Be thankful, fair readers, for the cable gods have looked upon us with favor. I don’t mean back-to-back episodes of Trading Spaces every Saturday night. I don’t mean the all-too-overdue addition of VH1 to the Hoyanet lineup, enabling Behind the Music addicts from New South to Darnall to get their fix. Hell, I don’t even mean the renewal of the Anna Nicole Show.
I mean ESPN Classic Sports. I love it and I can’t get enough.
This is probably old news to some of you?ESPN Classic Sports has been around for some time now. I sadly grew up on basic cable, and Northwest Indiana was sorely lacking in some of the cable essentials: No Bravo, no Court TV and only one ESPN!
But as much as I love ESPN Classic Sports as a concept, for the pure historical value I don’t think I’m quite as enthusiastic about actually watching it. First off, finding TV time this time of year is hard. I’m usually busy thinking about doing work. Moreover, at first glance, the whole concept seems a tad underwhelming.
Just check out this weekend’s special Rivalries Weekend lineup: On Saturday, the network is airing four consecutive Michigan-Ohio State games. That is more Archie Griffin and Art Schlichter than a man can handle in one sitting. As a chaser, they will offer The Longest Yard, catching Burt Reynolds on the cusp of stardom in what is widely regarded as former Packer Ray Nitzschke’s finest screen performance. “Appointment television,” this isn’t.
But I’m still glad to know that ESPN Classic Sports is here. First, having an unabridged sense of history is good. Highlight reels of Super Bowl III are well and good, but seeing Joe Namath’s epoch-shattering mane in the context of the whole game is another thing entirely. But more than that, it’s the small pleasures that watching classic sports provides.
Last Tuesday, they aired an early-’90s USC-UCLA matchup. For one, there was the not-inconsequential thrill of seeing J.J. Stokes and Rob Johnson before embarking mediocrre NFL careers. For another, the 24-21 score was a reminder of a bygone day when Pac-10 teams still made it a point to play defense.
My good friend and apartment-mate does not agree. Every time ESPN Classic Sports gets flipped on, he gets all huffy and starts groaning about what crap this is. This friend of mine has no problem with the “classics” in general. He’s a movie buff who often watches the American Movie Classics channel. He takes Milton, and even seems to enjoy it.
So what’s his problem with ESPN Classic Sports?
He claims the essence of sport is its spontaneity, the thrill of watching something happen in front of you. It would take quite the measure of grog for me to match the thrill of the last White Sox World Series victory ? in 1917. Point taken?you can’t relive the excitement, but is that the point?
Are sports like a stage play, where every performance is ephemeral, never to be replicated? Or are sports more like a film, where every repeat viewing reveals ever more detail and metaphor? I’d bank on the latter. Just as filmmakers perform in the shadow of a century of filmmaking, with the likes of D.W. Griffith, Orson Welles and the box-office receipts of Harry Potter looming over them, football players play in the shadow of Joe Namath, Ray Nitzchke and even Art Schlichter. ESPN Classic Sports provides a place for the fan to see these Citizen Kanes of the sporting world.
I’m glad to know ESPN Classic Sports is providing what little history, perspective, nostalgia and novelty sports can offer. When I finally get a chance, I tune in, see short shorts and Fu Manchu mustaches alongside boxing matches before they became freak shows and Super Bowls before they became advertising vehicles.
That is, unless Trading Spaces is on. That Paige babe is hot.
