This is SportsCenter

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This is SportsCenter is the name of a series of comical television commercials run by ESPN to promote their SportsCenter sports news show. A few are available free on iTunes. The ads are presented in a deadpan mockumentary style, lampooning various aspects of sports, and sports broadcasting.

The commercials debuted in 1994.

Contents

[edit] Guest appearances by sports figures

Many famous athletes have been featured in the series, including Andre Agassi, Lance Armstrong, Rich Beem, Drew Bledsoe, Bill Bradley, Kobe Bryant, Mark Buehrle , Brandi Chastain, Jennifer Capriati, Roger Clemens, Roger Federer, Mia Hamm, Jim Harbaugh, Evander Holyfield, Tim Hudson, LeBron James, Keyshawn Johnson, Roy Jones Jr., Alexi Lalas, Lennox Lewis, Mark McGwire, Gheorghe Muresan, Gaylord Perry, Mary Lou Retton, Ben Roethlisberger, Pete Sampras, Maria Sharapova, Andriy Shevchenko, Jerry Stackhouse, Kerri Strug, Shaun White and Tiger Woods (with their tics sometimes being parodied, for example Strug being carried around ESPN HQ because of her famous ankle injury).

  • The power goes out late at night at the ESPN studios; Dan Patrick goes backstage to find the cause of the power outage: apparently Lance Armstrong has taken a break from riding his bicycle (connected to a generator).
  • In a 1999 commercial aired in the midst of the Y2K fears, when the studio's electricity goes out (due to Y2K tests), amidst the ensuing mayhem—which includes Mark McGwire smashing a computer with his bat—Charley Steiner walks away, wearing face paint and a necktie as a headband, holding a lantern and screaming, '"Follow me! Follow me to freedom!!"
  • The hot dog eating champion Takeru Kobayashi is featured in a recent ad where he finishes his lunch in the ESPN cafeteria in the 30-second span of the commercial.
  • In 2006, a commercial aired which showed Danica Patrick's race car being towed from a parking spot, presumably outside SportsCenter studios, which was reserved for "D. Patrick." Shortly after, Danica runs outside after her car, only to run into Dan Patrick, one of SportsCenter's premiere anchors. Some humorous debate over whose parking spot it really was follows.
  • Another 2006 ad features the Manning family taking a tour of the SportsCenter studio. John Anderson conducts the tour while Eli and Peyton Manning pick on each other. When Archie Manning turns to look, the brothers stop and proceed to silently blame each other for the antics.

[edit] Sports practices

Many commercials in the series have derived their humor from parodying conventional professional sports practices, by applying them to working for SportsCenter:

  • One ad has former anchor Rich Eisen being "sent down to the minors" (in his case, working for a high-school TV service, where two students asked him to buy them some beer, a favor he declined to go through with).
  • The network drafting a can't-miss anchor prospect out of high school, only to see him flame out on the job ("Jimmy Key, what is he 45? I could hit him!") and ESPN discovering that "he just wasn't ready", a la how baseball teams rush their highly-touted prospects to the majors.
  • A parody of post-game interviewing finds a dejected Kenny Mayne and an upbeat Dan Patrick asked about their performances in that evening's broadcast in "locker room" interviews.
  • Another recent ad has the show going into a rain delay (it was a small pipe leaking above the desk), forcing anchors John Anderson and Steve Levy to wait it out in a dugout as a grounds crew covers the desk with a tarp.
  • The carpet in the ESPN headquarters is replaced with grass to prevent injuries, a parody of the controversy over injuries sustained by football players competing on AstroTurf (in the ad, ESPN workers are shown tripping on the carpet). The anchors have to yell over the sound of the lawn mower cutting the grass in the studio.
  • In a 1997 ad, Dan Patrick and Kenny Mayne are shown signing off a typical SportsCenter broadcast, and are then given sombreros, and they begin broadcasting the Spanish version of SportsCenter (with a mariachi version of the show's theme). While Bob Ley explains that they re-do the show for overseas markets ("Same highlights, same anchors, different dialects"), they are also shown giving Russian and German versions a try, replete with national costumes, and the SportsCenter theme redone for those cultures.
  • A 2006 ad shows Scott Van Pelt and Stuart Scott jumping and stretching before a show, similar to what NBA players do before games. The ad ends with both men easily taking off their "warm-up suits" revealing their show suits underneath.

[edit] Sports mascots

Sports mascots and cheerleaders are usually present in most ads, often seen casually milling around in the background, but occasionally they take on an active role:

  • In a 2003 ad, when the show ends, everyone rushes out of the studio, creating a massive traffic jam. It then shows Mr. Met and Lady Met driving home on the freeway (with the Met children in the back), with Lady Met subtitled as saying they were glad to get out early.
  • "Billy the Marlin", the Florida Marlins mascot, which always has an open mouth, is startled to find his "girlfriend," Andrea Kremer, kissing another SportsCenter anchor.
  • The San Diego Chicken, who is seen pulling practical jokes all over the ESPN building, when it is revealed at the end of the commercial that inside the costume was Pete Sampras, playing against his image as being humorless and robotic.

[edit] External links

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