Dan Patrick & Keith Olbermann

by John Gorman
Love of Sports Correspondent

Da-da-da, da-da-da!

Every frosty morning before school began; I was serenaded by that simple fanfare.

Just prior to the crack of dawn, in between my shower and my mad dash to the yellow twinkie, there was Dan & Keith.

I’d pour myself a big bowl of Cinnamon Life (shameless product placement!) and listen to the two television soulmates jaw with frightening comic timing about football, baseball and the like. Olbermann saying “Helloooouuuu” and Patrick “en fuego,” as usual.

It was truly groundbreaking stuff, and most everybody these days who reports on sports carries with them a twist of snark and deadpan that draws some water from the Dan & Keith wit well.

For those of you who are young or just a bit hazy, Dan Patrick and Keith Olbermann teamed up to create Sports Edutainment v1.0. Between 1993 and 1997, nobody in the business – and by business I mean including all networks, all formats, and all shows – did it better.

The Big Show, as they rightfully referred to their Sunday night Sportscenter, became appointment television. It played a large part in putting ESPN, then in its teenage years, squarely into the grown-up world of cable television’s heavy hitters. Dan & Keith entertained not just the hardcore sports aficionado, but the casual fan, as well.

The duo combined to make sports jump off the screen. They brought humor and humanity to events and athletes that in years past drew hyperbolic parallels to battlefields and superheroes. They evoked an effortless spirit; choosing to report on just the game, nothing more and nothing less. Sometimes, much of that original playful intent gets lost in today’s frenzied yelling contests that pass for broadcast journalism.

It’s hard to look back through hindsight and not notice that it was the tipping point in Sportscenter and, to a large degree, journalism as a whole.

Soon, hipster anchors began vamping during the news, generally with shameful results. Reporters began injecting their opinion into the story without a hint of irony or wit. Nowadays, Sportscenter desk-jockeys spout off catch phrases that are so cumbersome, canned and off-kilter that they detract from the highlight rather than enhance it.

Even Olbermann became a bombastic parody of himself on Countdown. Don’t worry Keith, a million cringe-inducing “Special Comments” won’t ever cloud my memory of “It’s deep, and I don’t think it’s playable.”

However, without Dan & Keith, I don’t believe there’d be a Daily Show. (Do remember that the first host was ex-SC anchor Craig Kilborn, no slouch himself on the mic.)

It’s clear that - for better or for worse - the spirit of the deity of deadpan and the sultan of sarcasm molded into the way today’s news is delivered, whether you watch it on ESPN, CNN or Comedy Central.

Today, we offer up some OLD SCHOOL LOVE to the men who did it first, and did it best.