ESPN Classic
Classic Sports came on the cable radar map in 1997, much to the delight of sports enthusiasts everywhere. The concept was simple. Take the commercial breaks and time-outs away from the original broadcasts and "rejoin the game later in progress" if, say, the third quarter lags.
Classic Sports became ESPN Classic around 1999, but no one noticed. The channel only became better. ESPN added vintage interviews, old sporting events that have been largely ignored since their first broadcast and plenty of documentaries. In 2000, ESPN unleashed its award-winning "SportsCentury," which features in-depth half-hour bios on the best athletes in sport history. The network now even runs a classic sports movie each week (Caddyshack, Slap Shot et al.).
ESPN Classic is an absolute gem. Consider what's been on recently:
Stanford vs. Cal NCAA Football — "The Band Game"
Ali vs. Foreman — "Rumble in the Jungle"
"SportsCentury" — Larry Bird
Angels vs. Mariners 1995 sudden-death playoff game
Major League.
One Saturday was devoted to 12 straight hours of Chicago Bulls championship-winning Finals highlights — nay, full games!
ESPN Classic also strings together theme days; it recently featured a day dedicated to Ohio sports. A year or so ago, the "Traveling Road Show," an ad-hoc studio for on-site interviews that pepper a day of themed games, broadcast from Denver between a day of Bronco games as ceremony for John Elway's retirement. God bless America.
More often than not, theme days center around a current sporting event (Ooh! The British Open is on! And ESPN Classic is showing five famous British Opens that day!), which definitely contributes to setting an atmosphere. At any given time, a viewer could easily watch the British Open on ABC, SportsCenter highlights on ESPN, updates on the ESPN2 crawler bar, highlights every half-hour on ESPNews, and past prominent Opens on ESPN Classic.
Disney owns ESPN and ABC and definitely parlays Classic into its master plan when it's needed, resulting in a four-channel assault that makes non-sportniks' brains hurt. After the event, as a kind of cool-down, ESPN Classic will switch gears and treat viewers to six straight hours of "SportsCentury."
The good graces of ESPN also blessed Classic viewers by bringing Coach Reeves, Coolidge, Hayward and the rest of the gang from the 1978-1981 television series/basketball morality play "The White Shadow." What more could you ask for?
Seriously, though, ESPN Classic does often serve as a white shadow for the other three ESPN stations. It's the channel that won't interrupt for a late-breaking story. It's the station that's not riddled with computers, except for its recent decision to experimentally insert digital ads into games from the days of yore. But it shies away from trivia or ham-it-up anchors trying to be the next Keith Olberman (in fact, the only ESPN face you'll regularly see is the cordial Bob Stevens sliding you out of one game and into another). ESPN Classic is sports without the acrimony. It's nothing but fun.
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Andy Stilp
(andy.stilp at gmail dot com)
