Bartoli 1 Patrick Bartoli Multimedia Writing and Rhetoric 13300 Dr.

Erin Dietel-McLaughlin 20 March 2013 Displays of un-athleticism The sporting world plays a role in almost every Americans life. Whether it is an avid football fan, the disapproving spouse of said fan, or a proud parent of young athlete, sports impact the way Americans live their life. It is, therefore, no surprise that Entertainment and Sports Network Programming, better known as ESPN, has become one of the more successful channels in television. ESPN now has more than four different channels that span through different languages and many different counties and is worth $40 billion (Badenhausen). When one thinks of ESPN, the program SportsCenter is the next thought that comes to mind. This program reviews the happenings in the sporting world and offers 50 second analytical highlights of recent games and matches. SportsCenter is ESPNs most successful program and began in 1979, gaining national recognition extremely quickly. Todays SportsCenter, however, has evolved from the format of a basic cast to the variety of segments spanning all types of sports and entertainment genres seen now. Since its network premier in 2009, one of SportsCenters most successful segments probably has the least to do with sports analysis. The Not Top 10 is a weekly segment that numbers the biggest sports blunders from events taking place in a given week or month (Krulewitz). Although relatively new to SportsCenter, the Not Top 10 is by no means a new idea. Sports bloopers have been a reoccurring phenomenon throughout history. The Wild

Bartoli 2 World of Sports Agony of Defeat, for example, was ABCs attempt at a sports blooper segment before ESPN. While the Wild World of Sports was an extremely popular program and lasted for 37 years, this segment only experienced a brief window of opportunity for success (ABCs Wild World of Sports). This ABC program was groundbreaking in that it offered a straight 90 minutes of sports talk and paved the way for ESPNs rise to success. Agony of Defeat and the Not Top 10 are extremely similar segments broadcasted on two very similar programs. In this way, their reasons for success mirror one another with the difference of ESPN being on a larger scale and therefore easier to distinguish. These reasons include, the success of ESPN as a whole, and the idea of making light of the misfortunes of famous athletes ESPN is recognized globally for their dominance in the field of sports entertainment. For this reason, it is the general viewing audiences expectation that SportsCenter broadcast intriguing and successful segments. Like any popular television program, people will watch the segments produced by ESPN simply because they have been produced by ESPN. While other channels may have to advertise or draw in an audience to a particular segment that are going to air for the first time, ESPN has the advantage of having an extremely large, loyal viewing audience to begin with and can release new segments without fear of them failing. This does not mean, that the success of the Not Top 10 is just because of the success of ESPN. There have been numerous segments, such as Bumps, Bites and Bruises and Fridays Funnies, attempted by SportsCenter that have failed after only a few attempts. The difference is SportsCenter has the luxury of not fretting the failure of a segment, while a smaller more fragile program could be devastated by such a disappointment. ESPN offers an extremely large

Bartoli 3 spotlight for a fledgling segment, such as Not Top 10, to spread its wings and quickly find great success. Yet another perk of Not Top 10 being broadcasted on ESPN lies in their highly popular anchors dictation throughout the video clips. SportsCenter plays host to anchors like Chris Berman and Stuart Scott who each have extremely large fan bases in their own rights. Chris Berman has all but patented the phrase, hecouldgoalltheway (Farred 112)! Berman uses a loud, chaotic type of broadcasting that draws viewers to his unique phrases and therefore furnish[es] sports talkwith a catchy, new way to describe a touchdown (Farred 112). Scott, on the other hand, is self-consciously cool and hip (Farred 112). Scott uses a style of broadcasting that appeals to the younger generation by calling Mark McGuire as cool as the other side of the pillow when hitting walk off homerun (Farred 111). These anchors turn these coined phrases on their heads when dictating the Not Top 10 segment. For Example, if Berman were to describe a blooper in which a player trips over his own feet right before scoring, he would change his line from he could go all the way to he could go all the and offer some witty commentary to the embarrassment of said player. SportsCenter utilizes their popular and humorous anchors to further boost the comical segment that is Not Top 10. The most impactful reason for the popularity of Not Top 10 is its ability to make light of the failures of nationally known athletes and celebrities. Not Top 10 has become so popular because viewers find the failures of others to be humorous. The most successful American comedians, such as Louis CK and Daniel Tosh, are beginning to use this type of humor more and more frequently. Humor that pokes fun at the misfortunes of oneself or others is extremely popular in American comedy and this disdainful

Bartoli 4 characteristic is only amplified when placed in the context of superior athletes and celebrities. The Superiority Theory of humor as defined by Monro states that because all humor is derisive people find humor in the failures of others. It is one thing to see a high school athlete trip and embarrass him or herself, but when Mark Sanchez gets tackled by the rear end of one of his offensive linemen the situation becomes much funnier and therefore much more appealing. The draw of celebrities gives the Not Top 10 appeal that Americas Funniest Home Videos, showing bloopers of average people, can never grasp. SportsCenter typically plays highlights of superstar athletes making unbelievable plays and consequently when one of them makes a mistake viewers love to see him or her ridiculed. In this way, the Not Top 10 outlines Monros Incongruity Theory as well. Viewers are accustomed to seeing professional athletes succeeding at whatever they are doing and for cable television to praise them for their athletic prowess. The minute segment full of the failures of athletes that is the Not Top 10 directly contrast what we have grown comfortable with and its this mingling of two ideas that provides a humorous situation (Monro). Not Top 10 contrasts every other segment typically seen on SportsCenter and by juxtaposing the highlight driven aspect of the program ESPN found great success. The Incongruity Theory stresses morethan merely surprise, meaning that the segment isnt simply funny because the viewing audience is surprised to see the segment airing in SportsCenter (Monro). Instead the Not Top 10 is so funny and therefore successful because of the abrupt intrusion in the failings of athletes that we have the lofty expectations to never fail. This sharp contrast makes the Not Top 10

Bartoli 5 stick out and is the reason why many people that are vaguely interested in the sporting world have heard of this segment. Do these feelings of superiority really cause humor or could the effect of these feelings lead to a more cynical outlook towards the sporting world? Professional Sports are a nice release for many fans. Sports teams allow children and some adults to dream of stardom and idolize the athletes they see on TV. In this way, a show that suggest our games are nothing but a collection of pratfalls and gaffes leave a large portion of the viewing audience saddened to see their favorite stars ridiculed (McCallum). The viewing audience doesnt expect or want to feel superior to these athletes they have placed so high on a pedestal. The Not Top 10 can easily tarnish the sparkling reputation fans have for their favorite athlete and therefore is not popular for causing feelings of superiority in its viewing audience. Although McCallum makes a strong argument in that the Not Top 10 can include some embarrassing content in the segment, this content is always light hearted and not meant to degrade the athletes it depicts. Contrary to the feelings of McCallum, bloopers have the capability of making these superstar athletes seem much more human and relatable. Everyone has experienced those embarrassing moments in which we make a stupid mistake. Watching the top athletes of the world go through these same type of experiences allows the audience to experience a larger level of comfort with these athletes. Not Top 10 does not ruin a fans image of his or her favorite athlete, but offers a chance to relate to said athlete on an entirely different level only adding to the popularity of this humorous segment

Bartoli 6 Not Top 10 became popular in large part due to the success of ESPN as a whole. This segment was able to use the vast resources ESPN offers and utilized this to grasp audience larger then any program in competition or before it. Through humorously degrading popular sports figures and contrasting the expectations of the viewing audience, Not Top 10 has easily surpassed its sports blooper competitors and with the longevity of ESPN it will remain popular for years to come.

Bartoli 7 Works Cited "ABC's Wide World of Sports." Archive of American Television. Emmy TV Legends. Web. 28 Apr 2013. <http://www.emmytvlegends.org/interviews/shows/abc-swide-world-of-sports>. Badenhausen, Kurt. "Why ESPN Is Worth $40 Billion As The World's Most Valuable Media Property." Forbes. 11 09 2012: Web. 26 Mar. 2013. <http://www.forbes.com/sites/kurtbadenhausen/2012/11/09/why-espn-is-theworlds-most-valuable-media-property-and-worth-40-billion/>. Farred, Grant. "COOL AS THE OTHER SIDE OF THE PILLOW: How ESPN's Sportscenter Has Changed Television Sports Talk." Journal Of Sport & Social Issues 24.2 (2000): 96. Academic Search Premier. Web. 25 Mar. 2013. Krulewitz, Josh. "Learn more about SportsCenter history with timeline, trivia." ESPN First Row. ESPN, 12 09 2012 . Web. 25 Mar 2013. <http://frontrow.espn.go.com/2012/09/learn-more-about-sportscenter-historywith-timeline-trivia/>. McCallum, Jack. "Let's Bleep Those Bloopers To Err Is Human, But To Fill Our TV Screens With Athletes Screwing Up Is Not Divine." Sports Illustrated 75.6 (1991): 80. Academic Search Premier. Web. 25 Mar. 2013. Monro, D. H. "Theories of Humor." Writing and Reading Across the Curriculum 3rd ed. Laurence Behrens and Leonard J. Rosen, eds. Glenview, IL: Scott, Foresman and Company, 1988. 349-55.