Anchor Van Pelt still not sure what ‘ESPN’ stands for

BRISTOL, CT — SportsCenter anchor Scott Van Pelt is easily one of the more popular broadcasters on the leading sports network in the nation.

With a quick wit and the ability to seamlessly slip pop culture references into just about all of his reports, the self-effacing University of Maryland graduate has become one of the new faces of the network following the departure of one the station’s most famous personalities, Dan Patrick. But after almost seven years with the network, there is still one thing that continues to puzzle Van Pelt.

“Honestly, I’m still not sure what the ‘E’ and the ‘P’ stand for in ‘ESPN.’ The ‘S’ has to stand for ‘Sports’ and the ‘N’ means ‘Network,’ I’m pretty sure,” said Van Pelt, who regularly appears on The Mike Tirico Show on ESPN radio and is referred to as “Van Peezy” by a multitude of fans. “When I initially joined, I thought both the ‘S’ and ‘P’ stood for ‘SPorts,’ but I realized a few years ago that that’s just stupid.”

Sporting a backwards hat that reads, “Bentley’s,” and a t-shirt with the phrase, “Ain’t No Party Like My Nana’s Tea Party,” Van Pelt’s relaxed appearance and demeanor belies the fact that this one piece of trivia continues to frustrate and elude him.

Founded in 1979, the ESPN acronym stood for ‘Entertainment and Sports Programming Network,’ before the lengthy name was scuttled in 1985 in favor of adopting just the four letters as a new corporate name. This information can be found on ESPN’s website.

It’s going to be tough for this sport to sweep any nations, but it’s still pretty frickin’ cool!