The ESPN Campus in Bristol and the LeBron Watch...

In 1978 an unemployed sports announcer in Bristol, Connecticut had an idea.  He had just been fired by the New England Whalers of the World Hockey Association as its communications director and play-by-play announcer, and he wanted to find a way to broadcast UConn basketball games, state-wide, so all Connecticut-ers could see their beloved Huskies in action and, y’know, also so he would have something to do. Now right around this time, satellite technology was just coming into play as a decent option for broadcasting television programming on cable, and this guy found a little-used company named RCA that had 23 active transponder sites available for customers to rent.

After discovering that it was cheaper to rent satellite time for 24 hours than for five hours, and that the satellite’s range was much farther reaching than just the North Eastern Seaboard, he decided to offer a 24-hour sports programming network all across the country. Naturally, something like this had never been done, but he went for it.  He used his credit card to lease space on RCA's Satcom 1, and he called his new company Entertainment Sports Programming Network, Inc., or ESP Network for short. According to espn.com, the name became ESPN when the company's initial order for letterhead came back wrongly printed.  Gotta love those happy mistakes. 

That man’s name is Bill Rasmussen, the staple show was called Sportscenter... and the rest… is History. 

For better or for worse, the world we live in today is one inundated with constant communication between people. It is still, seriously, amazing to me.  Can you imagine people of centuries past trying to wrap their brains around how easily we can keep in global contact today?  We can talk on cell phones, Skype (video phone,) or by instant messenger on computer to anyone in the world, anytime, anywhere, instantaneously.  People have video-conferences that span continents.  We can email, text, or write on each other’s Facebook walls.  Or we can broadcast our brilliant opinions to the world on Twitter, YouTube, Wikapedia, (or stupid Blogs :)  It’s crazy.  But, of course we all know that already.  We are living in the future after all.  The affect of all of these technological advancements on us, however, is not known.  Is the human brain really able to process all of this information?  Are we supposed to be able to keep in touch with such a vast number of people?  Will we lose our short-term memory ability because of google?

I don’t think we will ever learn the answers to these extraordinary questions, (although I’m sure many expensive studies will be done) but one thing is for sure; ESPN did it right.  Cable television was nothing in 1978 and today there are about a thousand channels and endless hours of content online and on in-demand channels.  It’s the media equivalent of going from a paper airplane to an F-22.  I’m sure Mr. Rasmussen would admit that even he didn’t foresee just how far we would come and so quickly, but it is truly amazing to think that this one guy envisioned “sports-as-culture.”  And it’s hard to imagine the world today without it.

ESPN invented the sports culture, cultivated it every day with new and constantly updated media, and is today an International Juggernaut.  I know because everyday I wake up and check espn.com to see if we have any more of a clue as to where LeBron will sign this summer.  Could you imagine anyone caring about where an NBA free-agent was going to sign on a daily basis in 1978?  I’m not even waking up to check a score; no actual game is involved here.  Could you imagine televising the NFL draft in 1978?  This year the NFL says 23 million people watched at least part of it.  No game; just guys standing around and shaking hands.  This is “sports-as-culture “ – people care about the stories around the games and the players as much as they care about the games themselves.  Mr. Rasmussen hit the nail on the head, and ESPN is King.

So when I got the call to take a tour of the “campus” in Bristol, CT, about 15 minutes drive from where I was doing The Last Five Years at Playhouse on Park in West Hartford, I jumped at the chance.  Are you kidding me?  Of course I did.  It’s like a Mecca for me!  And the tour did not disappoint.  Honestly, I was like a kid in a candy FACTORY… not just a store.  It is quite literally, a sport's junkies Paradise!!!  Oh and here's the kicker... there are no public tours of the campus… you gotta know somebody.  Thanks Naomi and Steve!!!  I had one of the coolest days of my LIFE!    

We actually had six little kids in our tour group (10 person maximum) so at first glance it seemed like the tour might not be the best, but as we went along it proved to be kind of an ace in the hole.  One of the kid’s moms was friends with one of the camera men, Rob, so he came along and showed us demonstrations of how the studio cameras, gibs, teleprompters, and steadycams work (Y’know, because people love kids!)  And it was a relatively slow studio day so we were able to see almost all of the studios.  Plus I got to meet Sportscenter Anchor Dari Nowkhah, World Cup Analyst Tommy Smyth and then Ric Bucher!  I follow "Buke" all the time because he does Bill Simmons Podcasts and he’s on the NBA beat… Sadly though, he said he doesn’t know where LeBron is going to sign.  Boooo.  But he did say however, that he is looking forward to when the decision is made... because maybe then he can finally see his family again.

Most of the kids had a good time on the tour, while some seemed (gasp!) disinterested… but I think it is safe to say that I enjoyed it more than all of them combined.  Probably because I’ve been watching ESPN for twenty years, right?  It was absolutely BRILLIANT!!!

Meanwhile, the World Cup from South Africa continues on the World Wide Leader, and the entire world continues to ask the question; can anybody beat The Netherlands???  (Tommy Smyth thinks that Germany can), a couple of blokes at Wimbledon played a fifth set that actually ended at 70 games to 68, and Nebraska will be joining the Big 10 in 2011, but the breaking news tonight?  ESPN just declared that Lebron James will announce his decision of which team he will sign with as a free agent live on television.  And it's going to be on… you guessed it, ESPN.  Thursday night at 9pm Eastern Standard. No game, just news.  Think that will get a pretty good rating?  Lebron’s people just agreed with ESPN execs on an hour-long special with the advertising dollars going directly to the Boys and Girls Club of America.  Good idea?  Who knows.  But one thing's for certain. 

Bill Rasumussen had it right.

 Long live the King.

Oh, and Lebron… It’s gotta be New York Right???

Riiiiiiight.

Underdogs OUT!