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To The Future By George Stahl NEW YORK (AQB)--ESPN goes back to the days of Pac-Man, Reagan economics and high hair when ex-yuppies Linda Cohn and Karl Ravech host the SportsCenter of the Decade, 1980s at 7 p.m. ET Friday on ESPN. The two-hour show, part of the network's SportsCentury project, reviews the decade of excess, focusing chronologically on major sports events, athletes and figures of that time. The show is presented as if the anchors were reporting during the '80s. The program examines not only the sports of the times but also the culture as Susan Sarandon, star of the '80s hit movie Bull Durham, will offer context and perspective by providing a sense of that time's culture, politics, fashion and "fads." The show includes an appropriate set built to reflect how the ESPN SportsCenter set looked in the late-1980s. Also, the wardrobe of Cohn (who dons a 1980s Cindi Lauper-looking hair style) and Ravech will fit the time period. The main focus for SportsCenter of the Decade, 1980s are the cover stories, which highlight those items that jumped from the sports page to the front page during the decade. The show's cover stories are:
The show also features standard SportsCenter segments, such as:
In January, ESPN began showing its SportCentury project with SportsCentury of the Decades, 1900-49. The well-done show, hosted by Dick Schaap, featured Schaap, Jim McKay, Dave Anderson, Curt Gowdy and Jack Whitaker in an old newsroom remembering the first 50 years of the century. ESPN continued its decades shows in March with SportsCentury of the Decades, 1950s. The show, hosted by Kenny Mayne and Bob Ley, with David Halberstam as guest commentator, contained many excellent features, including those on Ben Hogan's comeback and baseball's westward expansion. SportsCentury of the Decades, 1960s came next. The May show, hosted by hippies Chris Berman and Charley Steiner, with Dennis Hopper as guest commentator, excelled at showing how sports and society began to collide in a way unseen before. However, it didn't give enough attention to the games on the field. Click here for a more complete review. Logically, SportsCentury of the Decades, 1970s followed. The July show, hosted by disco kings Stuart Scott and Rich Eisen, with Ed Asner as guest commentator, made the unfortunate mistake of forcing Scott and Eisen to act like the tragedy at the 1972 Munich Olympics was happening live. The show instead should have focused more on Jim McKay's original live performance. Click here for a more complete review. Click here to read more about ESPN's SportsCentury series. Back
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