SportsCenter 50*50
Filming began around 3:30 on Wednesday. The sport the tour was in town for, what else, was football. Football practice actually. Jay Harris was the anchor from ESPN in town. He’s not as well known as Dan Patrick or Stuart Scott but he fit well. In the first segment, was a rundown of all the things and people that have made Nebraska famous. Next was an extended piece on Nebraska Volleyball. A very good in-depth piece on the history of the program, video of last weekend’s 2 games at the Qwest, and how important the Coliseum is to Nebraska volleyball. That was it for segment one. Segment two had a piece on Dane Todd and the history of Nebraska kids in the fullback position. They also said that Tommy Lee was in town last year for the reality show. They talked about Tommie Frazier coaching at Doane. Apparently in one of the early Sportscenters , they had an interview with Frazier but I missed that. Also in the second segment was a piece recorded back in Bristol, CT (the home of ESPN) of Trev Alberts analyzing the Cornhuskers this year. Trev says we’ll win 7 this year. The rest was color shots of football practice, the marching band, cheerleaders, sites of the state, and the crowd that gathered for the taping. There were about 200 kids in for the taping and they were loud, chanting and clapping. The taping process was a lot of starting and stopping and near the end it wore on the kids a bit, but they stayed with it all the way through. They egged Jay to put on a corn cob hat and he obliged after much persuading. One of the funnier moments was when Jay brought out a kit to touch up his makeup and a lot of the kids laughed at him. It looked like he was having a real good time. Afterwards he was walking away and I said hello. A reporter for some newspaper was there and he said if the fans that were at the tap
ing were any indication of the people of Nebraska, this WOULD be a place that he could move to. Me thinks that it will be a while that Jay calls Nebraska home because he’s got a hell of a gig at ESPN.
Overall, I’d say that ESPN portrayed more of the stereotypical Nebraska that we all expected that would come from Tommy Lee Goes to College, but it’s to be expected. They have to make this interesting for people outside of Nebraska and that’s how people outside the state view Nebraska: corn, cattle and football.
ESPN.com did a poll on the best of Nebraska. Here are some of the results:
1) Most memorable sports moment?
27.9% No. 1 Nebraska beats No. 2 Oklahoma 35-31 in the ‘Game of the Century’ (1971)
24.4% In battle of unbeatens, Nebraska crushes Florida 62-24 in Fiesta Bowl national title game (1996)
No real surprise there.
2) Most memorable moment in College World Series history (played in Omaha)?
34.2% Wichita State beats crowd favorite Creighton in 12 innings, with tying run thrown out at home (1991)
28.8% Trailing 8-7 in bottom of 9th of title game, LSU’s Warren Morris hits two-out, two-run HR (1996)
This is total crap if you ask me. I didn’t follow the CWS that closely in 91 cause I was 11 but the Warren Morris FAR AND AWAY should have been the winner. In-state bias for Creighton won that.
3) Favorite sport?
69.2% Football
16.5% Fishing
Duh.
4) Favorite pro team?
35.7% Kansas City Chiefs
17.2% Green Bay Packers
5) Best homegrown product?
58.8% Tom Osborne (football coach)
19.1% Bob Gibson (baseball)
6) Which Nebraska national championship football team was the greatest?
66.3% 1995: 12-0, Closest win was 14 points, beat undefeated Florida 62-24 in Fiesta Bowl
15.9% 1970: 11-0-1, only blemish was 21-21 tie with Southern Cal in L.A.
Again, another no brainer.
7) Great player in Nebraska football history?
46.1% Tommie Frazier
19.2% Johnny Rodgers
Probably right, but since Tommie’s is newer than Johnny, Rodgers probably doesn’t get as many of the votes as he should.
8) Biggest football rival?
76.7% Oklahoma
18.5% Colorado
I thought Nebraska didn’t have a rival…
9) Favorite personality or historical figure?
51.1% Johnny Carson (TV host)
15.6% Nick Nolte (actor)
Duh #3
10) Have you ever been to Nebraska?
77.1% Yes
22.9% No
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