BRISTOL, CT—Curious to know the results of the previous day’s action across the world of sports, 42-year-old electrician Gary Bimel reportedly made the 939-mile journey from his home in Kenosha, WI to ESPN headquarters in Bristol, CT on Thursday in order to check the latest scores.
Sources confirmed that after spending $534 on airfare to Hartford, renting a car, and gaining admission to the cable sports provider’s massive compound, Bimel found his way to the visitor’s center, where he made his request to look at all the scores and highlights.
“Between football starting and the pennant races heating up in baseball, there are so many games happening that I figured I’d make it easy on myself and just come straight to ESPN so I could see all the latest scores,” Bimel was overheard asking a receptionist. “And highlights, too. I know you have a lot of those. I want to know about the NFL, and you have a ton of that information.”
Bimmel, a father of four, said he traveled halfway across the country to find out the final score of the Giants-Rockies game, the results of the Georgia-Missouri college football matchup from Sept. 8, and whether the Brewers beat the Pirates.
While waiting in the lobby of ESPN headquarters, Bimel frequently asked for reports on Thursday’s Baltimore Ravens practice, which players were on the Angels disabled list, and how many spots the Cowboys had moved down in this week’s NFL power rankings.
“I bet there’s a whole room filled with Ryan Braun’s career statistics,” said Bimel, pacing back and forth in the reception area. “I know they have all that stuff. I want to get back there and check it out. Just to learn how many homers he’s hit. Plus it would be really cool to look at his different batting average over the years.”
Estimating the journey to ESPN headquarters took approximately seven hours, Bimel told reporters that visiting the cable network had saved him a telephone call to his brother to learn about the scores.
“I could have called Jeff, but I wanted to find out if the Reds clinched a playoff spot or who won the game between the Yankees and Blue Jays, and he usually doesn’t know that stuff,” Bimel said. “It’s really convenient to have one place to go to so you can find out which NFL teams are playing this Sunday or how many yards the San Diego Chargers offense is averaging per game.”
“And the CNN/SI website doesn’t really have all the info I want,” Bimel added.
Bimel confirmed that several of his buddies had asked him to find out how many touchdowns Aaron Rodgers has so far and his 11-year-old son, an Indians fan, had requested the score from the Minnesota-Cleveland game. In addition, Bimel promised his wife that he would search for when the WNBA season starts while he was at ESPN’s main office.
Before leaving, the Wisconsin native said he inquired about taking some of the scores or stats home so he wouldn’t forget them.
“It’d be great if I could have stats, highlights, and scores right in my living room,” Bimel told an ESPN employee. “I’ll see if I can get some of those so I don’t have to come back in a month. I don’t want to put you out or anything.”
As of press time, Bimel had reportedly missed his flight home and was driving to NFL headquarters in New York City to see Joe Montana.
