Some things you remember for a lifetime: your first bike, your first kiss, your first job.
This week ESPNU takes a look back at a first the college football world would never forget, the first SEC Championship Game in 1992 between Florida and Alabama.
The Play That Changed College Football debuted on ESPNU this Thursday and will reair on ESPNU today at noon ET prior to the 20th SEC Championship between LSU and Georgia.
The documentary, the second to air in the SEC Storied series, dives into what the inaugural championship meant at the time and what it has meant to college football today.
“For the Storied series, we look for topics in the SEC’s rich history that really resonate. The first SEC football championship game fit that description. The way the game played out, the immediate aftermath and the larger implications have helped shape college football as we know it today,” said John Dahl, ESPN executive producer.
In the same spirit of reminiscing, Front Row asked ESPN employees what they remember from 1992:
Dave Williams, Multimedia Assignment Manager: “I was in 11th grade at Scranton High School and was asked by a friend of mine who was taking a TV production class if I could help him with a project by doing some on camera interviews of students and faculty for a video about what was happening around the school. [Some] 19 years later and I still feel like I’m working on that project sometimes.”
Jonathan Guzzo, Application Developer: “I remember watching the Barcelona Summer Olympics… if i’m not mistaken. That, and of course playing Super Nintendo, which had just come out.”
Ben Cafardo, Senior Publicist: “I think I was in second grade, but I’ll always remember Magic Johnson’s performance in the 1992 NBA All-Star Game. Oh, and Vanilla Ice was the halftime show. ‘Nuff said.”
Jennifer Tortora, Director Technology Communications: “I think I was watching Bill Clinton play saxophone on MTV.”
Eric Jones, Master Control Operator: “I was already in my 2nd year in the TV business. Yes, that means 2011 is 20 years.”
So… where does the Storied series go from here?
“We’ll continue to tap into stories that are ultimately character studies to varying degrees. As much as The Play That Changed College Football was about a game and its larger impact, it was an even deeper look at three people in particular who made it what it was– Shane Matthews, Antonio Langham and the SEC Commissioner whose idea it was to create a conference title game, Roy Kramer, “ said Dahl.
If only we had a DeLorean to go back to the future.
In the meantime, tune-in to The Play That Changed College Football on ESPNU today at noon and ESPN2 Sunday at 1 p.m.
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