Chris Berman Interesting Once Again!

Boy was I wrong.

Last February I wrote an article here that suggested it was time for ESPN to part ways with Chris Berman.  I argued that his brand of shenanigans had lost their meaning and effect in the maturing ESPN brand.  More regrettably, Berman had just become annoying and painful to watch.

One year later, Berman couldn’t be more entertaining television.  No, his “Greatest Highlight” series isn’t what has my attention.  In fact, nothing he’s done on air has had my attention for years.  Instead, it’s the recently released video of the Swami’s antics off the air that are his greatest work.

Now in all fairness to the man, there is no doubt that we would all have embarrassing moments caught on tape if a camera was in front of our face for 20+ years.  We all have our moments of disdain for our coworkers and we even mock our friends from time to time.  Not everything we say or do is meant for all to hear and see.  I don’t take offense to the recently released videos of Berman talking about smuggling drugs across the border from Canada or ripping into his video crew, I actually find them among his best work ever.

Imagine if the “Greatest Highlight” was replaced nightly by the “Greatest Berman Rant.”  Now they are both equally irrelevant sports journalism pieces, but the rants are 100x more entertaining.  Viewers would hush the room to see what Berman was up to when the cameras kept rolling, not hit the mute button and wait for his segment to end.  If ESPN really insisted on a poll-based bracket, they could even let the viewers decide which moment was the greatest ever.   One might even consider an “On-air or Off-air” challenge where you must determine if the video clip was televised or not.  ESPN could fill a vault with embarrassing Berman tape that has aired; imagine what they have on him that occurred off-air.

Some internet sites have proposed that the release of these videos is an inside job by someone at ESPN in an effort to push Berman out the door.  Whether the conspiracy theory is true or not, these videos will do anything but hasten Berman’s departure.  For one, ESPN’s execs will certainly not allow their anchor icon to be so rudely dismissed for some dirty laundry.  More importantly, Chris Berman is actually interesting again.  This man isn’t a clown anymore, but instead, he’s an edgy anchor who could snap at any minute and have a meltdown for the ages. 

Please ESPN, do not end your association with a founding father.  Embrace this opportunity.  Encourage all your producers to post their own videos of Chris Berman.  Start a new “Swami’s Final Thought” segment at the end of every SportsCenter.  Take Berman off his leash and let him run wild.  Who knows, he might even bite somebody.