Favorite non-baseball ESPN personality? Lee Corso. I love watching him put the mascot heads on during College GameDay
If you got hired by Sunday Night Baseball, what role do you think you’d be best at?
Probably play-by-play.
Favorite This is SportsCenter commercial? Arnold Palmer, by far.
Atlanta Braves closer Craig Kimbrel stopped by the ESPN campus yesterday while he was up north for a weekend series with the New York Mets. The final game of the series will be featured on the Memorial Day Weekend edition of Sunday Night Baseball (ESPN, 8 p.m. ET).
During his visit in Bristol, Kimbrel sat down with Front Row to discuss his favorite moments of the day, what it feels like to take the mound on “baseball’s biggest stage” and whose job he’d like to take on SNB. continue reading…
Welcome to another edition of the Fan Central Mailbag. Remember, if you have an ESPN-related question, follow us @ESPN_FanCentral and use #FanCentralMB to tweet your questions. Also, be sure to “like” our Fan Central Facebook page. You can also e-mail questions to FanCentral@espn.com.
Tiger Woods (Allen Kee/ESPN Images)
Before we get to your questions, here’s our Masters schedule for the remainder of the tournament. Today’s live coverage runs from 3:00-7:30 p.m. ET on ESPN/ESPN3/WatchESPN. An edited, encore presentation starts tonight at 8 p.m. on ESPN. Also, ESPN 3D will have three hours of live play today starting at 4:30 p.m. and 3D will also have live coverage tomorrow and Sunday beginning at 4 p.m.
A few days after suffering a gruesome season-ending leg injury in the NCAA Midwest Regional, Louisville Cardinals guard Kevin Ware gave ESPN’s Rece Davis his first on-camera interview Wednesday.
ESPN’s Rece Davis (James Dockery/ESPN Images)
Ware, who is expected to be out at least a year but has been cleared to attend the Final Four in Atlanta this weekend, granted College GameDay host Davis the interview in Louisville.
Afterward, Davis gave Front Row some insight on the interview. continue reading…
Gonzaga University’s men’s basketball team has the program’s first-ever No. 1 national ranking, an accomplishment celebrated by the Spokane, Wash. school as the ESPNU Campus Connection video above illustrates.
Tonight in the West Coast Conference Tournament semifinals, the Zags (29-2, 16-0) attempt to defend their top-ranked status when they meet upstart Loyola Marymount (11-22, 1-15) (9 p.m. ET, ESPN2, WatchESPN). Should Gonzaga end the Lions’ Cinderella run, it would play in the WCC Championship Game in Las Vegas on Monday night (9 p.m. ET, ESPN).
While Gonzaga is leading the WCC to greater prominence, another athletic conference’s profile is changing.
The Big East officially announced on Friday that the Catholic 7 schools will leave the conference on June 30.
In this Outside The Linespodcast, former UConn head coach Jim Calhoun shares some of his favorite Big East memories and his thoughts on the future of the NCAA with host Bob Ley.
ESPN’s College GameDay is on hand for the last Big East regular-season Syracuse-Georgetown game today (12 p.m. ET, ESPN). It’s the opener of a CGD doubleheader; the crew will be in Chapel Hill, N.C. for the nightcap when Duke visits North Carolina.
On the women’s side, Big East Championship Weekcoverage starts Sunday, March 10, with three quarterfinal games on ESPNU and an exclusive game on ESPN3, along with the semifinals on ESPNU and the only women’s title game to be aired on ESPN.
ICYMI: Highlights from the past week on Front Row
• ESPN Radio listeners went “green” for Friday’s edition of Mike and Mike in the Morning. Regular co-host Mike “Greeny” Greenberg welcomed guest co-host Seth Greenberg to the show as a fill in for the absent Mike Golic.
• Wright Thompson’s recent feature on Michael Jordan lead to nearly 2.5 million page views across ESPN.com and ESPN mobile web sites. ESPN.com Editor-in-Chief Patrick Stiegmanshared more insight on ESPN’s approach to feature storytelling across platforms.
• ESPN and Full Sail University unveiled the new Full Sail University Sports Lab Powered by ESPN as part of a celebration of their collaboration. Check it out here.
• Columnist Chris Jones tells the story of a young tennis pro stepping away from the sport she loves due to an ongoing bout with depression in ESPN The Magazine’s latest issue, “One Day, One Game.” He shares some background on the piece.
Row of Four Our favorites from across ESPN over the past weekcontinue reading…
ESPN’s College GameDay crew (L-R) Jalen Rose, Rece Davis, Jay Bilas and Digger Phelps. (Allen Kee / ESPN Images)
College GameDay covered by State Farm will attempt its first split-site show for its last stop(s) of the regular-season this Saturday when it rolls into Washington D.C. for Syracuse versus Georgetown (noon, ET on ESPN) and then on to Chapel Hill, N.C., for the Saturday Primetime game of Duke versus North Carolina (9 p.m. on ESPN).
Host Rece Davis and analysts Jay Bilas, Jalen Rose and Digger Phelps will be on hand for the dual-location, dual-conference action and will head to Chapel Hill from D.C. after Bilas finishes calling the Orange-Hoyas game with Sean McDonough and Bill Raftery.
GameDay’s 8 p.m. edition will be live from the Dean Dome with the game following immediately after with Dan Shulman, Dick Vitale, Bilas and Samantha Ponder on the call.
Setting up equipment at two sites and transporting the crew between venues in a matter of hours will be plenty challenging for this live three-hour, morning/evening program. Producer Brett Austin and operations lead Luther Fisher shared some insights with Front Row into how it will all go down Saturday.
Knowing how much is involved with set up at a different site each week, why did you think setting up at two sites would be a good idea? B.A.: The idea originated from our programming department seeing the schedule had two of the greatest rivalries in all of sports slated for the same day. We were asked if we could pull off shows from two sites in the same day and we jumped on it. GameDay wants to be attached to the biggest games and best venues and this is certainly an opportunity to do something special for our viewers.
Samantha Ponder interviews Notre Dame Head Coach Mike Brey after the Irish defeated Louisville in five overtimes on Saturday. (ESPN)
ESPN was able to capture another historic night on the hardwood when the host, No. 25 Notre Dame topped No. 11 Louisville, 104-101 in five overtimes this past Saturday.
The game ended in regulation tied at 60 before both teams powered through the extra sessions making for 3 hours and 40 minutes of riveting television. ESPN’s Dan Shulman, Dick Vitale and Samantha Ponder had the call of the Top 25 matchup and the College GameDay presented by State Farm crew of Rece Davis, Jay Bilas and Digger Phelps were also on hand to witness the excitement.
Veteran ESPN producer Phil Dean was in the truck making the critical calls to get the viewers the best possible view from Purcell Pavilion. While Dean was not on-hand for the unforgettable 6 overtime game between Connecticut and Syracuse during the Big East Championship in 2009, he did produce the seven-overtime Arkansas football win over Ole Miss in 2001. So, five overtimes is nothing to him – well, almost nothing!
When a game goes into OT, what normal procedures have to be executed regarding air time, commercials, etc.? What communications are made?
The associate director works with Bristol on commercial breaks but we are very flexible. At the end of this regulation, we made the decision to stay and show a highlight of ND’s Jerian Grant, who scored 12 points in 45 seconds to lead the Irish comeback. The first called timeout of each overtime is a media timeout. Again, we can choose on-site whether or not we want to stay or go based on what had happened in the telecast.
As each additional OT took place, what other concerns come to the forefront? How is your “game plan” altered?continue reading…
Chris Fowler (L) interviews Serena Williams after she won the 2010 Women’s Australian Open. (Ben Soloman/ESPN Images)
Editor’s note: On Monday, Jan. 7 in Miami, Chris Fowler culminated his season on College GameDay at the Discover BCS National Championship. This Sunday night, tennis fans can start their season with the Australian Open on ESPN2 and ESPN3 (6:30 p.m. ET). And they’ll be watching the same Chris Fowler on the screen — he has a brother, but not a twin — live from the other side of the world.
In his own words, Fowler describes what’s it’s like to make such a quick transition from sport to sport, role to role, winter to summer and North America to Down Under. Here’s Fowler’s take as told to ESPN Communications’ Dave Nagle:
It is a jarring transition on many levels. The two sports are very different. There’s absolutely no overlap. It will be my 11th Australian Open, so while jarring, at least it’s familiar.
I remember my first trip, in 2003. I’d never been to Australia and was fairly new to tennis. I clearly remember trying to sprinkle in some tennis prep during the college football bowl season. I still do a little. When Rafael Nadal pulled out of the Australian Open at the end of December, I was printing out stories and talking to people on the phone.
During my time in Miami for the BCS title game I caught up on what’s been happening since the US Open. Plus, it’s a 14-hour trip to Australia. You can use that time with focused preparation. The phone doesn’t ring and emails can’t come in.
Plus, my role is different. I go from hosting a pre-game table setter to calling matches. The focus and concentration are different. GameDay is multi-task juggling. During the BCS bowls, our shows are often loosely formatted with plenty of ad-libbing. You focus in five-to-seven minute bursts between commercials.
(L-R) Desmond Howard, Chris Fowler, Lee Corso and Kirk Herbstreit on the set of ESPN College GameDay Built by the Home Depot during the 2013 Discover BCS National Championship Game. (Allen Kee/ESPN Images)
In tennis, it’s intense focus on two players. The matches often last more than four hours and the changeovers are only one minute. For last year’s men’s final — the longest in Grand Slam history at nearly six hours — I was in the booth close to seven hours. It’s all you can do to get a bathroom break in. continue reading…
Editor’s note:I Follow is all about ESPN employees on Twitter: what they tweet, whom they follow and how you can interact socially with anyone and everyone.
With the Discover BCS National Championship Game between No. 1 Notre Dame and No. 2 Alabama unfolding tonight in Miami (8:30 p.m. ET, ESPN, ESPN Deportes, ESPN Radio & ESPN 3D), ESPN college football insider Brad Edwards will be busy as always.
The network’s resident BCS expert joins Ryen Russillo and Trevor Matich for today’s special 2-1/2-hour edition of College GameDay on ESPN Radio at 4 p.m.
Front Row asked Alabama grad Edwards, who works for ESPN’s Statistics & Information Group, how he engages with fans on Twitter, what surprised him most this season and more.
In what ways has Twitter most affected your job?
I have a lot of good information that doesn’t have a place in my ESPN Insider articles. Twitter is ideal for sharing it with people who are interested in notes, stats and trends related to college football. It helps me get more of my info to the fans.
What’s been your favorite Twitter interaction?
Nothing with a specific person. I enjoy interacting with emotional college football fans who aren’t capable of having rational discussions about their teams. Comments from delusional fans are generally entertaining to everyone. And I appreciate those people, because their love for sports is the reason ESPN exists.
How often do you and Rece Davis trade Crimson Tide glory days stories?continue reading…
Desmond Howard with his Heisman Trophy on December 14, 1991. (Photo courtesy of Getty Images)
Editor’s note:ESPN will telecast of the 78th annual Heisman Trophy Presentation presented by Nissan on Saturday, Dec. 8, at 8 p.m. ET. The live telecast, from the Best Buy Theater in New York, also will be available on WatchESPN, ESPN Mobile TV and ESPN Radio. The three finalists for the award are senior quarterback Collin Klein (Kansas State), red-shirt freshman quarterback Johnny Manziel (Texas A&M) and senior linebacker Manti Te’o (Notre Dame).
ESPN counts former Heisman Trophy winners Andre Ware (Houston quarterback, 1989)
and Desmond Howard (Michigan wide receiver, 1991) among its college football experts.
ESPN’s Desmond Howard (Allen Kee/ESPN Images)
Yesterday, Front Rowcaught up with Ware to discuss his Heisman experience; today we talk to Howard.
How did your Heisman season unfold?
This is how it went: First game of the year we played Boston College at their place and I scored four touchdowns, so I started to hear that I was a pretty good player. Next week we played Notre Dame in Ann Arbor and I scored two touchdowns, including the infamous catch. The next day I am on the cover of Sports Illustrated.
So, now I’m a candidate. At this point, they had already had David Klingler of Houston on the SI cover with a bundle of dynamite in his hand saying he was going to win the Heisman. It anointed him as the next Heisman winner. After the Notre Dame game, I am on the cover and that is when the buzz started even though most felt Klingler was still the guy. Then, Miami killed Houston in their game and the momentum just kept going with me.
Before the buzz, I never thought about winning it. I didn’t take it that seriously because Michigan is not known for promoting individual awards at all. But as the season kept rolling, it came to the point where I became the frontrunner.
What was the Heisman experience like for you?
As the season closed out, it became obvious I was the frontrunner, so then, we had a big game against Ohio State and they were committed to not letting me catch a touchdown. They could have lost the game, never scored a point, but they were not going to let me score a touchdown. They didn’t realize I could play other positions and I returned a punt 93 yards for a touchdown.
My coach had told me there was no doubt I had had a great season. But he told me the year before, the Rocket was the frontrunner and Ty Detmer won instead. It was a word of caution to me that you don’t know how the voters will vote.
What would you tell this year’s nominees about the Heisman ceremony?continue reading…
ESPN’s Samantha Steele (left) and David Pollack. (Phil Ellsworth/ESPN Images)
LAKE BUENA VISTA, Fla. — Some people dream of walking down a red carpet while myriad cameras capture their every step.
Samantha Steele dreamed of stepping in front of one camera, on a freshly painted green grass field every week in the fall. That dream came true this year and the ESPN rookie has now wrapped up her first Fall as the sideline reporter for the ESPN Thursday Night College Football game and host of ESPN College GameDay Built by The Home Depot on ESPNU.
Tonight, like the 24 players nominated for The Home Depot College Football Awards, she’s stepping out from under the stadium lights onto the Disney Boardwalk. Steele will host of her very first red carpet ceremony tonight at 6:30 p.m. ET on ESPNU, recapping the season and outstanding accomplishments of players from 21 teams, including the three Heisman Trophy candidates: Johnny Manziel, Manti Te’o and Collin Klein.
Steele has more than just red carpet duties and will continue alongside her College GameDay colleagues during The Home Depot College Football Awards at 7:30 p.m. on ESPN and again on ESPNU during The Home Depot College Football Awards Recap Special closing the night at 9:30 p.m.
Steele gave Front Row a few of her thoughts prior to tonight’s red carpet debut:
Which of your gameday cohorts would ask for advice on what to wear on the red carpet?
First things first, notDavid Pollack!
I would definitely ask Desmond Howard. I think he has a good feel for what’s cool now, he lives in Miami, he won a Heisman and he’s been to a lot of awards-type shows.
Who are you most looking forward to talking to on the red carpet?continue reading…
