X Games analyst Kevin Robinson. (Joe Faraoni/ESPN Images)
BARCELONA, Spain — Kevin Robinson, a 22-year veteran BMX rider, pulls double duty at the X Games. Since 2011, he’s also been an on-air analyst for ESPN.
Injuries have sidelined Robinson, 41, but he is keen on competing at X Games Munich and X Games Los Angeles later this summer. Robinson tells Front Row how he remains a top-flight rider while honing his craft as an analyst for X Games Barcelona, which air across ESPN platforms through tomorrow.
The author has had over 500 Sunday conversations with USA Today’s departing media writer, Michael Hiestand. This was one of Hiestand’s earliest columns from 1992.
My conversation yesterday with Michael Hiestand, the TV sports reporter for USA Today, started with Tuesday’s Sports Emmys and ended with where his twins decided to go to college (North Carolina and Virginia). It was similar to the 500-plus Sunday afternoon chats I’ve had with the quirky reporter since 1990, but may be the last as Hiestand has accepted a buy-out from the “Nation’s Newspaper” and looks for his next assignment.
USA Today Sports has had a reserved spot in the psyche of the sports media industry since the full-color paper debuted in 1982. More space is devoted to covering sports media in USA Today than any other newspaper, and its ubiquity in hotels and airports have furthered its place in the travel-heavy sports world. continue reading…
Editor’s note:In the video above, ESPN basketball analyst Jay Bilas takes you behind the scenes of the ESPN “Car Wash.”
ATLANTA — Basketball analysts Dick Vitale and Jay Bilas have myriad duties this weekend as part of ESPN’s wall-to-wall coverage of the men’s Final Four.
On SportsCenter and College GameDay, each will be providing analysis surrounding the semifinals Saturday and the national championship game on Monday night. continue reading…
Thursday, ESPN launched its latest This Is SportsCenter ad, another spoof of life in the company’s cubicles and corridors.
In the new, 15-second spot, New York Rangers goalie Henrik Lundqvist — making his second TISC appearance this winter — forgets that it’s casual Friday.
His “co-workers” — SportsCenter anchors Lindsay Czarniak, Kevin Negandhi and John Buccigross — watch as Lundqvist waddles into the office in NHL gear.
ESPN’s Gerry Matalon. (Joe Faraoni / ESPN Images)
Listen closely to Czarniak’s dialogue and you’ll hear her reference an actual ESPN colleague who’s not seen in this particular spot, but he’s had a hand in many of the franchise’s commercials.
Among his many duties at ESPN, Matalon works with ESPN’s marketing team and the advertising agency behind the TISC series, W+K New York, to secure requested ESPN “talent” for the spots that usually also feature athletes, mascots and other celebrities.
Matalon credits Craig Bengtson, Vice President, SportsCenter, and his fellow Senior CPs for helping him determine SportsCenter anchor and analyst availability.
“And we have to look at when the athletes are coming in. If they’re coming in the morning and [the script calls for SportsCenter anchor] Steve Levy and he works at night,” Matalon said, “what do we do?
“If we have to have Steve Levy, do I have to take him off the 11 [p.m. ET SportsCenter]? Is that an option, is that the best thing for the show?”
The process can be complicated but “it’s a very cool partnership and one of the most rewarding projects I’ve worked on in my 25 years,” at ESPN, Matalon said.
He was touched by Czarniak’s mention of him in the ad-libbed conversation with Negandhi and Buccigross.
“I was really flattered. I didn’t know Lindsay was going to it,” Matalon said.
His high school lacrosse coach, the late George Baron, “used to call me GMat, and I use the moniker socially because he was really tough, really disciplined, and really pushed for excellence. . . The fact that she said that was cool. I’m hoping he catches on to that, even though he’s probably in heaven yelling at somebody else.”
“I didn’t even think about it. We were literally just improvising conversation about swapping schedules,” said Czarniak, who is making her SportsCentercommercial debut.
“GMat is such an institution here,” she said. “He’s a big reason I ended up at ESPN and it was my first thought that I would run the ‘schedule swap’ by GMat.”
Even though Matalon has worked closely with the commercial franchise, he’s appeared in just one of the spots.
In the mid-1990s sketch below featuring a debate about Roger Clemens’ fastball, Matalon is seated between bearded Vince Doria, ESPN Senior Vice President and Director of News, and former SportsCenter anchor Keith Olbermann. Former anchor Jack Edwards earns The Rocket’s wrath.
ICYMI: Highlights from the past week on Front Row
• ESPN’s Joe Tessitoreintroduced the four-legged Joe Tess, a three-year-old Dark Bay colt owned by his friends George Bolton and Barbara Banke. The horse makes his debut today at the Santa Anita race track in Southern California.
• ESPN Radio’s Mike Greenberg and his wife Stacy Greenberg introduced the main characters in Greenberg’s new book, All You Could Ask For, which will be released by William Morrow on April 2.
• ESPN college basketball analyst Bruce Pearlrecalls the 2008 tornado that hit downtown Atlanta during the SEC Men’s Basketball Tournament at the Georgia Dome. The extreme weather events are the subject of the new SEC Storied documentary, Miracle 3.
• Coordinating producer Amy Rosenfeld and producer Chris Alexopoulosshared insights about their crews and coverage of the upcoming 18th season of MLS on ESPN.
Row of Four Our favorites from across ESPN over the past weekcontinue reading…
Magic Johnson on Kia NBA Countdown earlier tonight
UPDATE, Sunday 3/3/13 1:25 p.m. ET.
On Sunday’s edition of KIA NBA Countdown on ABC, Magic Johnson expanded upon Friday night’s comments (below) regarding LeBron James and the dunk contest. Additionally, Lisa Salters (through Michael Wilbon) relayed a message from James.
Tune-in Reminder: Today on ABC: Miami Heat at New York Knicks (1 p.m. ET); Oklahoma City Thunder at Los Angeles Clippers (3:30 p.m.). Tonight on ESPN: Chicago Bulls at Indiana Pacers (8 p.m.)
Magic Johnson on LeBron “owning” NBA All-Star/$1 million Slam Dunk Contest offer Johnson: What I would like him to do is own NBA All-Star weekend, like [Michael] Jordan did. He’s only owned the All-Star game itself. Come in on Saturday (of All-Star) like you do on Sunday and own that event the way MJ did it.
LeBron James’ response to Magic’s offer (from reporter Lisa Salters)
“Tell Magic I’ll get back to him.”
Bill Simmons: “I’m starting to think LeBron James is a genius. In the past five weeks he’s shooting 65 percent from the field and he’s turned his pre-game dunks into an event.”
During the Knicks-Heat game, analyst Jeff Van Gundy said: “Tell Magic to give me $100,000 to convince LeBron to take his $1 million.”
KIA NBA Countdown next airs Friday, March 8, at 7:30 p.m. on ESPN.
END OF UPDATE
On the heels of a week that saw LeBron James both dunking and shaking, ESPN’s Magic Johnson upped the ante by luring LeBron to next year’s dunk contest by offering the winner $1 million. The Hall of Famer made his comments during Friday night’s KIA NBA Countdown.
“Please LeBron, get in the dunk contest. I’m going to put up a million dollars. A million dollars to LeBron. Please get in the dunk contest. I go every year. I want to see you out there. A million to the winner.”
The offer came as viewers and the studio team saw James do an over-the-back, off-the-backboard dunk during pre-game warm-ups.
ESPN’s Bill Simmons later raised the stakes further with a tweet offering an additional $200.
According to the Associated Press, The NBA currently pays $100,000 to the dunk contest’s winner and $50,000 to the runner-up.
Countdown Coordinating Producer Amina Hussein confirmed Magic is serious about the offer: “He’s serious,” Hussein told Front Row as the crew watched the conclusion of Grizzlies-Heat, in the 10 p.m. ET hour. “He legitimately just wants the slam dunk contest to be great again.”
Equally serious, according to Hussein, are Rose and Simmons.
“Jalen and Bill keep saying they will chip in $200 a piece!” she said.
So now we’re up to $1,000,400 if you’re keeping score at home.
James and Miami won the game 98-91 and he finished with 18 points, 10 rebounds and 8 assists. And more than a million reasons to consider dunking in NOLA in 2014.
KIA NBA Countdown airs again Sunday, March 3, at 12:30 p.m. ET on ABC.
ESPN Sport Science metrics will determine the winner from the 16 finalists in the Greatest Athlete of All Time series. (ESPN)
What’s a great 50th birthday present for an avid golfer? How about a chance to compete against Tiger Woods?
That’s what ESPN is giving birthday boy Michael Jordan on Sunday, matching MJ against Eldrick in the initial bracket-round contest of ESPN’s on-going “The Greatest Athlete of All Time” series.
“Strictly coincidental,” said Don Skwar, senior coordinating producer. “Well, maybe not strictly. We were originally going to start Feb. 5, but we didn’t want to run it while Jordan’s 50th birthday content was airing, so we figured we’d start on its last day, which happens to be his birthday.”
When ESPN Sport Science entered the project last spring, the research and production teams were charged with gathering data on 86 athletes (five in each of 16 categories, except football which had 11 athletes), but actually “did homework on five times that many” according to show host John Brenkus.
“We’ve been able to gather so much data on athletes over six years by either having them come through the lab or by doing segments on them, that we always wanted to take that data and settle the argument on who’s the greatest athlete,” Brenkus said.
John Brenkus
“We try to be both educational and entertaining, gathering information first, then presenting it in as visually a stimulating way as possible.” (ESPN Sport Science pieces — experiments on human performance using the latest scientific technology and seen across various ESPN platforms — have received three Emmys and been nominated nine times).
This Sunday, the 10 a.m., noon and 6 p.m. SportsCenters will air the Tiger-Jordan showdown, the winner of which will be revealed at the end of each of the segments.
While ESPN Sport Science analysis will determine daily advancers from Sunday through March 3, it was the fans’ vote which whittled down the original nominees and created some surprises along the way.
“I was pleasantly surprised that Jim Brown won the football category,” Skwar said. “ESPN.com gets a younger audience, so I thought voters might go with Jerry Rice or someone like that because Brown is from another era.”
Brenkus, who recently chatted with fans on ESPN.com regarding the bracket, said: “I was surprised LeBron did not fare better with the public. As purely an athlete he was very high on our metric system, but it seems the negative feelings toward him have not totally gone away.”
Brenkus warns the road to the ESPN Sport Science “Greatest Athlete of All Time” remains unpredictable.
“There are big surprises in each of the remaining rounds — someone people will not expect,” he says. “And there’s an athlete in the Final 4 no one would have picked, but once they see, they’ll get it that absolutely that athlete deserves to be there. That’s what’s been fun — making people think, ‘Wow, I didn’t know how good that athlete really was!’”
ICYMI: Highlights from the past week on Front Row
• In a Front & Center podcast ESPN Monday Night Football’sJon Gruden talks about the upcoming fourth season of Gruden’s QB Camp beginning Thursday, April 4 at 8:30 p.m. ET (ESPN2).
• ESPN Radio’s Ryen Russillo participated in Friday’s NBA All-Star Celebrity Game. Beforehand, Russillo offered a few words for his ESPN colleagues who set the over/under on his point total at five.
• ESPN The Magazine and ESPN.com senior writer Wright Thompsondiscussed his recent Michael Jordan feature which chronicled Jordan’s journey as he reaches his 50th birthday.
• ESPN’s Bomani Jones shared details about the upcoming “Moment of Loud” vignette which will highlight some of the top accomplishments by African-American athletes. The vignette, scheduled to debut Monday, Feb. 18, is part of the ESPN’s annual Black History Month programming.
Row of Four Our favorites from across ESPN over the past weekcontinue reading…
The KIA NBA Countdown crew (L-R) Michael Wilbon, Magic Johnson, Jalen Rose and Bill Simmons. The group — minus Magic — will be in New Orleans tonight as ESPN presents an NBA doubleheader. (Scott Clarke / ESPN)
ESPN is taking KIA NBA Countdown — its NBA pre-game show – on the road for the first time this season. The destination?
It’s New Orleans — Jackson Square to be specific, where ESPN this week is presenting 120 hours of programming leading up to Super Bowl XLVII.
Analysts Jalen Rose, Bill Simmons and Michael Wilbon will be on site for Countdown at 7:30 p.m. ET, which precedes ESPN’s NBA doubleheader: Miami Heat at Brooklyn Nets, Los Angeles Lakers at Phoenix Suns. The crew will be back throughout the evening for halftime and post-game segments.
Front Row had the chance to catch up with Countdown coordinating producer Amina Hussein — the former CP for Sunday NFL Countdown — who is at the helm of several exciting changes to Countdown this year, the latest of which is a trip to the Super Bowl host city.
Aren’t you supposed to be done with football now?
[Laughs] As a fan I am never done with football. Being from the Bay Area, it’s exciting to have a Bay Area team in the big game, even if it’s not the Raiders.
How did the decision to take KIA NBA Countdown to the Super Bowl happen?continue reading…
The revamped KIA NBA Countdown — ESPN and ABC’s NBA pre-game show — is off to a hot start with new personalities like Bill Simmons and Jalen Rose, various new segments and a new philosophy: Focus on big picture NBA topics and storylines.
The coordinating producer behind the transformation? Amina Hussein.
She joined ESPN in 2003 as an ESPN Radio producer. Most recently, she served as coordinating producer for Sunday NFL Countdown.
Prior to the 2011-12 NBA season, Hussein had the opportunity to head west to take the reins of KIA NBA Countdown — along with producer Kim Belton — which emanates from ESPN’s LAPC. It’s a great fit for the Oakland, Calif. native.
Front Row had the opportunity to catch up with Hussein to talk about her ESPN career and the new-look Countdown.
How did your journey to ESPN begin?
Before working at ESPN, I worked at KNBR 680 AM/1050 AM, which at the time was the No. 1 sports radio station in San Francisco. They had rights to the 49ers, Giants, Warriors and Raiders. After the Raiders lost the Super Bowl back in 2003, as a producer I needed a change. I went straight from Oakland to Bristol — I don’t think MC Hammer or Too Short wrote songs about that!
What do you remember about your first day at ESPN?
I remember feeling like it was growing and had great people and amazing producers that I could learn from. After being here a while I found the time to grow as a person, a radio producer and eventually a TV producer.
Why is KIA NBA Countdown a better fit for you than Sunday NFL Countdown? continue reading…
