Michael Wilbon joined Underscore’s own Jimmy Traina on the latest edition of Traina Thoughts to talk 25 years of Pardon the Interruption, which hits the mark on October 22. Wilbon came to play, from why he’s grateful for the people who put PTI on the air to where he thinks ESPN falls short on the show, and who makes his ESPN Mount Rushmore.
25 Years In, Wilbon Says Thanks
If it weren’t for Mark Shapiro, “a young executive [at] ESPN and ambitious as hell,” who sat down with Wilbon and Tony Kornheiser in the Washington Post offices in 1998, sports television might never have gotten perhaps its greatest debate show.
“I’m gonna be somebody at the network ... and put you guys on television.”
They laughed.
Then, in June 2001, while Wilbon was in LA covering the NBA Finals, Shapiro called and asked Wilbon to dinner. Shapiro was about to run programming. Later that fall, with no contracts signed and no show-testing, PTI went on the air and hit the ground running.
As beloved as the show is, Wilbon never watches it after it airs, and he doesn’t follow the ratings. He knew he and Tony would be good at talking sports. Whether anyone would care was another question, and the 25th anniversary doesn’t change his mind about it.
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Wilbon doubts a lot of the executives at ESPN even know PTI exists. He’d like to see the show in the network’s promos more often, and that’s where the complaint ends. Shapiro, John Skipper and Jimmy Pitaro let the show run for 25 years and left it alone.
“We’re grateful they’ve left us alone. We’re grateful they let us do what we do.”
One More Thing
When asked about his ESPN Mount Rushmore, Wilbon keeps the field small. Nobody who’s come on the air in the past 25 years makes it, with Stuart Scott as the newest name he’d consider. Berman, Bob Ley and Scott fill three spots. Asked if he’d include himself or Tony?
“No, god, no, no, no, no, no, no, and no, no, absolutely not.”
The fourth is open. Dan Patrick was Wilbon’s first full-time basketball boss at ESPN, and that earns him a look. His career started 35 years before PTI, and he ends on it: the second 25 years, he says, aren’t possible without the first 35.
Watch the episode below and catch Traina Thoughts every Monday, Wednesday and Friday on YouTube.