Double Take

ESPN’s First Take is a morning sports talk program on ESPN2 every morning for two hours from 10 a.m. till 12 p.m. The show, formally known as Cold Pizza, First Take is actually a joint merger of two different shows 1st and 10 and the show it took over Cold Pizza. With the length of the show, there are many different segments within the show.

1st and 10 is a segment that is intertwined with the program that shows up 4 times in the show, called downs, and 10 overall topics. The main host of the show itself mediates analyst Skip Bayless and guest analyst’s daily. The segment is also aired separately on ESPN2 in the afternoon at 2:30 p.m. The Top Story is at the beginning of the show when they go in-depth about a developing story and discuss it with insiders on the situation. Within the other aspect of the show is very interactive with it’s viewers and offers a poll called Sportsnation poll of the day. It is a multiple choice question which allows viewers to vote on the question of the day and the results are announced at the end of the program by the main host. Coaches Call is a segment where the show has every Tuesday during the NFL season a former NFL head coach analyzes and dissects decisions made by head coaches from the previous Sunday’s games. Cover Two is a segment where they are joined by two NFL columnists from all over the country to discuss different news and notes. This segment is also called cover Three when there are three columnists. Full Court Press is when they are joined by a NBA columnists from all over the country to discuss different news and notes. MLB Doubleheader is when they are joined by two MLB columnists from all over the country to discuss different news and notes from the MLB. Morning Headlines This is a segment where an anchor runs down the biggest headlines in newspapers around the country. Cover Two is when they are joined by two NFL columnists from all over the country to discuss different news and notes. This segment is also called cover Three when there are three columnists.

One thing that draws viewers to the show is how diverse and sometimes downright funny the show can be from their segments. Couch Potato is a segment, where ESPN's trivia guru talks about the weekend's sports games and television shows as he rates the weekend's overall event lineup on a scale from 1 - 10 bags of chips. Francis the Cat is a segment when a cat, owned by an ESPN employee, is given a choice of two bowls with food inside. Whichever one he eats represents his prediction for the next Monday Night Football game to be shown on ESPN. He made his debut during the college football bowl games in 2007–08. Diagnosis NFL is a seasonal segment that analyzes the effect of player injuries on NFL teams. And finally Quick Takes, a segment which is a spin-off of the former Cold Pizza segment Morning Slice where the hosts discuss an odd or wacky story in the world of sports.

The show is enjoyed by viewers because of how it focuses on a wide variety of different aspects of sports, as opposed to ESPN sporting news program Sportscenter. Since is as intense and views the stories from a different view point it makes both the avid and not so avid sports fan.

Muting Reali

At 5 o’clock in the afternoon, ESPN plays a show called Around the Horn, another of ESPN’s afternoon sports talk show. The show is set up with one host, Tony Reali from Pardon the Interruption (see earlier post), and four sports journalists as they argue about the sporting worlds hottest topics of the day. Filmed in Washington D.C. this half an hour sports talk show stands as a bridge between Jim Rome is Burning and Pardon the Interruption. The show itself starts off with the four journalists but as the show continues on they are evaluated by the host as they discuss headlines and over the 30 minutes they are slowly eliminated until the end of the show and only one remains.

The journalists, together able to argue with one another via satellite on large televisions, argue on ten topics in front of the host who has joysticks where he can award points at his discretion for good answers, take points away for answers that he doesn’t like, and can even mute the journalists for whatever reason he feels. During the introduction Reali introduces the panelists and foreshadows the topics to be discussed. The first segment is called “The First Word” where the panelists discuss the first two topics on current sports headlines. After the commercial break the next segment is called “Buy or Sell” where the panelists have to buy or sell, be for or against, one of three topics from the sports headlines. After this the host cuts the panelist with the lowest number of points. In the event of ties Reali breaks the tie with miscellaneous things such as who has the nicer shirt, or who said something Reali didn’t agree with. After the first cut and commercial break then comes the next segment, “Out of Bounds” includes one topic and it is a more serious topic that is indirectly related to sports. After, the three panelists that are left are cut down to two, another commercial break follows and then the final segment “The Showdown”. Depending on how much time remains, this is consisted of two or three topics, each of them lasting for anywhere from 20-40 seconds. The panelist who makes the best argument on the sports topic gets one point per topic, and the one who has the most points gets 60 seconds to themselves called “Face time” where they can talk about whatever they want.

After face-time they bring back all of the contestants, talk for a little bit and then Reali says “We’re on a 23 ½ hour break”, and then tosses his paper at the camera. This show is popular because of the usual panelists and the host himself. It is a laidback atmosphere and overall humor of the topics keeps people interested and continually viewing in.

Putting out Jim Rome

In the next time slot on ESPN’s afternoon sports programming is called Jim Rome is Burning. This show set at 4:30 is a sports opinion show closely related to Pardon the Interruption (See Earlier Blog) but Jim Rome has a much more macho-man style than other sports opinion shows. Rome first started out on Fox Sports Net on the show The Last Word but moved to ESPN with a show named after himself. Jim Rome also hosts a sports talk radio show in California and is rated one of the most influential men in sports radio. The show itself has been around since 2003 and has produced over 600 episodes. The segments, based off of Rome’s personality, are consistent and well named.

The show begins with a segment called “Rome is Burning” where Jim Rome talks about four or five different topics that is headlining the sports world news. He starts the segment off by saying “Here is what I am burning on” and is usually based off of his sports talk show from earlier in the day. After the commercial break the next a segment is called “Alone with Rome” where Jim Rome interviews a person from the sports world, usually relevant to the current sports world status. The interview can take place both in the studio or it can be through a T.V. via satellite. Another segment that he has in that slot sometimes is called “Correspondents” where an athlete or coach, anyone in the sports industry, takes the audience on a trip through their teams training facilities, a day in the life of, or anything related. The people who appear on that segment are said to get “Jim Rome is Burning ‘Karma’” and have good luck afterwards. He ends the show with a segment called “Forum” where he invites two people, be athletes, former athletes, talk show hosts, columnists, etc. as they discuss and usually argue some of the top sports stories in sports.

The first of many sports talk shows, Jim Rome is Burning, in a grouping of shows referred to ESPN Original Entertainment the show is played Monday through Friday in the time slot it was introduced in 2003 called “Rome is Burning” in the 7 o’clock timeslot, but was canceled for a short amount of time until it was re-introduced as Jim Rome is Burning in the time slot it sits at today. People enjoy his style of “Talking Smack” and overall mocking demeanor.

NFL Live - The Opinion Through the T.V.

NFL Live is a 30 minute show, Tuesday through Friday at 4 in the afternoon that updates NFL fans of what is going on around the National Football League throughout both during the season and the off-season. Hosted by Trey Wingo or Suzy Kolber it features several analysts on the show, usually former football players, and has numerous reporters that travel to teams and even expert analysts to report on breaking news. The show is only one of the two on television that offers coverage solely on the NFL; the other is NFL Total Access on the NFL Network that is not included in many cable packages. The show may be in a 30 minute time slot but it offers many separate segments within the show.

To begin the show they do a segment called “NFL Live Wired”, which offers breaking news within the NFL society. Next, they have the Opening Drive which takes an important topic from within the league, usually from the “NFL Live Wired” segment, and talks more about it and has the former professional players discuss, argue, and usually do anything but agree. Both the segments are offered all year long, but then these upcoming segments are only offered during the season. There is “What Were They Thinking” where they discuss bonehead moves or plays from the previous weeks games, “Drive of the Week” where they break down and discuss a very successful drive from the previous weeks games, “Off the Mark” where Mark Schlereth talks about something that got his attention, and “Fantasy Five” Where the host and two anchors pick 5 players (Quarterback, Running Back, Wide Receiver, Tight End and Kicker) that they think will perform well in the upcoming week. During the offseason they generally just focus on topics and don’t have a large variety of segments. They always finish the show with “The Hurry Up Offense” where analysts have a given number of time to discuss given topics.

This show is widely popular due to the immense popularity of the National Football League and the overall success of the channel ESPN. Their choices of analysts is spectacular, choosing players from all positions and beliefs, and their main anchors are very charismatic and likable. Since the original show aired in 1998 they have gone through over 25 former player analysts and has only grown in popularity. Besides the analysts the segments, stated above, are enjoyable to watch and keeps the viewers attention. With their main competition being on a pay channel, their lack of competition helps their somewhat monopoly of the NFL Information show, but they never stop improving their layout.