The Big Show [Paperback]

Keith Olbermann (Author), Dan Patrick (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: April 1, 1998

From World Sports Headquarters in historic Bristol, Connecticut, comes the book that's more colorful than Dennis Rodman's hair. Keith Olbermann and Dan Patrick, the former tag-team partners of ESPN's award winning SportsCenter, mark for the ages their most unforgettable moments, which have transformed the art of sports broadcasting -- bringing what People magazine calls their "Letterman-like loopiness and Koppelesque smarts" to the printed page in THE BIG SHOW

Less expensive (and easier to read) than a big-leaguer's autograph, The Big Show gives you the honest, horrifying, yet always entertaining story of two men, three cameras, and highlights run amok, including:

• How Keith and Dan made The Big Show run slicker than Pat Riley's hair

• The origins of Dan and Keith's patented phrases

• Keith and Dan's on-air flubs -- errors that made Bill Buckner's blunder seem minor

• Dan and Keith's pantheon of all-time greatest athletes (Okay, who picked Coach Reeves from The White Shadow?)

• And so much more we couldn't -- and wouldn't dare -- mention here!

Editorial Reviews

Review

Detroit Free Press For those of you scoring at home...buy the book.

Phil Rosenthal Chicago Sun-Times A fun read....highly recommended.

The Sporting News With Olbermann and Patrick, SportsCenter...achieved the perfect pitch.

About the Author

Keith Olbermann was rescued from a sinking barge, and raised by wild ocelots in the Brazilian rain forest. Years later, he was found by a touring band of would-be soccer play-by-play announcers and brought back to civilization (well, Bristol).

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 320 pages
• Publisher: Atria Books (April 1, 1998)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0671009192
• ISBN-13: 978-0671009199
• Product Dimensions: 9.3 x 7.3 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (16 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #429,272 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #17 in Books > Sports & Outdoors > Miscellaneous > Sports Broadcasting

More About the Author

KEITH OLBERMANN has won three Edward R. Murrow Awards for Writing, the first for his coverage of 9/11, the second for its anniversary commemorations a year later, and the third in 2010 for his tribute to his mother, "A Baseball Fan Named Marie." Now the host of MSNBC's Coundown, he was previously the coanchor of ESPN's SportsCenter from 1992 to 1997 and helped launch ESPN2 and the ESPN Radio Network. He has hosted prime-time news programs, moderated a Democratic presidential debate, anchored two World Series and one Super Bowl, and won a Cable Ace and 11 Golden Mikes, while his shows have won four Sports Emmys. He has written for dozens of publications, including the New York Times, Newsweek, Time, and Sports Illustrated. He is the author of The Worst Person in the World: And 202 Other Contenders, Truth and Consequences, and other books.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars You can't stop Dan & Keith,you can only hope to contain 'em!, September 10, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: The Big Show (Paperback)

Fans of Sportscenter are going to love this book - Dan and Keith, the way they were. All of the wit, sarcasm, and intelligence we came to know and love from the guys who really put Sportscenter on the map. A must read for any sports fan, really. En Fuego!

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars "Gone...", August 14, 2005

By 

LoneCactus (Bay Area, CA USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Big Show (Paperback)

I just saw a Sport Center segment and I pulled this book out. This was the start of something special. All the sportcasters with irreverent comments and phrases...it began in earnest with these two. This was the golden era of Sport Center...

Great insight and I love the phrases. It does read like the stories that those two used to do. The Big Show...Sunday Nights...

...And surprisingly, it ended with grace...remembering Tom Meese.

If you are a fan in any way, shape or form of Sports Center, get this book!

12 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars More important than The Bible, September 10, 2004

By 

Trevor Seigler (South Carolina) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Big Show (Paperback)

Well, maybe that's stretching it a bit, but I just stumbled across this tome by Messers. Patrick and Olbermann, and I have to say it is a great read for any sports and ESPN buff. Plus, the naked pics of Dan are to die for (just kidding).

This book came out some seven years ago, when Olbermann was still allowed on the grounds at Bristol, but it resonates today because a lot of it holds true. Forget the somewhat dated references to the Macarena, and you'll enjoy it for what it is: two co-workers locked in deadly combat over whether the 1899 Cleveland Spiders deserve mention or not.

Patrick and Olbermann were the anchor for the good times at Sports Center, and they write with absolute candor about their time in bottom-feeding jobs across the country before they fulfilled their destinies as the premier wiseasses for a generation. The "how-to" chapter on becoming a potential sportscastor is rather intimidating, but they offer helpful hints on how to get started (and to have a back-up plan in case it doesn't work out).

But the real meat of the book is the estimation of atheletes over time. Olbermann and Patrick know their sports, and it shows in the lists they compile of "the greatest". Note to the fainthearted: Olbermann's arcane knowledge of nineteenth century baseball is mind-boggling, you may want to take a quick walk outside after poring over the lists.

Patrick and Olbermann may no longer be a team, but their book is a great relic of that time when Sports Center truely was "The Big Show". Pick it up today, and you'll never put it down.