# A Sports Night "joke?" **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [February 14, 2009, 8:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-sports-night-joke/485802 "2009-02-14T08:32:19Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 19\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![mshar253](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/6de8d8/32.png) [@mshar253](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mshar253)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2009, 8:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-sports-night-joke/485802/1 "2009-02-14T08:32:19Z")
I know that Sports Night is well liked among many of the Dopers, so I’m hoping that someone can answer me what should be a fairly easy question: At the begining of the each show (not the ABC show, the show within the show, on CSC), Dan (or Casey) will say something like, “Hi, I’m Dan Rydell alongside Casey McCall; these stories and more tonight on Sports Night…” Is that supposed to be some kind of a joke, like, we’re going to cover the story of us sitting with each other, as well as the sports? If it is, it’s a horrible one. ---
**Author:** ![friedo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/8edcca/32.png) [@friedo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/friedo)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2009, 8:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-sports-night-joke/485802/2 "2009-02-14T08:36:40Z")
Even Aaron Sorkin wouldn’t make a joke that lame. “Those stories and more” has been a standard opening line for newsish programs for centuries. They were doing it at the Colosseum to make the emperor wonder what _else_ was on the program besides feeding some Christians to a lion. ---
**Author:** ![Cyberhwk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/7993a0/32.png) [@Cyberhwk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cyberhwk)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2009, 8:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-sports-night-joke/485802/3 "2009-02-14T08:36:43Z")
No. When the sports shows start they generally show a pre-recorded 30-45 second teaser of sports highlights and news from the day. “Those stories” are referring to the stories featured in the teaser (which the viewer would have seen, but you did not). ---
**Author:** ![firstname](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/7ab992/32.png) [@firstname](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/firstname)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2009, 12:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-sports-night-joke/485802/4 "2009-02-14T12:07:10Z")
Obviously this is unknowable without asking Aaron Sorkin personally, but i certainly never took it that way, i always just accepted it as a pretty standard opening line. ---
**Author:** ![astorian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ad7895/32.png) [@astorian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astorian)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2009, 2:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-sports-night-joke/485802/5 "2009-02-14T14:34:40Z")
> [@Cyberhwk](#): > > No. When the sports shows start they generally show a pre-recorded 30-45 second teaser of sports highlights and news from the day. “Those stories” are referring to the stories featured in the teaser (which the viewer would have seen, but you did not). That’s my take, as well. I assumed that the unseen fictional viewers of the fictional show “Sports Night” have just watched a few clips of current sports stories before the anchors say their standard opening line. ---
**Author:** ![Justin\_Bailey](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/justin_bailey/32/8792_2.png) [@Justin\_Bailey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Justin_Bailey)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2009, 5:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-sports-night-joke/485802/6 "2009-02-14T17:38:11Z")
> [@astorian](#): > > That’s my take, as well. I assumed that the unseen fictional viewers of the fictional show “Sports Night” have just watched a few clips of current sports stories before the anchors say their standard opening line. They do show those opening sports clips in a few episodes. Or at least, the tail end of them. ---
**Author:** ![mshar253](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/6de8d8/32.png) [@mshar253](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mshar253)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2009, 11:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-sports-night-joke/485802/7 "2009-02-14T23:40:27Z")
I appreciate all the answers, and I don’t mean to be argumentative, but I’m still curious about something. In my OP, I should have provided an exact quote as an example. Here is one, taken from [this](http://community.livejournal.com/sntranscripts) website: > [@](#): > > Dan: Good evening from New York City, I’m Dan Rydell alongside Casey McCall, those stories plus, we’ll bring you the Madness of March and a May-Day from Missouri. I admit, I may not be as savvy of common news phrases as I should be, so it’s very possible that Charlie Gibson _would_ say something like; however, at least to me, it doesn’t make sense. What stories are “those” besides Dan’s being in New York with Casey McCall? I promise that if someone still tells me that it’s a common thing for newscasters to say, I’ll concede. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Contrapuntal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e274bd/32.png) [@Contrapuntal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Contrapuntal)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2009, 11:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-sports-night-joke/485802/8 "2009-02-14T23:44:56Z")
> [@mshar253](#): > > I promise that if someone still tells me that it’s a common thing for newscasters to say, I’ll concede. 🙂 \*\*Cyberhwk \*\*has explained this, and that’s really all there is to it. It may not be common for newscasters, but it is common for sportscasters. Watch SportsCenter sometime. I think that this a version of what is called a “wrap,” where the previous show leads into the next. ---
**Author:** ![chrisk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/6de8d8/32.png) [@chrisk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chrisk)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2009, 12:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-sports-night-joke/485802/9 "2009-02-15T00:04:11Z")
> [@mshar253](#): > > I appreciate all the answers, and I don’t mean to be argumentative, but I’m still curious about something. In my OP, I should have provided an exact quote as an example. Here is one, taken from [this](http://community.livejournal.com/sntranscripts) website: > > I admit, I may not be as savvy of common news phrases as I should be, so it’s very possible that Charlie Gibson _would_ say something like; however, at least to me, it doesn’t make sense. What stories are “those” besides Dan’s being in New York with Casey McCall? > > I promise that if someone still tells me that it’s a common thing for newscasters to say, I’ll concede. 🙂 Okay, well, here’s an example that might kind of give you the idea - they don’t use the ‘those stories plus more’ phrasing, but from the video you can see the sort of prerecorded intro as it’s played for the television audience, and the first time the co-hosts are actually seen behind the desk - that would be the moment when they’re given the cue by the show producer. [![](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/c7mjg5k1Tv8/hqdefault.jpg "Sportscentre Intro Sept 14/07") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c7mjg5k1Tv8) I’m not really familiar with these sort of shows either, so I understand your confusion. Does watching that video help? ---
**Author:** ![cochrane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cochrane/32/10441_2.png) [@cochrane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cochrane)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2009, 12:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-sports-night-joke/485802/10 "2009-02-15T00:04:44Z")
That’s how I always understood it. For example, something like (not heard on screen): “In interleague play today, a wild one from Yankee Stadium as the visiting Mets come out on top. In Oakland, Giants/ A’s, Bonds chases Ruth’s career record.” Then the show cuts in: “Hi, I’m Dan Rydell alongside Casey McCall; these stories and more tonight on Sports Night…” ---
**Author:** ![amarinth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/3be4f8/32.png) [@amarinth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/amarinth)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2009, 1:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-sports-night-joke/485802/11 "2009-02-15T01:51:12Z")
> [@mshar253](#): > > I appreciate all the answers, and I don’t mean to be argumentative, but I’m still curious about something. In my OP, I should have provided an exact quote as an example. Here is one, taken from [this](http://community.livejournal.com/sntranscripts) website: > > I admit, I may not be as savvy of common news phrases as I should be, so it’s very possible that Charlie Gibson _would_ say something like; however, at least to me, it doesn’t make sense. What stories are “those” besides Dan’s being in New York with Casey McCall? > > I promise that if someone still tells me that it’s a common thing for newscasters to say, I’ll concede. 🙂 Here’s the pilot on you tube: [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XKaO-hsb3vM](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XKaO-hsb3vM) at 1:24, you can hear Dan’s voice saying “tonight on Sports Night” and see a bit of the clips that the home audience would see while in the studio other things are happening. “Those stories” are the things that the audience was seeing. ---
**Author:** ![PastAllReason](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/f07891/32.png) [@PastAllReason](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PastAllReason)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2009, 1:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-sports-night-joke/485802/12 "2009-02-15T01:54:26Z")
> [@cochrane](#): > > That’s how I always understood it. For example, something like (not heard on screen): > > “In interleague play today, a wild one from Yankee Stadium as the visiting Mets come out on top. In Oakland, Giants/ A’s, Bonds chases Ruth’s career record.” > > Then the show cuts in: > > “Hi, I’m Dan Rydell alongside Casey McCall; these stories and more tonight on Sports Night…” To the **OP** if it’s any consolation, I initially wondered the same thing when I started watching the show on DVD. I eventually concluded the same as **cochrane**. ---
**Author:** ![gaffa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e68b1a/32.png) [@gaffa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gaffa)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2009, 3:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-sports-night-joke/485802/13 "2009-02-15T03:12:02Z")
Were Dan Rydell and Casey McCall based on Keith Olbermann and Dan Patrick? ---
**Author:** ![Justin\_Bailey](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/justin_bailey/32/8792_2.png) [@Justin\_Bailey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Justin_Bailey)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2009, 4:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-sports-night-joke/485802/14 "2009-02-15T04:38:56Z")
> [@gaffa](#): > > Were Dan Rydell and Casey McCall based on Keith Olbermann and Dan Patrick? Their banter is, but Casey as a person was specifically based on Craig Kilborn while Dan had no real life counterpart. ---
**Author:** ![Frylock](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/ce7236/32.png) [@Frylock](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frylock)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2009, 5:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-sports-night-joke/485802/15 "2009-02-15T17:46:51Z")
> [@mshar253](#): > > I appreciate all the answers, and I don’t mean to be argumentative, but I’m still curious about something. In my OP, I should have provided an exact quote as an example. Here is one, taken from [this](http://community.livejournal.com/sntranscripts) website: > > I admit, I may not be as savvy of common news phrases as I should be, so it’s very possible that Charlie Gibson _would_ say something like; however, at least to me, it doesn’t make sense. What stories are “those” besides Dan’s being in New York with Casey McCall? > > I promise that if someone still tells me that it’s a common thing for newscasters to say, I’ll concede. 🙂 Prior to the abovequoted post, someone suggested “those stories” refers to the stories summarized in a short clip shown just before the camera goes to the anchor. Did you not find that suggestion plausible? -FrL- ---
**Author:** ![Garfield226](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Garfield226](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Garfield226)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2009, 7:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-sports-night-joke/485802/16 "2009-02-15T19:30:53Z")
Just to hammer it home: You’ll often hear one of the control room guys say “30 (or 60 or whatever) seconds to VTR” at the beginning of the show. In one episode JJ explains to his fiancee, who has come to watch the show, that VTR stands for Video Tape Record, which is, indeed, the intro to the show. “Those stories” refers to the stories in that intro. Further, in another episode, you can see Dan and Jeremy in a studio recording the voiceover to that intro (Dan can’t pronounce “Kafelnikov” and rushes off to see his therapist about it). ---
**Author:** ![mshar253](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/6de8d8/32.png) [@mshar253](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mshar253)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2009, 8:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-sports-night-joke/485802/17 "2009-02-15T20:52:51Z")
> [@Garfield226](#): > > Just to hammer it home: > > You’ll often hear one of the control room guys say “30 (or 60 or whatever) seconds to VTR” at the beginning of the show. In one episode JJ explains to his fiancee, who has come to watch the show, that VTR stands for Video Tape Record, which is, indeed, the intro to the show. “Those stories” refers to the stories in that intro. > > Further, in another episode, you can see Dan and Jeremy in a studio recording the voiceover to that intro (Dan can’t pronounce “Kafelnikov” and rushes off to see his therapist about it). I actually just saw that one last night, and all made sense in the world. > [@Frylock](#): > > Prior to the abovequoted post, someone suggested “those stories” refers to the stories summarized in a short clip shown just before the camera goes to the anchor. Did you not find that suggestion plausible? > > -FrL- In spite of this thread having been started by me, I still managed to overlook that answer. It was a mistake. Thanks all, and I apologize for being mildly stupid about this. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Contrapuntal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e274bd/32.png) [@Contrapuntal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Contrapuntal)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2009, 8:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-sports-night-joke/485802/18 "2009-02-15T20:57:11Z")
> [@mshar253](#): > > In spite of this thread having been started by me, I still managed to overlook that answer. It was a mistake. Gosh, even when I pointed it out directly after you asked? Kinda hurts my feelers. ---
**Author:** ![Shoeless](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/shoeless/32/7099_2.png) [@Shoeless](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shoeless)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2009, 11:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-sports-night-joke/485802/19 "2009-02-15T23:46:02Z")
Think of the opening to “60 Minutes”. They show clips of the three stories they’ll be doing that night, then all the reporters introduce themselves, with the last one saying “And I’m [Morley Safer | Steve Kroft | Leslie Stahl | whoever]… these stories and Andy Rooney tonight on 60 Minutes.” It’s the same thing except with sports.