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