Re: ESPN college gam day will be at Tuscaloosa for Bama-ATM game.
I do believe that ESPN feels, in many ways, that they owe Bama a great deal of gratitude, and they try to show it as much as possible.
People my age and older will remember this---When the fledgling network first went on the air back in the late seventies or early 80's they were doing everything they could to find programming that people would actually watch.
Every week for the first two or three years they carried one college football game per week--a tape delayed broadcast of the Alabama game, every Sunday night. The announcers were Jim Simpson and Paul Macguire, and it was a really good broadcast.
We got a ton of free publicity and probably made some money, and they gave themselves credibility because they carried the "best college team in America coached by the legendary Paul "Bear" Bryant."
I have a feeling that Coach Bryant probably negotiated the deal personally but can't say for sure.
At any rate, it was good for both ESPN and Bama.
Their primary announcer, at that time, was a very young man named Chris Berman, who is still there today, and, if I had to guess, probably has at least a small percentage of ownership. Again, not sure about that either.
But I do think, as I said, that ESPN considers us to be somewhat of a partner, and tries to show it's appreciation every chance they get.
The rest of America may not like it, but I think it's not only deserved, but pretty cool.
sip