Students, alumni and locals lined up at the MSU Union as early as 5:30 a.m. Friday morning to get up close for the live taping of ESPN First Take. This was the show’s first road taping on a college campus.
First Take, hosted by ESPN personalities Skip Bayless, Stephan A. Smith, and Cari Champion began live at 10 a.m. When First Take went live, the Union roared from fans cheering “go green, go white!" Smith said that this was the “wildest” road show they have done yet.
“It’s national exposure for the university, it’s an opportunity to see a live broadcast of an event — [the hosts] are just so well known and that’s exciting for people,” MSU Union Director Tami Kuhn said.
Alumni, such as Phil and Lois Pawlowski, drove two and a half hours from New Port Sanilac, Mich. to see First Take first hand.
“We came out today because I watch First Take every single day — I love this show,” Lois Pawlowski said. “I just like the idea that they’re on the road… I know Smith is on remote locations from time to time, so I’m really glad that I was able to see him here — I wasn’t sure whether he was going to be in person or not.”
Special guests head basketball coach Tom Izzo and head football coach Mark Dantonio talked about this weekend’s matchup against No. 13 Ohio State.
“I think it’s incredible that we are finally getting the reputation of a powerhouse in football that we deserve,” physiology freshman Danny MacAskill said.
Not only was this is a fun experience for attendees, but students were able to assist ESPN during the live production, getting real-world experience in their fields of study.
“I think this is a really excellent example on how the Union is uniquely positioned to help somebody who is working on a journalism degree, for example, to apply what they are learning in the classroom to a real world situation,” Kuhn said. “We’ve had students who were runners for the show and students that were helping with aspects of production this morning. It’s been a great learning laboratory for these students.”
After seeing the success of the live taping of Numbers Never Lie during homecoming week with MSU alum and show co-host Jemele Hill, ESPN decided to come back for First Take and College GameDay, according to Kuhn.
“I came out to [the Numbers Never Lie taping] and these ESPN events they have are always crazy,” advertising sophomore Anthony Dinsmore said.
College GameDay will be live from the Demonstration Hall field Saturday morning starting at 9 a.m. MSU football will take on Ohio State at 8 p.m. Saturday.
“We are excited to have ESPN back and we would love to have them come back again in two weeks,” Kuhn said.
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