Watchdog
Neil Best leaves no stone unturned in the world of sports media.
ESPN2, SiriusXM to carry lax semis
Photo credit: Cornell University
Yes, I will be in Philadelphia Saturday for the Cornell vs. Duke lacrosse national semifinal, because that is what I do when Cornell reaches the Final Four.
Still waiting on witnessing my first national championship for the Big Red. I was not associated with the school the last time it won it all - in 1977.
Speaking of 2009, when Syracuse snatched a national title from Cornell in the...
Read more »Lindsay Czarniak to host Indy 500
Photo credit: Getty Images
My visit to Indianapolis for Game 6 of Knicks-Pacers last weekend was not a total loss, thanks to some nice IndyCar folks showing me around the speedway on qualifying day.
Pretty cool for someone who saw his first 500 live via closed circuit in an Elizabeth, N.J., theater when Al Unser Sr. won in 1971. Why would my mother leave a 10-year-old alone in an Elizabeth, N.J., theater for five hours?
Different...
Read more »ESPN's Chris Broussard not exactly in favor of Jason Collins
Photo credit: Getty
ESPN NBA analyst Chris Broussard was less that accepting of Jason Collins' decision to announce that he's gay.
On ESPN's "Outside the Lines" on Monday, Broussard called it "a sin" and "walking in open rebellion to God and to Jesus Christ."
Watch the clip below.
(Newsday's app users can watch the video at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HCOXBgBjDgY)...
Read more »Kevin Connolly film on John Spano highlights Tribeca/ESPN
Photo credit: AP
The seventh Tribeca/ESPN Sports Film Festival opens next week, highlighted by the much-anticipated premiere of Kevin Connolly’s “Big Shot,’’ about the brief-but-notorious reign of John Spano as the Islanders’ owner.
But that is only one of nine sports-related films that will be shown, four of which are from the “Nine for IX’’ series that is part of the network’s celebration of the 40th anniversary...
Read more »Skip Bayless: 'I'm shy by nature.' No, really, he said that
Photo credit: Uli Seit
Skip Bayless of ESPN’s “First Take’’ is one of the most strident gabbers in sports media, but he insisted he does not come by it naturally.
“It’s funny, but I’m shy by nature,’’ he said after a live edition of the show at the Hard Rock Café in Manhattan Monday. “But from my mom I inherited a dynamic audience personality. My mom was a great public speaker and she took me at age 8 to speech...
Read more »ESPN remembers Jimmy V
Photo credit: AP, 1983
As iconic as the finale of the 1983 NCAA Tournament remains – Dereck Whittenburg, Lorenzo Charles, Jimmy V, etc. – it is a bit of a shame the rest of North Carolina State’s startling run has faded over time.
Remembering what led to the upset at the Pit in Albuquerque is the best thing about ESPN’s latest 30 for 30 entry, “Survive and Advance,’’ which premieres at 9 p.m. Sunday, after the 2013...
Read more »Jay Glazer ready to take on ESPN
Photo credit: Getty
Fox Sports 1, which will launch Aug. 17, plans a daily NFL news-oriented show, featuring personalities that include Terry Bradshaw and information man Jay Glazer.
“Between the two of us you have about nine personalities,’’ Glazer said.
Glazer said the program would be “a Fox-ified show,’’ presumably meaning a relaxed, free-wheeling approach to NFL matters. Most important for Glazer will...
Read more »ESPN skipper is a Jets fan
Photo credit: AP, 2010
Over the decades, men who grew up in the New York area have dominated the upper ranks of network sports executives, much to the annoyance of the rest of the nation.
Enter John Skipper, the president of ESPN and thus one of the handful of most powerful people in the sports business. He grew up in Lexington, N.C., attended college in Chapel Hill and still has the accent to prove it.
So,...
Read more »Halfcourt shots are all the rage
Photo credit: AP
It has been the sports video sensation of the winter: Fans hither and yon sinking one halfcourt shot after another to win big bucks via assorted promotions.
From college to the NBA, from Brandon, Manitoba, to Miami, Fla., and points between, there have been a dozen or so documented makes since mid-January – and that doesn’t even include the ridonkulous one off a front flip by Ashlee Arnau,...
Read more »Fellow phenom films Decker
Photo credit: AP
It is rare in my line of work that a male finds himself vastly outnumbered, but so it was Tuesday as ESPN introduced "Nine for IX,’" a series of documentaries by and about women tied to Title IX's 40th anniversary.
The lineup is impressive, with films about Pat Summitt, Katarina Witt, Sheryl Swoopes (directly by Hannah Storm) and Venus Williams, and about the history of female sportswriters...
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