It Should Have Been 20 Years For 'The Sports Report’

A little over 20 years ago (I think is was 1985), Black Entertainment Television started a weekly sports talk program called The Budweiser Sports Report.

The show was before its time and was on the air before ESPN’s The Sports Reporters.

Like the ESPN show, The Sports Report featured writers who were mainly people of color.

The hour-long show launched the national television careers of Michael Wilbon (ESPN), Bryan Burwell (HBO), Roy Johnson (SNY), James Brown (CBS/Fox) and yours truly (ESPN2, Madison Square Garden Network).

It was also home to some very fine sports writers like the late Ralph Wiley (Sports Illustrated and NBC Sports), William Rhoden (The New York Times) and Anthony Cotton (The Washington Post and Denver Post).

Nicole Watson started the show along with co-producer Jeffrey Madison with the hope of showing America that writers of color had the same concerns and passions about sports as everybody else.

The show also had A-list guests like heavyweight champs Mike Tyson and Evander Holyfield, NBA Hall of Famers Red Auerbach, Charles Barkley, Magic Johnson and Julius Erving; tennis great Althea Gibson and track star Jackie Joyner-Kersee to name just a few. The show, located in Washington, DC, was hosted first by Martin Wyatt, then Charlie Neal.

The show was back in the day at BET when the network actually had a sports department that covered Black college football and basketball games —  and even had a news division.

Now the only focus the network has seems to be on the inner thighs of thick-legged female dancers.

Sex has always sold over everything else and that includes sports programming.

A tight butt has always gotten higher ratings than a tight game.

Watson, now living in Atlanta, wished the show was still on.

“Since then, think of all the copy-cat shows that are out there today,” she stated.

From The Sports Reporters, to PTI, to The Best Damn Sports Show, they all owe a debt to The Sports Report. ”It was the first national TV show of its kinds. I think it’s safe to say that sports talk radio started because of it," Watson said.

“The show voiced the opinion of the every day man and the show gave you guys a chance to be yourselves. PTI works today because Tony Kornheiser and Wilbon go at it head-to-head just like the chemistry between you all on the show.”

Why did it die?

“I don’t think BET understood the value of the show,” she declared. “It used to beat Video Soul with Donnie Simpson in the ratings and the advertising staff was always asking me about the show because everyone was asking them about it.”

The Sports Report lasted about 11 years, a life that was much too short.