The recent book by Tom Shales and James Andrew Miller "ESPN: Those Guys Have All the Fun"--a revealing oral history of the groundbreaking sports network--may be turned into a feature film, reports SportsNewser.

According to a story by Deadspin.com, a major Hollywood studio is ready to invest in a film about the creation of ESPN, something like "The Social Network," which depicted Mark Zuckerberg's Facebook from inception to media revolution.

Whether the ESPN book will be made into a feature film is still to be determined, with some experts saying it might be better suited as a miniseries for TV.

On today's "The Dan Patrick Show" on DirecTV's Audience Network, the host speculated on who could play some of the ESPN characters. Among of the names bandied about: James Gandolfini as Chris Berman, Paul Giamatti as Tony Kornheiser, and Jeffrey Wright as Michael Wilbon.

http://www.tvweek.com/blogs/tvbizwire/

I would definitely pay money to see that. I'm an ESPN addict.

They should just make a "30 for 30" episode about the history of the network.
They can change the name to "31 for 31."

ESPN was a great idea. The bad part about it is that it's ruined the way games are played on the field, and it's dumbed down fans like nothing I've ever seen.

The Sportscenter anchors are the most annoying bunch of people who ever lived. They all think that it's all about THEM. And tell Sage Steele to get the damn marbles out of her mouth.

is this book available on Amazon?

20th Century Fox is closing a deal for screen rights to the oral history ESPN: Those Guys Have All The Fun. The studio will develop a feature about the formation of the 24-hour sports network. The pic will be produced by Michael De Luca, Trigger Street's Dana Brunetti and Julie Yorn. The book by James Andrew Miller and Tom Shales follows a format similar to Live From New York, the oral history they wrote about Saturday Night Live. Here, they use the voices of past and present ESPN personalities and producers to tell the story of how a father and son maxed out their credit cards to scrape together the cash to reserve a satellite transponder so they could show sporting events nonstop on a 24-hour station. The book is a gossipy journey about how that venture turned from a 1970s joke that started with broadcasts of Australian rules football and rodeo, to a dominant brand in the sporting world that broadcast pro football and baseball games and become arguably the most profitable cable network ever created.

http://www.deadline.com/hollywood/

is this book available on Amazon?


I am pretty sure it is.

... The book is a gossipy journey about how that venture turned from a 1970s joke that started with broadcasts of Australian rules football and rodeo....


Now, of course, they cover such great athletic showcases as the World Series of Poker and the Nathans Hot Dog Eating "championships" :)