This is Sportcenter (1 Viewer)

[Patrick Sun]

Anyone catch this inside look into what goes on to putting on an hour of Sportscenter on ESPN? I thought it was pretty entertaining, and informational, and chaotic at times. It did remind me of Sports Night, but it seemed to be on a higher notch in terms of intensity.

Seeing Kenny Mayne bust his butt trying to keep up with a PA was hilarious, as were the placement of the mascots at different points in the 2 hours of coverage. Scott (the non Stuart version) was pretty funny in the PMC4 room.

And yes, the "talent" are on the show because they make it look pretty easy, like pro's should make it look.

 

[PeteyG]

I watched this last night and was pretty impressed as to how chaotic it is behind the scenes, yet on the air it seems flawless. Amazing that this was considered a "slow" night as most games were done (with the exception of the BoSox game) before they went on the air.

I agree with you Pat, the pro's make it look easy. I know I was close to going insane just watching with the amount of people talking at once - I couldn't imagine hearing that in one ear and reading highlights live. Talk about concentration!!

 

[Michael Hughes]

I only saw the opening to the 11pm newscast and missed the 1st hour, but I was very impressed with the sportcasters. Dan Patrick has shown his range with his ESPN Radio talkshow, but now you know these guys have to know there sports pretty well and be able to talk and deal with a lot on the fly. That job looks a lot easier than it is.

A really entertaining look, I loved the runners who had to run the edited video tapes to the control room, I thought that stuff was made up only in the movies, but its a real part of the show, talk about a frenetic rush hour.

 

[Patrick Sun]

I think Dan Patrick was a little frazzled after the show, with Stuart Scott in his face the entire show.

 

[Scott_J]

I enjoyed the show. As others have said, it was entertaining and informative. A real-life version of the great Sports Night.

One question, though. No one else probably noticed this but on the promo for tonight's MLB games on the network at the end of SC, I could have sworn the second game was listed as being the Astros/Brewers (which I think Dan said as well), but it's actually the Astros/Braves. I guess it's fitting for them to make a mistake on that particular show (ironic, really), as well as the blooper (Mayne falling running down the hallway).

 

[Jeremiah]

I couldn't remember when the show came on so I missed it.:frowning:

Dan Patrick is the man though.

 

[Hunter P]

For a sports junkie like me, this was facinating. I was captivated and watched all two hours. I was constantly flipping between ESPN and ESPN2 to compare what we see and what is going on off camera.

How cool is being a production assistant (PA)? Getting paid to watch a sports game. Then cutting it up so that basically the country is getting your version of what happened in the game.

Some stories make it to the studio within 20 seconds of going on air and yet the transition to the viewer is flawless. These anchors are so professional that it doesn't matter how they are getting their information. They can get it through notes on their desk, through the telepromter, or some producer feeding the words in his/her ear. But they pull it off like they had spent the entire day rehearsing it.

I also liked how calm and collected they were throughout. Stu Scott would talk to an anchor off camera seconds before he went back on air and they would have this calm and cool conversation. The directer would tell them that they had 30 seconds before going back on air. They acted like 30 seconds was an hour. They didn't speed up their conversation. Stu wouldn't even try to leave the stage until about 10 seconds before air. I was so impressed at how they could just shift gears so rapidly.

p.s.--One of those PA's is pretty cute, has a cool job and she loves sports. She might be the perfect woman.

 

[JustinCleveland]

Dah! I missed this! Any idea when it'll be shown again?

 

[ThomasC]

Dah! I missed this! Any idea when it'll be shown again?

Ditto! What channel was this on?

 

[Scott_J]

It was on ESPN. I don't know if it will be shown again, because it was live - the first hour showed the work that went into getting ready for last night's 11 PM (ET) SportsCenter, the second hour was a "play-by-play" of the behind the scenes DURING the SportsCenter broadcast (which was on ESPN2 last night).

 

[Hunter P]

Sorry you guys missed it. That episode of SportCenter had all the elements you can think of.

--It had featured stories getting shuffled because of late breaking developments (Mueller's historic two grand slams from each side of the plate.)

--It had highlights killed (bye-bye WNBA highlights in favor of Mueller sound bite.)

--It had highlights barely make it to air on time (O's/Twins highlights made it to the studio about 20 seconds before it was scheduled to air and about 2 minutes after the game ended.)

--It had late breaking news that made it to air less than 60 seconds of getting the news. (Mondesi trade from the Yankees to D-backs. They even had Mondesi sporting a D-back cap on an over-the-shoulder graphic.)

--It had PA's racing down the halls over and over again to give notes to the anchors seconds before the anchors had to read them. (Including the time Kenny Mayne was running behind a PA and tripped in the hall. Too funny.)

At the end of the show, they were asked what does it feel like. "Like a huge adrenaline rush." Watching the show, you could tell how true that is.

I will never watch SportsCenter the same way again.

 

[Christopher P]

I saw most of it and also found it enjoyable. Fun seeing what the casters read off of, and how it gets to them, and seeing the PA's watch games, and break them down. (And yes, that girl was cute) And I love how they've been using Mascots in their TV spots.

I haven't watched much Sportscenter as I have in the past, due to a decrease in my interest in sports, as well as changes in Sportscenter. I really only follow MLB and NFL and NCAA football, so I mostly watch the specific shows for those sports (i.e. Baseball Tonight, NFL Primetime, etc..) but I think I'll be watching Sportscenter more closely for a few weeks now that I know what goes on behind the scenes. If they show this again, be sure not to miss it.

Chris

 

[Ralph Summa]

I missed it and I'm pissed! I listen to the Dan Patrick show each day and it made me even more pissed that I missed it. It sounded informative and really entertaining. Kenny Mayne apparently did a faceplant, but I'm not sure that was seen on TV. Dan Patrick also mentioned that Mayne spent a little extra time with the nice looking PAs.

The mascots are hysterical in the commercials. I hope the Husky was there!

They have to replay this. Anyone know if it will be replayed?

 

[Al Shing]

They ought to package this with the Pete Rose Trial and put it out on a DVD for those of us who missed both.

 

[Scott_J]

Ralph, you live 20 minutes away from ESPN's studios in Bristol. Drive over there one day and see them do the show live.

And Mayne's "faceplant" WAS seen on TV (and was one of the best moments in the 2 hours).

Al, I also would like to see this special released on DVD but realistically, the rights involved with MLB (each individual team whose highlights were on the show?) and any other leagues whose footage was included, it probably wouldn't be that easy, and the special wouldn't be the same without the second hour.

 

[Rob Willey]

How cool is being a production assistant (PA)? Getting paid to watch a sports game.

I thought the same thing. But ESPN's rep is that the pay is really lousy and Bristol isn't that attractive a place to work.

Rob

 

[gregstaten]

Rob: I'm not aware of any place that pays PAs well. PAs are the bottom of the ladder (just above unpaid interns) and are paid as such.

-greg

 

[Henry C]

The amount of chatter between the control room and the anchors was amazing. I don't know if the anchors hear everything that we heard over the air, but it's amazing that they can still concentrate and do their jobs with all that going on around them. Makes me apprciate what they put on the air every night even more.

 

[Patrick Sun]

For those who wonder how much of Sports Night was a direct reflection of SportsCenter, click here for a nice article.

 

[Lowell_B]

I caught the last hour of This is SportsCenter, between changing between the Red Sox game, the Live Broadcast, and the Behind the Scenes show, it was a total blast. Kenny Mayne falling was a real highlight.

As a fellow Sports Night fan, it was really something to see, and often surprising how often that show really hit the nail on the head.

Hopefully they show a replay at some point, or better yet do it again.

Lowell