X-Nico

25 unusual facts about ESPN


2007 Minnesota Golden Gophers football team

On January 15, 2007 it was reported on ESPN.com that Tim Brewster was the choice of University of Minnesota athletic director Joel Maturi to replace Glen Mason as the Gophers head coach.

Alpines

Their song "Empire" which was released as a video in May 2012 was used by Sky Atlantic for the trailer of the new series of Boardwalk Empire season 3 Autumn 2012 and by ESPN for US Barclays Center Classic in November 2012.

AnnMaria De Mars

She is the mother of Ronda Rousey, an Olympic bronze medalist judoka and mixed martial arts Bantamweight world champion; and of María Burns Ortiz, a sports journalist who serves as the social media columnist for ESPN.com and as a contributor to Fox News Latino.

Athletics at the 1988 Summer Olympics – Men's 100 metres

In the ESPN documentary 9.79*, eventual silver medallist Christie states, and footage of the race shows, that Lewis "ran out of his lane... two or three times" during the race, which should have resulted in Lewis' automatic disqualification.

AWA International Television Championship

It was filled with a several months long tournament and was defended on their television broadcast on ESPN.

Brian Windhorst

Brian Windhorst, also known as "Windy" or "Scoop", (born January 29, 1978) is an American sportswriter for ESPN.com who covers the National Basketball Association (NBA).

Central Intercollegiate Athletic Association

It was the first NCAA Division II conference to have its tournament televised as part of Championship Week on ESPN.

ESPN College Hoops

It is the sequel to the debut game of the series, NCAA College Basketball 2K3, and the first game in the series to feature the ESPN license.

Game-winning RBI

ESPN would continue to occasionally show "GW RBI" in their on-screen statistics well into the 1990s.

Green Umbrella

Cricshop is run as the online shop of the website cricinfo.com - the world's largest cricketing portal run by ESPN.

GWF Light Heavyweight Championship

The title was defended on the promotion's show that aired nationally on ESPN.

GWF North American Heavyweight Championship

The title was featured on the promotion's show that aired nationally on ESPN.

Mayo Civic Center

The American Wrestling Association held a weekly television broadcast for both syndication, and cable on ESPN, from 1989-1990.

Pumpkin roll

Footage from the 2004 Pumpkin Roll shot by former student Ryan Luby appeared on ESPN as number eight on the “Not Top 10 Plays of the Week”.

Sarah Burke

She won ESPN's 2001 Award for female skier of the year and was voted 2007's Best Female Action Sports Athlete at the ESPY awards.

Sarah Fisher Hartman Racing

After the race, Fisher told ESPN's Jamie Little she was unsure if the team would be able to make it to Kentucky and Chicago because of the crash.

Shane Theriot

He has performed with many influential musicians, authored guitar instruction books and DVDs, and composed and produced music for MTV and ESPN, among others.

Sportsnet Magazine

On June 9, 2011, Rogers executive Ken Whyte announced plans for a new sports magazine as a brand extension of Rogers' Sportsnet television channel, modeled off a similar magazine produced by ESPN.

STATS LLC

In 1987, STATS developed a reporter network for Major League Baseball and provided research for NBC's postseason baseball coverage, and by 1989 was doing the same for ESPN's broadcasts.

Swin Cash

In the off-season, Cash has appeared as a studio analyst on ESPN's NBA Fastbreak (according to ESPN.com) and during the 2008 Beijing Olympic games, she alternated with Teresa Edwards in presenting in-game commentary for NBC's presentation of the women's basketball tournament from the network's New York broadcast studios.

Terry Holland

Holland has also been a highly-requested television analyst, working primarily for ESPN and the ACC Television Network from 1990 to 1996, handling approximately 20 games per year.

The Book of Basketball: The NBA According to the Sports Guy

The Book of Basketball: The NBA According to the Sports Guy is the second book by ESPN columnist Bill Simmons.

Vaughan Mills

An ESPN X Games Skatepark was also planned as the main entertainment venue on the site.

Vice Verses

The band premiered 11 of the 12 tracks on September 17, 2011 through ESPN Music commencing with the match between Oklahoma and Florida St.

Wins Above Replacement

ESPN publishes the Baseball Reference version of WAR on its statistics pages for position players and pitchers.


1982–83 NBA season

The USA Network extended their cable deal with the NBA for another two years, and ESPN shared broadcast rights with them.

2007 International Bowl

The on-air ESPN crew included John Saunders, who was born and raised in Toronto and graduated from WMU; and Doug Flutie, who played two seasons with the Toronto Argonauts, both of which ended in Grey Cup championships.

2010–13 NCAA conference realignment

Notre Dame athletic director Jack Swarbrick stated in an interview with Pat Forde, then of ESPN.com, that at most schools, realignment was being driven primarily by university administrators who saw an opportunity to improve the academic image of their schools—not by athletic directors.

Adirondack Frostbite

In 2004, ESPN SportsCenter anchor Steve Levy and NHL analyst Barry Melrose became the team's owners and the team changed its name to the Frostbite.

Alex Alben

At Starwave, Alben worked on pioneering CD-ROM products and helped launch popular web sites such as ABCNews.com and ESPN.com.

Andre Aldridge

During his three years at ESPN, Aldridge reported and anchored for various shows on the network, including NBA Tonight, NBA Matchup, and Friday Night Fights.

Anne Marie Anderson

Following graduation from Hofstra, Anderson relocated to Bristol, CT and worked as a production assistant, assignment editor and associate producer on ESPN staples such as SportsCenter, NFL Gameday and Outside the Lines.

Anthony Sperduti

Trained as an art director, he has worked as creative director at advertising agencies Wieden & Kennedy (Portland, New York, and London offices), TBWA\Chiat\Day, Modernista and with brands like Nike, The Gap, Microsoft, Coca-Cola, ESPN, MTV, Volvo, and Heineken.

Ari Wolfe

Wolfe's impressive resume lead ESPN to hire him as the play-by-play man for the Madden Challenge in 2007, shown on Superbowl Sunday on ESPN2.

Armed Forces Foundation

The program has received recognition from Congressional leaders, ESPN, ESPN2, Outdoor Channel, The Sportsman Channel, Pentagon Channel, and Fox News.

Brad Childress

ESPN reported that Childress did not consider consulting with team owner Zygi Wilf on this decision.

College Hoops 2K6

It also marked the first time since the original NCAA College Basketball 2K3 that the series was without an ESPN license.

Craig Minervini

He also has done play-by-play for various other sports include Notre Dame football on NBC, CBS Sports Spectacular, College World Series on ESPN, Major League Soccer, XFL on TNN, boxing on TNN, mixed martial arts on TNN, Syracuse Chiefs AAA baseball, and Syracuse Orange football, basketball, lacrosse, and soccer.

Cricinfo Magazine

The magazine was discontinued after the July 2007 edition, shortly after ESPN acquired Cricinfo from Wisden in June 2007.

Dark Is the Way, Light Is a Place

“We Owe This to Ourselves,” another track from the album, was the main song used for the 2010 ESPN’s X-Games, Shift 2: Unleashed, and as part of Tony Hawk: Shred soundtrack.

Don Hasselbeck

Hasselbeck's second son Tim Hasselbeck was an NFL backup quarterback who currently works for ESPN as a Fantasy Football analyst and is married to Elisabeth Hasselbeck.

Doris Burke

In 2003, Burke was named to ESPN's top men's basketball team working with Dick Vitale on the men's games and working the sidelines for ESPN and ABC for their coverage of the NBA.

Doug Ammons

Doug Ammons has turned away sponsorship offers from many kayaking companies and also declined the opportunity to have a show with ESPN on a race he founded, a big water race on the North Fork Payette River.

ESPN Deportes

According to Nielsen, 5.5 million Hispanic households are subscribed to a plan that includes ESPN Deportes.

ESPN Deportes.com

Several journalists from ESPN Deportes and ESPN Latin America also appear on ESPN Deportes.com, including Raúl Allegre, John Sutcliffe, Ciro Procuna, Francisco Alemán, Tito Puccetti, Enrique Sacco and Martín Urruty.

Fisher Field

the 2006 edition was televised nationally on ESPN2 as part of the High School Showcase (it was the last Thanksgiving high school football game ESPN has aired to date).

GAC Logistics

GAC is the key sponsor behind English football club Crystal Palace, ESPN Star Sports regional broadcast sponsor for FA Cup, European Tour star golfers Richard Stern and Graeme Storm, motor racing professional Alex Brundle, professional rugby league club Bradford Bulls, leading London Beckenham Swimming club and official logistics sponsor for Manchester United Soccer Schools.

Georgie Bingham

During her time at ESPN, she participated in broadcasts from Wimbledon, The Open, the US open golf and tennis, The ESPYs, and interviewed Pele, David Beckham, Tracy McGrady, Michael Phelps, Kobe Bryant among others.

Gianluca Pagliuca

Because of his colourful name, former SportsCenter anchor and current ESPN host Keith Olbermann uses his name as a creative way of airing someone cursing on camera in the midst of an argument with an official.

Glentoran F.C.

Burrows won the ESPN goal of the season and Sky Sports goal of the season, achieved almost 5 million views on YouTube and went up against world famous player Lionel Messi for the FIFA goal of the season award.

Herman Ngoudjo

He defeated Randall Bailey in a split decision June 8 on ESPN to set up a fight for the IBF title.

James Hasty

He also has served as a college football analyst for ESPN.

Javier Aguirre

Aguirre's decision-making during the qualifying stages and especially during the World Cup grew increasingly controversial, with the ESPN broadcaster José Ramón Fernández calling him the worst coach in the World Cup after France's Raymond Domenech.

Jim Wacker

After the season, Wacker was named as National Coach of the Year by ESPN, the UPI, and The Sporting News.

John Dykes

Highlights of his time with ESPN STAR Sports include his anchoring the broadcast of cricket's 1999 World Cup in England, trips to Wimbledon and Flushing Meadows to work alongside Vijay Amritraj on Grand Slam tennis, and his work in Augusta for Tiger Woods' triumph at the 2001 Masters.

Kristi Lee

Lee was also featured on ESPN and ESPN2 as a side line reporter, covering events like lacrosse, auto racing, and the first three X Games on ESPN2.

Larry Nuber

During a 1989 "Thunder" broadcast, Nuber and fellow announcer/former racer Steve Chassey got involved in a heated dispute over Rich Vogler which eventually caused both men to be let go by ESPN.

Lexington Legends

The event received coverate on various television programs including NBC's The Tonight Show, ESPN's Pardon the Interruption and SportsCenter, and MSNBC's Countdown with Keith Olbermann.

Mock draft

Mel Kiper Jr. and Todd McShay of ESPN and Mike Mayock of the NFL Network are considered television experts on the NFL Draft.

Nick Burdi

Burdi participated in the Area Code Games in the summer of 2010, attracting the attention of scouts, including Keith Law of ESPN.com.

Ocoee High School

The Marching Band has performed in the Cotton Bowl Music Festival, the Florida Citrus Parade, the Ikea Thanksgiving Parade, multiple Under Armour Football All-American Games that were broadcast on Entertainment and Sports Programming Network (ESPN), multiple Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parades at Universal Studios Florida, and the New York City Veteran's Day Parade.

Olu Famutimi

In Michigan, he played for the Flint Northwestern Wildcats where he climbed the national ranks as the 7th best player in the country according to ESPN.com.

Perry Swenson

Perry is currently in a 12-episode series follows former PGA Tour professional and current ESPN commentator Charlie Rymer, Hootie & the Blowfish band member Mark Bryan, musician Josh Kelley and Duramed Futures Tour player Perry Swenson as they enjoy an extended Myrtle Beach golf vacation.

Pete Rose, Jr.

As a teenager, on September 11, 1985, he made an emotional on-field appearance live on ESPN to celebrate with his father after Rose Sr. broke Ty Cobb's record for most career hits.

Rob Paternostro

Whilst recovering from injury in 1999, Paternostro worked at ESPN in Bristol, Connecticut putting together highlight packages for SportsCenter and NBA Tonight.

Skills competitions

The Home Run Derby was first held in 1985 in Minneapolis, Minnesota and was won by Cal Ripken, Jr. Today, the Derby usually sells out the all-star stadium and millions watch the event live on ESPN.

Solomon Wilcots

During this time he spent spent three seasons (1998–2000) as a sideline reporter for ESPN's Sunday Night football, for which he received an Emmy Award in 2000 for sideline reporting.

Steve Billirakis

While not a formal breach of the rules, ESPN commentator Norman Chad opined that such plays "ain't kosher" according to poker etiquette.

Texas Fight

Another version used at the annual Texas-OU game is "Give 'em hell, give 'em hell! OU sucks!" In a commercial for ESPN's College GameDay, Kirk Herbstreit improvised "Yeah, we're Texas, just north of Mexico. Home of the armadillo, black gold and El Arroyo..." before Longhorns coach Mack Brown says, "we don't freestyle 'Texas Fight', Big Boy."

The ESPN Sports Poll

The ESPN (Chilton) Sports Poll was created by the Chilton Company in 1993 and launched on January 4, 1994.

This Is Home

The song was also featured on ESPN SportsCenters "Titletown" segment which ran throughout July 2008.

Yankees Classics

In 2007, YES and Major League Baseball acquired rights to games that aired on ABC as part of MLB's then-TV deal with ESPN, including Bobby Murcer's five runs batted in during the game the night of Thurman Munson's funeral.