ESPN the weekend was great!
I went to ESPN: The Weekend on Sunday, August 1st and to say it was fun would be an understatement. Considering they put this together in just 4 months, they did an amazing job. I went alone, figuring I'd be there for like an hour. There was so much to do, I was at the park for 6 hours (3-9) and all I did was ESPN stuff, no other rides or shows. I did Inside Sportscenter with Linda Cohn and Dana Jacobsen. They talked about how hard it was for them to get to where they are today and how women are now just as apart of sports telecasts as men.
I did the ESPN Dream Job Experience, where 3 people from the audience got to read a highlight from a college basketball game. They were then judged by NFL greats Desmond Howard and Harry Carson, as well as the show's runner up, Aaron Levine.
After that I went over to the hat just in time for the motorcade of NBA greats such as James Worthy.
The Who Wants to Be a Millionaire game was a special sports edition. The contestants had NFL legends Eric Dickerson and Super Bowl XXV MVP Ottis Anderson helping them, as well as "ask Howie Schwab" as a lifeline. He is the star of a new ESPN Show, "Stump The Schwab".
When it started to rain, I headed over to ESPN:The Commercials, which was a very funny show highlighting some of Sportscenter's most memorable commercials.
Following the commercials, I watched about half an hour of the taping of "Baseball Tonight".
The highlight for me, as an NFL fan, was heading back to the ESPN theater at 8pm for a half hour NFL Q and A with Michael Irvin, Sal Palantonio, and Dana Jacobsen. The guys discussed which teams were going to do well in 2004 (Seahawks, Colts, Eagles) and even predicted who would be in the Super Bowl (Cots vs. Eagles). Irvin was very animate and outspoken, not afraid to share his sometimes controversial opinion (he strongly dislikes WR Joey Galloway and disagrees with the way Jerry Jones is running the Cowboys. Surprisingly, he had no problem with Ricky William's retiring the way he did). Anyway, all three of them were great and posed for pictures and signed autographs after the show, which only had about 80 people, if that.
The fireworks at 8:55 were short but memorable, with a jumbotron playing memorable sports moments in front of the fireworks. The grand finale showed the final seconds of the 1980 US Hockey Team beating the Soviet Union. The crowd started clapping and cheering. The combination of the crowd, the fireworks finale, and Al Michael's famous line being heard over the fireworks, truely a goosebump moment. Excellent job to everyone who made this weekend possible!
I know I went into detail, but I just wanted to share my experiences at ESPN The Weekend because no one was with me at the park. Despite that, I still had an awesome time and I am happy to say that it will be back next year ( I overheard a Q and A session by the hat). It's nice to think that next year's weekend can only improve on this year's, which was a huge success in my mind. I can't wait! :sohappy: