ESPN: Those Guys Have All The Fun
- ESPN: Those Guys Have All The Fun provides an interesting, often hilarious, look into the lives of ESPN employees.
I recently finished ESPN: Those Guys Have All The Fun by James Andrew Miller and Tom Shales. The book is basically a long interview with almost every person that has taken part in the world of ESPN. The authors interview over five hundred people, and spliced their quotations into a chronological order that makes sense. They also provide introductory passages at the beginnings of chapters and give background in between events.
Unfortunately, the book is flawed. First, there are several typos, the sure sign of a sloppy or nonexistent editor. Worse, however, is their aforementioned attempt to divvy up the people’s insights into a logical order. I would often be reading about one aspect of ESPN, and then I would get to a new person who had something completely irrelevant to the subject. For example, in one part I was reading various reviews of the ESPYs from professional athletes. Then, out of nowhere, Chris Berman comes in talking about “flub ups” during live broadcasts. I understand that all of the characters were interviewed at different times and about different subjects, but that doesn’t mean that their words can be sliced up and tossed in at random points in the book! Still, the book was extremely entertaining.
I will not claim to have read the book the whole way through. As my dad said, “the thing is a freaking tome!” I did read, however, the insights from all of the people I am familiar with from watching ESPN over all of these years. For me, that means people like Steve Levy, John Anderson, Steve Berthieume and Jim Rome. Hearing their stories was so entertaining. Included are previously untold stories about why certain people left ESPN (by choice or otherwise), life on the road, and generally funny stories about all the different shows and mishaps that have graced ESPN over the years. It was a trip down memory lane for me. For example, I was reminded of my favorite show when I was about ten, called Cold Pizza. Another great dialogue was about Tony Kornheiser joining ESPN’s Monday Night Football team and how much of a disaster it was. I love Kornheiser – he’s always pissing people off and burning bridges (reminds me of Larry David).
Anyway, the book is great if you don’t mind the random interjections and poor editing. I would highly recommend it for anyone who watches SportsCenter regularly. I would advise all readers to pick and choose what they want to read, because there’s no point in reading people’s quotes who you aren’t familiar with.
Rating: 8/10 Stars
Players Overseas During NBA Lockout
I don’t understand why NBA players don’t get together and workout with each other during the lockout. Going overseas is not a good solution. First of all, NBA players are SO much better than foreign players that it won’t be much of a challenge. Second, European teams often fail to pay their players. Third, if you get hurt playing for a team overseas, you won’t be insured. That said, why don’t players convene in the U.S. – it seems so simple!
Dolphins Pick Up Bush
The Dolphins made a good pickup in getting Reggie Bush. I’m not sure what it is with the NFL, but it’s so quick to give up on its young draft picks. Does anyone remember Bush at USC? He was drawing comparisons to Ladainian Tomlinson. Now, everyone thinks he’s a bust. He’s never gotten the carries to prove himself! Vince Young, Jamarcus Russell, Tavaris Jackson, you all deserved more time to develop too.
Derek Jeter Deserves Better Treatment
Although it claims to revere Jeter, the media has been quick to write him off and diminish his accomplishments by focusing too much on his 3000th hit.
I have been astounded by the lack of creativity journalists have exercised in their coverage of Derek Jeter in recent months. Either the story is a complete list of all the reasons Derek sucks now, or it’s a grandiose description of what Jeter’s 3000th hit means for baseball.
Jeter was bound to get old, and his numbers were sure to decline. I don’t understand what people are confused about when the first lines of their cheesy articles is “What’s wrong with Derek Jeter?” The guy is 38. Let’s not forget that he’s still putting up decent numbers, escpecially when compared to his veteran buddy Jorge Posada: he’s batting in the .260s despite injuries. He’s still fielding pretty efficiently, too.
On thebleacherreport.com, a poll asked readers whether they thought Jeter should be benched. All in all, 82 percent of voters said “no.” At least the fans aren’t writing off our hero as quickly as the media.
Jeter’s 3000th hit is big, but it’s simply the cherry on top of a great career. I’ve always felt that people place too much stock in records; his 3,000th hit was no more impressive than his 2999th or 3001st hits. Here’s how the average Jeter story documenting his record goes: “Anticipation filled the air. The crowd was brimming with excitement. Jeter said he wasn’t nervous, but his anxiety at the plate was palpable. Jeter’s at bat couldn’t have been more fitting, an absolute battle with the pitcher. Suddenly, a crack of the bat…” Get that dramatic, crappy writing out of here, I’m not interested.
I would expect some more respect for Jeter’s career from journalists, because their writing has been awful – whether pointing out his flaws or over-playing the significance of one hit. Jeter is a hall of famer, don’t you have anything interesting, original, or insightful to say about his prolific career? I’m not saying I do, but at least I’m not trying.
Iman Shumpert
Rookie Knicks' Guard Iman Shumpert is bound to receive some undeserved booing from Knicks' fans next year, as the Knicks picked him over other more obvious choices.
PG: Chauncey Billups, Toney Douglas
SG: Landry Fields, Shawne Williams (assuming he’s resigned)
SF: Carmelo Anthony, Bill Walker
PF: Amar’e Stoudemire, ???
C: Ronny Turiaf, ???
Obviously, we have Jared Jeffries, Renaldo Balkman, and Sheldon Brown, but I don’t consider these guys to be contributors or even potential contributors. So, given that we need size, it made sense to draft the beast Kenneth Faried out of Morehead St., right? After all, he set a D1 record for most rebounds in a college career and stands at a robust 6’8”, 230 pounds. Despite the fact that Faried’s Morehead State went a couple of rounds in the NCAA tournaent, we passed on him. And it’s not like Shumpert was a winner – GA Tech had a terrible record this year, going 13-18! The Knicks are befuddling…
Japan v. U.S.
The problem with Japan winning the World Cup is that they just weren’t the better team, and the U.S. dominated the whole game. It just doesn’t seem right…
Giants Free Agent Situation
Ahmad Bradshaw could be done as a Giant.
The Giants recently released two classic Giants, Rich Seubert and Shaun O’Hara. I can’t say I blame them. Both guys are coming off surgeries and are getting old. It doesn’t matter if who they are, they are not exempt from the business that is professional sports. Every fan claims he/she understands that sports is a business, until their favorite player gets traded away. In that case, their favorite star has been done wrong and the team is at fault. I think the only player I know who cannot be traded (or not re-signed) due to his history with the team is Derek Jeter (and he still almost wasn’t re-signed last year.) Anyway, time to move on.
Speaking of moving on, it’s time to shake up the Giants roster. The Superbowl team has become stale. My first suggestion is NOT to resign Ahmad Bradshaw or Osi Umenyiora. Osi won’t be effective for too much longer and Bradshaw’s fumbles are just too big of a liability, especially when we have the opportunity to sign another running back in this years giant free agent running back stockpile. Here is the list of free agents that I think are worthy running back for the Giants, considering their reputation for quality RBs (no particular order):
- Jamaal Charles, KC
- Cedric Benson, CIN
- Darren Sproles, SD
- Joseph Addai, IND
- Ronnie Brown, MIA
- Ricky Williams, MIA
I don’t know how good our chances are at getting any of these guys, but I would love any one of them. I especially like Ronnie Brown and Ricky Williams because they are sleepers; we could get them for cheap and short-term deals, while allowing our rookie running back Da’rel Scott develop. Still, I wish DeAngelo Williams hadn’t just agreed to resign with Carolina.
The next week will be lots of fun, with free agent signings beginning on Friday afternoon…if only the Giants would resign Plaxico!
Comparing The Lockouts
Fisher speaks to the media about the lockout.
I’m so happy the NFL lockout is over – I don’t think I could’ve lived without basketball and football.
I’m glad the players came out on top. I heard Mike Francesa say on his radio show the other day that the NBA lockout was much more called for and justifiable than the NFL lockout…I completely disagree! The NFL players were fighting for health care and a 16 game season, among other things – these are real issues.
The NBA players just want more money, even though the league is losing money as a whole. Bottom line, the league just can’t afford to pay them more. The NBA lockout is supposedly going to last a lot longer than the NFL lockout, because they are unlikely to compromise on their contracts and the hard cap. Here’s the deal: the owners are completely right.
- The players are complaining about the fact that a hard cap will cause a decreasing number of guaranteed contracts – exactly! Why should their contracts be guaranteed? They should have to work hard to retain their job, just like the rest of the world. The Knicks are just getting contracts like Eddy Curry, Jerome James, and Stephon Marbury off the books, even though they stopped performing years ago! If players don’t put in the effort, they shouldn’t get paid! This is the way the world works, as hard as that may be for them to understand.
- The NBA absolutely needs a hard cap. A hard cap is a salary cap that cannot be surpassed, the opposite of the ever rising U.S. debt ceiling. As it is right now, teams can spend as much money as they want, provided that they pay it back later. The problem is, they can’t. Their solution? Trade away all their role players’ contracts, leaving teams with a bunch of crappy players and a couple superstars (see: New York Knicks). Catching a pattern here? The Knicks are the perfect example of why the league needs a hard cap and non-guaranteed contracts, the exact things the players are fighting.
By the way, as much as people want to depict Derek Fisher as an eloquent, knowledgeable ambassador for the league and players’ union, let’s not forget his dirty playing style. The guy is a punk on the court. The league is negotiating with a bunch of overpaid bullies – too bad those bullies are irresistable to watch.
The Atlanta Hawks: A Tale of Two Teams
The Atlanta Hawks are re
ally struggling and the way they look right now makes me think that they’re headed for a first round exit in the playoffs. The Mike Bibby for Kirk Hinrich trade was a good move, so why are they still one of the most inconsistent teams in the league? Sometimes they look really tough and have crushed some really good teams this season. When the Knicks were at their peak this season before the Carmelo trade, the Hawks beat us by over 20 points. However, they got WRECKED by the Bulls on national television the other night and lost to the Sixers last night. They’ve dropped four of their last five games.
The answer to their problem is Joe Johnson’s disappointing season. He has had ups but more downs this year. While his teammates like Marvin Williams, Jamal Crawford and Josh Smith have always been inconsistent, Johnson was the even keeled veteran who led them and rarely had an off-game. This year he is just struggling: last year he averaged 21 points per game but this year he sits at 18.5 ppg. Also, he shot 37% from three-point range last year. This year? 30%. That’s dramatic. The Hawks, like the Knicks, better hope they figure it out before the playoffs.
Random Notes
- Last night I went to the Heat game versus the Oklahoma City Thunder. Great game, lots of outstanding plays. I was really impressed that in the Thunder’s win they held the Heat to a mere 85 points. They really play good defense, and they have a lot of size in Serge Ibaka, Kendrick Perkins, Nazr Mohammed and Nick Collison. Ibaka had three blocks and the team had 51 rebounds on the night. Also, Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook are a great duo that defers to James Harden when double teamed. I consider OKC a championship contender.
- For the curious, I have Ohio State over Kansas in my bracket. My final four is Ohio State, UConn, Kansas State and Kansas. I don’t really like Ohio State’s chances, but then again I don’t like anyone this year. I don’t think there’s a clear cut favorite, if anyone though it’s Kansas. I couldn’t pick Kansas though because I picked them last year and got burned, so I would look foolish if they lost again. I don’t have any faith in Duke…ever. Even though they won last year, they always have a high choke potential.