Super Bowl XXII

pt.1- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3Ilhf1gf13E

pt.2- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j7w_wRHbC2I

Whoa Nellie!

http://www.dbsforums.com/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=75651

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wbqTLj6EFak&NR=1

The Quick-and-Dirty on the OAK-KC rivalry as a lead-in to a 1992 monday
nighter @ Arrowhead.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NfRsU7MxM-U&mode=related&search=

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FqGers0wCYo&mode=related&search=

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TfCpTJCDhpI

Here's the coin toss for Super Bowl XIX, January 20, 1985. Ths toss was
surprising done by President Ronald Reagan, who celebrated his 2nd
inauguration earlier in the day. There are pre kickoff glimpses of Joe
Montana, Dan Marino, Don Shula and Bill Walsh.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nCYWWQ2Q6Xg&mode=related&search=

- Taken at 9:03 PM on August 06, 2007 - cameraphone upload by ShoZu

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mYDztKYJkWM&NR=1

http://www.dbsforums.com/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=75201

Check this rare clip out. It's the 1971 Indy 500. Jim McKay thinks the
interviewer is Chris Economaki but it is, believe it or not, David
Letterman!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8sMnBmHzAg0

This is the ending to the Georgia Tech @ Clemson game.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EM1xYVFZIdw

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BFSITnWYH8I

The Olympic Tradition at ABC ended after this Winter Games (taken from
halftime during the Super Bowl) because the Summer Olympics have aired
on NBC since 1988 and (after a few years on CBS during the '90s) the
Peacock Network grabbed the Winter Games as well.

http://joyofsox.blogspot.com/2007/06/i-hate-espn.html

6.20.2007
I Hate ESPN

ESPN showed the Red Sox-Atlanta game tonight and that was the feed I
received through the Extra Innings package.

The station cut away from the game three separate times to show
Sammy Sosa's at-bats in Texas (he has 599 home runs), so viewers
missed Edgar Renteria's at-bat in the 4th (four pitches and his
GIDP), Pete Orr's at-bat in the 6th (first four pitches), and two
batters in the 8th: Jarrod Saltalamacchia (three-pitch strike out)
and Kelly Johnson (ball, strike, ground out to second).

I cannot begin to tell you how much this pissed me off. If ESPN is
going to broadcast the Red Sox game, then show the Red Sox game. You
wanna show Sammy? Then show the Rangers game. Can it be any simpler?

Anyone who cares about Sosa's HR will either be Rangers fans
watching the Rangers broadcast, serious baseball fans who have Extra
Innings and will click over every so often from whatever other game
they are watching, or more casual fans who will check out the
highlight shows later on.

It's bad enough that ESPN seems determined to hire the biggest
idiots to call baseball games. But then they don't even bother to
show the entire game they have grabbed the exclusive out-of-market
rights to broadcast.

(How dumb is ESPN's baseball coverage? It should be the best in the
business, right? Well, first of all, they think that we should be
learning about the game from Steve Phillips. Then, in the top of the
third inning, we get treated to Phillips and Dan Shulman talking
about Coco Crisp's recent improvement at the plate, Andruw Jones's
season-long slump and a discussion about whether the Red Sox see
enough in Crisp to keep him around for 2008 or whether they might go
looking for another CF in the free agent market this winter (Jones
will be a FA). It was painfully obvious that neither Shulman nor
Phillips had even an iota of a clue who the Red Sox #1 minor league
prospect is: Jacoby Ellsbury -- a center fielder currently in
Pawtucket.)

So ... how hard is it to find a way to complain to ESPN about its
coverage? About as hard as getting Remy to not pimp his website
during a NESN broadcast.

I found a webpage through which you can submit a complaint (though
it likely deletes your message as soon as you click send). You could
send an email to "support@..." or try calling 1-888-549-ESPN.

P.S. Interesting how Sosa doesn't get 5% of the steroid crap that
Bonds gets. I wonder if being a happy-go-lucky black man instead of
a black man who doesn't kiss the media's ass has anything to do with
it. Hmmmm ....

http://www.protrade.com/content/DisplayArticle.html?sp=S46a8fa3e-
ca38-11db-bd62-657f60fbe801


It has come to my attention that the network that I have always
known to be the best at delivering sports scores and information has
progressively gotten worse over the past few years. In my opinion,
here is why (in no particular order):

5. NASCAR - I honestly don't know a single person that can even
tolerate NASCAR. I know there has to be a fanbase somewhere (deep
south), but watching drivers turn left just isn't something I will
ever be into. For some reason ESPN has decided to cover several
races throughout the NASCAR season, and thus they now have extensive
coverage throughout the day, taking time away from the real sports.

4. "Experts" - Sean Salisbury, John Kruk, Jeff Brantley, Michael
Irvin. I remember the days when ESPN analysts told me something that
I didn't know, or at least something that I felt was relevant. John
Kruk and Jeff Brantley don't know anything about the Minnesota Twins
because they haven't seen them play more than one or two games in
the entire 162 game season, so don't tell me that Nick Punt-o is the
reason they are on a hot streak, especially if you can't pronounce
his name correctly. Sean Salisbury is good at making incredibly
precise predictions, although they are rarely correct. Predicting
not only the exact record of a team, but the exact score of one
football game 3 months from now is absolutely ridiculous, and a
waste of time. And if I had a dollar for every time Michael Irvin
wrongfully defended T.O., I would be a very rich man.

3. We Get the Point - Barry Bonds is on steroids, T.O. is a bad
teammate, Derek Jeter is God, Alex Rodriguez is horseshit, Tom Brady
> Joe Montana. Anytime ESPN can create something out of nothing with
one of these athletes, the will. Over and over and over again. 'T.O.
sleeps in a meeting', 'Derek Jeter is not a great friend of A-
Rods', 'Tom Brady reacts to his ex-girlfriends pregnancy', etc.

2. East Coast Bias - Okay, so everyone is probably tired of hearing
this, but it is true. The New York Yankees get a play by play
analysis of every game, while the Detroit Tigers get 10 seconds at
the end of the show. Does it matter that Detroit was better than New
York? Of course not. Not every baseball game has to be given equal
time on Sportscenter, but someone should let them know that the
important ones don't always contain a team from the AL East. My
favorite recent Sportscenter moment was the highlights from the
Twins-Yankees spring training game. About 3 or 4 clips were shown: a
Johnny Damon HR, a Jason Giambi HR, and a Justin Morneau strikeout,
accompanied by Brian Kenny's 'derek jeter should've been MVP'
remark. Pretty funny that they would go out of their way to show a
spring training strikeout of the AL MVP, just so they can comment on
the great injustice that they seem to believe occurred last season.

1. Didn't We Just See This? - From Rome is Burning to ATH to PTI,
these ESPN shows have the exact same premise: sports analysts
discuss/argue over the exact same topics over and over again. If you
see one of the 3 shows then you have seen everything. The only
difference is you get to hear different people's arguments on the
different shows.

http://www.nypost.com/seven/08192007/sports/espn__little_league__big_
mess_sports_phil_mushnick.htm

August 19, 2007 -- AT ESPN, the rite of spring is always followed by
the wrongs of summer. Of all the self-promotional and cross-
promotional shamelessness now regularly practiced by ESPN, one
continuing stunt stands out as most shameful, as the one that tells
us how low and lost ESPN has become.

For the past few years, during its Little League coverage, ESPN has
exploited 11- and 12-year-olds for cross-promotion, turned kids into
dupes in mindless service to Father Disney.

A kid, before playing in an ESPN/ABC-televised Little League game,
is asked to name his favorite TV show. If he comes up with
the "right" answer, that answer shows up in a graphic. The "wrong"
answer (a TV show that doesn't appear on a Disney network) gets
tossed out.

Monday night on ESPN2, as a kid batted during the Maryland-
Pennsylvania regional final, a graphic appeared giving his name and
favorite TV show: ESPN's "Baseball Tonight."

Friday's Ohio-Massachusetts World Series game on ESPN included the
charming scene of a kid at bat, a graphic identifying ESPN's "The
Bronx is Burning" as his favorite TV series, which is just ducky
given that it has a TV-PG rating, meaning its content may be
unsuitable for kids.

A cease and desist memo from above should have been circulated on
this nearly 10 years ago. Instead, and once again, ESPN is using
children for cheap, easy, transparent and worthless self-promotion.

At ESPN, they just can't help themselves.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UCYwk2nM8mY&mode=related&search=

I uploaded it earlier, but it was pulled for unknown reasons.

Trying this again...This is not intended as a copyright infrigement on
a video owned by ABC/Disney. (more)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WspV8IOLsbE&mode=related&search=

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uWDzXKMC-jk&mode=related&search=

Friday, August 3, 1984 - Here are the opening minutes of an ABC
broadcast from the '84 Olympics. Notice the many big-name athletes and
announcers.

Courtesy ABC Sports & the IOC

http://www.dbsforums.com/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=74749

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GbaZyDJX-4A&NR=1

http://www.nypost.com/seven/07222007/sports/self_loving_espn_is_no_lo
nger_in_the_now_sports_phil_mushnick.htm?page=0

SELF-LOVING ESPN IS NO LONGER IN THE NOW
July 22, 2007 -- THE worst thing ESPN could do to itself, it has
done to itself. It has made itself a too-easy target.

The secret's out. Last week, alone, ESPN took a beating for what it
has become in both Newsweek and Sports Illustrated.

And on WFAN/YES, Mike Francesa delivered a long, sarcastic and
accurate holler about how ESPN's value to sports fans has been lost
to endless self-promotion - "ESPN has learned that it's Tuesday!" he
shouted - and ridiculous concoctions, such as "Who's Now," another
lame excuse to remove sports from "SportsCenter."

"Who's now," Francesa bellowed, "Shaq O'Neal or a polar bear?"

"SportsCenter," once a cherished and conditioned stop, has become
SelfCenter, unconscionable and unwatchable. And everywhere you look
and listen, ESPN talent is being forced to do embarrassing things in
service to an ESPN/ABC/Disney sales plan that ensures nothing better
than ridicule.

Everything that once held promise at ESPN has been compromised and
corrupted. And that's a shame.

Tuesday morning I tried - several times - to listen to ESPN
Radio's "Mike and Mike" show. But every time I switched back - and
this was over 20 minutes - Mike Greenberg and Mike Golic were still
discussing "Who's hot" and "Who's even hotter" - as in hot babes and
hunky guys.

And that isn't something that either would normally or proudly do in
public - unless they were just following orders, both direct and
implicit.

Tuesday morning, they chose to focus on Jessica Biel. Well whattya
know, she'll be joining Greenberg on a panel to choose the winners
in ESPN's beyond silly "Who's Now" competition, the one in which
Steve Nash nosed out Serena Williams, Reggie Bush defeated Danica
Patrick and Peyton Manning crushed Amanda Beard. Seriously.

Who's Now? Nelson Riddle or The Who?

And the worst thing ESPN could have done to itself - make itself
such a dignity-barren garbage mill that you feel sorry for the good
people who work there, especially those now forced to make clowns of
themselves in exchange for their paychecks - is exactly what ESPN
has become.

Friday, an ESPN news crawl reported that "sources tell ESPN" that
David Beckham may not make his U.S. debut as scheduled, the next
night, due to an injury.

Given that Beckham had made that clear to all, days earlier, those
who knew better could only read such a thing with contempt for ESPN.
ESPN could only fool those didn't know better, and those were people
who didn't care about Beckham to begin with.

So what was ESPN's net gain? More viewers who are disgusted by what
ESPN has become. Brilliant strategy.


*
Stop the nonsense. Beckham will not make soccer fans and soccer
patrons out of a country of sports fans who aren't.

I wish it weren't true. I'm a soccer fan. In 2002, I even got up at
3 a.m. to watch all the U.S. team's games in the World Cup (and was
able to catch the final two innings of a Yanks-Orioles games).

But with Beckham's arrival to play here, this is the third episode
that is supposed to take soccer from there to up here, a rush of
blood to the head.

The first came in 1975, when Pele joined the Cosmos. That lasted for
a while, but it didn't stick. Next, after the U.S. women's team won
the 1999 World Cup, media folks who should have known better lined
up to declare that this would make women's pro soccer here a go -
and a stay. The WUSA began in 2001 and was kaput by 2003.

Beckham? Hey, if the MLS became can't-miss TV, I'd love it. But it
won't happen. Pivotal U.S. Soccer Episode No. 3 will be strike
three. To that end, if Americans are to be bored stiff and love it,
they'll stick with baseball.


*
It appears as if MLB adopted the "hold" stat just to prevent
the "save" stat from remaining the stupidest stat in sports.
Baseball box scores now provide the funniest stuff regularly printed
in newspapers.

In one day, Monday, last week:

Giants reliever Kevin Correia was credited with his seventh hold. He
pitched two-thirds of an inning, allowing two hits and two earned
runs. Way to hold 'em, Kevin! Correia also got credit for the loss.
Yep, in his two-thirds of an inning he got an H and an L. Seriously.

White Sox pitcher Dewon Day threw one pitch. He got a hold. Rockies'
pitcher Tom Martin also got a hold for getting one out, but he faced
three batters; one got a hit and one walked. In that game, Martin's
teammate, LaTroy Hawkins, got a hold and a win.

And Washington's Jon Rauch got his 18th hold, holding the Astros to
only two hits and an earned run in his one inning pitched.

Better stupid stats than no stats at all!


*
What are you doing July 30? The Honeysuckle Foundation For Children
With Cancer holds its fifth annual fund-raising golf tournament at
the Mill River Club in Oyster Bay. For details, (631) 885-1009 or
Honeysucklefoundation.org.

phil.mushnick@...

http://forums.televisionwithoutpity.com/index.php?
showtopic=1600587&st=855

http://sportsbybrooks.com/espn-finally-embracing-detractors-but-
bristol-still-burns-13360.php

ESPN EMBRACES DETRACTOR BUT BRISTOL STILL BURNING: How much have
things changed at ESPN? Will Leitch of DEADSPIN guested on ESPN
Radio last Friday, with Scott Van Pelt hosting the interview (audio
link). This is the same network which circulated a memo last year
banning Leitch from appearing on any ESPN outlet.





DEADSPIN of course is renowned for giving ESPN a well-deserved
wedgie on occasion, and like SbB, isn't short on reportage and well-
placed opinions about the sports media monolith.





Citing criticism from D-Spin, Van Pelt asked Leitch how ESPN could
be "fixed" and "stop offending those who are blogging". In other
words, SVP grooved a BP fastball right down the cock to the sports
blogger. Leitch's response:

1) "Fire Dan Patrick"
2) "Have Bob Ley wear more clothes"
3) "Have the ESPYs four times a year"
4) "Be a little meaner to the women that work there, I think they're
getting a little too comfortable"
5) "Bring back 'Quite Frankly'"





In the wake of Leitch's 700-foot gopher ball off Van Pelt, we really
want to help ESPN "stop offending those who are blogging" (rather
patronizing phrasing, Scott?). So here's some obvious observos:

1) ESPN was hopelessly skunked on the Pacman Jones-Vegas strip club
fiasco by sports blogs and print media outlets - so it just ignored
the story until it HAD to cover it. Because the network has no
competition from other sports networks (where are you, Rupert and
Mr. Malone?), it now thinks it decides what is newsworthy and what
isn't.





2) ESPN allows the play-by-play contracts it holds with sports
leagues to color editorial decisions (see canceling "Playmakers",
decreasing NHL coverage, more Arena League coverage).

3) ESPN fires on-air personalities and gives the listeners/viewers
absolutely no reason for the departure. Bristol execs want us to
care about the personalities they push in front of us, so why do
they think they can blow out Harold Reynolds and Dan Patrick and
give us nothing (Patrick's explanation was far from the truth - he
wanted too much $ and was shown the door). We're not talking about
intimate details, but give us SOMETHING.





One of the reasons for the rise of a sports blog like Deadspin is
Leitch's transparent approach with his visitors (he recently roundly
criticized D-Spin's site redesign). ESPN could certainly learn
something from his methods.

4) Since sports media competition has receded, ESPN has repeatedly
made disastrous programming decisions. The entire EOE division is a
major boondoggle (somewhere Mark Shapiro is giggling). And shows
like "ESPN Hollywood", "Quite Frankly" and features like "Who's Now"
and the fake Steve Phillips press conferences are prime examples of
what happens in a monopoly. When you have no competition, you have
no accountability, and creative quality inevitability suffers.





5) ESPN.com is losing users in droves because of a laughably busy
design and clunky navigation, not to mention eminently annoying
audio and video that automatically begins blaring when you hit the
home page.

Oh yeah, and how about charging users a fee for "Insider" content
featuring these journalistic heavyweights:






Getting back to the Leitch interview, Van Pelt lastly asked him if
reporting on the personal lives of ESPN personalities was
appropriate, specifically citing A.J. Daulerio's legendary
dispatches from Miami nightclubs during Super Bowl week that
detailed the sordid activities of assorted ESPN personalties (Van
Pelt's implication was that D-Spin should leave well enough alone).

Leitch response: "One of the things that's exciting about it is
humanizes people (ESPNers) to average fans. That they're being
themselves."

True enough, but we don't think we would've been so kind (we know,
you're shocked).





ESPN has spent the past 20 years overpromoting its personalities as
celebrities - marketing them in many ways the same as the athletes
they cover. SportsCenter and network specialty show anchors earn
gigantic salaries and enjoy the accompanying trappings of fame and
fortune (something Van Pelt himself references in the interview).

Endorsements, books and thousands of ESPN commercials later (which
are mostly clever, btw), Van Pelt now tells us that we shouldn't
cover ESPN personalities like other media celebrities? Keith
Olbermann, Bill O'Reilly, Larry King and Rush Limbaugh are savaged
by the political press and tabloids. King can be hounded on occasion
in L.A. by the daily and weekly tabs. Likewise O'Reilly and
Olbermann in New York.





Memo to SVP: When you're famous, people care what drink you ordered
at a South Beach nightclub. When you're famous, people care about
your personal hygiene in public places. When you're famous, people
care about your propensity for drunk-dialing.

If SVP, Stuart Scott, Chris Berman, Sean Salisbury and Shrutebag
don't want people to care about them (and the coverage that goes
along with it), they should take a job covering high school sports
in Terre Haute.





In the end, Van Pelt failed to absorb what Leitch was intimating
throughout the interview - that ESPN has become an opaque corporate
entity that treats its customers as mindless dolts. And we all know
that as long as ESPN is part of Disney's giant Conglomo empire, that
will never change. Never.

CLARIFICATION: Because of a screw-up on my part, the author of this
post was originally listed as Jason. I wrote the post. - Brooks

http://www.imdb.com/board/bd0000055/flat/79702007?p=1

ESPN Worldwide Sports Cheerleader?
By Devin Gordon
Newsweek
July 23, 2007 issue - Throughout July, ESPN's award-winning flagship
news hour "SportsCenter" is devoting a chunk of every broadcast to a
segment called "Who's Now." It's an elimination tournament, purely
theoretical, to determine which current athlete is the most "now"—
although two weeks into the competition, it's still anyone's guess
what exactly "now" means. A panel of experts, including ex-NFL diva
Keyshawn Johnson, debate whether, say, the NBA's Dwyane Wade or
snowboarder Shaun White is more "now." Viewers vote online, and the
winner moves on to face Tiger Woods in the next round. And so on.
Everything about the segment is so artificial, from concept to
execution, that watching it is like chewing Styrofoam.

Lots of people in the sports world took shots at "Who's Now" last
week, including ESPN's own star columnist Bill Simmons. It was just
another wound in what turned out be an unexpectedly untriumphant
stretch for "the worldwide leader in sports." Monday's Home Run
Derby on ESPN, minus slugger Barry Bonds, who declined to
participate because he's old, was a bit of a dud. Later that
evening, the network's much-hyped miniseries, "The Bronx Is
Burning," premiered to lukewarm reviews and luker-warm ratings. And
on Wednesday, one of ESPN's brightest nights of the year—the taping
of its annual sports awards show, the Espys—was dimmed by the news
that longtime "SportsCenter" anchor Dan Patrick, arguably ESPN's
most cherished on-air personality, was leaving the network. ESPN
still has plenty of big names on the payroll; its TV dominion is
secure. But Patrick's departure is a watershed moment, not least
because it epitomizes a battle for the soul of ESPN. As an anchor,
Patrick struck the perfect balance between wit and gravitas; he had
the funniest one-liners and he asked the toughest questions. But in
recent years, networkwide, that balance has begun to tip
unmistakably toward the kind of athlete-centric idol worship that
seems more like the province of Us Weekly than ESPN.

Some of this is inevitable. ESPN's lucrative partnerships with the
NFL, the NBA, MLB and NASCAR, among others, have put its news
operation, and "SportsCenter" in particular, in a unique
bind. "Imagine The New York Times owning half of the Broadway
theaters whose plays it reviews. Or imagine CNN paying billions of
dollars for exclusive ... rights to cover the War in Iraq," wrote
ESPN's own ombudsman, Le Anne Schreiber, in a May 10 Web column
titled "At ESPN, Conflict of Interest Is Business as Usual." It has
led to the occasional gaffe, like ESPN's decision to cancel its well-
regarded drama "Playmakers" after the NFL complained about the show.
And many influential sports bloggers, such as The Big Lead and
Deadspin, have accused the network of ignoring sports, especially
pro hockey, that ESPN doesn't have deals with. Then again, ESPN has
ramped up its coverage of ultimate fighting even though the network
has no financial stake in it—and does have a stake in its rival,
boxing. And while it's true that ESPN's hockey coverage has declined
lately, hockey has also declined lately. Is that ESPN's fault, or
the NHL's?

What's more troubling is how frequently ESPN's boosterism leads to
bad television. Another regular "SportsCenter" segment called "A Day
in the Life" (think "ESPN Cribs") recently featured star NFL
linebacker Shawne Merriman, who was suspended last year after he
flunked a steroid test. "SportsCenter" duly noted the suspension
early on, but it only underscored the exercise in image
rehabilitation that came next: Merriman eating breakfast, Merriman
lifting weights, Merriman volunteering at a soup kitchen. How
convenient that ESPN's cameras showed up for that day in his life.

ESPN remains peerless at reporting, and breaking, news—there's a
reason so many of us still mainline hour after hour
of "SportsCenter." And it has covered the year's biggest story,
Bonds's tainted pursuit of Hank Aaron's hallowed home-run record,
with a fittingly ambivalent mix of awe and skepticism. But too
often, the network seems hellbent on sanctifying athletes, rather
than merely covering them, because it's good business for both.
(ESPN's overreliance on underqualified ex-jocks to fill its analyst
ranks is a grating example.) In a way, the Espys have become an apt
metaphor for ESPN. It's a party the network throws for itself and
its closest friends. Everyone sits together, news anchors rubbing
elbows with All-Stars. It's more business as usual—two crowds that
should probably keep their distance, getting a little too cozy
instead.

http://profile.myspace.com/index.cfm?
fuseaction=user.viewprofile&friendid=140374200

About me:
ESPN, is an abbreviation for Entertainment and Sports Programming
Network. It is an American cable television network dedicated to
broadcasting sports-related programming 24 hours a day. It was
founded by Scott Rasmussen and his father Bill Rasmussen, along with
Donny Stanley and his son Cardell, and launched on September 7, 1979
under the direction of Chet Simmons, who was the network's first
President and CEO. Its signature telecast, SportsCenter, debuted with
the network and aired its 25,000th episode on August 25, 2002. ESPN
broadcasts primarily out of its studios in Bristol, Connecticut; it
also operates offices out of Charlotte, including its newest network
ESPNU. ESPN is available in over 90 million homes in the United
States. The name of the company was shortened to "ESPN Inc." in
February 1985. ESPN started as an alternative to standard television
news broadcasts and the information found in "Sports" sections of
newspapers. It began as a fairly small operation and often had to
broadcast unorthodox sporting events, such as the World's Strongest
Man Competition; international sport relatively unknown in the U.S.,
such as Australian Rules Football, as well as the short-lived United
States Football League (USFL), to attract viewers. In 1987, ESPN
landed a contract to show National Football League games on Sunday
evenings, an event which marked as a turning point in its development
from a smaller cable TV network to a marketing empire, a cornerstone
to the enthusiastic "sports culture" it largely helped to create.
ESPN was originally owned by a joint venture between Getty Oil
Company (which was purchased by Texaco) and Nabisco. Since 1984, the
entire family of ESPN networks and franchises have been owned by ABC
(the American Broadcasting Company) (80%) (which became part of The
Walt Disney Company in 1996) and the Hearst Corporation (20%).

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http://www.tvweek.com/article.cms?articleId=31550

February 19, 2007
ABC: Anatomy of a Ratings Skid
Net Slides From First to Third in 35 Days
By James Hibberd
ABC's ratings have plummeted since the start of the year, dropping
the network from first place season-to-date down to a third-place tie
with NBC.

Story continues below...

The drop comes after a strong performance last season that continued
into a top-rated fall, with ABC winning November sweeps for the first
time in seven years. ABC had risked moving its Sunday hit "Grey's
Anatomy" to ultra-competitive Thursday night and paired it with
newcomer "Ugly Betty." The move proved to be a scheduling
masterstroke and ABC is now up 96 percent among adults 18 to 49 on
Thursdays, the most lucrative night of the week for advertising.
Outside of Thursdays, however, the schedule is rough sledding. ABC's
ratings are down five out of seven nights, including down 40 percent
on Sundays, 36 percent on Mondays and 31 percent on Wednesdays. The
current schedule has too many repeats and low-performing shows
filling space, almost resembling Fox during the fall season
before "American Idol" and "24" returned.

With the Academy Awards airing on Sunday and "Dancing With the Stars"
coming back for another round in March, analysts expect ABC to
reverse its downward trend to avoid coming in fourth, settling into
third place for the season. But that's down considerably from last
year, when ABC came in second after giving leader Fox a run for its
money deep into the May sweeps.

The drop increases pressure on ABC Entertainment President Steve
McPherson, who has helped architect ABC's return to glory since
assuming his current position in 2004. Having the network go from a
first-place tie the week ending Jan. 7 to a third-place tie the week
ending Feb. 11 begs the question:

What Happened?

Too many freshman flops: After a trio of new popular dramas in recent
years ("Grey's Anatomy," "Lost" and "Desperate Housewives") as well
one major reality hit ("Dancing With the Stars"), ABC premiered and
canceled five series this season—more than any other network.

The frustrating part is that ABC deserves credit for ordering
ambitious single-camera comedies and clever, mind-bending
dramas. "Day Break," "Knights of Prosperity," "Six Degrees" and "The
Nine" at least tried to break the mold rather than stick to genre
formulas.

The "Lost" hiatus: ABC has taken an enormous amount of flak for its
three-month "Lost" hiatus, not all of it deserved. Fan frustration
with "Lost" has more to do with the show's content than any
scheduling sins the network may have committed. If viewers are
willing to wait a year or two for "The Sopranos," they could wait
three months during a "Lost" hiatus. The fall episodes had the show's
three main leads in jail cells, enduring various forms of torture,
and Matthew Fox shouting a lot. Still, by holding out until February
sweeps to bring back the series during the show's creative nadir, ABC
fanned the flames of viewer discord. The show returned to a season
low two weeks ago, and last week it hit a series low.

Stiffer competition: CBS had its Super Bowl boost (which ABC had last
year, along with "Monday Night Football," two factors in last year's
success). Fox has "American Idol." NBC has ... well ... NBC shouldn't
be neck-and-neck with ABC, but it is.

An empty pipeline: At the Television Critics Association press tour,
critics were surprised that ABC only had two series panels—for "Lost"
and the struggling "In Case of Emergency"—while most networks had at
least four. The lineup suggests the network wasn't prepared for this
many holes in its schedule this early in the season.

As a result, ABC is running "Grey's Anatomy" twice a week, with
repeats on Fridays and, for two weeks, airing two episodes of "Lost"
per week, repeating on Wednesdays at 9 p.m. Veteran clip
show "America's Funniest Home Videos" has become ABC's 8 p.m.
equivalent to NBC's "Deal or No Deal," an all-purpose filler against
heavy competition—but without "Deal"-size ratings.

What ABC Can Do

Less serialization: This season, even some of ABC's comedies were
serialized. "Knights of Prosperity" and "Big Day" had serialized
elements, as did "Day Break," "The Nine" and "Six Degrees." Even when
a serialized show like "Lost" or "24" works, it's easier to lose
viewers than gain them midway through the season, as the ongoing
story line discourages latecomers.

Run "Lost" straight through: Mr. McPherson has said he wants to
run "Lost" straight through a la "24" next season. Given the
controversy of the hiatus and subsequent ratings flap, he almost
surely will. But that raises a Catch-22: Launch in September and the
show has to air during the holidays, and ABC risks once again putting
too many eggs in its fall basket. Launch in January, and some will
complain the network is waiting too long to bring back the series.
Still, the winter model is the safest bet; fans complained the first
time "24" made the move to January, but the strategy worked.

Find comedies that click: Every network is looking for scripted
comedies, but for ABC the matter is more urgent: CBS has a Monday
night block, Fox has Sunday night animated comedies and NBC has
Thursday sitcoms. ABC has been unable to get a mid-week block off the
ground this season.

Refresh reality: ABC revolutionized its drama slate, but many of its
reality shows feel very 2003. Monday night's "The Bachelor," "Wife
Swap" and "Supernanny" don't mesh with the network's cutting-edge
dramas and have recently been a fourth-place finisher. The idea is to
target women and compete with "Monday Night Football" on ESPN, but
the network would be well-served by adding some fresher unscripted
ideas rather than falling back on "Funniest Videos" for 8 p.m. slots.

http://sportsmediawatch.blogspot.com/search/label/NBA%20on%20ABC

January 24, 2007
The ABCs of ruining the NBA, Part II

Is ABC responsible for the declining interest in the NBA? That
depends on whether or not ABC's moves have caused fans to leave the
game.

Technical style.
Since taking over the NBA in 2002, ABC has taken remarkable creative
license with telecasts. The games are secondary to strange camera
angles; floorcam, FreeFlight and sideways shots of the backs of
players jerseys have been favorites of ABC's game producers. ABC
cameramen seem to have 'pet shots'. An astute observer could make a
drinking game out of it; during nearly every game there's a shot of
a basketball rolling towards the camera, a shot from the perspective
of the cameraman walking into the arena, or a shot of the roof of
the building while the camera is spinning around.

In the immediate aftermath of a big shot, ABC always cuts away to a
player on the bench, one of the coaches, or a group of fans --
usually so quickly that it doesn't allow for the viewer at home to
even sink in what just happened on the court. It was especially bad
during the 2006 NBA Finals, when several clutch shots were followed
by an abrupt split screen between Avery Johnson and Pat Riley, the
respective coaches. Those shots interrupt the flow of the game
telecast, not that this matters to ABC.

Reaction shots don't just come after big plays. ABC routinely cut to
attractive women in the stands in its early years of covering the
NBA; during the 2003 NBA Playoffs, it was almost guaranteed that
when any player hit any type of shot, the viewer was about to be
treated to a pair of breasts attached to some woman in the stands.

Camera shots of everything but the game are one thing. But during
Game 6 of the 2003 NBA Finals, ABC showed just how dedicated it was
to the NBA. At halftime of the game, Mike Tirico sat with Good
Morning America's Joel Siegel for a preview of the upcoming summer
movie season. The segment took up most of halftime and included one
of the most shameful moments in the history of televised sports --
the sight of Siegel and Tirico, both wearing Incredible Hulk toy-
hands, bumping fists.

Music
Do The Pussycat Dolls mean NBA basketball? Do The Pussycat Dolls
watch NBA basketball? Likely not; one of their members wears an
outdated #8 Kobe Bryant jersey in their NBA on ABC music video. Who
is ABC targeting with The Pussycat Dolls? Their music does not
resonate with most sports fans. One would assume that the network is
once again attempting to draw the casual fan.

ABC attempted to draw casual fans in 2004, when the network hired
Justin Timberlake to sing "Can't Get Enough" as the theme song for
NBA telecasts. ABC did it again later that year, with The Black Eyed
Peas. And again in 2005 with Destiny's Child and Rob Thomas. And yet
again in 2006 with Tom Petty.

These musical selections were not made for NBA fans. Only The Black
Eyed Peas have any true appeal to the 18-34 male demographic that
watches the NBA. Just as ABC's camera shots marginalize the game
itself, the network's music choices marginalize the game's hardcore
fans -- alienating them in the hopes that some twelve year old girl
will hear music she likes and stick around to watch the rest of the
game.

Al Michaels
One would imagine that most sports fans could ignore camera shots,
movie previews and the screeching noises of The Pussycat Dolls.
After all, the game is the draw; if baseball fans can stomach
constant ads during the World Series, then NBA fans should be able
to do the same for the NBA Finals.

So maybe Floorcam and The Pussycat Dolls aren't to blame. Maybe it
has more to do with a general philosophy at ESPN and ABC, one that
seems to designate that the NBA is simply not a big deal. The
epitome of that belief was Al Michaels, who broadcast the 2004 and
2005 NBA Finals for the network.

In 2004, ABC paid Al Michaels two million dollars to broadcast six
regular season NBA games, playoff games and the NBA Finals. Al
Michaels deemed the NBA so important that he decided to roll out of
bed six times a year during the regular season. Not only that, but
of the thirteen total regular season games he broadcast, eleven of
them were in Los Angeles or Sacramento. Michaels lives in LA. One
would suppose then that the NBA and ABC were scheduling games around
Michaels' living conditions; in 2005, when the Lakers were out of
contention, ABC didn't bother to drop any of the team's games, even
one against the Kings -- when both teams were doing terribly. To pay
the NBA and ABC back for their kindness, Michaels apparently decided
to sleep in on the day of Game 1 of the 2005 Western Conference
Finals, which was on ABC's air.

Michaels was the voice of the NBA, and his decision making made it
clear to America how much he valued the league. America returned the
sentiment in kind, as only 8.2 percent of the viewing public tuned
into the 2005 NBA Finals -- the last that Michaels broadcast.

Inconsistency
Since ABC took over the NBA, the network has had three lead play-by-
play voices (Brad Nessler, Al Michaels and Mike Breen). To put that
in perspective, NBC only had two lead voices for the twelve-year
duration of its coverage (Bob Costas and Marv Albert).

There have been four different sets of analysts (Tom Tolbert and
Bill Walton, Doc Rivers, Hubie Brown, and Mark Jackson). There have
been six different studio teams ('03: Mike Tirico, Tolbert and
Walton; 04: Tirico, Tolbert and Byron Scott; '05: Tirico, Walton and
Steve Jones; '06: Tirico and Scottie Pippen; '06: Dan Patrick,
Pippen, Jackson and Michael Wilbon; '07: Patrick, Jackson and
Wilbon).

There have been five different graphics packages (one for each
season), three different theme songs and eight different music
groups (Robert Randolph and the Family Band, LL Cool J, Justin
Timberlake, The Black Eyed Peas, Destiny's Child, Rob Thomas, Tom
Petty and The Pussycat Dolls).

It all adds up to the most inconsistent network sports series in
history. There have been five different NBA Finals broadcast teams
in five years. ABC has never had the same team twice; each year has
been completely different than the last. Constant change means bad
decision making. And bad decision making means that the people in
charge of the NBA on ABC don't know what they are doing in the first
place. Mike Pearl, the man in charge of the NBA on ABC, somehow
managed to help craft the gold standard over at TNT. Unfortunately
for NBA fans, he has not had the same success at ABC.

Conclusion
Indecision, constant change, appealing almost exclusively to the
casual fan, camera shots that make no sense. Add to that the fact
that, five years in, games that aired on NBC look as if they have
better quality than those on ABC (thanks to brighter colors and a
camera that was closer to the action) and it becomes obvious that
ABC has done its fair share to diminish the NBA in stature.
Considering how awful a job the network has done with the NBA, one
tends to wonder if this isn't just some sort of massive conspiracy
to take down the league; no network can be so horrible by accident.

But then again, there's FOX's Major League Baseball coverage. That
could be a whole other piece by itself.

Truth be told, this alone does not equal poor ratings. Matchups
obviously have also played a role (the small-market, small-
attraction Spurs have played in two NBA Finals) as has the general
decline in sports ratings across the board. But ABC's presentation
of the NBA has definitely had a significant role to play in the
league's decline. When Rob Thomas has appeared on ABC more often
than Gilbert Arenas (not a joke), there's a problem. One that David
Stern is happy to ignore, as he is likely to sign a new six year
deal with Disney this year.
Labels: NBA, NBA on ABC


posted by Paulsen | 19:25 | 14 comments links to this post

January 23, 2007
The ABCs of ruining the NBA, Part 1.

On June 12, 2002, the NBA died. That was the night of Game 4 of the
2002 NBA Finals, when the Los Angeles Lakers finished off the
overmatched New Jersey Nets. That was also the last night that NBC
Sports aired an NBA game.

Since that night, NBA ratings have plummeted. The amount of games on
network television have done the same. Only six NBA games since that
night have averaged a rating of 10 or higher, and no games have had
a rating higher than 13.8.

It would be easy to blame the fact that, starting with the 2002-03
NBA season, games moved primarily to cable. The rationale behind
David Stern's move to cable was that ratings would increase on
network television due to fewer games being available. Every game on
the network partner, now ABC, would take on added importance and
more people would watch. That hasn't happened. Regular season
ratings for the NBA on ABC have dropped every single season since
the network began airing games on Christmas Day 2002.

Playoff ratings have been worse. In its final season on NBC, the NBA
Playoffs averaged over a 5 rating, excluding the Finals. Two
Conference Final games drew over 10 percent of the viewing audience,
and Game 7 between the Lakers and Kings drew a 14.2 rating. Since
2002, the highest rated non-NBA Finals game on network television
was Game 6 of the Spurs/Lakers semifinal series in 2003, which drew
a 6.5 rating in prime time. To put that in perspective, NBC drew a
5.9 rating for Game 1 of the Blazers/Lakers first round series in
2002. More ominously, that Spurs/Lakers game stands as the most
viewed non-NBA Finals playoff game since 2002, with only 9 million
viewers -- and that goes for broadcast and cable.

9 million viewers is the high watermark for ABC (outside of the NBA
Finals). It has only been reached once (the second most viewed non-
Finals game on ABC was Cavs/Pistons Game 7 last year, with 8.8
million viewers). NBC had at least 9 million viewers nine times in
2002.

The NBA can deal with smaller numbers on cable. Small numbers were
expected on cable, and were essentially a necessary evil -- as long
as numbers on broadcast went up. As mentioned before, David Stern's
thinking behind this television deal was that fewer games would
equal more eyeballs. With numbers on ABC continuing to shrink, the
deal is looking more and more like a complete failure. No NBA Finals
game on NBC ever got a rating lower than 8. And the 8 rating was for
Game 5 of the 1994 Rockets/Knicks series, when O.J. Simpson was on
every other channel (including many NBC affiliates). ABC has had
ratings dip below 8 in twelve of the twenty-four NBA Finals games it
has televised. In other words, half of the NBA Finals games on
network television in the past four years have had ratings below 8.

ABC has aired seventy-two regular season NBA games. Twelve of those
games have had a rating over 3. In other words, one sixth of all NBA
regular season games on network television in the past four years
have had a rating above 3. Eight of those twelve were on Christmas;
excluding those, one sixteenth (four out of sixty-four) of the NBA
games on ABC have had a rating higher than three.

To be fair, baseball and college basketball have comparable regular
season ratings (most college basketball regular season games on
network TV average about a 1.5 rating). But this is not what David
Stern had in mind when he signed a six year deal with Disney and
Time Warner.

How much of this can be blamed on declining interest in the NBA?
That depends on whether or not one believes that ABC is responsible
for that declining interest. More on that later.
Labels: NBA, NBA on ABC

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O4LEVgy9_FM

Added  December 21, 2006
From  sportsmediawatch
My take on how ABC should have done its My take on how ABC should have
done its Christmas Lakers/Heat montage.

Music by MeinHerz, whose music can be found here:

http://www.soundclick.com/b...

ABC Sports to me died after the little league
world series & when al michaels went to NBC. I
hate this ESPN on ABC garbage. I don't understand
why they gave up the NFL & the PGA Tour. It's a
good thing that jim nantz didn't go to ESPN
because he would have been screwed out of college
basketball & PGA golf.

--- Terrence Michael Clay
<tmc_6882part2@...> wrote:

> http://www.dailynews.com/sports/ci_4843148
>
> Tiger's event marks end of ABC's golf telecasts
> BY TOM HOFFARTH, Staff Writer
> Article Last Updated:12/14/2006 10:27:52 PM PST
>
> Rain or shine, the long goodbye continues for
> ABC Sports' golf
> coverage this weekend. This time, it's for
> real.
>
> Because Disney's bean counters decided more
> than a year ago that ABC
> and ESPN would be more prudent to get out of
> the PGA Tour business,
> the organization last January signed long-term
> deals for 2007 and
> beyond with CBS, NBC and the Golf Channel.
> ABC's final going-away
> party lands in Thousand Oaks for the last two
> rounds (noon - 3 p.m.)
> of Tiger Woods' Target World Challenge at
> Sherwood Country Club.
>
> "It's going to be tough on Sunday afternoon
> when we're with the
> leaders going up the 18th fairway," said Brant
> Packer, ABC's golf
> producer. "We started this season at the Bob
> Hope (tournament in
> January at Palm Desert and La Quinta) holding
> our heads high, and
> our goal was to go out this season and win an
> Emmy and kick some
> butt, and that's as good as we can do.
>
> "We've not having our production level go down.
> This has been the
> most upbeat crew to be around; it's kind of the
> opposite of what I'd
> expect."
>
> Packer, the 32-year-old son of CBS college
> basketball analyst Billy
> Packer, took charge of the ABC golf telecasts
> when Mark Loomis
> defected to the NFL Network to do their live
> games. Packer
>
>
>
---------------------------------------------------------------------
> -----------
>
> Advertisement
>
>
---------------------------------------------------------------------
> -----------
> ended up working on 12 of the 20 ABC shows.
> Starting next year, the two Disney-owned
> networks will only two of
> golf's four majors, not covered by the PGA
> Tour's TV deal. ABC has
> the last two days of the British Open through
> 2009; ESPN has the
> first twodays of the U.S. Open through 2008.
>
> Packer said the first "real" goodbye was when
> play-by-play man Mike
> Tirico left the broadcast team after the
> Deutsche Bank Classic
> outside of Boston on Labor Day weekend to
> concentrate on
> ESPN's "Monday Night Football." In early
> November, after the Tour
> Championship in Atlanta, the main production
> crew dispersed.
>
> Packer said the toughest farewell will be to
> course reporter Judy
> Rankin, who fought back from breast cancer
> during the season to
> rejoin the team. She'll be joined by Andy North
> and Bob Rosburg (the
> later brought back after years of absence from
> the network just for
> this event), while Terry Gannon, Ian
> Baker-Finch and Billy Ray Brown
> finish the broadcast team that started with the
> USA Network coverage
> Thursday and continues today.
>
>
>
>
>


It'll take your god filled soul, and fill it with devils and dust.
                                          Bruce Springsteen

__________________________________________________
Do You Yahoo!?
Tired of spam?  Yahoo! Mail has the best spam protection around
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http://www.dailynews.com/sports/ci_4843148

Tiger's event marks end of ABC's golf telecasts
BY TOM HOFFARTH, Staff Writer
Article Last Updated:12/14/2006 10:27:52 PM PST

Rain or shine, the long goodbye continues for ABC Sports' golf
coverage this weekend. This time, it's for real.

Because Disney's bean counters decided more than a year ago that ABC
and ESPN would be more prudent to get out of the PGA Tour business,
the organization last January signed long-term deals for 2007 and
beyond with CBS, NBC and the Golf Channel. ABC's final going-away
party lands in Thousand Oaks for the last two rounds (noon - 3 p.m.)
of Tiger Woods' Target World Challenge at Sherwood Country Club.

"It's going to be tough on Sunday afternoon when we're with the
leaders going up the 18th fairway," said Brant Packer, ABC's golf
producer. "We started this season at the Bob Hope (tournament in
January at Palm Desert and La Quinta) holding our heads high, and
our goal was to go out this season and win an Emmy and kick some
butt, and that's as good as we can do.

"We've not having our production level go down. This has been the
most upbeat crew to be around; it's kind of the opposite of what I'd
expect."

Packer, the 32-year-old son of CBS college basketball analyst Billy
Packer, took charge of the ABC golf telecasts when Mark Loomis
defected to the NFL Network to do their live games. Packer


---------------------------------------------------------------------
-----------

Advertisement

---------------------------------------------------------------------
-----------
ended up working on 12 of the 20 ABC shows.
Starting next year, the two Disney-owned networks will only two of
golf's four majors, not covered by the PGA Tour's TV deal. ABC has
the last two days of the British Open through 2009; ESPN has the
first twodays of the U.S. Open through 2008.

Packer said the first "real" goodbye was when play-by-play man Mike
Tirico left the broadcast team after the Deutsche Bank Classic
outside of Boston on Labor Day weekend to concentrate on
ESPN's "Monday Night Football." In early November, after the Tour
Championship in Atlanta, the main production crew dispersed.

Packer said the toughest farewell will be to course reporter Judy
Rankin, who fought back from breast cancer during the season to
rejoin the team. She'll be joined by Andy North and Bob Rosburg (the
later brought back after years of absence from the network just for
this event), while Terry Gannon, Ian Baker-Finch and Billy Ray Brown
finish the broadcast team that started with the USA Network coverage
Thursday and continues today.

http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/news/story?page=contact/usmail

ABC Sports
47 W. 66th St.
NY, NY 10023
e-mail: ABC Sports
http://abc.go.com/site/contactus.html?cat=ABC%20Sports

http://www.petitiononline.com/ABCESPN/petition.html

To:
Like its longtime competitors CBS Sports and NBC Sports, ABC Sports
was originally just the sports division of a major American network,
ABC. The seeds of its eventual integration with ESPN occurred when
the cable network's majority owner Capital Cities Communications
bought ABC in 1985. Although some ESPN sportscasters such as John
Saunders and Dick Vitale began to also appear on ABC Sports
telecasts, ESPN and ABC Sports continued to operate seperately.



After the The Walt Disney Company bought Capital Cities/ABC in 1996,
Disney started to slowly integrate ESPN and ABC Sports. ESPN
personalities like Chris Berman, Mike Tirico, and Brad Nessler worked
on ABC Sports programs. In 1998, ESPN adopted ABC Sports' Monday
Night Football graphics and music for its Sunday Night Football
broadcasts. During that same year, ESPN signed a five year deal to
televise National Hockey League (NHL) games, also letting the cable
network to essentially buy time on ABC to air selected NHL games.
This was noted in copyright beds at the conclusion of the telecasts,
i.e. "The Preceding Program has been paid for by ESPN, Inc." ESPN
then signed a similar television rights contract in 2002 so it could
produce and broadcast National Basketball Association (NBA) games on
ABC.



Between 2000-2002, many ABC Sports programs utilized graphics almost
identical to those of ESPN. Until 2004, ABC used the exact same
graphics as ESPN for college basketball, NBA and NHL games (with the
lone differences being the time/score graphic and the ABC Sports logo
replacing ESPN's). One notable exception was Monday Night Football,
which switched to different graphics as part of then-new producer Don
Ohlmeyer's attempt to provide some new vigor into those telecasts.
From 2002 to 2005, ABC changed graphics each fall, while ESPN's
basically remained consistent.



Meanwhile, Disney continued to consolidate the corporate structure of
ESPN and ABC Sports. Steve Bornstein was given the title as president
of both ESPN and ABC Sports in 1996. The sales, marketing, and
production departments of both divisions were eventually merged.



Around this same period, ABC junked the long running anthology format
of "Wide World of Sports" in favor of a vague umbrella title for
ABC's weekend sports programming. Part of this could be contributed
with the rise of cable television offering more outlets for sports
programming (i.e. ESPN).



It was announced in 2006 that ABC Sports would be totally integrated
into ESPN, using ESPN graphics, music, and production. The brand
integration does not directly affect whether ESPN (the cable channel)
or ABC carries a particular event, as in most cases this is governed
by contracts with the applicable league or organization.



The last live sporting event televised by ABC Sports was the United
States Championship Game in the Little League World Series on
Saturday, August 26, 2006 (ABC was slated to carry the Little League
World Series Championship Game on Sunday, August 27, but the game was
postponed to Monday August 28 due to rain, subsequently airing on
ESPN2).



Interestingly, in June 2005, after ESPN absorbed most of ABC Sports
operations, president George Bodenheimer made this comment:

". . .anybody looking for the demise of ABC Sports is barking up the
wrong tree."



Words from Keith Jackson to leave you with:

"It was inevitable. When ABC was sold to Capital Cities, and then to
Disney, the handwriting was on the wall. A lot of people worked to
make ABC what it was, and they deserve more than to have their legacy
callously tossed aside."



Capital Cities' refused to fully back bids by Dennis Swanson, Roone
Arledge's successor, to acquire the TV rights to the 1992 and 1996
Summer Olympics, which were signature purchases for NBC. According to
Jackson, Capital Cities didn't just short, they cut him off. The last
Olympic Games that ABC televised were the 1988 Winter Olympics from
Calgary.



In recent years, ABC Sports has progressively degenerated with the
loses of "Monday Night Football" (after 36 years of service), the
Bowl Championship Series (to FOX), Major League Baseball (first to
CBS after 1989 and then after 1995 when ABC abandoned "The Baseball
Network" revenue-sharing experiement with NBC).



See also:

http://www.rockymountainnews.com/drmn/spotlight_columnists/article/0,2
777,DRMN_23962_4950218,00.html



http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_NBA_on_ABC



http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ESPN



Sincerely,

The Undersigned

http://tv.groups.yahoo.com/group/ABCSportsAlumniAssociation/

177 MEMBERS AS OF 11/28/06.

HERE'S ONE FOR THE MEMORY BOOK.

1969 TEXAS VS, ARKANSAS

DECEMBER 6, 1969: UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS AT AUSTIN VS, UNIVERSITY OF
ARKANSAS. IN A GAME BETWEEN THE UNBEATEN TEAMS PLAYED AT ARKANSAS'
RAZORBACK STADIUM IN FAYETTEVILLE. THE LONGHORNS WERE RANKED NO. 1
IN THE COUNTRY AND HAD AN 18 GAME WINNING STREAK. THE ARKANSAS
RAZORBACKS WERE RANKED NO. 2 AND HAD A 15 GAME WINNING STREAK.

THE GAME WOULD DECIDE THE SOUTHWEST CONFERENCE CHAMPIONSHIP, AS WELL
AS WHO WOULD GO TO THE COTTON BOWL. ABC OFFERED TO MOVE THE GAME
FROM ITS REGULARLY SCHEDULED DATE OF OCTOBER 18TH TO DECEMBER 6TH
AND BOTH TEAMS AGREED TO THE CHANGE. THE GAME RECEIVED A 50 SHARE,
YES A 50 SHARE.

PRESIDENT NIXON ATTENDED THE GAME AS DID CONGRESSMAN GEORGE H.W.
BUSH OF TEXAS, AND JOHN PAUL HAMMERSCHMIDT OF ARKANSAS. NIXON
ANNOUNCED THAT HE WOULD GIVE A PLAQUE TO THE WINNER OF THE GAME AND
PROCLAIM THE WINNER TO BE THE NATIONAL CHAMPION. THIS WAS NOT A
POPULAR DECISION SINCE PENN STATE WAS ALSO UNDEFEATED AT THE TIME
AND WOUND UP THE SEASON UNDEFEATED.

ARKANSAS TOOK A 14-0 LEAD AND HELD IT INTO THE FOURTH QUARTER, BUT
TEXAS CAME FROM BEHIND TO WIN THE GAME 15-14 AND ACCEPTED NIXON'S
PLAQUE.

TEXAS WENT ON TO FACE NOTRE DAME IN THE COTTON BOWL AND DEFEATED THE
FIGHTING IRISH, THUS REMOVING ANY DOUBT THAT THE LONGHORNS DESERVED
THE NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP. IT SHOULD BE NOTED THAT PENN STATE WAS
INVITED TO PLAY TEXAS IN THE COTTON BOWL, BUT OPTED INSTEAD TO PLAY
IN THE ORANGE BOWL.

THIS GAME TOOK PLACE WHILE THE VIETNAM WAR WAS RAGING AND PROTESTERS
CAME TO THE GAME AND HELD UP ANTIWAR SIGNS. IN ADDITION THIS GAME
WAS NICKNAMED "DIXIE'S LAST STAND" SINCE IT WAS THE LAST MAJOR
AMERICAN SPORTING EVENT PLAYED BETWEEN TWO ALL-WHITE TEAMS, ALTHOUGH
LSU AND OLE MISS DID NOT INTEGRATE THEIR VARSITY FOOTBALL TEAMS
UNTIL 1972.

ON THE EXTREME LEFT OF THE PICTURE IS ABC SPORTS' ANNOUNCER BILL
FLEMMING HOLDING THE MICROPHONE.