WHATEVER HAPPENED TO ESPN?

 

The memory man strikes again:

In 1979, just prior to launch, the Entertainment and Sports Programming Network was reduced to plain, ole ESPN, the stand-alone letters no longer standing for anything more. At the present rate of layoffs designed to cut $5.5 billion from a bloated budget, it won’t be long before ESPN becomes WHWN or Whatever Happened to What’s-its-Name?

You don’t need a long memory to recall when the once-mighty cable staple was THE only money-maker for Disney, which purchased it from Capital Cities, Inc., in 1996.

 
(Actually, Cap Cities owned 80 per cent of ESPN, with the Hearst Corporation holding the other 20 percent as a sort of silent partner. Still does, as best as we could find out.)

So what brought the first 24-hour -- by far most influential -- all-sports network to go from long green to deep red?

The legion of critics who have weighed in pretty much blame management for encouraging politics to permeate the daily presentations. They also didn’t seem to care for many of the network’s more outrageous talking heads.

IN FACT, more than one critic insisted ESPN had been in the rearview mirror for a long time. For sure the glory days of Chris Berman, Dan Patrick, Stuart Scott, Bob Ley ad infinitum have been long since forgotten in a wave of new names and faces that few viewers could feel good about in this new-look age devoted to equity, diversity and inclusion.

Let it be noted that we were there, writing a weekly smorgasbord of radio/TV stuff under the guise of “The Dial Twister,” for the official birth of the Entertainment and Sports Programming Network Sept. 7, 1979. Naturally, we were so impressed we predicted a long, healthy, glorious life -- NOT.

Actually, it’s doubtful anyone had a real good feeling about it. What was to like? … when the early lineup featured “Rodeo from Mesquite, Tex.” and Australian Rules Rugby and, by year three, had turned to pro rasslin’ and Roller Derby … which gave new meaning to “fake sports.”

BUT, HEY, the self-styled “World Wide Leader in Sports” also gave us lots of material, which was always welcomed … “The new ESPN all-sports network.” Yes, that’s what we kept calling it, assuming nobody was THAT familiar with something that – little did we know at the time – would become the 500-pound gorilla in sports coverage.

The drums began rolling shortly before kickoff. Jim Simpson, one of NBC’s better-known hairdos, left Peacock U., for ESPN. That was a big catch … although Washington Redskins’ fans couldn’t help but remember the game that was was 0-0 with six minutes to go in the first period when Simpson said, “Houston hasn’t had field position all afternoon long.”

In all, 1979 was full of sports goodies on radio and TV:

Howard Cosell said CBS’ Hall of Fame, much-beloved Pat Summerall … “was incapable of making a single coherent sentence.”

Then The Mouth that Bored, an equal opportunity critic, trashed his Monday Night football teammate Frank Gifford, calling him “the Teflon Man … no matter how glaring his weaknesses as a broadcaster, nothing sticks to him.” Among many other negative things that “Faultless Frank” invariably dismissed with: “Consider the source.”

Jack Whitaker ended his first commentary on “The NFL Today” with … “and let’s hope the game can be played in 2:45, which is the way God – and Bert Bell– intended it to be played.” Bell was the first commissioner of the NFL who undoubtedly has been (cliché alert) rolling over in his grave many times now that most games last close to four hours, start to finish.

Legendary Curt Gowdy, fired by NBC, was hired by CBS and teamed with yappy former coach Hank Stram on NFL games. Gowdy was the quintessential class act, always willing to share his thoughts with just about anybody any time. That included yours truly moments after a press conference leading to NCAA regional basketball at a site long since forgotten.

We sat there, on uncomfortable wooden chairs, for more than 30 minutes while Gowdy was asked about critics and how he learned to deal with them. We thanked him for his insight, reached out to shake his hand as we got up … and he said, “Is that all you need? I’ve got plenty of time.”

LOCALLY, Bruce Cunningham, turned loose by WXEX-8 after less than a year in what was described as “summer house cleaning,” replaced Rick Stoss as weekend sports anchor at WTVR-6. Stoss left for a sports director position in Bristol but later returned to gain iconic status behind the scenes … taking pictures, doing off-camera interviews, gathering information … where he was more comfortable.

Bill Moss (ex-Channel 12) was named host of the Virginia Tech/Bill Dooley football coach’s TV show seen here on Ch. 12 at 10:30 Sunday morning. Moss also joined Voice of the Hokies, Don Lloyd, on the 59-station Tech football radio network.

ESPN, originally seen on 618 cable systems, said it would offer the VMI-Citadel (Oct. 20) and East Carolina-W&M (Nov. 24) football games, with each school receiving $3, 500. Wow!

And … it was announced that Virginia Commonwealth University basketball would make its first appearance ever on national TV when NBC would carry the Feb. 2, 1980 game with Old Dominion regionally from the Hampton Coliseum.

A FEW YEARS AGO we attended our oldest grandchild Sarah Bain’s graduation from James Madison University, where her mother and great-grandmother also attended. It was hot … boy, was it ever … as we jammed the football stadium for the festivities that included THE speech by an alumna who also happened to be a Sports Center anchor.

Put it this way: the kindest thing to say about her monolog that went on and on without memorable content would be: Is it over yet?

In fairness, Lindsay Czarniak (JMU, Class of 2000) tried. She seemed likable enough.

Actually, Czarniak has had a pretty good career. From Harrisburg, Pa., growing up in Centerville, Va., where she played high school lacrosse and field hockey, she joined ESPN in 2011 after replacing broadcasting icon George Michael (of “Sports Machine” fame) at WRC, the NBC affiliate in D.C.

She left ESPN in 2017 when her contract ran out … and the network was experiencing some financial setbacks and fired such better-known talking heads as Len Elmore, Andy Katz, Dottie Pepper, Trent Dilfer, Ed Werder and Dr. Jerry Punch … among 100-plus in all. Most left saying – for the record – how much they liked working there.

Thanking ESPN on her way out the door, Czarniak joined auto racing’s Joe Gibbs organization and, in 2019, signed with Fox Sports where she became a sideline reporter for the network’s NFL coverage.

WHEN DISNEY decided to line up the firing squad -- again … well, we had long since gone from devoted to casual viewer and weren’t all that familiar with the network’s on-camera people any more.

Nevertheless, we watched with some (moribund?) interest as the blood-letting continued and made some notes as we did:

Say it isn’t so … Rob Ninkovich won’t be rehired by ESPN. Who? He was described in a New York tabloid as being among a growing number of “big-name” announcers to be let go in the network’s on-going, three-tier purge designed to oust as many as 7,000 employees.

Stan … sorry, Neil Everett, another “big name,” left after 23 years … working with Stan Verrett on the late, late, very late Sports Center. On his final telecast seen live by virtually no one (as usual), his long-time partner mentioned all the warm good-bye tweets for Everett, 61.

He doesn’t do social media but, nevertheless, thanked everyone. “Actually, I did see one message,” Everett said. “A viewer wrote, ‘I’ve been watching Sports Center for 20 years … and I never heard of Neil Everett.'”

A sense of humor always helps.

Ashley Brewer was said to be a SportsCenter anchor when she was terminated after four years working in various capacities including ESPN Radio.

“Ashley who?”

Not to worry, A. Brewer fans. She got much attention – possibly more than while employed – by “marrying” tall NBA fill-in Frank Kaminsky in the immediate aftermath. Actually, they already had tied the knot but wanted to have a full-blown ceremony so more friends and family could attend.

Brewer was quoted as saying: “God has a plan for me, and I can’t wait to see what is next.”

David Pollack had been on “College Game Day” for more than a decade. Show host Reece Davis said he often referred to the former U. of Georgia football player as “the little brother I never wanted.” But, seriously, folks …

Pollack also belonged in the Never Heard of Him Department of Anonymity … especially for a NY Post critic who wrote he stopped watching the 24-hour sports network “in 2015 when they gave Caitlyn (formerly known as Bruce) Jenner the ESPY award for courage.”

A tabloid columnist called firing Jeff Van Gundy “a travesty,” to which another deep thinker posted: “ESPN has been a travesty for a long time.”

At least we were familiar with Van Gundy, who once coached the NBA Knicks and will be forever remembered for grabbing the ankle of Alonzo Morning and holding on for dear life. It’s true.

“Mad Dog” Chris Russo said NBA commish Adam Silver ordered Van Gundy be gone because he criticized the league (read: Silver) too much. “You can’t tell me [Disney boss] Bob Iger woke up in the last two weeks, looked at the budget sheet and said: ‘We gotta fire Van Gundy because we’ve gotta save some money.’ If that’s the case, fire Mark Jackson,” Russo told the NY Post.

Consider it done. On August 1, a few weeks later, Jackson was toast, too. “I’m dismayed … and disgusted,” he was quoted as saying.

Mike Breen, Van Gundy and Jackson worked 15 NBA finals and … as a unit … were called by a veteran media observer “one of the best ever.” We will have to take his word for it because our next NBA final will be our first … since the good, old days of long, long ago when we grew up in New York and were big, big fans of the Knickerbockers … of Carl Braun, Harry “The Horse” Gallatin, Nat “Sweetwater” Clifton, Max “The Touch” Zaslofsky, the Brothers McGuire – Al and “Tricky Dick” … seen at the old Madison Square Garden and smoke-filled 69^th Regiment Armory. Honest!

Breen now will work with Doris Burke and Doc Rivers, who was fired as Philadelphia 76ers coach. To which Jason Whitlock took withering fire for stating the obvious … ergo: Burke has no business doing pro hoops despite the fact “I really like her.”

Wrote Democrat Dude: “Who’s next … Minnie or Mickey?”

Commented Tony 625: “Maybe my cable bill goes down now … but I doubt it.”

Then it was boxing commentator Andre Ward taking the fall. He was unbeaten as a fighter en route to pro pugilism's hall of fame. In other words, ESPN boss Jimmy Pitaro did to Ward what no one could in 32 bouts … dropping Ward for the count.

Commented Old.School.Dennis: “We trust the ‘emotion’ will be mutual WHEN JWill’s contract is NOT renewed.” That was after Jayson Williams, lone survivor of three-man a.m. radio/TV show, was upset over the firing of partners Max Kellerman and Keyshawn Johnson.

The hits kept coming. Oh, no, say it isn’t so … Dianna Russini turned down a raise from ESPN to join The Athletic as lead NFL insider. Never heard of her. (Of course, she never heard of me, either … so we’re even.)

Then Sage Steele left after 16 years, having sued the network after suspending her for the audacity of being critical of (a) its mandated Covid 19 vaccine policy; and (b) former president Barrack Obama … then being offered a $501,000 settlement she apparently thought wasn’t enough.

In the end, Steele, 50, did walk away for an undisclosed sum, saying the whole thing was about violation of her First Amendment rights to free speech. While ESPN’s lawyers obviously agreed, Steele, nevertheless, was subjected to considerable negative feedback from critics and former colleagues alike. 

How dare she, a black woman, not fall in line with liberal causes. Who did Steele think she was: Michelle Tafoya, Whitlock … and others who left ESPN for similar reasons?

In May Steele was the recipient of eight new teeth after being drilled in the mush by a golf ball mishit by Jon Rahm during the PGA championship. She also took some big blows for criticizing ESPN’s celebration of transgender Lia Thomas ... who swam for three unremarkable seasons as a man at the University of Pennsylvania then dominated the sport competing as a female his final year.

Steele came to ESPN from Baltimore where she wasn’t exactly a fan of then-Ravens’ coach Brian Billick – and vice versa.

IN A COLUMN seen on the internet ... ESPN Radio was said bound for the chopping block, too.

Actually, The World-Wide Leader isn’t the only national sports outlet experiencing a serious downturn in interest from a once-adoring public. Universal cancelled its radio network then eliminated its cable TV sports network – which gave birth to runaway-popular coverage of the English Premier League since shifted to USA and streaming service Peacock as well as (occasionally) NBC.

CBS Radio sports likewise is said to be hurting. Where ESPN goes ABC goes. In fact, of the Big Four only Fox seems to be doing OK with sports radio thanks to the popular Dan Patrick and Colin Cowherd shows heard (and seen) daily three hours each.

According to several reports, ESPN made about $5 billion – which was 22 per cent less than a year ago -- while its streaming services (including ESPN+) lost “only” $2.2B as opposed to $4B-plus in 2022.

Now we can understand why Iger would like to sell ABC and get a partner to buy into ESPN. Only tech companies need apply.

THEN, TO MAKE UP for some of the losses, Disney entered into a gambling arrangement with Penn Entertainment to be known as ESPN Bets. In case you haven’t noticed, there’s lots of money to be made in them thar lines.

Penn, which earlier bought BarStool Sports from founder Dave Portnoy for $550 million, sold it back to Portnoy for $1. ONE DOLLAR! Its deal with ESPN: 10 years for $1.5 billion plus stock.

Between them DraftKings and FanDuel reportedly claim about 70 per cent of on-line betting. Penn National has a mere five percent but expects to jump to as much as 20 percent teaming up with ESPN. Wishful thinking? We’ll see.

So much for Disney’s wholesome, family-first image. What’s next … Donald and Daisy doing standup on the latest point spreads?

Last words from Bowami Jones, another “big name” no longer in the employ of ESPN: “The economic fate of people in sports media gets dicier and dicier.”

Boy, we know all about that locally … don’t we?

Until next time ...