Sports Museum in Manhattan covers all the bases

Neil Best

May 6, 2008

Philip Schwalb doesn't start media tours of the Sports Museum of America at the museum itself, housed in John D. Rockefeller's former headquarters on lower Broadway.

The building is impressive enough, but the first stop for journalists is a long block away, where millions of tourists gather each year to take ferries to the Statue of Liberty and visit other attractions, including nearby Ground Zero.

The museum CEO's goal is to reel some of them into a new venue that seems so obvious, it's odd no one else thought of it, or at least executed it:

It's a museum for all sports, not one, unlike Cooperstown, Canton and Springfield.

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It also is the new home of the Heisman Trophy, its first permanent one since the Downtown Athletic Club closed after the 9/11 attacks, and a Hall of Fame for women's sports.

Unlike most of its counterparts, the Sports Museum, set to open tomorrow, is a for-profit enterprise. Yet the majority of its rotating collection will be on loan from non-profit museums, as well as individual athletes and governing bodies.

"It's a totally unique and never-been-done-before animal," Schwalb said.

The unusual financial structure was made possible largely through $57 million in triple tax exempt Liberty Bonds, issued after 9/11 to revitalize lower Manhattan.

The other $43 million was raised privately.

Setting up as a for-profit allowed the museum to open more quickly than it would have, but there are costs that come with that.

They include a potential-sticker-shock fee of $27 for adults and $20 for children, a price Schwalb said is "very much the going rate" for such attractions.

The more isolated museums that partner with the SMA benefit both from the exposure the museum gives them in its "Hall of Halls" and cash payments.

It all sounds interesting, and during a tour of the work in progress two weeks ago, it looked as if it will be modern and full of interactive goodies.

One example: a real-life view of pucks being shot by players from inside the mask of Henrik Lundqvist, who was filmed at a Rangers practice.

The planned artifacts include some that Schwalb said have not been publicly on display before, such as the flag Jim Craig wore after the U.S. beat Finland in the Olympic gold-medal game in 1980.

Schwalb has gotten numerous A-list athletes involved, including Pele, Bob Cousy, Carl Lewis, Martina Navratilova and Harry Carson, many of whom will be at today's opening ceremonies.

"It's not like any museum you've been to," he said. "If you're going to spend $100 million, you're obliged to make it very innovative, very interactive, very cutting-edge."

A-Rod shows human side

No matter how many home runs he hits, Alex Rodriguez seems doomed to be viewed by some as peculiar at best, phony at worst.

But those who know him best paint a more sympathetic, human picture on the second episode of "YESterdays," debuting tomorrow after the Yankees' postgame show.

(The first show in the "This is Your Life" style series featured Joba Chamberlain.)

Taped in Miami in March, it features A-Rod's brother, sister and childhood friend describing his work ethic, his wife recalling their courtship, assorted baseball figures and Rodriguez himself offering typically atypical observations.

Such as this: "I think pound-for-pound, the best baseball player I have ever played with is John Olerud."

YES programming boss John Filippelli said the goal is to showcase people who know A-Rod "in a very different way than the general public knows him."

Filippelli said the plan is to produce three YESterdays each season. The third subject is not yet set. Atop the YES wish list? Duh! Jeter.

Death gets second billing

NBC was right not to show its most graphic video of Eight Belles writhing in pain Saturday. And it was understandable that it lacked a clear replay of her falling, given how far from the finish she was by then.

Still, the delicate balance between celebrating an impressive victory and properly acknowledging and reporting on the shock of a death seemed off kilter - on the part of NBC, various people it interviewed and others during the trophy presentation.

There simply were too many happy people on TV while the second-place finisher was being put out of her misery. It was strange and uncomfortable.