4706.2001-06-27.farmer.ham.txt 4.4 KB

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  1. Subject: fw : a weygandt , andrew ; glover , rusty ; beard , jaime ;
  2. woodson , todd ; ratzman , eric ; eckermann , derrek ; walker , sam
  3. subject : fw : a & m and espn
  4. for immediate release
  5. june 26 , 2001
  6. espn to launch sidelines network ' s second reality - based series to
  7. premiere with texas a & m football
  8. espn will launch a 13 - episode , prime - time series this fall entitled
  9. sidelines , the network ' s second reality - based title under the espn
  10. original
  11. entertainment ( eoe ) banner . sidelines will document the season of a
  12. prominent team as told through the eyes and ears of the less visible ,
  13. less
  14. celebrated people who are involved with the team . the football aggies
  15. of
  16. texas a & m will be the focus of the series ' premiere episodes to begin
  17. october 5 .
  18. " coach slocum and i made the decision to be a part of this exciting
  19. venture
  20. with espn , " texas a & m athletics director wally groff said . " we couldn ' t
  21. be
  22. more thrilled that espn has chosen texas a & m for this series . the
  23. opportunity espn gave us to showcase this wonderful institution and all
  24. of
  25. its tradition and heritage is something we could not pass up . "
  26. in a " docu - drama " style , the various stories that surround the team will
  27. be
  28. explored through the voices and actions of people whose day - to - day lives
  29. are
  30. directly affected by living in the town and / or going to the school .
  31. players
  32. and coaches will also be visible and heard from in a more peripheral
  33. fashion , but will not be the primary focus .
  34. " this is a good opportunity for texas a & m university and we ' re delighted
  35. espn decided to feature the football program and some of the people
  36. behind
  37. the scenes , " head coach r . c . slocum said . " we look forward to working
  38. with
  39. them . "
  40. the participants will be drawn from a cross section of people who
  41. reflect
  42. every aspect of the university and college station , texas . they will be
  43. students , faculty , media , local storeowners , mothers , fathers and some
  44. of
  45. the high school seniors who aspire to attend the university .
  46. " each person has a role to play with the team , as well as a personal
  47. story , "
  48. said mark shapiro , vice president and general manager , espn original
  49. entertainment . " sidelines will see each person grow in character as the
  50. season progresses - - a kind of ' soap - umentary . ' we ' ll weave the smaller
  51. personal stories together through the bigger story of the progression
  52. and
  53. fate of the team and its season . "
  54. sidelines : texas a & m storylines
  55. - - this is the 125 th anniversary of the school ' s founding ( 1876 ) .
  56. - - the community is still very much dealing with the 1999 bonfire
  57. collapse
  58. which tragically killed 12 students almost two years ago . a 90 - year
  59. tradition came to a tumultuous end . dealing with the loss and the
  60. emotional
  61. toll it took on faculty members , students and families will be an
  62. important
  63. part of this series . the bonfire will return in 2002 but will take on a
  64. different form than has been tradition .
  65. - - texas a & m , who lost a wild , snowy independence bowl last year in
  66. overtime
  67. to mississippi state 43 - 41 , will play notre dame ( at home ) , texas ,
  68. oklahoma ,
  69. kansas st and colorado next year . a tough schedule will provide for
  70. great
  71. drama .
  72. - - the school invented the phrase " 12 th man " and actually owns the
  73. trademark .
  74. one game , the aggies were low on players and had a student suit up and
  75. stand
  76. ready just in case he was needed . ever since , a student is chosen for
  77. every
  78. home game to suit up and play on the kickoff team .
  79. - - billy pickard is in charge of maintaining the facilities . he ' s been at
  80. the
  81. university for 36 years and was the student trainer for bear bryant ' s
  82. a & m
  83. team . he was actually in junction , texas for bryant ' s infamous grueling
  84. summer camp . the story of it was a best - selling book , the junction boys .
  85. - - at midnight on the friday night before every home game , a "
  86. 30 , 000
  87. fans show up each week for this time - honored tradition .
  88. eoe , the newest franchise of espn programming , will develop a
  89. wide - variety
  90. of branded programming outside of the network ' s traditional event and
  91. sports
  92. news genres . using a collection of vehicles - - game shows , documentaries
  93. or
  94. reality - based shows - it ' s espn ' s goal to broaden its audience by
  95. appealing
  96. to younger and casual sports fans . in addition , the company is
  97. exploring
  98. new ways to connect with consumers by applying these projects across all
  99. platforms of the espn family - television , internet , radio
  100. - atm -