ABC Sports

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Travis Vogan. ABC Sports

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ABC Sports

Edited by Susan Brownell, Robert Edelman, Wayne Wilson, and Christopher Young

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Hernon knew Scherick from previous jobs and slipped the sports packager a copy of Arledge’s production in hopes that he might find For Men Only suitable for ABC or have recommendations for where else they might shop it. Scherick had no interest in For Men Only, but he thought it showed some potential. “I recognized the talent in Roone as soon as I saw that kinescope,” he recalled. “It was another attempt to do a sports magazine show…. But it was done with nice flair and I liked its production.”55 He consequently took a meeting with Arledge at SPI’s cramped and disheveled office, which Arledge later likened to a “bookie joint.” During the meeting Scherick explained his arrangement with ABC and their joint efforts to make a push in sports. He then tested Arledge’s sports knowledge by having the producer identify the athletes whose pictures hung crooked and dusty on the walls. Arledge knew all those Scherick asked him to name—and later expressed relief that Scherick did not quiz him on the several athletes he did not recognize. Scherick offered him a job on the spot to produce ABC’s NCAA football games for an annual salary of $10,000. Arledge started on May 1, 1960—just in time to begin preparations for college football.

Though his new position was hardly a step up, Arledge was elated to leave his days at Hi Mom! behind. “I finally got my fill of early morning hours and puppets and decided to live like a gentleman,” he wrote in a letter announcing his career change to the Leo Burnett advertising agency’s Hooper White. “As you can see from the letterhead I have left NBC to go work in the field I have always preferred.” He giddily concluded the note by gloating that his “first assignment is a rough one. I have to go to San Francisco this weekend to watch the Giants and Dodgers play baseball.” “It’s a pleasure,” Arledge wrote to another colleague, “not to have to get up at 5am and look at puppets.” The producer made clear that he was moving on to bigger and better things. But several of Arledge’s associates warned that working in sports would harm his professional credibility. “There’s nothing creative you can do in sports,” he later said in mocking imitation of this unsolicited advice.56 But, as he demonstrated with For Men Only, Arledge viewed sports as part of a cultural tapestry that included music, fashion, and cuisine and that deserved the comparatively dignified treatment these topics commonly received.

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