Top Five: ESPN Programs January 24, 2008
Posted by Marquis Chapman in Sports, Top Five.trackback
If you walk into my dorm room, you can always count on two things: My room is always going to be a mess and ESPN will always be on my television. I don’t know what I would do without the worldwide leader in sports, and there are programs that I never miss. Here my Top Five ESPN programs.
5. Pardon the Interruption:PTI is a great show with a great concept. They don’t ramble on the latest news and headlines. They keep a set time limit for the argument and get straight to the point. Michael Wilbon and Tony Kornhieser are two of the best hosts working for ESPN. Although the show is laid back with constant jokes being thrown around, both Wilbon and Kornheiser make great points regarding sports and athletes.
4. First Take- As much as I like this show, I liked it better when they had Woody Paige going against Skip Bayless. Woody was kind of crazy, and Skip was a no nonsense type of guy, although he has loosened up these days. Still, the show provides heated debates between Skip and whoever dares to take him on. Overall, it’s a great show, but no one can ever replace Woody.
3. Mike and Mike in the Morning- I usually catch this show when I’m cramming for a test. It comes on at 3:00 am on the west-coast. What makes them different truly does make them great. With this show you get a fan point of view and a former player point of view. Mike Greenberg is an announcer that really knows his sports, while Mike Golic refrains from giving the typical opinions that we often get from former players.
2. Jim Rome is Burning- I’ve always been a fan of Jim Rome. Although he’s not as harsh as he was in past years, and no longer having athletes attack him, Rome definitely doesn’t hold anything back. When athletes and coaches do dumb things, Rome lets them have it in the segment called Rome is Burning. Another segment I like is The Forum where Rome discusses the latest sports headlines with two other sports journalists. What makes this show so great is the fact that Rome is often saying things that we sports fans wish we could say.
1.SportsCenter-C’mon, you knew this was going to be #1. What would the sporting world do without that familiar sound of duh-duh-da-duh-duh-da? SportsCenter gives sports fans everything and anything they need. Their commercials are classics and their commenators have fun. From highlights to interviews, this is the program to turn to. The show is virtually flawless. The only thing I would change is the Top 10 Plays. There have been too many times where a basketball highlight gets robbed by a hockey or baseball highlight for the top play of the night.
For me it’s
5. NFL Countdown
4. Around The Horn
3. PTI
2. College Gameday during Football Season
1. SportsCenter
NFL countdown is another show that I rarely miss. It came very close to replacing PTI. One show I hate is Around the Horn. I don’t like the way it’s set up or anything about it, but every know and then I’ll watch it.
Sick Post! I’d have to do a little disagreeing (sp?) though.
PTI is my second favorite. I have to admit, I’ve never seen First Take, but I’m not a big fan of Skip whenever I see him on other stuff. I’m also assuming this doesn’t count ESPNClassic? haha.
I like Around the Horn, but I think most people’s beef with it is that it discusses THE EXACT same thing as PTI does every day, and PTI does it better.
Cool idea for a post: Your favorite people ON PTI. My list:
5. Kornheiser
4. Lebatard
3. Bob Ryan
2. That really big black dude, I forget his name, I think he went to Rutgers or something
1. WILBON!
Wilbon always droppin knowledge on there.
haha. Wilbon is always dropping knowledge, and I think you’d agree with me when I say Around the Horn should be taken off the air.
Being a sports-aholic I love and enjoy all of these shows. Enjoy first take. Although I do think sometimes it is sometimes contrived, So they can have opposite points of view. It is thought provoking. I have always loved Rome. He always has a entertertaining show. P.T.I is good ,but sometimes kind of silly. Same with Mike and Mike although I do like how the two Mikes play off each others personalities. Personally I really miss Miachel Irvin on E.S.P.N. didnt always agree with how he lived his life. But he brought a real honest street “cred” to all of the football based shows
Nice job, Marquis. I gotta tell you…I used to have ESPN on 24/7 on the weekends and always caught SportsCenter at least twice a day during the week. But as I have gotten older, I have started to “turn down the noise” on sports commentary and just watch the actual games. I think what pushed me over the edge was their need to always have a point/counterpoint thing where guys like Sean Salisbury and John Clayton would deliberately act out and rip each other just to try and generate controversy. I consider myself a sports-aholic like KC but I just had to walk away from all these shows and focus on the games themselves. That being said…I respect everybody still hanging with these shows and would have to rate PTI #1 by a mile. I just wish they’d get Tony K out of the Monday Night booth. I do not like him in that role. But when he’s on with Wilbon, they’re priceless. One more note - I actually find myself agreeing with him on Mike Irvin also. Geez, after hearing guys like Parcells and Emmett Smith…we all come to realize how much Irvin brought to the table. Yeah, he sometimes had some wacky views, but he brought some “edge” to every show he was on. I NEVER thought I’d say this, but bring back Mike Irvin!
Yeah, I think they should replace Kornheiser with Wilbon on Monday Night Football. I’m also glad that I’m not the only one that misses Michael Irvin. He was one of the good former athletes turned commentator. Now if only Emmit would take some pointers from his former teammate.