As we start to wrap this up, let’s go back to Sportscenter and something that is pretty timely with the announcement that ESPN Hall of Famer Dan Patrick will be leaving his post after his long run. Not to get into Dan’s reasons for leaving or anything to that end, but what does it mean to you to work in a field and for a company where your growing popularity and national exposure is leading to greater opportunities to branch out into other avenues which are similar (Charley Steiner, Rich Eisen) or not as similar (Keith Olbermann)? And not to have you tell me what your extended career plan is, but does that intrigue you to see it happen more and more?
There are two curious, and to this point, unanswered questions here at ESPN: Can you outgrow SportsCenter? What happens when anchors you get old?
In the case of Dan and Charlie and Rich I think they did sort of outgrow the show to the point they needed a new challenge. Maybe not so much Charlie who has always been a play-by-play man at heart. Keith is a different case in that he's shown no matter what the job or what the money or what the circumstances he just tends to move around. Don't know if that's a nomadic nature, some sort of general unrest, worn out welcomes or the search for something new.
In any instance it comforting to know that you're sort of always putting your resume out there on a nightly basis for someone else to see. And it's amazing, to me anyway, the value ESPN and SC has beyond Bristol, CT. Dave Revsine just went to be lead anchor at the Big Ten Network and they are thrilled to get him because of his ties to the conference, yes, but also because he brings a credibility from a decade working here.
I hope that serves me well someday too when I want to pull off a hostile takeover of my good friend Chris Gervino at KOMU.
And while I plan, for the next few years anyway, to be here. Time already served has opened doors that I wouldn't have thought possible. I wrote a book with Chi Chi Rodriguez. I get out and speak for a fee on occasion. Neither of these things would have happened if I was John Anderson Sports Anchor from Butte, Montana.
It is certainly one of the added values that does not show up in your contract and one colleagues of mine think hard about when looking at another job. I know Rich Eisen wrestled with that a great deal. Lead man at NFL Network sounds great but not if they can't see you. In Rich's case -- NFL a pretty good bet -- and it's worked out great for him. Not his hair, but for him.
The staying power of Chris Gervino should never be underestimated….ever.
I appreciate your insight on that topic, it was just something that always interested me. Of course, I long for the day when Charlie may return to Bristol, if for no other reason than his laughing fits are absolutely legendary.
And since this is going to eventually make it onto the blog, all of you who are reading this, get, out there and support John and Chi Chi
Alright…still on the topic of SportsCenter, are the broadcast “teams” by specific design or by happenstance with scheduling? For instance, you and Steve Levy (tell Steve I miss him from his days on WFAN). Neal Everett and Scott Van Pelt. The old school teams of Dan and Keith/Stu Scott and Rich Eisen. Do those come about from trial and error?
And finally….what would be your response to someone who tell you that ESPN has helped create almost an unhealthy sub-culture within athletes who strive for the highlight reel to be on Top Plays rather than focusing on the team/winning element at times?
Gervino is my hero.
The team thing has gone back in forth since I've been here. Rich and Stu and Dan sort of made up the 11 and Linda Cohn and Kenny Mayne did the 1am. When Kenny begged off of SC I paired up on set with Linda for awhile.
The Kevin Frazier came and Scott Van Pelt came and Dan Patrick went to the 6 and it was a bit of a random draw on the night time shows. And I think management was good with that idea. Dan and Keith Oberman got so big and sort of wielded so much power I don't think the brass wanted to be in a position again where the anchors held sway over the show. The show needs to be the thing and by drawing form a consistent pool of people you allow that to happen.
Then that thinking went out because feed back and focus groups declared they wanted to know who was on the show. They wanted people to identify with. That's when they put Steve and me and Neil and Scott together in an effort to put the same faces out there every night. With some Stuart Scott mixed in.
The matching was pretty easy... they try not to put Scott and I together because we're similar in style and, when he had hair, looks. Blonde, glasses. He's now bald and glasses.
As for the whole SC has spoiled athletes and team sports I've heard it before and think it's a crock.
I've met and covered how many athletes -- many... and while they would like to be on SC I've not met one who wouldn't rather win.
Yes, I think kids may try to dunk like the players they see on SC and some of those kids have grown up and now compete in pro sports seen on SC but it's absurd to think we hold more power over how an athlete performs than a coach or a parent. If we do than that's a really bad coach or a really bad parent.
Great diving catches and great dunks and great end zone grabs are a product of the game and then we show them. It's impossible, I think, to be chasing down a fly ball or a deep pass and think if I dive for this or use just one hand I'll be on TV.
Baseball sold the home run with Babe Ruth and Hank Aaron long before we did.
I use this example... if we showed nothing but bunts and guys moving the runner over and sac flies every night for 6 months... would kids suddenly be begging to lay one down or give themselves up? I played Little League long before ESPN and I bunted when called upon but preferred to swing away.
Of course, I was a big hitter!
I join you at the Shrine of Chris
Thank so much for the insight, and I am sure if Van Pelt were on these emails, he would say the bald is by design….it’s what they all say.
Alright…lightning round of questions to bring this all to a close.
#1 – What would mean more to you, a national championship for Mizzou in basketball or football?
Football. By far. And preferably with a win in the Orange Bowl.
#2 – If you had a chance to be any sausage in the sausage race in Milwaukee, which one would you be?
Italian Sausage. Great hat. This may be happening by the way on Friday, August 3rd.
#3 – If the Hartford Whalers ever returned to Hartford, would it cause Chris Berman’s head to explode?
Probably not his... but if they play that song Brass Bonanza every 30 minutes mine would.
#4 – Shakespeare’s or Booches?
What day and what time of day is it? Booches before noon or anytime before kickoff. Shakes after the game or for dinner. Now that Ron's Country Boy #2 has closed, Ernie's for biscuits and gravy.
#5 – Some of the stars for the next Surreal Life have been announced, so in Sportscenter style, who’s more NOW? Randy “Macho Man” Savage or Carrot Top?
Carrot Top -- the guy is ripped these days.
#6 – Follow-up question….if asked, would you ever appear on a reality television series?
Yes... but only if it involved Gervino, Mike Hall, Chase Daniel, Derrick Chievous, Ben Lucero and Norm Stewart crashing in the house I lived in my senior year on 401 S. William St.
#7 – Best book (aside from your own) you’ve read lately?
The Devil in White City.
Also a big fan of A Fly Went By... Always a bedtime hit with the kids.
#8 – Will you, or anyone in your family, be on line to get the new Harry Potter book at midnight Saturday morning?
No chance!
#9 – People ask the I-pod question all the time….but do you even own one?
Yes -- the Nano. 60% filled with Van Morrison tunes.
#10 – Who will win the NL Central? Brew-Crew/Cubs/Cardinal Nation?
The Crew dominates! It is Milwaukee's year. '57 World Series Champs, '82 AL Champs, '07 NL Central Champs. Every 25 years like clock work. Cards allowed a mulligan. The Cubs, like the Mets, are pond scum.
#11 – Fill in the blank: “You can take the boy out of Lawrence_________
but you can't take the lawrence out of the boy." (clank) Paul Pierce missed free throw. And man did I get heck for saying that on the air one night.
Friday, July 20, 2007
Mizzou Exchange with John Anderson (Part Two)
Thursday, July 19, 2007
Mizzou Exchange with John Anderson (Part One)
(Yes....THAT John Anderson...from ESPN. I would cut and paste, or link his bio, but ESPN has it on some fancy flash-page. If you want to look at it, go here and find his name :-)
John:
So let’s start with an easy one…ESPN related and see where the conversation takes us.
The ESPN advertising campaign has long been recognized and lauded as one of the best around. You seem to be in your fair share of commercials, along with perhaps other people’s shares. Are you always drawing the short straw? Volunteering? How is the selection process for them, and how much do you enjoy them? And did the blue shirt you won that day from the Spirit Girls really fit?
The spots for the "This is SportsCenter" campaign are a blast and, really, for most of us a sign you've really made it into the SC club. Even after I did my first few SportsCenters I still had friends who were like, "Yea, great, saw the show. When are you going to be in a commercial?"
Participation is sort of random. Our ad crew starts by rounding up people who are going to be in the building the day the athletes are available and goes from there. Rarely do you look at a script with your name on it. It will say Scott Van Pelt -- be he just worked over night and can't make the 9am shoot time so Levy or Anderson takes the part.
The spots take forever to shoot but are worth it because it gives you more time to get to know the athlete involved. And it never ceases to amaze me how much the guys/gals love doing them. The Manning brothers were terrific, Maria Sharapova unbelievable, Koybayashi a hoot eating hot dogs. We went to Vegas to film two with Tiger Woods and he could not have been better. There's a great behind the scenes feature I did with him on a DVD that came with the history of the highlight book we did for ESPN's 25th anniversary.
The blue button down oxford shirt was perfect fit. 16/36.
16/36? Wow….I don’t mean this the wrong way, but you have some pretty long arms. I mean I am 18 ½ on the shirts, and 36….maybe I have short arms….oh well.
And after some checking, the commercial with you and Ms. Sharapova is the most viewed of all the ESPN commercials placed by the World-Wide Leader on YouTube.com , that is something to be proud of and likely only so because of your far-reaching stardom J (considering her commercial with Stuart Scott has been viewed 15,000 fewer times.)
Let’s talk about your road to Bristol. You came to Mizzou from Wisconsin, what was more important to you as an 18 year old making the trek to Columbia? Running track or your career path? I think I can safely assume that “Sports Center Anchor” was not your chosen career path, at least not at that point.
Long arms, unless I'm reaching for my wallet.
Sharapova and I nearly the same height. I have her by about an inch. She brought her dog with her to the shoot. If she had kept it in her handbag she could have passed for a Hilton sister.
Shocking as it may seem I did not have a grand career plan at the age of 18. I had pretty much narrowed my post HS phase of life down to college at Mizzou for J-School or the University Wisconsin for anything else. After a decent senior year on the track I decided it would be nice to try and keep running (or in my case jumping) so I called the coach in Madison and he politely told me there was no room for me on the team because he already had a high jumper. I then called Coach Bob Teel at Mizzou and he said he'd be glad to have me. I surrendered on the spot. Hello Journalism major. Hardly a great recruiting battle. Of course, once I arrived in Columbia and got to know Coach Teel I realized he would have let anybody run for him. He gave everybody a chance and if they're weren't good enough or not dedicated enough they just sort of ran themselves off the team. He never managed to shake me even though I wasn't very good. The kid at Wisconsin, Jon Baer, a kid I knew from Tomahawk, WI ended up winning Big Ten titles. Worked out well for everybody.
And, absolutely, in 1983 nobody was thinking of a career at SC or ESPN. In fact as late as my senior year my dream job was wanting to take over for Todd Donahoe (MU great) as host on "Time Out for Trivia." Still the single greatest sports trivia show ever. Stump the Schwab cannot even compare.
Interesting, I would not have seen Sharapova as a toy dog kind of person. And to think you know someone and they surprise you like that….
To be honest, I don’t think you could have gone wrong with college. State St. in Madison was enough to win me over the one time I went there (fortunately it was AFTER I had graduated). Maybe it was the ability to eat a brat and drink a beer on campus on the Lake that did it too, but what a great atmosphere up there.
Back to your time at Mizzou, I know you were back to campus a couple of years ago as Grand Marshall of the Mizzou Homecoming Parade. What kind of experience was that for you? What was your first thought as you drove around a campus that had changed quite a bit since you had roamed there?
I actually get back to campus pretty frequently. Does once, twice a year count as frequently?
Not as much when I lived in Phoenix, obviously, but when I was in Tulsa I tried to get back for ballgames and now that I have a little bit larger paycheck I can get back for a game during the fall or the basketball game against kU.
Funny how the construction never ever ends on a campus. They're always pouring concrete for something else.
Are those columns new or have they always been there?
I miss the Shack. Shame all the T.A. slums behind the library are gone. I'm glad the law school is finished because it was a hole in the ground when I graduated.
So going back for Homecoming wasn't overwhelming in terms of physical campus change. However, it was really a neat and humbling experience to be a part of given the history of the event and the weekend at Mizzou. We were the first. It's our idea everybody else copied MU. The history and the investment the students put it to it is terrific and I was honored to be a part of it.
I also noticed that the age of the students never changes. Nobody gets older going to college apparently.
Wow….and at the end I thought you were going to pull the classic line from Dazed and Confused….about you getting older and older and them staying the same age.
As for the columns, according to former Chancellor Wallace on the day Norm Stewart resigned, there were only 5…so they must have just added the last one in the past few years.
And yes, from the distance you are traveling/have traveled, once to twice a year certainly counts. Glad to hear you have been able to be around campus as much as you have.
(More to come in Part TWO!! Stay tuned!!)
