First Take

First Take may refer to:

ESPN

ESPN (originally an acronym for Entertainment and Sports Programming Network) is a U.S.-based global cable and satellite television channel owned by ESPN Inc., a joint venture between The Walt Disney Company (which operates the network) and the Hearst Corporation (which owns a 20% minority share).

ESPN broadcasts primarily from studio facilities located in Bristol, Connecticut. The network also operates offices in Miami, New York City, Seattle, Charlotte, and Los Angeles. John Skipper currently serves as president of ESPN, a position he has held since January 1, 2012. While ESPN is one of the most successful sports networks, there has been much criticism of ESPN, which includes accusations of biased coverage,conflict of interest, and controversies with individual broadcasters and analysts.

As of February 2015, ESPN is available to approximately 94,396,000 paid television households (81.1% of households with at least one television set) in the United States. In addition to the flagship channel and its seven related channels in the United States, ESPN broadcasts in more than 200 countries, operating regional channels in Australia, Brazil, Latin America and the United Kingdom, and owning a 20% interest in The Sports Network (TSN) as well as its five sister networks and NHL Network in Canada.

Stephen A. Smith

Stephen Anthony (A.) Smith (born October 14, 1967), more commonly known as Stephen A., is an American sports television personality, sports radio host, and sports journalist. Smith is a commentator on ESPN First Take, where he appears with Skip Bayless and Molly Qerim. He also makes frequent appearances as an NBA analyst on SportsCenter. He also is an NBA analyst for ESPN on NBA Countdown and NBA broadcasts on ESPN. Smith formerly hosted The Stephen A. Smith and Ryan Ruocco Show on ESPN Radio New York 98.7 FM He now hosts "The Stephen A. Smith Show" on Christopher Russo's sports radio station: Mad Dog Sports Radio SiriusXM Radio, channel 82. and is a featured columnist for ESPNNY.com, ESPN.com, and The Philadelphia Inquirer.

Early years

Smith was born in New York City, New York on October 14, 1967. He was raised in the Hollis section of Queens. Smith is the second youngest of six children. He has four older sisters and a younger brother named Basil, who died in a car accident in October 1992. He also has a half brother on his father's side. Smith's parents were originally from Saint Thomas, U.S. Virgin Islands, and his father managed a hardware store. Smith graduated from Thomas Edison High School in Queens.

This is SportsCenter

This is SportsCenter is the name of a series of comical television commercials run by ESPN to promote their SportsCenter sports news show. The ads are presented in a deadpan mockumentary style, lampooning various aspects of sports, and sports broadcasting. The commercials debuted in 1994. The New York office of advertising agency Wieden+Kennedy, of Portland, Oregon, is responsible for the writing and production of the commercials.

A few of the ads are available for free on iTunes while many ads are available for viewing through the official ESPN YouTube channel.

Guest appearances by sports figures

A notable feature of the commercials is the seeming ubiquity of famous athletes on the ESPN campus. Some are even depicted doing menial, everyday tasks, usually while wearing their game uniforms. Athletes often have their idiosyncrasies parodied — for example, gymnast Kerri Strug being carried around ESPN headquarters because of her famous ankle injury.

The Joker Is Wild (album)

The Joker is Wild was the second album released by Alex Harvey after the demise of The Soul Band. The album was released in 1972. Some time after 1972 the album The Joker Is Wild was reissued and repackaged, the album song listings stayed the same, but the album was credited as being made by "The Sensational Alex Harvey Band" even though this band did not exist at the time, and the title was changed to This Is.

Background

The album was recorded at Regent Sound Studio, London in early 1972. These songs are unfinished demos only, recorded for a Spanish singer named Tony Caldeira (who wrote "The Joker Is Wild" and "Silhouette and Shadow"). Alex was teaching Tony vocal delivery and phrasing. Alex received a cheque for the session which subsequently bounced. The producer, Paul Murphy, sold the tapes to Metronome Records in Germany and they issued the LP as The Joker Is Wild in 1972. This Is SAHB is a low budget reissue of "Joker" intended to cash in on SAHB's success (even though Zal, Chris, Ted and Hugh weren't involved with the recordings). The photo of SAHB on the sleeve features keyboard player John Martin on the far left.