Those Guys Have All the Fun - James Andrew Miller [394]
We worried about allowing LeBron to manage the process, but Ari said that Jim Gray had brought him the idea and he wasn’t going to cut Jim Gray loose. And we ultimately agreed with that, because this was big enough news.
Look, I did the deal, this is a fault of mine. I was responsible for putting it together and then I turned it over and let those other guys execute it. Whether it’s a fault of not being enough of a hands-on manager for all things, at least the rationalization I made in my mind is “I’ve got a lot going on.”
George was in the loop and approved of the general concept. He had a good level of understanding of the issues.
JIM GRAY:
We never had one conversation about money. I never asked for a dollar, never negotiated for a dollar, never took a dollar. I believe ESPN was asked to pay me, and they said, “Jim’s coming as part of the package; we’re not paying him.” I was told two days before the interview that I was booked with ESPN travel. I have the e-mails. ESPN did pay my expenses.
After the show, I never heard one negative word from ESPN. Not one. I had a meeting with John Skipper, and he told me we got the highest rating in the history of the network other than the NFL. Only two other shows beat us: the USC–Ohio State football game, and Mark McGwire’s sixty-first home run. So my interview was the highest-rated studio show in the history of their network.
I worked for this. I created this. I came up with the concept. Maverick Carter and Ari Emanuel are two of the most stand-up, honorable, loyal people I’ve been engaged with in television, in all my thirty-five years. When ESPN wanted to replace me and throw me under the bus, they stood firm and said, “No, Jim Gray is with us, he gave us the idea, he is tied to this, and we’re not going to change.”
I had the first interview with Kobe after the sexual allegations. I had the first interview with Mike Tyson after the ear biting—it won an Emmy—and I had the first interview with him after he got out of prison; it got tremendous critical acclaim. I had Ron Artest after he went into the stands. I’m the only guy who Barry Bonds sat down and talked to after he broke Hank Aaron’s record and after he broke Babe Ruth’s record. I did the first interview that Tiger Woods gave when he was eight years old: “When I grow up, I’m going to win all the majors and beat all the pros.” It was turned into a very famous and memorable commercial. Okay? There isn’t a track record like this in sports, so all of these guys who were dismissive and say, “Why him? He’s this, he’s that, he’s a sideline reporter,” they have no idea. They’re all jealous. Jealousy is a horrible thing.
GEORGE BODENHEIMER:
This was a pretty unique moment in time, with a rare set of circumstances. It was not, as some suggested, a model for any future efforts, and we were pretty clear about that in our public statements. Consistently trying new things has helped to define our culture—and our success—over the years. Being first, and then learning and evolving, is also one of our hallmarks, and that’s what we did here. I have never been one to overreact to criticism. It comes with the territory.
As of New Year’s Day 2011, ESPN had signed agreements for coverage with the NFL (through 2013), Major League Baseball (also through 2013), the NBA (through 2016), and NASCAR (through 2013), in addition to BCS championships and twelve hundred college men’s basketball games via NCAA basketball and football. The World Cup was added, with tremendous fanfare, in 2010, and ESPN also got the rights to air games from England’s Barclays Premier League. Ever at one with “the curve,” if not well ahead of it, the company added ESPN3 (originally called ESPN360) for broadband users, and as of October 2010, the only stand-alone news site to elicit more clicks was the BBC. When ESPN introduced a SportsCenter iPad app in 2010, it was quickly downloaded by ten million users, 95 percent of whom personally customized it.
And while the broadcast