N.P.R.'s Asia Rosco reports that Trump has lashed out at the media for saying he was in correct about the path of the hurricane over the weekend the National Hurricane Service did say late last week that Alabama might be hit by tropical force winds but when Trump began tweeting about the state on Sunday federal forecasters were predicting that Alabama would not see any effects from the storm Chad has continued to stand by his false claim tweeting about it repeatedly he displayed a map always there with the storm's path altered by a marker to extend to Alabama Chuck canceled a planned trip to Poland to help oversee the U.S. Government's hurricane response he also spoke with the prime minister of the Bahamas on Wednesday and pledged to help with the nation's recovery after is devastating blow from Dorian I saw Roscoe in P.R. News Washington United Kingdom Prime Minister Boris Johnson is conceding that the U.K. Parliament will be able to block him from crashing the country out of the European Union without a deal at the end of October but as N.P.R.'s Frank Langfitt reports from London what Johnson really wants is a general election Johnson's government has abandoned a plan to bog down a bill blocking a no deal Bracks in the House of Lords the upper house of the British Parliament acknowledging it will become law now he's pressing hard for a general election next month in hopes of rebuilding a majority in parliament so we can finally execute Bracks at more than 3 years after the country's landmark referendum so far the opposition Labor Party has rejected Johnson's call for an election saying they don't trust the prime minister and want to be sure no deal Breck's it is off the table for now a general election though seems almost a certainty this fall the question is when Frank Langfitt N.P.R. News London on Wall Street stocks are sharply up the Dow Jones industrials are up $429.00 points or more than one and a half percent at $26785.00 the Nasdaq is also up more than one and a half percent this is N.P.R. Support for N.P.R. Comes from Warner Brothers with a new motion picture The Goldfinch a 13 year old loses his mother to a bombing at an art museum but takes with him a painting that becomes his singular source of hope the goldfinch in theaters September 13th. For W.B. News on Chris Riddell health officials say they're investigating 11 additional reports of Ohioans who have a poor experience of your breathing illnesses the Ohio Department of Health on Wednesday also said the 3 previous illnesses under investigation were likely caused by bating the agency said those 3 involved 2 women and a man from lupus Richland and union counties all required hospitalization the state has asked health care providers to report all suspected cases of serious pulmonary illnesses where the cause is unclear and the patients have a history of aging or using East cigarets symptoms have included coughing shortness of breath and fatigue federal health officials and they're looking into more than $200.00 possible cases in 25 states a high speed pursuit through the city of Lancaster yesterday morning ended when a man driving a stolen car crashed head on with the Fairfield County Sheriff's cruiser The Columbus Dispatch reports Deputy John Williamson and the 2 occupants in the stolen car driver 26 year old Tyler Sunday and an unidentified female passenger were taken to Fairfield Medical Center with non-life threatening injuries devotee Williamson was later transferred to Ohio Health Grant Medical Center Sunday was wanted on a number of outstanding felony warrants including a previous incident where he attempted to crash as vehicle into law enforcement vehicles the female passenger was also held on unrelated outstanding charges Williams and started pursuing Sunday after the sheriff's office received information that Sunday was in Martin's park in Lancaster Wednesday morning in Ohio congresswoman says she'll be back at work after the car she was driving was hit by a backhoe the office of us Representative Marcy Kaptur says the accident happened yesterday afternoon as the congresswoman was driving in a construction zone in Toledo her chief of staff says the backhoe swung at his captors windshield on the driver's side she was examined at a hospital and released and has had to be doing well the 73 year old captor says she'll be back at work today the uniting term congresswoman the Democrat is the longest serving woman in House history. You can find more news a W U G You can also follow us on Twitter on Chris riddled with W O U B News Have GOOD morning. This is one I'm Joshua Johnson in Washington we're just minutes away from the 1st event on the E.S.P.N. Schedule that's the 1979 N C A college football preview and then we're going to follow that with a double header of games to the professional slow pitch League World Series games will be seen tonight now softball is one of those rare sports that everybody knows something about why because we all play it on Sunday when we drink a little beer very little about the 1st broadcast day of E.S.P.N. Made it look like a sure thing Lee Leonard the 1st anchor of the 1st program inaugurated the network on September 7th 1979 nothing against pro softball but when you're launching the floor world's 1st 24 hour sports network beggars can't be choosers it was so new that the channels president explain to viewers how satellite T.V. Works letting the signal from Bristol Connecticut reach the entire nation E.S.P.N. And its groundbreaking newscast Sports Center changed the business of sports and the lives of sports fans from its cheeky promos to the catchphrases of its anchors the network went through a lot of changes along the way we'd love to hear from you about the legacy of E.S.P.N. Especially if you have worked for the network over the years or if you're just a long time viewer e-mail us one day at. Org comments on our Facebook page or tweet us at one A joining us from Connecticut is Bob Levy a former anchor of Sports Center and the network's Daily News magazine outside the lines lead joined E.S.P.N. In its very 1st week on the air and he retired this summer Bob welcome to want to say Hi Joshua great to be with you and a lot of memories from that 1st out clip that you played there is more I'm going to get to some more memories in just a minute but Joe will be great Joining us from St Petersburg Florida is N.P.R. T.V. Critic Eric Duggan's Eric welcome back to the program. Thanks for having me let's get to some more of those memories Bob You started it E.S.P.N. On September 9th 1979 here is another clip from day one in fact here is where that 1st clip will pick up where that left off here's another in an innovation on E.S.P.N. And it's going to be a big part of our future the sponsor with George Grande he'll have the latest on what's happening all around George thanks Lee and welcome everyone to the E.S.P.N. Sports Center and this very desk in the coming weeks and months will be filling you in on the pulse of sporting activity not only around the country but around the world as well it takes an interview we'll do it it takes play by play we'll do it if it takes commentary will do that to Bob Levy early days of C.N.N. They called it the chicken noodle network because it just looked so kind of slapdash and thrown together what do you remember about the early days of E.S.P.N. Well yeah if you played if you could find the tape machine to play those old formats and play it back you would it would look like Flintstones television but at the time it was cutting edge and I think Joshua what really sustain this is that we were making it up as we went along we were there were no rules we had to go on the air the contracts reside and you know George Grant who remains a dear friend a little energy just passed away in the last year with the 1st voices and faces and they threw a bunch of kids out there toes $24.00 when I got hired and so was Chris Berman and Tommy's just a few years old and we all joined in that 1st month and we had 3 shows to do every day and we had the air time to fill and we had to do it and the instructions we had from our initial president had Simmons who was their creation along with Bill Rasmussen the founder of the network Jed said talk to sports fans the way you want to be talk to yourself and you know there's a there's a guy who came in as the president N.B.C. Sports and came over to E.S.P.N. Telling me and I'm 24 and I look at Joe. Hired I was available to relocate and I was ready that you know work for their money and turning us loose and it was very invigorating and then if you go a little back to look at the tapes and I say my gosh what is that compared to 2019 but at the time it remains you know game breaking and form shifting and a brand new brand new horizon remind us what sports television was like when E.S.P.N. Signed on there was a little bit of innovation going on I mean Monday night football went on the air in 1970 so really Arledge was starting to kind of shake up the way we looked at sports but E.S.P.N. Really was kind of a format buster right well sports television Joshua existed and you know if you're if some of your viewers are old enough to remember back to the sixty's and the seventy's there were 3 broadcast networks A.B.C. N.B.C. C.B.S. And they broadcast sports for maybe a 2 to 3 hour window on Saturdays and Sundays and that was it that was it and of course your local television sports show would have 3 or 4 minutes of sports and through the sixties and seventies and Warner Wolf pioneering the use of highlights Let's go to the videotape but it was it was segregated basically for sports events and sports news into the weekend and here we were coming on 247 with events and Sports Center and numerous times a day with scores and highlights it was something I remember the reaction to it people couldn't believe what they were seeing we would get the clips in from around the country in the reaction to people what they were saying in our mail and it was have we had reinvented fire Eric Duggan's one of our listeners called in to share her memory of the 1st time she heard that a 24 hour sports network would be coming to cable here's what to Risa left in our inbox Hi My name is Terry said and I'm from all Greenwich Connecticut and I just wanted to say I've been watching Sports Center and listening to it on my app when I'm walking and just absolutely love it watched college game day every week I can't wait to see have. Gaiters are doing and also I just wanted to say I will never forget what I was about 15 years old and it was the 1st time the cable man ever came to our house and he told us that they were going to be a channel dedicated to nothing but sports and I still remember it like which Goss our minds we were so excited about it I can still remember that to that to this day I can't believe it's been 40 years to research thanks very much for sharing your story with us and Eric I wonder if you would just kind of add on to what cerise was saying not only because it changed the way we watch sports but it kind of changed the business of sports as well. Well it is being changed so much I mean E.S.P.N. The way E.S.P.N. Grew it grew as the cable industry grew I mean it's hard for people to imagine now but you know C.N.N. Didn't exist M.T.V. Didn't exist I mean it has B.N. Debuted and I think the you know the 1st broadcast had like 30000 viewers tons of technical problems I'm sure Bob recalls this. And that but there was this idea this idea that television could provide something that a focused audience want it you know before then television was broadcast medium you put on stuff to reach the widest of array of people possible. E.S.P.N. Was the 1st big effort to come along to say you know what we're going to offer something that we know only a portion of the audience is going to be interested in but they're really going to be interested in it and we're going to it's super serve them we're going to give them everything they could possibly want in this area and make a business out of that and as they figured out how to make a business out of that. Cable television figured out how to make a business out of that and ultimately we got this media universe now where it's all about what the audience wants E.S.P.N. Came along at a time when it was not that at all we're speaking to N.P.R. T.V. Critic Eric Diggins and Bob Levy veteran sports journalist one of the 1st anchors of E.S.P.N. Sports Center who recently retired as the anchor of E.S.P.N.'s news magazine outside the lines we welcome your questions and thoughts one a at's W am you dot org Bob when you retired from E.S.P.N. After hosting your show outside the lines a Sports Center anchor Scott Van Pelt who anchors one of the late night editions of Sports Center had a farewell tribute and he talked about one of the many big sports stories that she worked on here's part of that tribute. In early June of 2016 passed away at the age of 74 the news didn't come as a shock we knew it was coming or certainly when we've been preparing to leave for the night when the news was confirmed the greatest was gone it was almost 12 30 am That's when we all turned back around and went on the air our show began then continued without commercial interruption until 414 am I was in here with Jon Anderson was in the studio as well at 1 30 in the morning. There's a lot I'll remember about that night a lot of pride to have been part of something only we are wired to do mostly I'll remember looking up and seeing Bob Lee join the shell I mean we're still going strong after 4 am if you're going to go on the air and do almost 4 hours of unscripted television you need a general we had out that Sports Center anchor Scott Van Pelt and part of his farewell tribute to Bob Bob I wonder what it was like for you particularly in the network's evolution as it became clear that E.S.P.N. Was not just going to be a sports channel but also a news organization to well I was very important I mean we had the scores in the highlights but there are a number of inflection points Joshua along the way I think back to the hiring of John A Walsh an incredibly agile mind and it is and working in collaboration with Steve Anderson in beginning in the mid to late 1980 S. Bringing some form and substance to Sports Center I think of the watershed year 1989 when we had a leadership position on the Pete Rose gambling story and instead 80 years now it's hard to remember that how that had galvanized the country for a full summer and we were out in front on that breaking story after story and being really on the cutting edge of it and then just several weeks after Rose was just. Ended and then commissioner March money passed away suddenly being of the earthquake. The World Series I should say where the earthquake occurred on E.S.P.N. We were the 1st on the air with news from the San Francisco Bay Area national television of what happened then and you look back at it confluence of events such as that and seriously we had placed a a flag in the sand of journalism and we had done that before and then the next year in 1990 outside the lines debuted as a as an episodic show and eventually would become a daily or or nightly show right right but it was always very important for us to do more than just the scores and the highlights and I think we expanded that over both subsequent decades will certainly highlights one of the things that people know E.S.P.N. And sports center for we will add a current Sports Center anchor to the conversation as we continue with E.S.P.N. Veteran and N.P.R. T.V. Critic Eric Decker I'm Joshua Johnson glad to be with you and you are getting not just the highlights but the full play by play with one from W.A.M. You and N.P.R. . It. Has been a useful. 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This is one and A I'm Joshua Johnson we're reflecting on 40 years of E.S.P.N. With longtime former anchor Bob Levy and N.P.R.'s T.V. Critic Eric Duggan's We'd love to hear from you to comment on our Facebook page tweet us at one or email one a at AM You dot org Kate tweeted I was 2 months away from having my 1st child was a sports writer and my University of Delaware friend Ptolemy's was one of the 1st anchors E.S.P.N. Has been with me ever since Cynthia emailed thank God for E.S.P.N. I one of those rare women that loves sports and having a channel devoted to sports was a blessing turning on my T.V. And hearing that famous intro to Sports Center and the voices of Chris Berman and the late Stuart Scott were priceless thank you for some of your comments I think Cynthia you're not quite as rare as you think but we'll talk more about that in just a minute Eric Duggan's let me come to you for a 2nd before we dig in too much deeper Can you just can textualist for us a little bit more about E.S.P.N. In the larger scheme of television I think it would be easy to hear this conversation and think oh you're just geeking out over something that's just for those sports fans why do I care how big is E.S.P.N. Really. Oh E.S.P.N. Is huge and it it embodies a lot of different contrast ing elements as well so as E.S.P.N. Grew it became the focus that sort of grew the cable T.V. Industry but it also commanded a greater share of the revenues that comes from that industry which helped push up the Everyone's cable bills and also sort of created this backlash it became this huge programmer but there was always this culture inside the company of trying to make it more about the product and less about the personalities so you had great people like Chris Berman and Keith Olbermann and Dan Patrick who were doing this very individualized wonderful work but also had this sense that the company was always trying to keep them in check you had a company that was doing great journalism as Bob pointed out and doing a great journalistic service but also constricted by some of the contracts that it had with the sports teams that it was presenting and in fact you know one reason why E.S.P.N. E.S.P.N. Survived was because it began televising N.F.L. Football games and now that's a blueprint for every sports network that's out there to try and get a piece of the N.F.L. And also have these very lucrative contracts with these sports teams and sports leagues but that it makes it tough to cover them journalistically and then finally I just say Sports Center has had such an incredible impact on the T.V. Industry because it started out with Chris Berman being sort of the ultimate fan and then when you had Oberman and Dan Patrick on what they called the big show sort of satirizing sports television while they were also moving it forward it created sort of a template that we see in places like The Daily Show and non sports programming to sort of celebrate T.V. But also satirizes so was interest. Going to see E.S.P.N. Change as people who grew up with television and respected some of its institutions but want to wanted to subvert other ones began to run the channel would you just clarify in. A very interesting would you just clarify one piece of what you said in terms of E.S.P.N. And the impact on cable bills how does that work why is it that E.S.P.N. Success affects what we pay for cable would you just explain that sure sure was so is so E.S.P.N. Will will charge cable systems to to have the channel and because E.S.P.N. Has been so popular for so long they grew to try to charge larger and larger amounts to cable systems like Comcast and spectrum to carry the channel and you know some economic analyses was were coming out you know a few years ago dish to show that they were taking up something like 5 or $6.00 of every subscribers cable bill was going to pay for E.S.P.N. And its suite of channels and you know I'm sure the executives of E.S.P.N. Would say when you know will people love us and they watch our channels and so we should be you know we should be compensated for that which makes sense but it it also helped drive up cable bills in the aggregate and it made people question how much they were spending on cable and then we started to see this court cutting which has impacted E.S.P.N. And has impacted the cable business as a whole you know kind of begin to substantiate like which channels are essential for cable owners and then also allowed services like E.S.P.N. To also offer a service for cord cutters you mentioned Dan Patrick and Keith Olbermann and Bob I'd like to get your sense on the style of E.S.P.N. Before we add one more voice to the conversation here's a quick clip from April of 1985 where Keith Olbermann is doing some N B. A play by play. Does a little ironing out of the 1st one again there's perhaps this is what the fight is about it does not call Indiana meantime that puts the period red hot Reggie Miller from way down town by Stratton Mark Jackson the stern and also from 3 point plan. Jackson again circus moves this in Faces of 90 run just walk away you T.J. The Blazers of all 6 or 7 This one came after a team meeting to discuss Friday's promise the most frequent to new frequent over 20 points all of us 19 points 10 boards for Miller So Charlotte took the court 3 behind the Pacers don't carry Michael Adams just watching the injured Hornets work the pectoral Larry Johnson did it so well. The over the period that's part of Keith Olbermann doing play by play back in April of 1905 bob lee what was behind that kind of play full kitschy energy was that the spirit of the company then wasn't just marketing it just Dan and he were that come from if you think it was marketing if you think it was a master plan if you think somebody was smart enough to invent that boy I'd like to meet that person and get their stock tips. It was organic Joshua it was Keith's creativity his partnership with Dan in it you know in the micro of those 2 guys on the big show but it was always the spirit of the company too and I mentioned at the beginning we were making it up as we went along there was more form and substance and management no oversight certainly by the mid ninety's but have fun for crying out loud Plus I'll tell you having done decades of Sportscenter we have this little phrase among that was originated by I think it was Myers and originals P.A. Years ago cabs Mabs jazz like they're all playing each other in one game in the shot in the highlight never ends be the point being you'll do so many highlights in the course of an N.B.A. Season your brain will go numb so you have to make it fun you have to make it fun for the viewers if you're going to sit if you're going to strap strap in and sit down open a beer and watch a full hour sports center in the middle of the. When are they going to see so many damn highlights they have you've got to do something to the staying with them and have fun with it and you know the amazing thing about Keef there are many amazing things about Keith is a good buddy he would type those out verbatim you know we all didn't do that he would sit down and type that out and he would type it out early in the evening I mean that's just a remarkable at his creativity but everybody divot did it differently you have to be yourself you're on television so much you can't fool people you know if it's an act truly an act you'll be found out have fun that's the case let's hear from somebody who's having fun in this particular sandbox these days Joining us now from E.S.P.N. Radio in Bristol Connecticut is Zubin my Henty he joined the team in 2011 as an anchor he currently host Sports Center on week nights and weekends we've been welcome to want to. Thanks for having me Bob's been around for about 99.9 percent of this I've been around for about 20 percent of it but I think Erick would agree Bob agree you may as well that there's probably if you want to use the 40 year marker there's been more change in sports television and in television in the last 5 years than the previous 35 in sports owners of all that way and I think all of our television habits of evolved that way one thing I just want to mention to to resign on your opening segment she just talked about sports having fun sports being part of her existence there Bob knows this there's a huge sign when you walk into the Sports Center studios to serve sports fans any time anywhere that sort of a company montra and I could be or avid fan that could be your casual fan that could be somebody that's tuning in for any variety of reasons and that's what we're really here to do like Bob said we're here to have fun but at the end of the day we're here at the behest of the sports fan and the sports fans appetite has been insatiable I think that's pretty fair from 1989 to 29000 and we're just accentuating it every day so when Give us a sense of how you do what you do 1st of all just keeping up to date of what's going on in sports there are so many games and so many sports every day and I know you can't watch every single one of them so how do you keep up I think the biggest thing is just having a monitor mission statement because you're right the N.F.L. Starts tonight the U.S. Open is going on Major League Baseball's in its final month of its regular season the N.B.A. Is back next month the N.H.L. Is back next month college basketball is 60 days away so there is a lot of that to think about but I think the biggest thing that we think about is I think this used to be and I'd be interested in Bob's view on this I think whether you're N.P.R. You're E.S.P.N. You're any television or radio outlet it used to be so much more about the what and now I think it's much more about the why the what is ubiquitous it's on your phone it's on your Apple news feed it's on E.S.P.N. Text alert it's on all of our competitors I think where we hit the sweet spot where we think about how we're going to do this and keep up with everything is we have the best in terms of. Why why is this happening why is this holdout occurring why did he sign for this much why can't anybody defend Steph Curry shot why is E.Q. Elliot so important to the Dallas Cowboys Why did they have to sign him before Sunday What were the giants thinking when they drafted Daniel Jones the what the headline is just there everywhere I mean during our conversation here I'm sure we're all fiddling on our phones right now but it's one of those things where the why the context we've had players from Chrissy Everett in tennis to Mark to Sharon baseball to Alex Rodriguez to Steve Young these people have been in places that none of us have been I went to a college football symposium about 5 years ago and the leader ship stood up and basically said something as innocuous as this raise your hand if you've ever been in the tunnel before a game and 95 percent of the people raised their hands anchors reporters directors producers support staff of any kind and I remember the gentleman stood up there and said All right 95 percent of you have your hands up just remember everybody at home is the other 5 percent so just take them inside don't take for granted where you are don't take for granted that this is just commonplace it happens every Saturday at a college football stadium or every Sunday in an N.F.L. Stadium bring the viewer there because at the end of the day I was a viewer I'm $41.00 I used to watch Bob and Keith and Steve Levy hatrick and now it's amazing to be sitting there next to them so I think you have to just think about it and it's OK to just be a fan and I think that's something that's really important I'm Joshua Johnson and you're listening to a. Zubin explain how you do highlights you know Bob said that Keith Olbermann used to write them out verbatim or you working from a verbatim script you have bullet points how do you know what place to highlight how to keep the details straight walk us through that process I think the biggest thing is highlights are bread and butter so there's nothing more important than doing that right and I think if you were to ask God Van Pelt who comes on at midnight or our crew that comes on before everybody's got a different style of doing them I don't think it says wrote is saying being a White House correspondent right where you want to just be square jawed as a man or a woman stand there deliver the facts and didn't throw it back to New York I think in sports it's a lot different I would give you a couple examples and this is why highlight to the bread and butter of what we do if you've ever seen somebody watch like a rom com or a movie I know they only make superhero movies now but if you think back to like rom com and those things got greenlit you'd sit there and somebody would laugh at the same joke 7 times or if you've seen Hamilton on Broadway let's say you've seen like 5 or 6 times you go back the 6th time you're like I didn't realize the nuance of that quote the 1st 5 times that's the way highlights are if Clay Thompson hits 143 pointers in an N.B.A. Game which actually happened last season people are going to want to watch that ad nauseum Now the 12 year old might be watching because he loves clay Thompson's kicks his sneakers other people might be watching because they think you're watching one of the greatest shooters that ever picked up a basketball and I know Bob worked for a former vice president here that I worked for as well and he said in sort of a grandiose way a little facetious way he said the minute somebody starts doing highlights better than East P.N. Is when E.S.P.N. Is quote unquote out of business of course he was joking but what he said was and what he meant was E.S.P.N. Sweet spot on Sports Center is highlights so we have to be leading the way it's a point of pride when you watch another network like Fox or C.B.S. And let's say you're targeting a 15 or 20 year old person that doesn't know who Boomer Esiason is right right. They don't know who Chris Collins worth is you'll see a little box pop up on the screen and will say Chris Collins what Cincinnati Bengals wide receiver in 1980 to whatever and that's something that was popularized by E.S.P.N. And it's a point of pride when you watch all of our other competing networks and you see some of the things the tools the applications the graphics that we're using that are everywhere and it's not just E.S.P.N. I was telling somebody the story this morning Steve Levy is going to be calling our Monday night football game a dream assignment for him on Monday between the Broncos in the Raiders he took his 9 year old daughter to a game a few years ago and she said to him Dad where's the yellow line you know so it's one of those things where you think about you say are you actually that's you know that's just on television I mean not paying good I mean the yellow line the kind of augmented reality a lot of shows you where the 1st down is where they would have to get to get a 1st act correct and so I think those evolutions many of those have been started by E.S.P.N. You know Fox in 94 was the 1st to put the score on the screen can you imagine to all 3 of you can you imagine watching a television event right now where you don't know the score where you don't know if it's $3015.00 in a tennis match for one game or Brooks kept those 9 under par Can you imagine watching a sporting event today without that information well and one of the other innovations and I do want to get to some more questions for a listers but one of the other innovations is just some of those catchphrases we heard Keith Olbermann do some of them another one of the luminaries of E.S.P.N. Who we really can't do this conversation without at least calling out with Stuart Scott he began at E.S.P.N. In 1903 and kind of push the sound of the network further into new territory especially with this play by play. Because he is on a low and you know because it was the people we wanted to know. Start not about serving their dinner 1st but you know this kid this is the other side of the story was shot. And some of the legendary play by play from the late Stuart Scott probably one of the reasons that Tom was a fan Tom emailed I had to use my imagination when I started listening to the University of Kentucky in. In the forty's Sports Center brought games and stories to life for me thank you sports center for all you've done for sports fans everywhere I know we got to pause in a 2nd but Bob let me get to a question from Kent who tweeted what does Bob Lee recall as the 1st big Woodward and Bernstein moment of outside the lines Bob. Woodward and Bernstein moment I can recall I was just talking to my producer who was with me about it 9093. Mike it were an East Texas trying to locate the doctor who allegedly was providing steroids to a player at Baylor University and it was part of a much larger story and as my cameraman isn't putting the wireless mike on me he says to me I want you to remember about this is East Texas there are more done it when people out here so thank you Henry I'll remember that but we came upon this guy who was in his cattle corral feeding his cattle and 8 we had him on the facts and he just fessed up to everything with the camera rolling is one of those moments that kind of like you know Mike Wallace is waiting you're in your waiting room for you but that but I also are going back to the work we all everybody did even before outside the lines of Pete Rose story in 1989 I had it's a fact you are playing that clip of Stu It's just it's good to hear his voice and Dan We miss him I want to talk more about the evolution of E.S.P.N. When we continue Luis him ailed I was born in 83 and since then I was never into sports but I've always been a geek so video games have been my thing I was very happy and proud to learn E.S.P.N. Began showing video games as East sports I never would have thought that would happen if you told me when I was a kid because video games had bad stigma back then and wasn't as mainstream as it is now we'll discuss the evolution of sports television when we continue with anchors even the veteran anchor Bob Levy an N.P.R. T.V. Critic Eric Duggan's will also hear from an E.S.P.N. Correspondent who is covering the beginning of the N.F.L. Regular season right now. Now look at your question. This is one a on your N.P.R. Station public media is made possible with support from listening is as important as talking in the belief that the patient's greatest source of strength comes from within Health Partners and health discover your best health at Ohio Health dot com slash we believe that support comes from the. Discover the. Waterfalls prehistoric. Cabins and lodges provide a summer getaway to remember information at Explorer dot com 1800 talking. Hundreds of mostly young people have been sickened with a long illness that's been linked to vapor and experts are trying to figure out what's going on. And what we about the health effects of. Responding to the rise in. More on that coming up on the take way it starts in a little bit at noon here on your N.P.R. Station sunny afternoon with a clear night tonight lows near 55 tomorrow like today sunny with partly cloudy Tomorrow night a low of $55.00. 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Comes from this station and from Boston Beer Company brewing Samuel Adams Boston Lager since 1904 with hops from the Stengel Meyer farm in the Bavaria region of Germany Boston Beer Company Boston Mass promoting responsible drinking and from Capital One offering a variety of credit card options with features for a range of customers from foodies to travelers Capital One what's in your wallet credit approval required capital one bank USA and hey before we get back to our conversation we would love your help with the discussion will have next week with the new president of the Human Rights Campaign Fund So David is the 1st person of color to lead one of the nation's largest organizations his priorities include passing the Equality Act a federal civil rights bill that would add sexual orientation and gender identity as protected classes What do you think he should focus on leave us a voicemail 855236181 send us your questions or comments for the new president of the Human Rights Campaign Alfonzo David 855-236-1818 or send us an audio file with our app one a Vox Pop We'll share some of your questions next week on one essay back now to our conversation with Eric Dagens bubbly and before we get back to them and to some of your comments let's speak to someone who is actually on the job right now not in E.S.P.N. Studios but on the sidelines at Soldier Field in Chicago joining us now on the line is Michelle Steele she's covering the beginning of the N.F.L. Regular season Michelle welcome to the program. Great to be here Joshua you're from Chicago as I understand it you started the E.S.P.N. Late in 2011 in Boston and then moved back to your hometown at 26 team to give us a sense of what it was like working for E.S.P.N. Inside a very heavily sports devoted town like Chicago. Chicago and I would include Boston in that you know I started with E.S.P.N. Being studio based I was more on the digital side where they were expanding so much of what we were doing on mobile as well as web when there was an opening there was no opening in the Boston bureau and Chicago and Boston might be to the biggest sports town that I've ever been in and and I went for it you know I auditioned for the job I showed my reporting chop then knowing that I had reported before I came to E.S.P.N. Was really important and like so many things in journalism timing is 80 percent of everything and when I had gone to Boston this was still in sort of the audition stage I'd gone to Boston to cover and I felt player that the police were surveying at the time and his name was Aaron Hernandez and they assigned me to sort of watch his house and see what was happening and keep tabs on what the Patriots organization was doing and that story became the most significant one perhaps I've covered thus far in my career the F.B.I. And I followed it all the way until his conviction in in New England for 1st degree murder and that was the 1st 1st story I did I'm glad I had my reporting chops and it just showed me how important journalism is and was E.S.P.N. In addition to that you've also been on the investigative beat of the S.P.N. Is that right. Yeah I've done pieces for Outside the Lines a sort of the journalistic standard bearer idea and talk about whether it's I'm sorry to interrupt doesn't Michelle I'm curious and knowing kind of back to the question we asked earlier in terms of being part of a network that is both a programmer and a news organization that covers the sports that IT programs how do you manage that balance yeah I do when I look at it is like a newspaper or a radio station that may be business partners with the teen that it covers but there's always going to be that wall that editorial wall between the quarters and the analysts and the anchors who are in the trenches so to speak and the people who are on the business side and the advertising side you know when I was at Bloomberg News which is where I sort of cut my journalistic chops before E.S.P.N. I would watch Sports Center and think to myself This is a company that is number one in the business but 80800 pound gorilla so to speak of sports programming is for sure in all of them and they're still pushing the on below I never got the sense that they were letting up because of the position that they were in the market on the contrary they sort of leverage that position to be able to push harder to cover the news as it should be covered and not shortchange viewers. We also heard from a listener earlier Michelle who said that she was one of the few female fans of sports out there that watches E.S.P.N. Obviously there are a lot of women who are sports fans and who are anchors and reporters on the network would you talk about your experience in terms of visibility for women in sports journalism you know I feel like every year Josh there's a study. About women in journalism and sports journalism and perhaps even during a women in newsrooms in sports but E.S.P.N. Is regularly mentioned in the same study as the great outlier as a company that has made it a company priority to give voice to not just women but minorities and other groups that are as visible as perhaps that you would be in any other news or in the I remember one of the 1st events that I went to on the road idea P.N. Sort of speaking on behalf of. The company and what it stands for I when I travel down P.C. To Texas Christian University with about 7 or 8 other women we were a whole women journalists and broadcasters and it was such a proud moment for me and it came pretty early on in my career but it's great that it's a company it's a company wide play already and you know what I think that only makes our coverage better I know I got to let you go in a 2nd Michel but I wanted to get a question to you. And also like you to answer this one as well Michael in terms of visibility I know there are plenty of people who have complained over the years at various times we just want to watch the game stop making it about politics and culture and all these other things just give me the highlights let me enjoy the sports it's nice that there's all this visibility for various people that's cool but I just want to watch the game Michael email do you think E.S.P.N. Seemingly greater willingness to discuss politics and its link to sports help or hurt its popularity before I let you go Michelle how do you strike that balance between just talking about the game and what the game might mean in a larger sense. Yeah you know I've been covering the N.F.L. For E.S.P.N. Since 2013 some of the most and vengeful years for this league and certainly that includes when calling to happen next are to dealing I'm not someone who believes that we. Covered in a way that maybe over amplified the message of politics or polarization we covered it in a way that players spoke to us about or that coaches spoke to us about or in my case I was at the Cowboys Cardinals game where Jerry Jones took a knee and talked to him before the anthem and talked to him after the game about why that was significant I think that if more job is to cover sports and do it in human history will weigh in and do it in a way that that players are experiencing it you know you need to talk about everything that they're experiencing is experiencing this game and that's one of the ways that they're they are that they're experiencing it I hate to overuse that word experience but that's that's what we're trying to do bring to on this experience of playing a game of being a professional athlete to viewers and your readers and if you don't talk about what they're experiencing on the field and then you are not telling the full story that's E.S.P.N.'s Michelle Steele joining us from Soldier Field in Chicago where the bears will host the Packers tonight Michelle thanks for talking to us You bet probably could you answer that question as well from Michael whether U.S.P. In seemingly greater willingness to discuss politics and its link to sports helps or hurts its popularity I don't know what it does the popularity but that can't be your prime concern from the inside from the president of the United States calls the players of the N.F.L. Who choose to kneel before the national anthem rightfully or wrongfully in their own view calls them S.O.B.'s when the N.F.L. Was thrown into near paralysis in September and October of 2017 by these issues when all of these things occur it's news you cover it now the distinction comes between cause. What people as Michel got got into an explanation between the coaches and the activists and the owners the players say and personal commentary and I think that's where issues can arise I think you have responsibilities journalist to lead thoughtful discussions to get every point of view involved but you know that listen we've heard that criticism before and. It goes with the territory there's no love fest between America and the media and just experience that in your daily e-mails and interactions I mean you know between fake news and and storylines and the deep divisions in this country we have a job to tell stories fairly and honestly and but I think where we have to I and I always did and I still do draw the line is my personal opinions aren't part of the package and when they are they're labeled as commentary and even at that I think you have to observe certain boundaries but the. This is the world we live in it's just it's a sports entertainment industry it's an it's in an entertainment industries involved with politics and it's cultural right it's whole one big stew and you just can't separate parts of it very good you responded as well good yeah I was going to say we have to mention what the issue involving Jamelle Hill you know and anchor at E.S.P.N. Who tweeted in one instance suggesting perhaps that people my moment to boycott owners who discipline players who who knelt. She also tweeted something about Donald Trump calling him a white supremacist she seemed to get in trouble with E.S.P.N. Management and then eventually left the company and she's she doing great work at the Atlantic she has her own pocket she was an up and coming star at E.S.P.N. An African-American woman and I think that's a good example where E.S.P.N. Is culture struggled to accommodate an outspoken African-American long time sportscaster who wanted to talk about these issues of race and sports and politics as they were emerging and you know found that that cost them trouble at E.S.P.N. Though and I think E.S.P.N. Has struggled sometimes to deal with the fact that though they're comfortable with some kinds of commentary they're not so comfortable with other kinds of commentary but but sometimes that other kind of commentary is necessary I'm Joshua Johnson and you're listening to one essay. Eric It's interesting though that some of that resume I beg your pardon nor time is tight but it's interesting how sports is often kind of a lens for the way we view the world it's one of those things that people have always or often said is just our escape from the rest of the world but whether it's Jackie Robinson joining the majors or the you know the black power fist of the 1968 Olympics or the terrorist attack in the 1972 Olympics or 911 in the way that sports responded to it it's kind of in a strictly bull How do you just manage that as someone who's doing highlights when you know that sooner or later Real life is going to creep in. i think you just accepted in take it for what it is i mean i think sports is always been a 4 runner when it comes to these issues and i think this is something that sports is got in the short shrift donned you mention jackie robinson breaking the color barrier in 1907 i mean i was way ahead of what this country was doing if you consider what was happening in the 1960 s. In the south so sports ahead there you go into any locker room you go into an n.f.l. Locker own you got 53 guys with 53 stories and 53 backgrounds and they're all they're working together and they've all took different paths to get their part of what they did the get their his fueled their ability to move on and be better at what they do so i think a lot of bit is just simply accepting the fact that it is real life when i worked in local sports these to called the sports department the toy department because that's how they looked it is vsa vision news in weather but sports is a serious serious business both financially and socially and i think in many many ways you mentioned the mexico city olympics you mention jackie robinson in many many ways countless ways historians like bobbin others can tell you that sports has been ahead of society in a lot of ways in a lot of the issues are dealing with today jim emailed i was never a big sports guy but back in the day i never missed heath and dan and the big show they were incredibly entertaining a mate sports accessible to a non fan which also made it a lot easier to hang with the other guys who were sports guys bob i don't know if you know the answer to this but you have the most experience that e.s.p.n. So i figure i put it to you cregg asked a question that i would have asked also pregnant mailed i always wondered about e.s.p.n. Broadcasting the scripps national spelling bee how did that come about and i hate don't know any book about i mean yeah it is it in athletic event it's certainly weren't sure brain a way those if good sweat it might as well be exactly is it's something to be celebrated absolutely i mean well let's the sub texas so much and we talk about this is of the social impact of supports and we talk about You know amateurism and college athletics and is education even a factor in the lives of many college athletes who simply go for a scholarship or a chance to play the pros blah blah blah and all of the values and the POC receives that may be in play and here is the purest example of education of young kids applying themselves I I don't know who to thank for it but it's become a signature event for us we love it work we did it the $60.70 the feature about a year and a half ago on the youngest girl she was 6 I think at the time to qualify for the national finals it is and you should see the newsroom when that when that sucker's on and everybody's saying it was marveling at these kids it's compelling television and it's competition and it's kind of you know it's we're all we all got the D.N.A. Of the old A.B.C. Wide world of sports the thrill of competition you know agony and defeat and the victories and the winners and you see it so beautifully expressed in the spelling bee so I celebrate it I think it's tremendous One last thing Bob before we have to wrap up I know that you are just beginning your retirement after 40 years at E.S.P.N. Would you like to see the business of sports television go from here whether E.S.P.N. Or elsewhere before we go while it's changing as we've mentioned in this hour of the platforms are changing I'd like to see it embrace where there are many changes that are approaching in this country I think new platforms will emerge and I think you know Eric talked about this the entire issue of commentary and political interests and whatnot I'd like to see it thrashed out because you're never going to separate that it's if anything they're going to grow closer and closer the strands of social and political concerns and the business of sports trying to navigate that but I tell you that at the end of the day and it's been proven time and time again over the past 40 years whenever these questions have been on the table the one sure thing is the winner is the view. Sure because the American capitalist system figures it out through competition and innovation and technology and you know you might pay a little bit more than you want to at the beginning that costs will come down you're going to be the winner in all I promise you Bob Lee a former host of E.S.P.N.'s Outside the Lines and one of the original anchors of Sports Center one of the 1st employees of E.S.P.N. Back in 1979 Bob it's been a pleasure thanks very much for talking to us Oh it's been a joy to be here thank you Zubin Mehta Henty one of the current anchors of Sports Center Zyban Thank you appreciate it I'm one of the biggest fans of obverse so please pass that along we'll do an N.P.R. T.V. Critic Eric Dagens Eric would you pass that on to the team in a 1st place I will certainly happily do that fleece to thank you Eric today's conversation was produced by station Brown you'll find more about her and the rest of our team online at the one a dot org slash staff and please do send in your questions for the new head of the H.R. See 855-236-1818 this program comes to you from W. Am you part of American University in Washington distributed by N.P.R. Until we meet again I'm Joshua Johnson thanks for listening see it tomorrow for the Friday news round up this is one a. Support for N.P.R. Comes from this station and from new offering a personalized weight loss program based on a cognitive behavioral approach with the goal of losing weight and keeping it off for good learn more at noon and 00000 AM dot com and from Capital One offering a variety of credit card options with features for a range of customers from foodies to travelers Capital One what's in your wallet credit approval required capital one bank USA and I. Thanks for joining us for one a on your N.P.R. Station public media we are W O U B F M Adams. Cambridge W O U L F M W O U H F M Chillicothe A N W Z F M Zanesville one A was made possible with support from the Ohio University Kennedy lecture series welcoming Julie Cowen the co-director of the documentary our B.G. Monday September 9th at 730 and use Baker Center ball room the talk is titled The Making of our B.G. And more it's open to the public and there's information at ohio dot edu slash Kennedy lecture. I'm Jeremy Hobson Democrats are debating which candidate is the most electable but does anyone really know the answer you can find.