Sam Ackerman

Dads and 90s kids, here's a fact: We had it so good with SportsCenter and we didn't know it.... How could we? We didn't know what was on the horizon that would try to take it down: first, league passes and TiVo and DirecTV... then the Internet and social media and YouTube... During that brief, bright spot in sports media in the 1990s, SportsCenter was the only way to get the day's highlights... We had black and white photos and box scores and features in the newspaper... We had brilliant writing and reporting and pictures in Sports Illustrated and Sporting News and ESPN: The Magazine... But for the day's highlights... To watch Ken Griffey Jr. make a diving catch or Jordan hit a game winner or Barry Sanders twirl through a defensive line... If you didn't catch it live, the only way to see it was on SportsCenter (maybe your local news sports show - maybe)... And into this void stepped Dan Patrick and Keith Olbermann and Stuart Scott and Rich Eisen and Craig Kilborn and Linda Cohn and Robin Roberts and crew... And all the catch phrases every kid in high school and college would repeat: "cool as the other side of the pillow"... Jumanji... En Fuego.... We'd watch SportsCenter at night then again in the morning. It was a monolith. You'd show up at school and you'd have the same frame of reference for the highlights you saw. It was a shared experience. It was awesome. And even though the show still exists and works, it's not a cultural touchstone anymore... it can't be... not with every highlight available from 1,000 sources across social media instantly... And there are bright spots to be sure... My man and Top 10 Randy (@RandyScottESPN) is terrific. So are plenty of others. But classic SC, man. It was a shared experience. By everyone. These kids don't know... Sitting there, retweeting highlights, sharing reels, scrolling their feeds... Doing the work to find what they like with no commentary or context. Times change. I get it. And we always glorify what we grew up on. Maybe that's all this is. Still, I miss Stu Scott. He ruled. If you agree, share this and follow me @Jon_Finkel. Boo-Yah!