# Does anyone else miss sports highlight reels with narration (like they used to do on SportsCenter) **URL:** \ **Category:** The Game Room\ **Created:** [June 22, 2026, 7:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-else-miss-sports-highlight-reels-with-narration-like-they-used-to-do-on-sportscenter/1031111 "2026-06-22T19:14:13Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 11\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![bordelond](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bordelond/32/150_2.png) [@bordelond](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bordelond)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2026, 9:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-else-miss-sports-highlight-reels-with-narration-like-they-used-to-do-on-sportscenter/1031111/21 "2026-06-23T21:45:35Z")
> [@EllisDee](#): > > > [@bordelond](#): > > > > Other programs like the meta-analytical _Pardon the Interruption_ and _Around the Horn_ – plus their live sports offerings – now (apparently) steer ESPN’s ship . > > Around the Horn was canceled last year, with the final episode airing in May 2025. It was replaced with a pared down, half-hour long SportsCenter . Thank you for updating my notebook. In my head, all those “talking head” shows kind of run together. There were others besides _PTI_ and _Around the Horn_ … I just can’t recall the titles. _PTI_ is still the throne upon which Stephen A. Smith sits, correct? Remember when they tried out _Cold Pizza_ – a 90-minute (?) sports news and infotainment broadcast on weekday mornings, aimed (I think) at that young-adult pre-marriage-kids-&-responsibilities crowd? Around 2002-2005 or thereabouts? Probably introduced the concept a decade too late. > Also, the SportsCenter anchors have apparently been ordered to high five each other at the end of every show. It is extremely cringe and awkward every time. This isn’t related to anything in this thread but it’s been annoying me for months so I felt compelled to share. The last time I can recall checking in on a _SportsCenter_ episode, it was not too long before we got rid of our cable package circa 2016-17. I remember for sure Sage Steele being one of the hosts teamed with (maybe?) Adnan Virk, who I knew from ESPN Radio. Anyway, there was no high-fiving that I can remember … but the show just seemed weird. Wasn’t like the old days – but then, what is? It had all passed me by, and I made my peace with that. ---
**Author:** ![bordelond](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bordelond/32/150_2.png) [@bordelond](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bordelond)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2026, 10:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-else-miss-sports-highlight-reels-with-narration-like-they-used-to-do-on-sportscenter/1031111/22 "2026-06-23T22:00:04Z")
We got pretty far into this thread without mentioning HBO’s original _Inside the NFL_. I cut my teeth on the 1980s edition. Both hosts were former players who were warm and competent on camera – Len Dawson and Nick Buoniconti. But the best part … Harry Kalas’ commentary over licensed NFL Films clips. Still cool as heck 43 years later. [![](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/Q9nXcCsWakA/hqdefault.jpg "HBO's Inside the NFL , 1983 Week 1") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q9nXcCsWakA&t=216) **[There’s been attempts to keep the show afloat](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Inside_the_NFL#2008%E2%80%932023:_Showtime_and_Paramount+)** since Dawson and Buoniconti retired after the 2001 season. But again – sing it with me – “_it’s not the same_”. Damn cloud! [shakes fist]. ---
**Author:** ![EllisDee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ellisdee/32/4531_2.png) [@EllisDee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EllisDee)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2026, 11:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-else-miss-sports-highlight-reels-with-narration-like-they-used-to-do-on-sportscenter/1031111/23 "2026-06-23T23:19:00Z")
Yeah there were a bunch of those. The sweaty guy from Florida (edit: Dan Le Batard) had one with his non-broadcaster dad, Michael Smith and Jamele Hill had one together (had to Google their names), pretty sure Mina Kimes was part of one as well. And that’s just what I remember offhand as a person who never watched any of them except PTI. I’m sure there were many more. And I do remember giving Cold Pizza a try for the first few awkward episodes and then never going back. Do you mean that Steven A. Smith can run because PTI walked, or something along those lines? He has no affiliation with PTI that I’m aware of. I hung with Inside the NFL for too long, even through the first couple Showtime years, but then I finally bailed. Probably started watching it in the early '90s. ---
**Author:** ![bordelond](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bordelond/32/150_2.png) [@bordelond](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bordelond)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2026, 12:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-else-miss-sports-highlight-reels-with-narration-like-they-used-to-do-on-sportscenter/1031111/24 "2026-06-24T00:55:29Z")
> [@EllisDee](#): > > Do you mean that Steven A. Smith can run because PTI walked, or something along those lines? He has no affiliation with PTI that I’m aware of . _First Take._ See, all those shows really do run together. I should give _PTI_ a little more respect. I enjoy Tony Kornheiser on the radio. ---
**Author:** ![kenobi\_65](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kenobi_65/32/13178_2.png) [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2026, 6:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-else-miss-sports-highlight-reels-with-narration-like-they-used-to-do-on-sportscenter/1031111/25 "2026-06-24T06:07:48Z")
> [@bordelond](#): > > A lot of us came up as sports fans in the 1980s and were drawn to ESPN, especially _SportsCenter_. It was a great way to catch up on the Big Four pro leagues, college football & hoops, and more. As noted above, others had done and were doing entertaining sports highlights at the time – ESPN was simply providing it in bulk (at least twice per day) and had a deep bench of entertaining commentators. Absolutely the case for me, too. We got cable TV in 1981, when I was 16, and was a big fan of football and baseball. I loved watching _SportsCenter_, but I also enjoyed the similar _Sports Tonight_ on CNN, with Fred Hickman and Nick Charles. > [@bordelond](#): > > Surprisingly (to me), ESPN bought NFL Network last year. ESPN has apparently remained solvent into the present day even though old 1980s-90s fans like myself always talk about how “_nobody watches anymore_” and share news with one another about this round of ESPN lay-offs or that iconic ESPN personality retiring/going to a competitor/whatever. ESPN, in case you were not aware, has been owned by Disney since 1996. The deal for the NFL Network also involved the NFL gaining a 10% ownership stake in ESPN. ---
**Author:** ![Mean\_Mr.Mustard](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mean_mr.mustard/32/3865_2.png) [@Mean\_Mr.Mustard](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mean_Mr.Mustard)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2026, 11:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-else-miss-sports-highlight-reels-with-narration-like-they-used-to-do-on-sportscenter/1031111/26 "2026-06-24T11:20:28Z")
This is what I miss: Howard Cosell. During halftime of Monday Night Foodball, he would present (and narrate) highlights from yesterday’s games. There was not enough time to show every game, and I would get a bit irritated when he skipped my team (which was most episodes). mmm ---
**Author:** ![bordelond](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bordelond/32/150_2.png) [@bordelond](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bordelond)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2026, 1:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-else-miss-sports-highlight-reels-with-narration-like-they-used-to-do-on-sportscenter/1031111/27 "2026-06-24T13:48:51Z")
> [@kenobi\_65](#): > > ESPN, in case you were not aware, has been owned by Disney since 1996. Of course you’re right, and I was remiss to have this slip my mind and not account for Disney’s ownership. It does make me wonder, though, why the news wasn’t couched as “_Disney buys NFL Network, cedes 10% of ESPN’s properties to NFL_”. Above my pay grade, for sure. It’s weird to think of ESPN on one hand as a relic of a bygone era that no longer has relevance, and on the other hand as a still-relevant player in sports media. Maybe it’s the cable-television arm that’s the albatross – kept afloat mostly for legacy – and other ESPN properties are doing well. ---
**Author:** ![Hampshire](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hampshire/32/4887_2.png) [@Hampshire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hampshire)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2026, 2:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-else-miss-sports-highlight-reels-with-narration-like-they-used-to-do-on-sportscenter/1031111/28 "2026-06-24T14:06:48Z")
I do miss Marv Albert’s “Albert Achievement Awards” segments on the old Late Night w/ David Letterman show. ---
**Author:** ![bordelond](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bordelond/32/150_2.png) [@bordelond](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bordelond)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2026, 2:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-else-miss-sports-highlight-reels-with-narration-like-they-used-to-do-on-sportscenter/1031111/29 "2026-06-24T14:39:20Z")
> [@Hampshire](#): > > I do miss Marv Albert’s “Albert Achievement Awards” segments on the old Late Night w/ David Letterman show. . I feel like Albert broke these out on other NBC programming, as well. Definitely remember the AAAs — but I didn’t catch Letterman much back then. … @Mean_Mr.Mustard , great call about Cosell’s MNF halftime recaps. Chris Berman updated Cosell’s format once ESPN got Monday Night Football—remember “The Fastest Three Minutes in Sports”? ---
**Author:** ![kenobi\_65](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kenobi_65/32/13178_2.png) [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2026, 2:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-else-miss-sports-highlight-reels-with-narration-like-they-used-to-do-on-sportscenter/1031111/30 "2026-06-24T14:52:05Z")
> [@bordelond](#): > > It’s weird to think of ESPN on one hand as a relic of a bygone era that no longer has relevance, and on the other hand as a still-relevant player in sports media. Maybe it’s the cable-television arm that’s the albatross – kept afloat mostly for legacy – and other ESPN properties are doing well. I think that, certainly, the ESPN which we all remember is a relic (and SportsCenter, in the way that we remember it, is, too), but I do think that it’s still very relevant – it’s just that what it provides to sports fans has changed. Sports talk (not sports news) is a huge part of that now, as mentioned upthread. I’m not sure that the cable channel is an albatross, per se, but it is likely becoming less relevant as their streaming services, fantasy sports offerings, etc., become more prominent. ---
**Author:** ![OldManLogan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/oldmanlogan/32/5237_2.png) [@OldManLogan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OldManLogan)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2026, 5:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-else-miss-sports-highlight-reels-with-narration-like-they-used-to-do-on-sportscenter/1031111/31 "2026-07-06T17:01:29Z")
Along those lines, Rich Eisen recently completed season one of a Podcast series called “[This Was SportsCenter](https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLNC_OvgHiA0F7LkBVtLZu_p_D11E8RDUo)” on Youtube with Chris Berman, Dan Patrick, Mike Greenberg, Linda Cohn, Chris Fowler, and Craig Kilborn. They go behind a lot of the SportsCenter stuff and Rich laments the disappearance of the old style of SportCenter with highlights and narratives for each game. He says several times that he thinks that style could still work in some way today instead of clips and talking head segments. Do I miss it? Yes. Would I tune in regularly? No. I don’t have the time to just tune in to an hour long show all the time. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-else-miss-sports-highlight-reels-with-narration-like-they-used-to-do-on-sportscenter/1031111.md?page=1)