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Media
Notes By George Stahl NEW YORK (AQB)--Television has given us lots of questions through the years, such as: who shot J.R., who wants to be an millionaire and why is Suddenly Susan still on TV. This year, the most popular question for sports fans has been: Who do you think is No. 1? Or more precisely, who do you think will be voted the century's greatest North American athlete in ESPN's SportsCentury project? This weekend, ESPN and ABC answer that question. "I think there's going to be some surprises. I'll be honest with you. In fact, I know there is," said Mark Shapiro, coordinating producer of the SportsCentury project. He should know because he is one of two people who knows the secret identity behind No. 1. The other is ESPN executive editor John Walsh. Not even host Dan Patrick knows. Shapiro said he taped the SportsCenter star naming each of the four remaining legends - Muhammad Ali, Jim Brown, Michael Jordan and Babe Ruth - as the No. 1 athlete in order to preserve the suspense in as many people as possible. "I think it's certainly given us some momentum and allowed us to put some suspense together with this list," Shapiro said. The only thing that is known is that the four athletes will be ranked in broadcasts on two networks. ESPN on Friday will profile Nos. 4 and 3 at 10 p.m. and 10:30 p.m., respectively. ABC will reveal who No. 1 is at the end of an hourlong show, which begins 5 p.m. Sunday. [Click here to see the complete list.] Shapiro said in a conference call this week that the challenging part was portraying these four well-known athletes in a different way. "We felt you've seen it all a thousand times. So let's try to get inside and provide some insight that you haven't had before." That has been SportsCentury's motto throughout the series, which is one reason why the programs have not been afraid to focus on the athletes' peccadillos. "We are not out to draw conclusions. We try to tell the most objective, balanced story we possibly can," Shapiro said. "These aren't puff pieces." Dick Schaap, host of ESPN's Sports Reporters and frequent contributor to the SportsCentury shows, says they have achieved that. "I think the approaches of the stories are good. There's always an angle going on. He doesn't shy away from the controversial part of these people. In fact, many people have argued that some of them are too controversial. I think he strived very hard to achieve an objective balance and has come very close to that." This week, for example, ESPN will delve into Brown's past, which includes accusations of domestic violance. "I don't think we could fairly, based on the reputation we've built on the series, do a story about Jim Brown and not talk about [the alleged domestic violence]," Shapiro said. "Here's a guy who doesn't shy away from any mistakes he may have made. So we just tried to really spell out what has happened and how that's changed him as a person or why he is that way in the first place. "That's part of who Jim Brown really is. [He's] the greatest football player, but he's had a track record of alleged domestic abuse." About the show for Jordan, Shapiro said so much of it is spent on Jordan's life off the court that "you might look at this show and say, 'You know what? There's not enough basketball.'" As for the other two finalists, the SportsCentury crew talked to Ruth's teammates to see how he was in the clubhouse. ESPN also is checking out a possible video of Ruth's alleged called shot from the 1932 World Series. Shapiro said he found out about this video through an e-mail last week. That's one example, he said, of how they are still tinkering with all four biographies even as the deadline approaches. In the Ali show, ESPN traveled to Manila to visit the ring used in the fight called the Thrilla in Manila. Political unrest forced the network to cancel a similar trip to Zaire, site of the Rumble in the Jungle. "In many ways, I think it's an injustice to try to do Ali in 20 minutes. It's just so difficult," Shapiro said. However, Shapiro and his 35-member staff have had a tough time all year fitting the important infomation on each of the 50 greatest athletes into the 49 shows. Yet, the SportsCentury crew has done just and in a unique, magnificent way. "The two things I knew we needed was: 1. All original interviews. That's the biggest thing we've done here," Shapiro said, adding that they have interviewed 1,700 people for the project and collected more than 45,000 photos. "And No. 2, I wanted people to drive the story." "Anyone can do narration. Anyone can paste up footage to cover things. But I felt like photos would be a brand stamp for us, and the testimonials ... I wanted them to tell the story." Despite the hard work, Shapiro said, he was surprised that it took so long for the list to ignite debate among sports fans. But he knows exactly when that changed. "I was surprised that it took until [No. 35] Secretariat to get this [reaction]," he said. "It was slower getting going than I thought it would be, and it took a horse to do that." "It's been a real great table topic." It certainly has, and sports fans have you and ESPN to thank for that. Click to see how AQB has covered the series or to see the complete list of athletes and voters.
Fans, athletes and even those who were part of the 48-member panel that decided list are still debating "Who's No. 1?" Schaap, host of ESPN's Sports Reporters, still likes his choice of Bo Jackson, who finished 72nd overall. Schaap had Jim Brown second and Wilt Chamberlain third. "I asked [Brown] the other day, 'If he played 10 sports against each of the people who he's up against, how many would he win?' And Jimmy just laughed. "I asked the same question to Bo Jackson, 'If you played 10 sports, how many would you win?' And he said, 'Everything except basketball. I'm a lousy basketball player.'" Schaap will host a 90-minute special (1:30 p.m. Sunday on ABC) that looks at the greatest moments from the SportsCentury project. The show will feature elements from the different SportsCentury programs: the 50 greatest athlete programs, the six "SportsCenter of the Decade" shows, and the four themed shows (Most Influential Individuals, Sports Dynasties, Greatest Games and Greatest Coaches). Also appearing on the show to debate of the greatest sports moments of the 20th century will be journalists Jim McKay, Bob Ryan, Mike Wilbon, Tony Kornheiser and Robin Roberts. Another oldtimer, Curt Gowdy, can't believe Jim Thorpe was only No. 6 on the list. "I am appalled that Jim Thorpe didn't win this thing," the Hall of Fame broadcaster said. "I say an athlete is someone who can just step into anything and do it well. Thorpe won the decathlon and the pentathlon in Sweden in the Olympic games. He played Major League Baseball ... He was the greatest college football player in America ... and he helped to pioneer the National Football League. Now, that's an athlete to me." "I didn't see any doubt that Jim Thorpe was our greatest athlete of all time." Gowdy, who voted on the project, also was incredulous that Secretariat made the list. "I was stunned when I saw Secretariat on the list because I got a horse even greater named 'Five Minutes To Minute,'" Gowdy said, remembering a bucking horse from his Wyoming childhood. Sports fans, though, disagreed. Based on voting done at espn.com, Secretariat finished 43rd only eight spots down from her No. 35 spot. Surprisingly, the fans voted Wayne Gretzky as the No. 1 athlete of the century. Gretzky finished fifth on the ESPN list. The biggest discrepencies between fans and voters included Babe Didrikson, 35 spots (10th on the ESPN list, 45th in fan balloting); Walter Payton, 30 spots (39th on the list, 9th in fan balloting); and Julius Erving, 28 spots (43rd on the list; 15th in fan balloting). Robin Roberts, another panel member, said the list has done exactly what it was suppose to do - start the debate. "That's the great thing about it - there are no right or wrong answers." Because of that, the voters - such as ESPN's Charley Steiner - took their job seriously. "It took me, conservatively, two months to just kind of mull it over. And then the day that I finally sat down and started putting it to paper, it was probably an eight-hour process. "It was not frivolous. It was the ultimate brain-teaser, and it was an enormous amount of fun."
Don't worry if you missed a few shows because ESPN2 will close the year with a SportsCentury marathon - all 49 greatest athlete programs during the last two days of 1999. The network will present consecutive programs highlighting athletes 50 through 43 on Dec. 30 from 7:30 to 11:30 p.m. The programs will resume on Friday, Dec. 31 with athletes 42 through 9 from 1 a.m. to 6 p.m. back-to-back. The final eight athletes will be profiled consecutively from 8 p.m. through midnight (the start of the new century) with the hour-long program on the top two athletes from 11 p.m. to midnight. And if you miss that, ESPN Classic will kick off the new century with all 49 programs back-to-back, beginning at 7 a.m. Jan. 1 and concluding at 8 a.m. Jan. 2, which is when the hourlong program on athletes Nos. 1 and 2 ends. And don't think Shapiro and his crew are going anywhere now that the century is almost kinda, sorta over. ESPN has decided to continue and expand its SportsCentury project with a nightly, one-hour biography show - entitled SportsCentury - on ESPN Classic, beginning in July. "We're going to try cover as many possible athletes as we can from as many sports as we can," Shapiro said. ESPN plans to produce 65 or so shoes the first year and 80-plus shows the second year, ranging on athletes from Reggie Jackson to Bronco Nagurski.
It took a murder charge, but the NFL pregame shows finally got around to reporting the Rae Carruth story. All five of the major pregame shows - CNN, ESPN, CBS, Fox and Fox Sports Net - devoted significant time to the story last weekend. All five shows did an adequate job in covering the story, except for CBS, which dealt in too many generalities. For example, ESPN's Chris Mortensen talked to Panther officials and reported that Carolina, in researching Carruth before picking him in the 1997 draft, found nothing in his past to indicate that he would be capable of committing such a crime. CBS' Jerry Glanville, meanwhile, just talked about how teams spend much time and money to investigate players before the draft in order to try to avoid problems like this. However, he never said anything specifically about what Carolina did or didn't find in the team's probe of Carruth. ESPN and Fox Sports Net did the best jobs in covering the story. Also, when is CBS' NFL Today going to start reporting its NFL news instead of just scrolling it along the bottom? Most viewers, like me, can't read the news and follow the conversation. Unlike scanning scores or stats at the bottom of the screen, you have to focus when reading Jay Glazer's NFL tidbits. Of course, missing out on CBS' in-studio conversation isn't necessarily bad, especially when the network is doing that stupid, banal, self-inflating picks segment, which offers viewers little value whatsoever. Click here for a complete look at this week's pregame shows, announcing lineups and games.
NBC tips off its 1999-2000 NBA coverage with a doubleheader on Christmas featuring New York at Indiana at 7 p.m., followed by San Antonio at the Los Angeles Lakers. Tom Hammond, Steve Jones and Bill Walton will call the first game, while Marv Albert and Doug Collins will work the second game. Costas has Christmas off but will begin his final season as NBC's No. 1 NBA voice when the network begins its weekly schedule in January. Albert will replace him next season. In a conference call this week, Walton did not back off from comments he made about Larry Johnson in last year's NBA Finals. "Life is just like your jump shot, once it leaves your hands there's nothing you can do about it anymore and you better move on. That's what I've done, and I'm looking forward to this game with great enthusiasm," Walton said. As you might remember, Walton called Johnson's play in the finals "a pathetic performance by this sad human being" and "a disgrace to the game of basketball and to the NBA." ESPN Radio also tips off its 18-game NBA regular season schedule with the Spurs-Lakers game on Christmas. Jim Durham and Jack Ramsay will be courtside with Joe D'Ambrosio serving as studio host. The pregame show will feature the NBA Insider with David Aldridge as well as Dr. Jack's Game Plan, in which Ramsay previews the game.
The Micron PC.Com Bowl, formerly the Carquest Bowl, pits the Illinois Fighting Illini (7-4, 4-4 Big Ten) against the Virginia Cavaliers (7-4, 5-3 Atlantic Coast Conference) from Pro Player Stadium in Miami, Fla. At halftime, the winner of the Bobby Dodd Coach of the Year Award will be announced.
Before getting any ideas about if this suggests who the No. 1 athlete is in ESPN's SportsCentury project, remember that ESPN Classic did a similar thing last year on Christmas.
"No other individual in the 20th century represents the sport better than Dick Button," International Figure Skating publisher Mark A. Lund said about the two-time Olympic gold medalist. "From his technical innovations to his creation of the world of professional figure skating competitions with the World Pro, Dick Button has, by far, had the most influence on the sport during the last century."
Other media notes from around the country Friday.
"Yet what developed were three horses being chosen - Secretariat, Man o' War (No. 84) and Citation (No. 97) - while Stan Musial, John Elway, Tiger Woods and George Mikan were ignored. Wilt Chamberlain was rated over Bill Russell (who dominated the Big Dipper) and more than a few critics assert Ali (widely expected to be No. 1) wasn't even the best fighter - that Joe Louis (No. 11) or Sugar Ray Robinson (No. 24) was.'' Click here to read more of Baker's column.
"ESPN staffers who have seen it say Warp's film shows Ruth pointing. However, unlike Kandle's film, the Warp footage follows the flight of the ball—albeit with the camera jiggling—and has Ruth glaring at the Cubs dugout as he rounds third. "SportsCentury coordinating producer Mark Shapiro says the combination of the two films leaves no doubt that Ruth did not call his shot. Both will be used in the program." Click here to read more of Sherman's column.
"The shows have been successful because of their quality. The blend of archival film and photos with new testimonials have given us fresh information in an old-fashioned style. And few stones were left unturned. This week, Shapiro found rare footage of Ruth's called home-run shot in the 1932 World Series. " Click here to read more of Hooper's column.
"For sports fans, this is Armageddon: a blank television screen on New Year's Day, a traditional smorgasbord of college football and other events that ease the pain of that multi-martini hangover. The Cotton Bowl in Dallas and the Outback Bowl in Tampa will mark the first broadcast sports events in 2000 (11 a.m. kickoffs), followed closely by Orlando's OurHouse.com Florida Citrus Bowl (1 p.m.)." Click here to read more of Diaz's column.
"If the Browns' public-relations campaign on behalf of Orlando Brown is aimed at softening the tackle's eventual punishment for shoving an NFL official, it won't work. And shouldn't. "That's the opinion of Peter King, a CNN/SI analyst and Sports Illustrated football writer, who has been highly vocal in calling for Brown to be heavily disciplined for pushing Jeff Triplette last Sunday." Click here to read more of Brown's column. For more details and a complete list of televised sporting events for this weekend, check out ArmchairQB.com's Today's Lineup. The Associated Press contributed information to this report. |
Fox
Sports Net presents The Last Word "Newsmakers of '99"
with Jim Rome at 6 p.m. local time Saturday. The one-hour special
shows clips of Rome's best interviews from the past year. In the
segments that I saw, the clips come at you fast and furious - with
no set-up - keeping the show fast-paced and entertaining.
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