SportsCenter doesn't make use of guest anchors all too often. Usually, it's the same rotation, with an occasional new face thrown into the mix after a test run on ESPNEWS. But on the 6 PM edition of SportsCenter on Wednesday, there will be a guest anchor for the show: actor and comedian Billy Crystal, in Bristol to plug his new movie Parental Guidance.
I have arrived. Will co anchor @sportscenter tomorrow with Steve Levy who isin #ParentalGMovie Can't wait. bc
— Billy Crystal (@BillyCrystal) December 18, 2012
Crystal has been known throughout his career as a huge sports fan, particularly of the New York Yankees. Crystal played in a Spring Training game with the Yankees in 2008. I'd imagine that at sometime earlier in the day, Crystal will be invited to talk about the Yankees bizarre offseason, one that has seen the team spend much less money than in recent years.
Even though this is clearly an attempt for ESPN to let Crystal shill his new movie, it's interesting that they're letting him anchor a broadcast of the network's flagship show. If it's a disaster, I'll doubt we'll ever see it again. But if things go well, expect to see a lot more celebrities get trotted out in front of the camera to promote their latest endeavor.
I'd imagine though that most fans of SportsCenter won't be happy that promoting a Billy Crystal movie is going to get in the way of covering the day's news. If there's some major breaking news today however, it'll be interesting to see how ESPN handles that with Crystal in the anchor chair as it could create a really awkward situation.
[ESPN]
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