Part IV: The ‘Best Damn’ legacy

More than 15 years after its last episode, Best Damn still is talked about a lot. And that’s part of what led to this panel. Arnold described how it came from interest from figures at Fanatics.

“What happened was that some younger guys, younger than me, younger than Chris, who worked at Fanatics, kind of grew up on this show. And so they reached out to me. ‘What would it take to get you? We’d like to do something with you guys.’ So  it’s great, I’m thrilled.”

Arnold said that initially covered some different dimensions, but it was agreed that a panel at Fanatics Fest made the most sense for a place to start.

“They were like, ‘How do we figure out a way to do this?’ Digital reboot, whatever. Talking about it, talking about it. And I go ‘These guys all have jobs. Chris is on the NFL Network, the highlights that my son and I watch, and Kruk’s got something going, Salley, who knows what he’s got going. So I just said, ‘It seems hard to make that happen.’ Anyway, this came up since they were doing this big convention with great people, they’re ‘We’ll make a spot for you.’

Rose said he’s thrilled to get to revisit this chapter of his life.

“I can’t wait. I’m really thankful because like I said, it’s my favorite thing that, you know, I had the good fortune of doing over the past 30 years. It was incredible. Some of the people behind the scenes are still some of my best friends in the world, and I loved it.”

He said Best Damn even connected with his children recently.

“I get really emotional about it, because a bunch of years ago we were cleaning out something and we saw a DVD of our 1000th show, where the cast came back, and we’re all in tuxedos, and we’re celebrating. And my kids are now 23 and 18. And so the older one had a little bit of a recollection of the show, but not a great one, and the little one had no idea about it. So I put the DVD on and we’re watching it and they’re looking at me like, ‘Why the hell isn’t this show still on?’  And I said ‘I’m with you guys, I’m really with you. ‘

Marcus said Best Damn wasn’t even an easy sell within Fox at first, but people quickly got on board with it.

“We had to win over our own brethren in the beginning, other Fox producers who thought the show was silly or were embarrassed by it. And, you know, we put our heads down and just said. ‘No, we’re doing, we’re doing the show. We’re doing it.’ And then all of a sudden, people were aboard, and then all of a sudden they started taking talent we would develop on the show.”

Hughes said Best Damn‘s legacy is notable in the roles people involved wound up with afterwards.

“[John] Entz went to MLB, George [Greenberg] at UFC. I think the legacy of this show is something that I’m very proud of, in front and behind the camera. We talked about the Strahans, the Jalen Roses, but even like Seth Davis early on, before he was a regular at CBS, we had calls with him about college basketball. [John] Calipari, in between his gigs, before Kentucky. People would want to come on the show. …It definitely became the minor leagues of media.”

Marcus noted other Best Damn alumni, including Charissa Thompson and Michael Strahan, and said the show was a huge launching point for many.

“If you look at all the people who are on air or even behind the cameras now, a lot of them actually started on Best Damn.”

And she added that even includes ESPN’s Stephen A. Smith to a degree; he’d previously had some work on Jim Rome’s show in particular, but Best Damn helped popularize him more.

“We used him on set, you know, as a regular rotating guest host, and gave him some more regular appearances. So, for better or for worse, we did that. But I love Stephen.”

But she noted that there are many more figures from Best Damn beyond Smith.

“Also, behind the cameras, there are a whole bunch of people who are in prominent positions, including Eric Shanks, who’s now the head of Fox Sports. He was a producer on that show for a little while, between other gigs he had while he was in the Fox universe, making his way up the ladder. It was a holding spot for him, and he had a fondness for the show because of that. You have Charlie Yook, at the NFL Network, Allan Flowers there, Eric Weinberger, who was the first executive producer over there, he came from Best Damn.”

Hughes noted that beyond their irreverent pieces, they also did serious features, and got some notable news.

“We did a piece on Hurricane Katrina with Kyle Turley that was immensely, immensely emotional. …Jimmy Rollins, on our show, claimed that Philly fans were fair-weather fans after they didn’t make the World Series. Kevin Millar on our show admitted to doing shots in the clubhouse during the comeback against the Yankees. We actually did have some pretty big stuff happen. We had some fun comedy, we had some good features, I remember Holly Holm, she kind of grew up on Best Damn, and she was the one that beat Ronda Rousey.”

Marcus said Best Damn was very early on promoting the UFC.

“We actually used to do more UFC stuff than I think anyone was doing, and that’s a credit to George Greenberg.”

Arnold credited Fox Sports legend David Hill for his work keeping Best Damn going.

“David Hill, you know, the OG, this was his,” Arnold said. “And having him there behind the show was definitely great.”

And Rose said the current sports opinion climate owes a lot to Best Damn.

“No question. We’re either, you can thank us for getting sports here, or you can mf us.”

Rose noted that even the “Embrace Debate” idea of personalities arguing some strong sports takes has some Best Damn roots.

“We used to do that all the time,” he said. “And obviously a few networks kind of piggybacked off that.”

As per this panel, Hughes said he thinks it’s a great chance to show off what Best Damn was and meant.

“It’s nice to feel that we’re still relevant. Sure, this is a show that hasn’t been on the air in 15 years. And it’s not like it’s Breaking Bad or whatever.  But the fact that somebody still wants to do this has to say something, right? And I’ll be honest, when I first heard about this opportunity, it immediately just brought a smile on my face, because there’s a flood of memories that come with it.”

He said it’s worthwhile considering the comments he still gets on the show.

“It’s crazy. It’s just crazy. People still talk about it today like it was two or three years ago.”

Rose said he can’t wait to be involved in a Best Damn project again.

“It was just fun, and that was it, at the end of the day. Where everything needs an argument and everything is so divisive, it’s like ‘Why the hell can’t we just enjoy something?’ And yeah, that’s what our show enabled people to do. It wasn’t for everybody. And the joke was it wasn’t the best damn sports  show, it was the easiest throwaway line for hack writers. It wasn’t, and it wasn’t intended to be. But the people who enjoyed it loved the hell out of it, and what I think we’re all most proud of. And we can’t wait to do it again.””

Marcus said this current reunion was somewhat anticipated by the success of a 2020 Zoom reunion they held.

“We had so many people on that call, like 50-something,” she said. “And we had Michael Strahan drop in, and Stephen A. drop in, and John Calipari, a lot of people who touched it called in. People really remember that show fondly.”

Arnold said he’s ecstatic to see this reunion.

“I’m very lucky that it came together. I’m very grateful. It’s shocking that it came together to get these guys on their own time to commit here and not get paid. You know, I said, ‘Well, you know, the payoff comes later, guys.’

“But I just wanted to see everybody: Chris and I stay in touch, something comes up, we’ll text back and forth. And Sal and Michael Irvin and that group, you know, there’s always that feeling of, it’s not war, but we went to work together, or we did this weird thing together.”

“And my 11 year old son knows all about Fanatics and all the people there. It’s very rarely when he goes, ‘Dad, I can’t believe you’re involved with this, with Travis Scott!’  You know, all these kids like it. And so it’ll be fun, it’ll be like, a great high school reunion. High school with the crazy people. I’m looking forward to it for sure.”

And Marcus is hopeful this might lead to more, given the changes in the current TV distribution setup.

“We’re excited because we often say FS1 had existed that we’d still be on the air. And we think that it was a great show and it should have continued. And we like that the people at Fanatics are excited about it too, because they’re fans over there. So let’s see what happens. …But anybody that I’ve told, and I don’t mean just industry people, they’re like ‘Oh, I loved that show, that’s going to be great.’ So I think there’s an appetite for it, and we’re excited to see everybody again.”