ESPN takes SportsCenter on the road to honor troops

Specialist Jorge Zuniga stood in front of the camera — a little nervous, but composed — as… Specialist Jorge Zuniga stood in front of the camera — a little nervous, but composed — as he waited anxiously to deliver his message.

Zuniga got to announce play No. 4 on SportsCenter’s Top 10 Countdown thanks to ESPN’s “Salute to the Troops.” He also got to send a message back to his home in California.

“I love you, Mom,” Zuniga said. “I’ll be home soon.”

The cable network started broadcasting SportsCenter from Kuwait City on Sept. 11 as part of a weeklong tribute to U.S. armed forces stationed overseas.

“It’s our way of honoring the troops,” ESPN spokesman Dan Quinn said in a prepared statement.

The network has set up an entire studio, complete with bleacher seating for about 700 soldiers, in a warehouse at Camp Arifjan, Kuwait.

This is more than just another ratings ploy by a big cable network. ESPN is genuinely raising morale by giving soldiers a chance not only to watch a SportsCenter broadcast, but also to be directly involved.

By opening a Middle East bureau, ESPN is giving soldiers a chance to debate football with Sean Salisbury, announce the top plays of the day and even read the “Did you know?” segment on the air.

SportsCenter has also been airing segments that show what life is like for service members. Segments included footage of the daily workouts soldiers perform, as well as a demonstration that showed how fast an ice cream cone melts in 120-degree heat.

They’ve even changed the name of some segments. “Fact or Fiction,” for example, is called “Affirmative or Negative” for this week. And, on the face of every soldier, you can see the positive effects that the presence of the ESPN crew is.

These men and women have been to hell and back. Among the many in attendance at the shows are 2,000 members of the 1st Armored Division just out of Iraq.

It’s awesome to see the men and women of our armed forces getting to enjoy themselves after being deprived of everything that we at home sometimes take for granted. I can’t imagine what it would be like to be stationed on the other side of the world.

But that’s what millions of people have done over the years to defend our freedom.

Hats off to ESPN for making life a bit more enjoyable for the people who protect this great nation.

Ryan Walker is the sports editor of The Pitt News and would like to say hello to his brother, Brendon, who is stationed in Seoul, South Korea.