To hear Scott Van Pelt tell it, he may be more shocked than anyone that he won Barrett Sports Media’s SportsCenter anchors bracket. It happened though. With just over 58% of the more than 5000 votes coming on Monday, SVP topped Dan Patrick in the finals.
“Dan is an all-time legend. Beating him is nonsense. I tweeted as much,” Van Pelt said. He told me that he is surprised by a lot of his victories on the way to the championship. “Stuart – same kind of thing. He’s a Rushmore type of anchor in ESPN’s history. I don’t think I am. You could make cases for everyone I went against, obviously, which is why people voted for each person I was up against.”
Van Pelt is wrong. He is on the same plane as names like Patrick, Olberman, Scott, and Berman in SportsCenter history. Something we learned along the way in this tournament is that your idea of the GOAT depends on what generation of the show you grew up with. For a guy like Van Pelt, who will turn 50 in July, that generation is the one that included The Big Show, Charley Steiner, Karl Ravech, and their contemporaries.
But none of those guys got their own edition of SportsCenter. For all of his influence on the business, Dan Patrick didn’t have his name in the title of the network’s midnight broadcast and the show built around his personality. For all of the credit he gets for reshaping sports highlights, Stuart Scott never got his own set. Scott Van Pelt did, and that doesn’t happen to just anyone.
“It’s nice to be thought of as someone who has done something memorable with the opportunity. I’ve been here a long time and gotten to do some cool things,” he says trying to downplay his spot in the show’s history. “The show I have, they never got to do, which is too bad. Because certainly any and all would have been capable of doing amazing things. It wasn’t that I was better, or more worthy, it was simply the timing of it all. But it’s all flavors of ice cream, you know? Some people like you and others don’t. I’m thankful we have an audience who appreciates the approach.”
There may have been upsets along the way, but when it came to the Final Four, BSM’s SportsCenter anchors bracket didn’t offer a ton of surprises. It was three number one seeds…and Matt Barrie.
Remember, “not a ton of surprises” doesn’t mean “no surprises.” To Van Pelt though, Barrie’s run as a 16 seed was something that made the tournament even more fun than just living on nostalgia alone.
“I think it’s really cool how he embraced the fun of this. He made it a social media thing and rallied the troops. None of this is serious. It’s not like there are cash prizes. Are there? Are there any prizes?” he asks hopefully. Sadly, there are none.
Matt Barrie definitely rallied the troops. He played social media like a fiddle during the tournament and Van Pelt notes that even without winning, Barrie gave his followers a perfect payoff.
“His concession presser was really funny and really well done. I like him a lot. But let’s call it what it is – beating Boomer and KO is insanity. Those guys are all time giants. I think Matt would be the first to say so.”
When it comes to “cool things,” SVP hasn’t just done them. He has brought them to us. SportsCenter has had a subversive, tongue-in-cheek streak for a long time. Van Pelt seems to thrive on it.
He started talking about bad beats and acknowledging the sports bettors in his audience long before the Supreme Court opened the door for legalization outside of Nevada. His segment “Where in the World Isn’t SVP?” is a masterpiece of self-deprecation, and as a fellow bald guy that wears glasses, something I’m always delighted by.
Van Pelt’s lasting impact, not just on SportsCenter, but on ESPN in general, is that he is one of the first talents not to pretend that he isn’t also a fan. I remember Dan Patrick on his ESPN Radio show once saying that he grew up a Cincinnati Reds fan, but gave that up when he become a reporter.
That’s not how SVP rolls.
Van Pelt went to the University of Maryland. He is every bit as proud of being a Terp as Jim Henson was before him and Under Armour CEO Kevin Plank was after him. That made it okay down the road for Sarah Spain to acknowledge her die hard love of Chicago teams. It made it okay for Mina Kimes to stress and obsess over every mention of the Seattle Seahawks.
When I asked Van Pelt if winning the BSM SportsCenter anchors bracket made it easier to stomach his Terps not getting a chance to play for a national championship in 2020, he echoes the sentiment so many in the sports world have for college basketball’s Big Dance.
“Nothing will ever take the sting away from not getting to play this tournament. Nothing.”
Demetri Ravanos is a columnist and features writer for Barrett Media. He is also the creator of The Sports Podcast Festival, and a previous host on the Chewing Clock and Media Noise podcasts. He occasionally fills in on stations across the Carolinas in addition to hosting Panthers and College Football podcasts. His radio resume includes stops at WAVH and WZEW in Mobile, AL, WBPT in Birmingham, AL and WBBB, WPTK and WDNC in Raleigh, NC.
You can find him on Twitter @DemetriRavanos or reach him by email at DemetriTheGreek@gmail.com.
