Another George Michael Break-Up

Once, while on a family trip, I remember sitting on a hotel bed late at night and flipping through the channels, desperate for something to watch. Eventually I stumbled upon The Sports Machine, George Michael's legendary sports highlight show. Growing up outside of Washington D.C., Michael was a larger-than-life figure in the sports world and his Sports Machine was one of those mythical programs that a nine-year old rarely got to see, since we were usually in bed by the time it was broadcast at 11:30 on Sunday nights.
So in that hotel room far from D.C. that night, I wondered, "why is our George Michael breaking out his Sports Machine here?" It never occurred to me that Michael's program was nationally syndicated and, therefore, shown all over the country. And it was later still that I realized Michael's show was SportsCenter before there was Sportscenter. Compressed highlights set to music and shown at a breakneck pace, schmaltzy profiles and a focus on the lighter side of sports; Michael's show was revolutionary in a time when cable was still in its infancy.
Those outside the D.C. area likely know Michael only through that program, but those around town know him as the go-to guy for any local sports news. If something was going on in D.C. sports, the only place to get the scoop was on Michael's 6:45 sportscast on Channel 4 (NBC).
My mom's strict no-TV-during-dinner was routinely ignored on Mondays when Michael and 'Skins legend Sonny Jurgersen would interview the Redskins coach following the previous day's game. Tuesday meant "Tuesday Replays". And Thursday gave us "Thursday Bloopers".
When I went to college the only things I missed about home were reading a hard copy of The Washington Post every morning and missing out on those Monday interviews. I remember sitting on the floor of a ragged house in Winston-Salem, listening to George and Sonny interview Marty Schottenheimer about the benching of Brad Johnson, as my mom held the phone up to her television in Maryland so I could hear.
Michael's banter with Sonny was always fun, as were the ribbings he took from John Riggins during the taping of the weekly show The Redskins Report, for which Michael served as host. It was also on that program that two Washington Post sportswriters made their television debuts, bickering back and forth with one another and Riggo, Michael and Sonny. ESPN execs took notice and those writers, Michael Wilbon and Tony Kornheiser, are celebrating their sixth year on Pardon the Interruption.
At times, Michael could be abrasive. He could be bull-headed. And, oftentimes, he was flat-out wrong. Part of it was schtick, part of it was being a homer for all Washington sports teams. Nobody would have any trouble coming up with criticism of George Michael, but that's mainly because they got to know him so well through television.
In one hour, though, it will all be over as George Michael will be performing his final sportscast on NBC4. He declined a contract extension in November after GE cutbacks for NBC would have forced Michael to fire most of his sports staff.
Sure, he'll still conduct his must-see interviews from Redskins Park on Mondays after games and he'll still moderate Redskins Report and its' spring-time replacement Full Court Press, but he won't be there at the desk when Joe Gibbs retires or when the Wizards make the Eastern Conference Finals or when Maryland or Georgetown go back to the Final Four. He won't be joking around with his old pal Jim Vance or showing us his "Tuesday Replays" or boring us with highlights of rodeo and NASCAR.
Tonight is the end of an era in Washington D.C. and even if Michael makes a return to the airwaves on another network, it will never be the same.