ESPN.com 1998 to 2000 – Fun With the Wayback Machine

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ESPN.com 1998 to 2000 – Fun With the Wayback Machine

On 01/15/2010, In sports, By Brian

As you’ve probably seen in the past, I occasionally enjoy playing around with the Internet Archive to compare sites of today with their previous designs of the past. Today, I decided to do a quick comparison of ESPN from 1998 to 2000. I was going to take it all the way til today, but due to the size of the pics, I’ll instead expand this post into a few extras to showcase the significant design changes. In preparing this post, one of the most intriguing aspects was reading some of the old stories. Relax, take off your shoes and take a look at ESPN.com from 1998 to 2000.

December 3rd, 1998

espnnfl19981203 ESPN.com 1998 to 2000 Fun With the Wayback Machine

As I examine the page above, a few things stick out. First of all, what’s this infoseek search stuff? It’s obviously terribly ugly as many webpages were in 1998. John Elway is getting ready to retire, somebody gave up a 6th round pick for Rodney Peete, ESPN can’t spell the Patriots very well and our favorite bad owner Daniel Snyder is about to empty his wallet, $800 Million worth, for the train-wreck that is the Redskins.

October 13th, 1999

espnnfl19991013 ESPN.com 1998 to 2000 Fun With the Wayback Machine

Still ugly, but not as ugly. The stories are interesting with the Rams at top of the power rankings. I forgot they were good once upon a time. Other tidbits include the evil Eagle fans cheering after Michael Irvin’s neck injury, the Vikes in last place, while Cade McNown and Erik Kramer are getting ready to start NFL games. As a Bears fan, I’ll leave the Cade McNown draft blunder alone.

October 19th, 2000

espnnfl20001019 ESPN.com 1998 to 2000 Fun With the Wayback Machine

Still ugly, but we’re starting to see a little bit better design. Of the NFL rushing leaders above, guess who is the only one left that’s still playing? Good old Kurt Warner, back in his magical years with the Rams. Looks like the Rams were still a powerhouse. The Top 5 of the Power Rankings feature the Rams, Raiders and Dolphins. And look at that, Ryan Leaf surprises his coach. Yep, that was your number 2 overall pick back in the day.

I hope you enjoyed. Usually when I start playing with the Wayback Machine, it turns into a post. If anyone is interested, I can continue this. Let me know what you think.