Those Guys Have All the Fun - James Andrew Miller [357]
If George Bodenheimer, John Skipper, and his chief lieutenant, Norby Williamson, thought that would be the last time an ESPNer would be in trouble in 2009, they were kidding themselves. Skipper was not known as a screamer or as a guy who got wildly frustrated or alarmed, but in the next twelve months, his mild temperament would be severely tested. After he finished with Van Pelt, the carpeting outside his and Williamson’s offices would be worn down by Stephen A. Smith, Tony Kornheiser, Vince Doria, Erin Andrews, Steve Phillips, Bill Simmons, and Hannah Storm, along with an encore appearance by Kornheiser—just to name a few. It is quite possible that in the history of broadcast journalism, there hasn’t ever been quite such an eventful twelve months at one network as those. Each episode was important in its own way, and came with its own attendant issues. Each posed a threat to the precious culture of ESPN that was so slavishly prized by President Bodenheimer.
Fortunately, a brief stop in Washington provided relief.
ANDY KATZ:
As soon as they announced Senator Obama had won the presidency on election night, I immediately began to plot out when I should begin to make arrangements for him to fill out the [NCAA Basketball Tournament] bracket with me. He had made the commitment to me if he won, and he was going to keep his word—it was just a matter of locking in on a date. The key was to keep this secret, even to everyone at ESPN except those that had to know.
When we arrived at the White House on Tuesday, the guards at the gate were immediately in tune to what we were doing. The detail asked us to predict who the president would select. When we were in the Map Room, Secret Service or White House staffers would come by asking about their respective teams, especially teams in the D.C. area like Maryland and Georgetown. When the president entered the room, he immediately disarmed everyone when he said, “Hey, Andy, how are you?”
While going through the bracket, the president was at ease with his picks and loved the give-and-take on various selections. He certainly wasn’t afraid to throw a few barbs back my way. The White House honored the exclusive and didn’t let the president’s picks out until after our Baracketology piece ran the following Wednesday at noon on SportsCenter. The exclusivity meant that every news outlet had to credit us. The piece went viral. From NBC News with Brian Williams to of course ABC News to CNN to Inside Edition to overseas newspapers—the bracket and ESPN were credited. CBS had to reference it throughout the tournament. Obama picked North Carolina, and the bracket received even more exposure because of his selection. When Obama was abroad he was asked if he could do a soccer bracket, and when Carolina went to the White House in May of ’09, Obama referenced his bracket again, and said that his bracket had rallied after a difficult first round. The president of the United States had never filled out an NCAA Tournament bracket in public before, and on television, and the authenticity of the event was clearly celebrated.
This wasn’t Watergate; this wasn’t the Pentagon Papers. This was a bracket. Yet it became one of the most recognizable media feature events from Obama’s first year. The original bracket, with Obama’s signature, now hangs in the ESPN Café.
BARACK OBAMA:
Coach K wasn’t too pleased with my pick of UNC a couple years ago, but it was all in good fun. Of course, I have to point out that I got it right. Coach K had the last laugh, though. He won it the next year. And I think he enjoyed coming to the White House and reminding me not to make the same mistake again.
I have