show was pretty good....And the young guy seemed to be the most polished...A couple of them were absolutely comical, the goofy short, chubby guy LMAO...he was reporting with an "in game" call, screaming....the one woman wasn`t bad but she too was calling it like an in game announcer...
I can see one of these guys making it for more than a year..
Stewart Scott is completely annoying! I would guarantee this guy is a total prick in real life, totally unapproachable...Booyeah! GAG!
I can see one of these guys making it for more than a year..
Stewart Scott is completely annoying! I would guarantee this guy is a total prick in real life, totally unapproachable...Booyeah! GAG!
to be absolutely honest...I was FLOORED when I saw the candidates...these were the 12 best after their Big elimination process....
My sports knowledge may not be as strong as those guys...& maybe I am talking out of my ass but heck, I think I could have done a better job on the show...lol
I was excited for the start of the show, but disappointed in the show itself
My sports knowledge may not be as strong as those guys...& maybe I am talking out of my ass but heck, I think I could have done a better job on the show...lol
I was excited for the start of the show, but disappointed in the show itself
<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><font size="-1">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by Chuck Sims:
winkyduck, why do you feel ESPN Sportscenter sucks, one of the worst shows on the air?<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>
ok - first off - i don't want to sound bitter that we parted on less than acrimonious ways - because even though that was the case - i am MUCH happier now that i am no longer there in bristol and living life in so cal.
as for SC: as i have said to friends in the industry, it looks as if a 4-year-old threw the scripts in the air and however they were put in order is the way the show is done. there is NO rhyme or reason to any part of the show. you would think the #1 highlight would be the best game of the day - but it rarely is. usually it is a game they showed - so they can remind everyone what they saw earlier. they jump around from sport to sport also w/o any reasoning at all. to me - espn is there to COVER sports news - NOT make it. yes - they make it when they break a story - but that doesn't happen as often as you think. espn now spends more time thumping its massive chest saying how great they are then spending time showing us what happened. for an operation that has no real competiion (DON'T tell me FOX is competition - because they aren't - FOX's ratings are barely higher then test patterns and they are only regional - espn doesn't lose one wink of sleep over FOX - trust me on this one) they spend more time looking and worrying about what others are doing then they should. they are the elephant that is terrified of the mouse. to me - espn has become far too big for their britches and as a result has gotten too fat to do any good. SC used to be good - but no longer is.
winkyduck, why do you feel ESPN Sportscenter sucks, one of the worst shows on the air?<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>
ok - first off - i don't want to sound bitter that we parted on less than acrimonious ways - because even though that was the case - i am MUCH happier now that i am no longer there in bristol and living life in so cal.
as for SC: as i have said to friends in the industry, it looks as if a 4-year-old threw the scripts in the air and however they were put in order is the way the show is done. there is NO rhyme or reason to any part of the show. you would think the #1 highlight would be the best game of the day - but it rarely is. usually it is a game they showed - so they can remind everyone what they saw earlier. they jump around from sport to sport also w/o any reasoning at all. to me - espn is there to COVER sports news - NOT make it. yes - they make it when they break a story - but that doesn't happen as often as you think. espn now spends more time thumping its massive chest saying how great they are then spending time showing us what happened. for an operation that has no real competiion (DON'T tell me FOX is competition - because they aren't - FOX's ratings are barely higher then test patterns and they are only regional - espn doesn't lose one wink of sleep over FOX - trust me on this one) they spend more time looking and worrying about what others are doing then they should. they are the elephant that is terrified of the mouse. to me - espn has become far too big for their britches and as a result has gotten too fat to do any good. SC used to be good - but no longer is.
