Nearly 30 years ago, Rich Eisen started at ESPN and joined a murderer’s row of SportsCenter hosts that he still admires deeply today. But his favorites remain Dan Patrick and Keith Olbermann, the most iconic duo to lead the show and among the more revered hosts of any live news show ever.
Speaking with Dan Le Batard on Wednesday, Eisen detailed his experience working alongside Patrick and Olbermann and what made the pair so special.
“They are the best at it in many different ways,” Eisen said. “That’s why they were perfect together.”
Eisen detailed his time filling in for Patrick shortly after starting at the Worldwide Leader. Olbermann missed the production meeting and had to ad-lib a segment on the top NHL goalies of all time.
Olbermann scurried in with a handful of books and made sure the ESPN crew remembered to address a New York Rangers goalie from the 1930s who hadn’t made the list. Olbermann even had a photograph of the man at his desk.
“I thought to myself, ‘Holy smokes, I have a long way to go to even get in the realm of that,'” Eisen remembered.
While Patrick was more understated and dry, Eisen made sure to praise his fellow longtime radio host as well, highlighting “a certain set of brilliance that he still has today.”
All three of Eisen, Olbermann, and Patrick also left ESPN and made strong careers for themselves. It’s no wonder why. They each brought a measure of control, knowledge, and lightness to the broadcast that translated elsewhere.
SportsCenter may not be what it was when Eisen began or the two pioneers helped define the show and the network, but the tone and format live on at ESPN and across sports media.
About Brendon Kleen
Brendon is an Editorial Lead at Awful Announcing overseeing digital content and special projects. He lives in Phoenix and has covered sports media for Awful Announcing since 2023.