Pirate Galaxy » 19-point lead at halftime, A&M was

NEW YORK -- To a certain segment of the population, Scott Van Pelt is a more popular late-night television star than Jimmy Fallon, Jimmy Kimmel and Stephen Colbert.That segment -- young men aged 18-to-34 -- may be small, but its an elusive one for television advertisers and vital to Van Pelts bosses at ESPN. Hes one year into an experiment to broaden the appeal of SportsCenter at the midnight hour.While Van Pelt doesnt yuk it up with monologue jokes, the midnight SportsCenter he hosts incorporates elements from the late-night comedy shows, including a greater emphasis on interviews and bite-sized pieces of material that can live online independent of the television show.ESPN was looking to tailor a SportsCenter edition to a particular personality and zeroed in on Van Pelt, a striking-looking, six-foot-six-inch bald man who had developed a following in recent years on ESPN Radio, said Rob King, senior vice president for SportsCenter and news. Besides radio, Van Pelt had primarily been a golf reporter for ESPN.I resisted it for quite a while simply because I liked the radio world I was in, Van Pelt said. I just never thought theyd give me the latitude to be myself. I never believed that they would just give me the easel and say, `Paint what you want.ESPN hates it when people suggest that SportsCenter is a franchise going the way of the rotary phone. But it would be naive to ignore that sports fans can now easily retrieve scores and highlights online through their devices, and need not depend on a television producer to decide when and how much they can see their favorite team.Van Pelts show uses highlights sparingly and in different fashions, like an author who decides not to tell a story chronologically. Hell do a segment called Filth, for example, showing one nights examples of stellar pitching performances, or splice some memorable home runs together from across Major League baseball.Showing his radio roots, he frequently debriefs ESPN correspondents on whats going on in the sports they cover. With baseball reporter Tim Kurkjian, the routine often includes the two Maryland natives using exaggerated Baltimore accents.Van Pelts nightly One Big Thing commentary, despite the dull title, is frequently the most-shared segment of his show online; his most popular was when he lamented that entertainment media looked past Lamar Odoms basketball accomplishments to refer to him as a reality TV star. The packaging follows a trend late-night hosts like James Corden and his Carpool Karaoke find vital, where they create a presence for themselves outside of a time slot when many viewers are asleep.Timbaland, who remixed the SportsCenter theme specifically for Van Pelts show, adds a hipness factor.His show has attracted attention for candidly talking about sports bettors, and hell show how a seemingly meaningless play at the end of a game already decided can cause heartbreak or exhilaration because of its relation to the point spread.People bet, Van Pelt said. Its pretty simple. I choose to handle it like an adult.Many sportscasters ignore that element, choosing to ignore money changing hands illicitly, perhaps not to offend the bosses of the sports involved.He does it in a way that celebrates the lunacy of sports fandom and the ongoing sort of calamity of thinking you can actually beat the system, King said. Its done with humor. Its done with love.The show has taken some heat from traditionalists who want a SportsCenter that will simply outline the day in sports, even though other editions follow that template. If we do the show right, we do both, King said. You get what happened, and Scotts unique sense of why it mattered.Van Pelt, 46, admits that hes sensitive to the criticism, and initially argued for more highlights.Because weve done alright, it validates the approach of where we need to be in 2016 in the world we occupy, he said. I think were landing more often than not in the right place.---Follow David Bauder at twitter.com/dbauder. His work can be found at http://bigstory.ap.org/content/david-bauderCheap Adidas NHL Jerseys . Andreas Johnson had a goal and two assists while Jacob de la Rose also scored for Sweden (2-0-0). 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Miller finished in two minutes, 6.09 seconds, one day before the first medal race on the Alpine schedule. The 36-year-old American also turned in the top time in Thursdays opening training session.COLLEGE STATION, Texas -- Texas A&M is getting used to running its offense through its big men, and the Aggies so far are digging the results. Center Tyler Davis scored 17 points and guard D.J. Hogg added 12 as Texas A&M overwhelmed American for a 76-53 victory on Monday night in Reed Arena.For the second consecutive game against an undersized opponent, the Aggies (2-0) dominated inside, in outscoring the Eagles 44-22 in the paint.Our guys bought in defensively, and our length and our size in the paint gave them problems, A&M coach Billy Kennedy said. We have good size at every position.Hogg added a game-high nine rebounds, and A&M freshman forward Robert Williams added 10 points and two blocks in only his second game. Williams (6-9, 237) now has seven blocks on the season.Delante Jones led American (2-0) with 18 points and Saeed Nelson followed with 12. The Aggies made 6 of 14 3-pointers (42.9 percent), including a combined 4 of 5 by Hogg and freshman Eric Vila.The Aggies led 20-15 a little more than midway through the first half when they decided, thanks in large part to the 6-10 Davis and 6-9 Hogg, to put away the Eagles by the break. Davis and Hogg combined to make 9 of 13 field goals in the first half in staking A&M to a 41-20 lead.Theyre really big and talented and good at what they do, American coach Mike Brennan said of the Aggies. We knew it was going to be a huge challenge. Their perimeter guys are just as good as their big men -- they can make shots and play on the perimeter -- but their focus is getting the ball inside.The Aggies had dominated Northwestern State 42-8 in points in the paint in their Friday opener, a 72-44 victory over the Demons, when Davis also led the way with a game-high 16 points and 10 rebounds.Its beautiful, Hogg said of running the offense through the big men, particularly Davis, a preseason first-team All-SEC selection by the coaches. Tyler takes a lot of pressuree off of us, because he needs a double team to be stopped.dddddddddddd Otherwise its bucket after bucket.BIG PICTUREThe Aggies were wary of American only losing by six points (62-56) at Maryland on Friday, so they used their lopsided size advantage early and often to overwhelm the Eagles. A&M intends to work inside-out on offense all season, with center Tyler Davis the focal point.The Eagles are hoping a couple of rugged road losses to start the season will help when they need it most, and when the competition isnt quite as tough: in Patriot League action.HIGHLIGHT REEL:A&M freshman forward Robert Williams sailed above the rim for an alley-oop slam dunk on a pass from D.J. Hogg to make the score 62-32 in the second half. Williams already owns a collection of highlights in only two games for A&M.STAT OF THE NIGHT: Because of the 19-point lead at halftime, A&M was able to get nine players at least 14 minutes each in the game, and the Aggies reserves outscored their counterparts 31-6.HE SAID IT: The bigs make it easier on us. They give us open shots, because people have to dig in down low. A&M guard D.J. HoggTHEY SANG IT: A&M students serenaded sophomore guard Admon Gilder with a rousing rendition of Happy Birthday on the night of his 21st. Their timing was questionable, considering he was about to shoot a free throw. He made it.HE SAID IT PART TWO: I was about to say, `Quiet down, so he can focus. Hogg, chuckling, on Gilder preparing to shoot the free throw under the pressure of happy birthday to you.UP NEXTThe Aggies schedule toughens on Friday, when they play host to Southern California and try and stay undefeated on the early season.The Eagles will try and earn their first win of the season on Thursday at Akron after tough losses at Maryland and A&M to start the season. ' ' '