Advertisement

Three-and-a-half hours to a SportsCenter almost-Hollywood moment

Share

This article was originally on a blog post platform and may be missing photos, graphics or links. See About archive blog posts.

For the first time an ESPN SportsCenter show, the 10 p.m. Pacific time one, is going to come from somewhere other than Bristol, Conn. It’s going to be from Los Angeles, specifically in the new ESPN studios in the LA Live entertainment complex across the street from Staples Center.

Two familiar anchors, Neil Everett and Stan Verrett, have been living in Los Angeles for the last three weeks doing full-on rehearsals, getting fully made up by Sabine the magician with an air brush and learning about Los Angeles culture, attitude and smoothies (Verrett is partial to Robek’s smoothies and he was clutching one tightly about an hour ago).

Advertisement

Everett says he is going to wear a ‘dark’ suit, somewhere between dark blue and black, he’s not sure, with a light purple tie and a light purple pocket handkerchief that fellow ESPN anchor Scott Van Pelt picked out. Verrett is wearing a steel blue Ermenegilda Zegna suit with a custom-made pink shirt and a Zegna tie. Guess who’s the fashion conscious one?

This has been a day of Hollywoodish-moments. ESPN President George Bodenheimer came to push a big red countdown button with Stuart Scott (pictured above), who is making a guest appearance on the show tonight. Everett and Verrett appeared on the Mason-Ireland ESPN 710 radio show (sense the synergy?) at a special Morton’s Steakhouse luncheon. And rumor has it the USC marching band is going to make an appearance outside the new studios in an hour or so.

The L.A. studios still smell new. Stuff isn’t all plugged in but the 20 television sets are. What to watch, what to watch?

Start with Bodenheimer talking about the latest ESPN endeavor:

-- Diane Pucin

Advertisement