This week, Keith Thibault of Sports Media Journal and I spent half an hour interviewing writer James Andrew Miller, the co-author with Tom Shales of “Those Guys Have All the Fun: Inside The World of ESPN”. It was our second interview with Jim as the book comes out in a paperback version today. Our first podcast with him was in May.
Keith and I did a brief segment discussing ESPN’s handling of the Syracuse/Bernie Fine story and its holding of a tape with his wife, Laurie talking with accuser Bobby Davis for 8 years. I criticized ESPN. Keith was more cautious siding ESPN.
We then moved to our interview with Jim and we broached many topics with him including some of the things that were added to the paperback edition including one story about Hannah Storm receiving an extra $500,000 in her contract. We also talked about some of the developments that have occurred at ESPN since the book was published in May including #FreeBruce (the Bruce Feldman suspension and subsequent departure), the Olympic and World Cup bidding, the Longhorn Network and a movie option for the tome.
We also talked with Jim about ESPN’s influence in college athletics and how ESPN compares with the subject of Jim’s previous book, NBC’s Saturday Night Live. I really enjoyed this and I hope you will as well. You can download the podcast on iTunes doing a search for “Sports Media Journal” or go here directly to listen.
