Those Guys Have All the Fun - James Andrew Miller [183]
But somehow because of the way it was presented and the way people perceived things, it wound up working. The X Games had a huge influence on our sport. Up to then, the only people who enjoyed skating were skaters themselves. Nobody else understood it that well or wanted to. The games brought a fan base to skating that didn’t necessarily skate but enjoyed watching it, and that in itself set a foundation for skating in terms of popularity. ESPN not only came with a new audience for us but they were informative enough to allow everyone to understand the intricacies and difficulties and obviously the passion of the skaters themselves. All of a sudden we had kids who understood what a 360-flip is and the mechanics of what was involved.
I did feel that they were only focusing on a very select group of athletes, and more guys deserved coverage, to show their personalities and have their stories told. After the games, they set up an athlete committee to help refine it and make it more representative of how we perceive our sports. They picked athletes from each different discipline, and we had a lot of input. I also got to understand better what had been going on behind the scenes and some of what Ron had to deal with in terms of costs and programming issues. All this became really helpful for improvement through the years.
RICH FEINBERG:
There was some discussion about us doing it once every other year. Bornstein had a meeting with us before the games were even over and said, “I love this; it’s so different, so great, and I’m getting unbelievable reactions.” Next thing we know, he was holding a press conference where he said, “We’re going to do this every year.”
BILL FITTS:
The X Games led to the Outdoor Games, which did really well and made ESPN a lot of money. It also allowed them to buy [sporting goods retailer] Bass later on. So there was a whole new “outdoors” component to ESPN, and even though I wasn’t an outdoorsman, I was really proud of all that.
RON SEMIAO:
We were all feeling great after it was over, and I got a lot of nice feedback. They bumped my pay up and after I’d gotten that big raise, there was something almost better. [ESPN executive John] Wildhack called me one night and said, “Ronnie, I’m having dinner with Bornstein and Creasy tonight; they want you to come.” Well, that’s the fucking honor. This was Don Corleone and Luca Brasi inviting you to dinner. I’m serious. I was a fuckin’ foot soldier, and all of a sudden I’m in the Pentagon! We were walking into Scores, and Steve said, “Semiao, didn’t I just approve a big raise for you? Okay, the night is on you.” It was like fifteen hundred bucks! They had to put it on my credit card.
But you know what happened? I couldn’t handle success. Here I was getting all this great attention for coming up with the X Games, I’d become the director of programming, and I’m hanging with the big boys. But it was a disaster for me in social situations. Nothing at work, just afterward. Creasy could sit there and sip his scotch, but I’m drinking four to his one. Next thing you know, I’m slobbering all over the place. I had gotten crocked at this one event and basically someone had to put me to bed. The next day, Wildhack, my boss, is calling and saying, “You stupid shit, you fucked up. You gotta call Creasy and apologize.” And that was one of the worst fuckin’ calls of all time. Creasy’s like, “You motherfuckin’ cocksucker, after everything we’ve done for you! You’re fuckin’ it all up for us! So you’re not getting your promotion right now.” I got held back on things until I straightened out. Creasy was right. They had given me more professional responsibility and I wasn’t acting very professional. Their credibility was taking a hit. Now when I go to these functions, I drink club soda. It’s all good now.
It was the rare kind of day when the unstoppable flow of news seemed to stop, when a piece of “sports news” trumped