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PTI turns 20

Discussion in 'Anything goes' started by spikechiquet, Sep 27, 2021.

  1. spikechiquet

    spikechiquet Well-Known Member

    Happy 20th anniversary to PTI, the sports show that changed sports talk

    Tomorrow at 7, ESPN is doing a tribute show with Pablo Torres as host. I gotta say, pretty much my entire professional sports career PTI has been on and ... good or bad ... it altered the sports talk TV show landscape.

    Nod to AA for mentioning the shows that came before PTI that helped launch it to where it began. Having 2 friends/co-workers was a smart move and it made pretty much every newspaper hack/TV-wanna be (like myself and my friends in the biz) want to have that job someday.

    The fact PTI has hit 20 years is pretty astounding. I would have thought Tony would have said "eff it" by now. But then again ... getting paid to sit in my attic and do a show? Yeah, I'd stick around.
     
    garrow likes this.
  2. sgreenwell

    sgreenwell Well-Known Member

    It probably helps for Tony that he can frequently take vacation, it seems. And, I'm sure it is mentioned in that AA article (don't have time to read it right this second), but I think PTI owes its biggest debt to Siskel and Ebert. Both shows "work" until a lot of other debate shows because you like the leads, and it doesn't feel like they're taking a "side" on something. The same with Inside the NBA. I might disagree with the hosts, but I seldom question whether they believe what they're saying, vs. First Take and its ilk.
     
  3. Songbird

    Songbird Well-Known Member

    Around the Horn > PTI 7 ways till Sunday.
     
  4. nickp

    nickp Active Member

    PTI was the best invention since Siskel and Ebert
     
  5. Roscablo

    Roscablo Well-Known Member

    I used to DVR it when I couldn't catch it live for years. Stopped a long time ago but I'll still watch it if I happen by a repeat late at night and still enjoy it. It is sort of crazy it's been 20 years.
     
  6. spikechiquet

    spikechiquet Well-Known Member

    yeah, it’s mentioned that Siskel & Ebert helped birth it along with The SportsWriters out of Chicago (which I was a fan of in HS) and The Sports Reporters.

    loved how it mentioned S&K used guys from competing papers while PTI took co-workers. The chemistry was already there.
     
    sgreenwell likes this.
  7. Michael_ Gee

    Michael_ Gee Well-Known Member

    Michael was always an excellent columnist. Tony might've wound up as the best long-form sportswriter ever if he'd gone in that direction. Like Wright Thompson but less regional. I know I'm an old fuddy-duddy, but that their show was their mutual career accomplishment saddens me.
    PS: Loved the SportsWriters from Chicago show. The visuals from the cigar smoke were amazing.
     
    Hermes, tapintoamerica, Scout and 4 others like this.
  8. Webster

    Webster Well-Known Member

    I am a loyal Little (although not as much in the current incarnation) and Tony is pretty open in the fact that the money/fame made him less inclined to work as a writer.
     
  9. Michael_ Gee

    Michael_ Gee Well-Known Member

    I remember Tony at Lillehammer complaining that the Olympics meant he had to write every day. I was turning out a minimum of two stories and usually three and I really blew my top at him. Bob Ryan took my side, bless him.
     
  10. Webster

    Webster Well-Known Member

    He is definitely a diva. He’s the kid who everyone said was special and the normal rules didn’t apply to him. In moments on his radio show/podcast, he’s self aware enough to recognize this.

    PTI was the best because it was first. But it was also the best because it was two very smart guys who care for each other shooting the shit like they were your friends. They bring you in like a great morning drive show.
     
  11. wicked

    wicked Well-Known Member

    Tony’s writing was as dry as prime firewood IMO and that’s what set him apart.
     
  12. spikechiquet

    spikechiquet Well-Known Member

    A guy I worked with was an intern and said Kornheiser was such a jerk. He also said that the editors said he was an awful speller. LOL

    I met Tony 4 years ago after getting to sit in on a taping of PTI. He asked me if I wanted to take a picture on the set with him. I told him I was a former sports journalist and also used to work in TV.
    He deadpans: "Well, as you see. I've been more successful at it than you." It was said in such a Mr. Tony way that I still find it hilarious, although...yes, total dick line.
     
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