Watchdog
Neil Best leaves no stone unturned in the world of sports media.
NBC feels Lindsey Vonn's pain
News of Lindsey Vonn's skiing crash was just beginning to unfold Tuesday as NBC Sports executives gathered for a media briefing at 30 Rock one year and one day in advance of the Sochi Olympics.
Uh, oh.
No Vonn in Russia would blow a huge hole in the network's American-star-centric coverage. Without yet knowing the extent of the injury, NBC Sports Group chairman Mark Lazarus expressed...
Read more »Trautwig thought Armstrong was a 'jerk' . . . in 1992
Nice job by Oprah Winfrey in her sitdown with Lance Armstrong. She should consider a career in TV interviewing! Best of all for Ms. Winfrey: I and millions of other people now know what channel OWN is on.
Anyway, I have not spoken to Oprah or Lance in ages, but I did have access the other day to MSG's Al Trautwig, who has hosted the Tour de France and has known Armstrong for two decades. Your...
Read more »Ben Johnson revisited on "30 for 30"
Photo credit: AP
Next up in ESPN's consistently compelling "30 for 30" documentary series: "9.79*," which premieres at 8 p.m. Tuesday. In it Daniel Gordon looks back at the men's 100-meter final at the Seoul Games of 1988, and the subsequent stripping of Ben Johnson's gold medal and world record. The film includes interviews with Johnson, Carl Lewis and their fellow finalists that year. Stick...
Read more »Trailer: 9.79*, part of ESPN Films' 30 for 30 series
Photo credit: AP
Filmmaker Daniel Gordon will explore Ben Johnson and the 1988 Olympic 100-meter run In the second season of ESPN Films' 30 for 30 series.
Johnson ran a world-record 9.79 in the event to take gold. However, two days later, the Canadian sprinter tested postiive for anabolic steroids. He was stripped of his medal and the world record; Carl Lewis, who came in second in the race, was awarded gold.
The...
Read more »USA swimming, Olympics and 'Call Me Maybe'
Photo credit: AP
How did the members of the U.S. Olympic swim team manage to get so many aisle seats on that plane?
The "Call Me Maybe" YouTube phenomenon continues, and the U.S. Olympic swim team joined in the action spoofing the Carly Rae Jepsen (pictued) megahit.
Have a look. And yes, the lip-synching is a few hundredths of a second off in some parts, which for swimmers can mean the difference...
Read more »Dream Team, revisited
Photo credit: AP
Hard to believe it has been 20 years since the Dream Team won Olympic gold in Barcelona, complete with Charles Barkley almost precipitating an international incident with Angola.
But so it has been, long enough to have inspired a documentary about the team that helped launch an international boom in the sport.
“The Dream Team,’’ premiering at 9 p.m. Wednesday on NBA TV, interviews all...
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