ESPN's 25th Birthday

I will turn 29 years old in a month.  So, I pretty much have lived my entire life in a world where ESPN was the "worldwide leader" in sports coverage. 

I remember Chris Berman on SportsCenter all of the time.  I remember Pete Axhelm [RIP] on NFL Game Day.  Back then, Barry Melrose was coaching and the face of the NHL on ESPN was Tom Mees [RIP]. 

I remember the days that ESPN 2 and ESPNews launched.  Jim Rome was on UpClose and Keith Olbermann was wearing a leather jacket.  I remember when they bought out Classic Sports Network and became ESPN Classic. 

I remember all of these things and much, much more.  But, with ESPN celebrating 25 years....it is putting on a "Best Of...." everything you can possibly think of.  Oh, God....no.

Thank God I work 2nd shift.  Television pretty much is made up of reality series and ranking/nostagia shows.  VH1 has built it's network on "I Love The 80s", "100 Worst Songs" and the like.  Food Network has it's "Top 5".  And the Travel Channel has it's "World Best" [which, I'll admit, does draw my wife and I in on occassion].  Well, now ESPN is throwing its hat into the ring.

I don't mind going back and taking a look at the biggest moments in sports over the past 25 years.  But, do we need them ranked??  I mean, what was important to me may not be important to many other people.  I'm a Lakers fan...so obviously Laker Championships mean more to me than anything else in the NBA.

I saw the "Best 25 Teams" show tonight....and the 1998 Yankees were #1.  Great.  But, based on what??  Their record 125-50 season??  I mean, to me, the 1992 Dream Team was the best TEAM in sports over the past 25 years.  The best and most talent....dominant play....and an undefeated record.  The greatest moment in sports to me was the Miracle On Ice [I was only 4 when that happened....yet I get chills watching replays of it].  The point is....beauty is in the eye of the beholder.

Don't get me wrong.  It is pretty neat and interesting to see stories and headlines from the past.  Heck, I forgot about some of them.  But saying the 1990 UNLV team was better than the Iowa Wrestling team does nothing for me.  Just run down the 25 teams that your people deem "the greatest"...just to give us a nostalgic look.