Fans, it's hard to believe, but "The Sports Reporters" is about to celebrate an anniversary this Sunday morning on ESPN. The "Sports Reporters" this Sunday will celebrate 20 years on the air. It was created by independent producer Joe Valerio in 1988 with original host Gary Thorne talking about various sports topics with a rotating lineup of sportswriters & columnists from across America. The show is actually considered groundbreaking because one of the show's first panelists was a woman, Boston Globe columnist Jackie MacMullan. As the show has evolved, sportscasters such as Jim Nantz, Bud Collins, Jimmy Roberts, Bob Costas, Al Michaels & the late Howard Cosell have also joined the weekly conversation. This was also one of the signature shows of the late Dick Schaap, who died in 2001. Veteran ESPN personality John Saunders has been hosting the show, taped at New York's ESPN Zone, ever since Schaap passed away. The show now airs at 8:30a Sundays on ESPN, with a replay at 11:30a Sundays on ESPNEWS. I can't believe it's been on that long!

You said it was "hard to believe" three times in that post. Twice in the first 2 sentences.


Please revise and re-submit.

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Well, it's hard to believe, Spanky. Check it out now.

Still hard to believe.

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This whole thread is just hard to believe.

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"All crowds boycotting football games shouldn't care who sings or takes a knee because they aren't watching." - Nas

I remember the Cosell appearance vividly. I was never a fan, but it was sad and embarassing. He came off as a bitter, doddering, dementia patient. He rambled on while the panelists looked at him like the audience in Springtime For Hitler from "The Producers." I'm pretty sure it was the last time anyone put him in front of a camera and asked his opinion.

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"Nobody ever went broke underestimating the taste of the American public." ~ H.L. Mencken

Howard Cosell must have been on at the point of his life where he was very unhappy, very sick & didn't want to talk to anyone before he went to that TV booth in the sky... It was a side of the sportscasting icon that many didn't want to see before his death about 10 to 15 years ago...

I think you just described Cosell's entire life.

And if he didn't want to do the show, don't do the fucking show. I don't recall anyone standing behind him with a glock during that pathetic appearance.

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"Nobody ever went broke underestimating the taste of the American public." ~ H.L. Mencken

A7X, Howard Cosell was an icon at ABC Sports, and wasn't afraid to speak his mind during a legendary career. Howard must have been a little happier when he did "The Sports Reporters" before his health waned & passed away. I think he was one of the first sportscasters to do the ESPN show when it debuted in 1988. CBS' Jim Nantz, NBC's Bud Collins, Al Michaels, Bob Costas & Jimmy Roberts and the YES Network's Michael Kay are among the many network sportscasters that have done the show as it has evolved.

i thought this was about the tv show telander used to be on in a smoke-filled room.

Sorry, Harvey... You're referring to the "Sports Writers on TV", which was a different show altogether. Rick Telander, then of Sports Illustrated, was on there, along with the Trib's Bill Jauss, the Daily Southtown's Bill Gleason & the late, great Ben Bentley as moderator which aired on the long since defunct SportsChannel Chicago & FOX Sports Net Chicago in the late '80s & early '90s. The AP's Joe Mooshil also appeared on the TV version of the classic WGN 720 radio show which Gleason created in 1975. While the radio version of the old "Sports Writers" talked about Chicago sports, national sports were talked about on the TV show, which I believe was syndicated to other regional sports networks across America. As far as I remember, Telander also joined the likes of Mike Lupica, Bob Ryan, Mitch Albom and other media types in New York for ESPN's "Sports Reporters" show. Factually speaking, ESPN's version came out after SportsChannel's version hit the air. "Writers" met in a dark, smoke filled Chicago studio...