ESPN on ABC (formerly known as ABC Sports) is the brand used for sports programming on the ABC television network. Officially the broadcast network retains its own sports division; however, for all practical purposes, ABC's sports division has been merged with ESPN, a sports cable network majority-owned by ABC's parent, The Walt Disney Company.
ABC broadcasts use ESPN's production and announcing staff, and incorporate elements such as ESPN-branded on-screen graphics, SportsCenter in-game updates, and the BottomLine ticker. The ABC logo is used for the digital on-screen graphic in the bottom right hand corner of the screen, and is also used for promotions so that viewers will know to tune into the broadcast network and not the ESPN cable channel.
Prior to September 2, 2006, the broadcast network's coverage carried the ABC Sports brand, although integration of ABC's sports division with ESPN had begun a decade earlier. The branding change was made to better orient ESPN viewers with the programming on ABC and provide consistent branding across ESPN's outlets (shortly thereafter, ESPN2's in-game graphics were likewise changed to refer simply to "ESPN"). Despite its name, ABC's sports coverage is supplemental to and not a simulcast of ESPN, although ESPN and ESPN2 will often carry ABC's regional broadcasts that otherwise wouldn't air in certain markets.
Allen Wilford Brimley (born September 27, 1934) is an American actor. He has appeared in such films as The China Syndrome,Cocoon, The Thing and The Firm. He had a recurring role on the 1970s television series The Waltons. Brimley has also done television commercials, including advertisements for Quaker Oats and Liberty Medical.
Brimley was born as Allen Wilford Brimley in Salt Lake City, Utah, where his father worked as a real estate broker.
Prior to his career in acting, Brimley worked as a ranch hand, wrangler, blacksmith, and a bodyguard for Howard Hughes. He then began shoeing horses for film and television. He began acting in the 1960s as a riding extra in Westerns and as a stunt man at the urging of his friend, actor Robert Duvall.
Brimley was cast in the popular 1970s television series The Waltons as Walton's Mountain resident Horace Brimley, in seven appearances from 1974 through 1977.
Brimley became famous later in life for appearing in such films as The Hotel New Hampshire,John Carpenter's The Thing, and Cocoon. In 2001, he starred in the Turner Network Television film Crossfire Trail with Tom Selleck. He had an important role in The China Syndrome. He often plays a gruff or stodgy old man, notably on the 1980s drama series Our House. His first characterization was in Absence of Malice, in which he played a small but key role as a curmudgeonly, outspoken James A. Wells, Assistant U.S. Attorney General. He expanded on this characterization as the world-weary manager of a hapless baseball team in The Natural, a film in which his friend Duvall appeared as an antagonistic sportswriter.
Adrian Karsten (March 13, 1960 – September 2, 2005 in Horicon, Wisconsin) was a college football sideline reporter for ESPN known for wearing his trademark suspenders. He attended Northwestern University and graduated in 1982. He was a member of the Sigma Chi Fraternity.
Karsten was known in the cycling community for his 'side-line' style reporting while anchoring during ESPN's broadcasts of the Tour de France. Karsten hosted the Tour De France from 1994 through 2000 - more than any other American Tour De France host.
He committed suicide and was found dead at his home just before he was scheduled to report to federal prison for tax evasion
Robert Flores is a sports journalist for ESPN. Joining the network in 2005, Flores is currently an anchor for ESPNEWS and for ESPN's SportsCenter (2007–present). Robert provides a Taco Bell Studio Update during each game of ABC College Football, and Saturday Night Football. He also serves as a substitute studio host for ESPN2's Friday Night Fights. Flores hosted the live afternoon edition of SportsCenter from 12 P.M - 3 P.M alongside Chris McKendry until early September 2009, when he was replaced with John Buccigross.
Flores is a native of Houston, Texas. He graduated from the University of Houston with a B.A. in Radio/Television in 1992.
In 2006, Robert Flores co-anchored ESPNEWS with Danyelle Sargent (now with Fox Sports Net) when she made her now infamous statement "What the fuck was that," due to technical difficulties. Coincidentally, Flores was once fired for muttering the same curse word on-air in 2004 when he worked for KEYE in Austin, Texas on a taped segment that was not intended for air.