Repack - Espn2hd

ESPN2 had arrived.

But a revolution was coming. By 2005, HDTVs were dropping below $2,000 for the first time. The PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 were pushing HD gaming. And more importantly, ESPN2’s programming was changing. It was no longer just the "deuce" for roller hockey and bass fishing. It had become the home of crucial NASCAR races, the growing UFC phenomenon (starting with “The Ultimate Fighter” finale in 2006), and the nascent buzz of Major League Soccer. The NFL Draft had started to bleed over from ESPN. College football’s Big 12, Pac-10, and Big East games were increasingly landing on ESPN2 as prime-time slots. espn2hd

The date was March 30, 2008. A Sunday.

The screen shrinks to a 4:3 pillarboxed square in the center of your beautiful widescreen television. The edges are gray or black. And the picture itself? It’s soft, grainy, and smeared. You’re watching “NHRA Drag Racing” or a low-stakes mid-major college basketball game. The scorebug is chunky, the graphics are from the dial-up era, and the player’s faces are watercolor paintings. You think to yourself: Why does the B-team get the bad vision? ESPN2 had arrived

For the next decade, “ESPN2HD” became more than just a technical specification. It became a brand promise. When “Mike and Mike” simulcast on ESPN2 in HD, the bagels looked delicious. When “First Take” debuted with Skip Bayless and Stephen A. Smith, the HD close-ups made their facial expressions dangerously vivid. When the World Cup qualifiers aired, you could see the rain sheeting off the pitch. The PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 were pushing HD gaming

Today, ESPN2HD is simply "ESPN2" — the HD is implied, a forgotten suffix. But for those of us who remember the dark ages of the 4:3 pillarbox, the name “ESPN2HD” carries a quiet nostalgia. It was the moment the little brother finally got his glasses, stood up straight, and looked the world — and every blade of grass on it — directly in the eye.

When viewers tuned in at 1:00 PM for the final round of the LPGA’s Kraft Nabisco Championship, they didn’t just see a clearer picture. They saw a different picture. The graphics were reshaped for widescreen. The score bug was sleek, translucent, and moved to the bottom left. The replays were slow-motion, crisp enough to see the dimples on a golf ball.