What We’re Watching: ‘The Sports Reporters’

With how quickly things change, it can be refreshing to see an old friend. Fans of the old Sunday morning mainstay “The Sports Reporters” have been anticipating its return since the show last aired in May 2017 following a nearly 30-year run. At last, ESPN is bringing back the program featuring sports journalists discussing their jobs, sports in general and what else is happening in the world.

It’s fitting that the revived iteration of The Sports Reporters—now exclusively on YouTube—is hosted by Jeremy Schaap, whose father Dick hosted the show during its infant days in the late 1980s and 90s until his death in 2001. Dick was accompanied by regular panelists such as author Mike Lupica, sportswriter John Feinstein and “First Take” host Stephen A. Smith, in addition to a rotating roster of guest panelists.

With a focus on football, the first episode of the show’s return stretched beyond the walls of ESPN. Joining the show was NBC’s Mike Tirico, CBS’ Ian Eagle, CBS/Westwood One’s Kevin Harlan and ESPN’s Joe Buck—four voices who are synonymous with football Sundays. They talked about what it’s like to broadcast NFL games and if the Kansas City Chiefs can win another Super Bowl, but also trends in media and society that have directly impacted their jobs. In their case, social media tops the list.

Harlan has kept his distance from social media, recounting a story from retired sportscaster Verne Lundquist about how Lundquist was “deflated” and “heartbroken” after seeing criticism on social media. The other side of that spectrum is embracing the criticism and taking it in stride, something that Buck has done in recent years.

“I tell young people that get into this business, ‘Turn off social media. Find three or four people whose opinion matters to you, whose opinion you trust. Listen to your own stuff and be a great self-evaluator,’” Buck said. “If [social media] was around in ’94 when I started as a 25-year-old, I probably would’ve been drummed out of this business before I turned 26.”

Buck is in a peculiar spot since he also commentates MLB games, adding that he not only gets flak from football fans but baseball fans who may be on the wrong end of a home run or walk-off call. Tirico joked that Buck has laid the blueprint for how to handle criticism on social media.

“It’s part of the ‘Pressure is a privilege’ Billie Jean King statement,” Tirico said.

There are other intricacies to the profession like how a commentator handles a global superstar such as Taylor Swift starting to attend Chiefs games more frequently. With the four panelists having daughters themselves, they applauded Swift’s influence having led to an influx of new NFL fans. Swift is one of the many surprises that football brings that helps maintain the passion for broadcasters.

“Enthusiasm is something that comes from within. You can’t fake who you are over an extended period of time,” Eagle said. “For me, it is natural and it is organic. Everybody here loves what they do and it does come across.” – Noah Ziegler