"ESPN Zone with Neil Campbell" is Episode 125 of Doughboys, hosted by Mike Mitchell and Nick Wiger. "ESPN Zone with Neil Campbell" was released on October 12, 2017.
"Tomorrow... We’re in the Zone #Jockdoughberfest" - @doughboyspod
Synopsis[]
Comedian and writer Neil Campbell (Comedy Bang! Bang!, Brooklyn 99) joins the 'boys as Jockdoughberfest 2017 continues with a trip to ESPN Zone. Thoughts on the network itself and antics during live games are discussed before revealing the final verdict. Then, a timely mid-autumn segment of International House Of Hot Takes.
Nick's intro[]
"This is a manufacturing town and the inhabitants are distinguished by their enterprise and industry."
So wrote John Warner Barber, an American engraver who spent his life penning numerous local histories about the town of Bristol, Connecticut.
Bristol, CT
First founded in the colonial days as an agricultural village called New Cambridge, Bristol was incorporated under its current name back in 1785. And for nearly two centuries, it was best known as Bell City and Mum City because of its chief industries - designing doorbells and growing chrysanthemums.
Then on September 7, 1979, a new cable channel launched that was headquartered in Bristol, the Entertainment and Sports Programming Network, better known by its four-letter acronym. The channel, created by TV-sports veteran Bill Rasmussen, would transform not just the sleepy hamlet into a media epicenter, but transform sports into an unrelenting 24/7 American obsession.
Rasmussen's brainchild had early success by acquiring the television rights to previously low-profile events: the NCAA basketball tournament (now known as March Madness) and the NFL draft. In 1984, the channel was purchased by broadcast network ABC, which raised its profile and access to content, and by the '90s, it was practically a lifestyle brand for its overwhelmingly male audience; the anchors of its hit recap show Sportscenter becoming minor celebrities with their own signature catchphrases.
In 1996, the big fish ABC was swallowed by an even bigger fish, Disney, who acquired the sports channel in the process. Disney CEO, Michael Eisner, a craven opportunist who greenlit countless execrable straight-to-video sequels to animated classics as cheap cash-ins, saw the brand as a natural fit for its own bar and grill.
At the end of 1998, the sports network's first sports bar opened in Baltimore, and by the mid-2000s, locations would dot major cities across the U.S.
But the end of the Oughts saw sports viewership become increasingly fragmented. Cable channel subscriptions declined amidst the availability of internet video, as well as social media up-to-the-second reporting of breaking news and highlights. And as the network's ratings have flagged in recent years, including its once unsinkable flagship, Sportscenter, so too did the fate of its restaurant chain, as dining rooms began closing one by one. By 2013, only a single location near Disneyland remained, making this a chain only in our memories.
So does this athletic-themed eatery deserve its fate, slowly fading into irrelevance like its parent company?
Or is it primed for that classic sports trope, the underdog making a comeback?
This week on Doughboys, we continue Jockdoughberfest 2017, a month of sports-themed restaurants, with our second draft pick, ESPN Zone.
Gatorade Jug rating[]
As with the first episode of Jockdoughberfest 2017, the ratings are out of 5 Gatorade jugs, not forks.
| guest / host | ordered | rating |
|---|---|---|
| Nick Wiger |
|
1 jug |
| Mike Mitchell |
|
1.75 jugs |
| Neil Campbell |
|
1 jug |
| shared |
|
Nick says he got The ESPY, but the ingredients he read for it actually are the OC Cocktail (according to an ESPN Zone online menu).
With these scores, ESPN Zone makes the Broken Plate Club.
International House Of Hot Takes 🌏[]
Mooncake
In this segment, The Doughboys try some foods from a foreign land to see how well they like it.
For this episode, Yusong brings in some mooncake, which is a Chinese pastry usually made for the Mid-Autumn Festival. They had a variety pack, but I'm not sure the brand. The flavors included were Red Bean, Lotus, Pineapple, and Red Date.
They decide whether to welcome China into the UN or punish them with sanctions?
They all enjoyed the mooncakes and want China to join the U.N.
| guest / host | Red Bean | Lotus | Pineapple | Red Date |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nick Wiger | 2nd | 4th | 3rd | 1st |
| Mike Mitchell | 4th | 2nd | 1st | 3rd |
| Neil Campbell | 1st | 3rd | 4th | 2nd |
Roast Spoonman[]
Tom Brady
| “ | Tom Weighty | ” |
–@sablemetrics | ||
Quotes[]
| “ | Nick: You think [Ryan Whitney] personally edited his wikipedia page? Mitch: Probably. That loser. |
” |
–re: Wikipedia editors | ||
| “ | Neil: I would go to the Tokyo Dome, maybe it had a nickname as the Big Egg or the Egg Dome. Nick: Those are also Mitch's nicknames. |
” |
–Nick Wiger | ||
| “ | Nick, I noticed you pushed your side salad into the direct sunlight. | ” |
–Mike Mitchell | ||
| “ | Every time I try to eat a hot dog, it shoots out of the bun. | ” |
–Mike Mitchell | ||
#hashtags[]
- #FoodFlubs
The Feedbag[]
| “ | I am Mexican and we make tamales on a yearly basis. When I was younger, we invited a friend for dinner who had never had tamales before. He spent a good minute trying to cut through the corn husk before we noticed and advised him to unwrap the husk to get at the delicious innards. Have you guys ever eaten something the wrong way? | ” |
–Efron in Chicago | ||
Related Episodes[]
| Jockdoughberfest episodes | Neil Campbell episodes |
|---|---|
|
|
Photos (via @doughboyspod)[]
