by James Andrew Miller and Tom Shales
Little, Brown and Company
Hardcover
I just finished this 700+ page book and I thoroughly enjoyed it. Written in an "as told by" style instead of a narrative, this book fills in ALL the blanks on a sports fan's questionnaire on the inner workings of the 24/7/265 sports network.
Reading the comments from former employees as well as current ones, the love, anger, respect, rivalry and fun of working at ESPN are very apparent. There are many sports fan who would give anything to work there and this is the closest most of us will ever come. It is not surprising to hear that it is like many workplaces: full of rivalries, jealousy, unfair promotions and, at times, bad management. Being a male-dominated workplace, the ugly beast of sexual harassment has reared its head from time to time, and this is handled pretty thoroughly in the book.
This is a great read for any sports fan who wants to know more about the behind the scenes story of the genesis, development and success of ESPN. Among the personalities interviewed for the book: Mitch Albom, Erin Andrews, Lance Armstrong, Michelle Beadle (my current crush), Chris Berman, Linda Cohn, Bob Costas, Colin Cowherd, Peter Gammons, Tony Hawk, Craig Kilborn, Suzy Kolber, Tony Kornheiser, Andrea Kremer, Bob Ley, Barack Obama, Keith Olbermann, Dan Patrick, Robin Roberts, Stuart Scott, Charley Steiner, Mike Tirico and Michael Wilbon.
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