NIU’s own stars on the best hour of T.V.

Everyone has one — possibly more — that one show you revolve your entire day around.

From 4 to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday, ESPN’s “Around the Horn” (ATH) and “Pardon the Interruption” (PTI) makes sports fans’ days.

Two shows solely based on opinion. Why have they become so popular? Think about those times when you and your roommate discuss whether or not the NIU men’s basketball team will make the NCAA Tournament. That is nothing more than a debate, which is what each of these shows represent.

On ATH, four sports reporters from newspapers around the United States, including Jay Mariotti of the Chicago Sun-Times, battle over topics ranging from who the best college basketball team is to which cereal is the best.

Most of the time, the arguments between these journalist colleagues are far-fetched and plain stupid, but that’s what makes it great. Ninety-five percent of what people talk to each other about each day is uneducated and just for enjoyment.

Why is this column being written you ask? Is it meant to be an advertisement for the best hour on TV?

Well, what most of us here at NIU don’t know is that “Around the Horn” has an NIU representative. Los Angeles Times Columnist T.J. Simers, a regular on ATH, attended NIU from 1968-71 before being drafted in the army.

He returned to NIU in 1973 and was the summer Sports Editor here at the Star. He failed to graduate though, falling a few credits short.

“I’ve mentioned NIU a couple of times,” Simers said. “I loved those years I lived in Gilbert, Lincoln and then local apartments — worked as red coat at university center — do they still wear red coats? The wife graduated from NIU, but I’m still a semester or so short of graduating from NIU — the journalism professors said you can’t get ahead in this business without that degree. I guess they’re right.”

PTI, which has become a phenomenon in its near year-and-a-half on the air, is a little different than ATH, and more entertaining.

Sports writers Tony Kornheiser and Michael Wilbon just spend a half hour arguing about the sports topics of the day. However, the creative thing that this show presents is that the topics are right there on your television screen as they talk about them.

Each topic is designated a specific amount of time, and once the time is up, it’s on to the next tidbit of controversial sports information.

The same formula that has made these shows a success for ESPN is what made “Seinfeld” a hit. They just talk about everyday things, except that for these shows it’s everyday thoughts that fans have about sports.

Maybe at NIU we don’t have many athletes that have made it big here, but we do have Simers, who has mentioned the Huskies a few times on the show.

Days before the NIU Bowling Green football game on Nov. 9, 2002, Simers argued that the hardest place to play in college football is Huskie Stadium in DeKalb. He predicted that the Huskies would beat the Falcons, and it happened.

Now that is something that a lot of sports fans argued with one another about here during that week, and it was on TV argued by a sports writer.

Simers agrees that what has made PTI a huge success is that it isn’t anything more than friends having a debate.

“I think PTI has found the right formula,” Simers said. “Tony and Mike have been partners in the post newsroom for years, so what they do is just an extension of how they always talk with each other.”

He even explains that a two-day appearance on PTI, filling in for Kornheiser, is what got him the job on ATH.

Simers credits ESPN’s Mark Shapiro with the creation of these shows and believes that both have the potential to be a mainstay.

Only one hour of television can strike up a weeklong debate for sports fans.