SportsCenter is going back to school...


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It looks like this week's theme is Old School. They are bring back some of the anchors from the past to host SportsCenter. Tonight will be Dan Patrick and Craig Kilborn. I don't know when they will host. I saw the promo and I didn't pay that much attention to it.

I found the guest anchors:

Nostalgians shouldn't miss "Old School Week," SportsCenter's August publicity stunt, with alums guest-reading the TelePrompTer -- Greg Gumbel, Craig Kilborn, George Grande, Gayle Gardner, Charley Steiner ... but not Keith Olbermann. Imagine the liability potential of him making a State of the Franchise address.

source: FoxSports

:boo: no Keith Olbermann

Edited by Steffan
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Haha, cool. In the other thread we were talking about how SportsCenter has gone away from it's roots. Impecable timing!

I'm glad to see Kilborn back, he cracks me up. By the way, I think Dan Patrick/Kenny Mayne would be the best combo.

kenny mayne and dan patrick were my favorite anchors on sportscenter. :yes:

Charlie Steiner was cool. Great baseball announcer for Sunday Night Baseball too. Wish he was still on that show. But I guess he does Yankee games now for the YES network or something.

Kilborn is a dork - no love on that one. Oberman is a whack job. Can't make up his mind what he wants, it seems. Not want to see him either.

I think this ESPN 25 stuff is getting out of hand. They are so full of themselves on that network...

For five nights beginning Sunday, ESPN's "SportsCenter" will, in a sense, provide live flashbacks throughout its 8 o'clock edition.

In other words, a former "SportsCenter" anchor will team each night with a current anchor in yet another vehicle the network has created to promote its 25th anniversary.

This one might have a similar feel to a class reunion.

The pairings: Sunday, Craig Kilborn (ESPN tenure, 1993-96) and Dan Patrick. Monday, Charley Steiner (1988-2002) and Bob Ley. Tuesday, Gayle Gardner (1983-87) and Stuart Scott. Wednesday, Greg Gumbel (1981-86) and Chris Berman. Thursday: George Grande (anchor of the first "SportsCenter," 1979-88) and Berman.

During a conference call Wednesday, the five returning anchors all spoke about how much they're looking forward to doing "SportsCenter" once more, and how excited they are to see many of their old colleagues in Bristol, Conn.

Of course, Kilborn, now the host of CBS' "Late, Late Show," expressed another motivation.

"Aren't we all getting appearance fees for this?" Kilborn asked.

The appearances of Kilborn, Steiner, et al., won't alter the basic "SportsCenter" format of highlights and information, ESPN executive vice president Mark Shapiro said.

"The news comes first," Shapiro said, adding that each program will have to get through what would be the first five or six pages of the next day's sports section before going to, say, some clips of the returning anchors in their previous ESPN stints.

Kilborn, Steiner (a Yankees announcer), Gumbel (the studio host for CBS' NFL and NCAA basketball coverage) and Grande (a Reds announcer) all currently have other broadcasting jobs. That's probably why they didn't figure they'll have much anxiety about simply doing the task of anchoring "SportsCenter" again.

Gardner, though, is another story. She had stints with NBC and the Food Network after leaving ESPN. A few years ago, she was in a taxi accident. Gardner said she was waylaid for about 2 1/2 years following four major operations. She said she's fine now, but admitted her time away from broadcasting gives her some pause about her "SportsCenter" return.

"There is a level of fear and trepidation. ... There's no doubt about that," Gardner said. "But so what? ... It's a great honor to be remembered."

Longtime "SportsCenter" viewers probably remember the pairing of Patrick and Keith Olbermann as one of the distinctive teams the show has had. Shapiro didn't consider bringing back Olbermann (who's now with MSNBC) because Shapiro said, in effect, that Olbermann had burned too many bridges at ESPN.

source: http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c...SPGHL8360E1.DTL

it begins tonight. anyone looking forward to it?

you can tell that kilborn has been away from sportscenter for a couple of years. but it was nice to see dan and craig doing a show. olbermann was mentioned on the show a few times. it was also nice to see some of the older sets and graphics as well.

Haha, that was great. Funniest part was when he made that statement to Keith Olbermann (I'm assuming that's who he was talking to).

Kilborn rocks, his show is great, and during football season he always mentions a great game or some team he's going for.

And he's a KG fan :)

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