Press Box Access: A Sports History Podcast

You can almost hear a crackling campfire as Art Thiel shares stories from his nearly 50 years of writing about sports. Art takes us deep into his home base of Seattle, off to foreign lands for the Olympics, and into a trashed casino after Mike Tyson chomped Evander Holyfield’s ear. Hear about a young Bill Walton, the volatile SuperSonics of George Karl, and how the 1995 Mariners saved baseball in Seattle. Art recalls his years of covering Ken Griffey Jr. and Lou Piniella with humor and insight. We learn about his unique vantage point from an NBA media seat created by a team owner who wanted him arrested. Oh, and there’s a story about beer, bread, and kangaroos. Seriously. Thiel knows all the rings in the sports tree of the Pacific Northwest, where he has been a professional journalist since 1975, including 29 years as columnist at the Seattle Post-Intelligencer. He covered numerous Olympics, Super Bowls, and World Series after joining the P-I in 1980 and serving as the Post-Intelligencer’s sports columnist from ’87 until the print edition died in 2009. Art continued writing for the paper’s website until 2010, when he left to become co-founder, president and columnist at Sportspress Northwest. He spent 12 years writing for SportsPressNW.com – which focused on Seattle’s pro teams and University of Washington sports – until that website stopped publishing in 2022. Art now writes for PostAlley.org, a Seattle-centric website. Art’s career began at the Bellevue (Wash.) Journal-American after he graduated in 1975 with a communications degree at Pacific Lutheran University, where he played basketball. He then moved to The News Tribune in Tacoma, Washington, where he grew up, before becoming a mainstay at the Seattle Post-Intelligencer in 1980. Thiel was also a well-known radio sports commentator on the Seattle NPR affiliate KPLU-FM, on ESPN 710 Seattle, and on KNKX. He wrote the definitive book about the Seattle Mariners, “Out of Left Field,” which became a regional bestseller. Art is also co-author of “Russel Wilson: Standing Tall” and co-author of “The Great Book of Seattle Sports Lists.” You can follow him on X: @Art_Thiel Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Diane Pucin recalls with pride and joy how the sports calendar served as the rhythm of her life for nearly 40 years. Bob Knight throwing a chair. Jimmy Connors sending the U.S. Open crowd into a frenzy. The distinct sound of Pete Sampras’ racquet when he hit a tennis ball. An emotional Dan Jansen finally winning a gold medal. Nancy Kerrigan and Tonya Harding going full soap opera. Pucin tells us what it was like to be at these moments and chronicle them. She also discusses breaking barriers for female sports journalists. Shame on Jim Fregosi. And Diane shares her 9/11 experience, including what nearly happened to her on that horrific morning. Pucin covered multiple Olympics, Super Bowls, Final Fours, World Series, all four major tennis tournaments, college football bowl games, and the Tour de France. She was a sports columnist, sports media critic, and an Olympic and tennis writer for the Los Angeles Times from 1998 to 2014. She had previously worked 12 years at the Philadelphia Inquirer, where from 1986 to ’98, she covered Olympics, college basketball, tennis and became a columnist. That paper nominated her coverage of the Barcelona Olympics for the Pulitzer Prize. In Philly, she also won awards for column writing and a first-place award from the Associated Press Sports Editors for a game story. From 1978 to ’86, Diane worked at the Louisville Courier-Journal, where she was a beat reporter on Indiana University football and basketball. She also was a sports reporter at the Cincinnati Post, as well as the Columbus (Ga.) Enquirer. Pucin graduated from Marquette University in 1976.   Follow her on X: @DianePucin Fun fact: Diane’s husband, Dan Weber, is a longtime sportswriter and was my first professional editor in 1987 at the Kentucky Post in Covington, Ky. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Part 2 of my conversation with Charles Pierce continues with more discussion about basketball icon Larry Bird. Pierce, lead political writer for Esquire, also shares in this second of two episodes why covering the NBA in the 1980s was a highlight of his nearly 50 years of writing about sports. He provides anecdotes about Tom Brady and Bill Belichick that illuminate their grand NFL partnership. Pierce recalls the crazy and memorable days at The National Sports Daily. And he breaks down how he reported and wrote his famous GQ magazine profile of the young Tiger Woods. Make sure to check out part 1 with Pierce. In that first episode, we discussed bars, Bird, Bill Buckner’s error, Ben Johnson’s drug scandal, and 1980s Big East basketball: https://evergreenpodcasts.com/press-box-access/charles-pierce-part-1-they-rolled-the-champagne-out-of-the-red-soxs-locker-room#episodeContent Pierce has been the lead political writer for Esquire since September 2011. He worked nine years for the Boston Globe as a reporter, sports columnist and staff writer for that paper’s Sunday magazine starting in 2002. He had previously been a sports columnist for the Boston Herald. Pierce left the Globe in 2011 to join Esquire fulltime after having been a contributing writer for that magazine since 1997. He was a feature writer and columnist for The National Sports Daily in 1990 and ’91. His articles on sports and politics have also appeared in GQ, Sports Illustrated, the New York Times Magazine, the Los Angeles Times Magazine, The Nation, The Atlantic American Prospect, Slate, the Chicago Tribune, ESPN’s Grantland, the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel, and the Media Matters blog Altercation. Pierce has made appearances on ESPN’s “Around the Horn” and often co-hosted NESN’s “Globe 10.0” with Bob Ryan. Pierce was a longtime regular panelist on the NPR quiz show “Wait Wait . . . Don’t Tell Me!” and has made appearances on the NPR program “Only A Game.” The Massachusetts native began his journalism career in 1976 at his hometown Worcester Magazine before moving to Boston two years later to write for the alternative publication, The Phoenix. In 2018, the United States Basketball Writers Association inducted Pierce into its Hall of Fame. He won a National Headliners Aware in 2004 for his Boston Globe Magazine piece, “Deconstructing Ted.” He has been named a finalist for the Associated Press Sports Editors’ award for best column writing on several occasions. Many of his stories have been featured in the annual compilation, “Best American Sportswriting.” Pierce was a 1996 National Magazine Award finalist for his piece on Alzheimer’s disease, “In the Country of My Disease.” He was awarded third place in the Pro Basketball Writers Association’s Dan S. Blumenthal Memorial Writing Contest. Pierce is the author of four books: · “Idiot America: How Stupidity Became a Virtue In The Land Of The Free” · “Moving the Chains: Tom Brady and the Pursuit of Everything” · “Sports Guy: In Search of Corkball, Warroad Hockey, Hooters Golf, Tiger Woods, and the Big, Big Game” · “Hard to Forget: An Alzheimer’s Story” Pierce earned a degree in journalism from Marquette University in 1975. His alma mater honored him with a “2021 Alumni National Award – Byline Award,” to which Pierce responded: “I’d like to think that my getting this award might encourage students who don’t feel like they fit in and show them that this profession still values ferocious eccentricity.” Here’s a link to Pierce’s political blog for Esquire: https://www.esquire.com/news-politics/politics/ You can follow him on X at: @CharlesPPierce Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Charles Pierce takes time away from his job as lead political writer for Esquire to reflect on his nearly 50 years of experiences as a sportswriter. In this part 1 of a 2-part episode, Pierce recalls covering Bill Buckner’s error, Ben Johnson’s drug scandal at the Seoul Olympics, and the rollicking days of Big East basketball in the 1980s. He also provides insight into Larry Bird as a person and basketball icon. Oh, and we discuss bars, too. Sportswriters understand.   Part 2 of my conversation with Pierce will be published on Nov. 8 and include more stories about Bird and discussion about Tiger Woods, Tom Brady, Bill Belichick, the NBA of the 1980s and early ’90s, the National Sports Daily, and other tales.   Pierce has been the lead political writer for Esquire since September 2011. He worked nine years for the Boston Globe as a reporter, sports columnist and staff writer for that paper’s Sunday magazine starting in 2002. He had previously been a sports columnist for the Boston Herald. Pierce left the Globe in 2011 to join Esquire fulltime after having been a contributing writer for that magazine since 1997. He was a feature writer and columnist for The National Sports Daily in 1990 and ’91. His articles on sports and politics have also appeared in GQ, Sports Illustrated, the New York Times Magazine, the Los Angeles Times Magazine, The Nation, The Atlantic American Prospect, Slate, the Chicago Tribune, ESPN’s Grantland, the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel, and the Media Matters blog Altercation. Pierce has made appearances on ESPN’s “Around the Horn” and often co-hosted NESN’s “Globe 10.0” with Bob Ryan. Pierce was a longtime regular panelist on the NPR quiz show “Wait Wait . . . Don’t Tell Me!” and has made appearances on the NPR program “Only A Game.” The Massachusetts native began his journalism career in 1976 at his hometown Worcester Magazine before moving to Boston two years later to write for the alternative publication, The Phoenix.   In 2018, the United States Basketball Writers Association inducted Pierce into its Hall of Fame. He won a National Headliners Aware in 2004 for his Boston Globe Magazine piece, “Deconstructing Ted.” He has been named a finalist for the Associated Press Sports Editors’ award for best column writing on several occasions. Many of his stories have been featured in the annual compilation, “Best American Sportswriting.” Pierce was a 1996 National Magazine Award finalist for his piece on Alzheimer’s disease, “In the Country of My Disease.” He was awarded third place in the Pro Basketball Writers Association’s Dan S. Blumenthal Memorial Writing Contest.    Pierce is the author of four books:   · “Idiot America: How Stupidity Became a Virtue In The Land Of The Free” · “Moving the Chains: Tom Brady and the Pursuit of Everything” · “Sports Guy: In Search of Corkball, Warroad Hockey, Hooters Golf, Tiger Woods, and the Big, Big Game” · “Hard to Forget: An Alzheimer’s Story”   Pierce earned a degree in journalism from Marquette University in 1975. His alma mater honored him with a “2021 Alumni National Award – Byline Award,” to which Pierce responded: “I’d like to think that my getting this award might encourage students who don’t feel like they fit in and show them that this profession still values ferocious eccentricity.”   Here’s a link to Pierce’s political blog for Esquire: https://www.esquire.com/news-politics/politics/   You can follow him on X at: @CharlesPPierce Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Terence Moore joins us again to share more stories from his 45 years as a ground-breaking and award-winning sports journalist. He takes us behind the scenes of his encounters with Paul Brown, Woody Hayes, Ara Parseghian, John McVay, Walter Alston and other legends who are featured in Moore’s new book, “Red Brick Magic: Sean McVay, John Harbaugh and Miami University's Cradle of Coaches."    This is Moore’s second appearance on Press Box Access. Check out his first episode with us from Aug. 18, 2021 when Terence discussed challenges that he faced in breaking down racial barriers in sports media, being a pallbearer at Hank Aaron’s funeral, covering the epic Marvin Hagler-Thomas Hearns brawl, watching Billy Martin trash his office, and more. You can listen to that first episode here:   https://evergreenpodcasts.com/press-box-access/terence-moore-you-could-almost-feel-the-punches#episodeContent   Moore has covered 30 Super Bowls, numerous World Series and NBA Finals games, Final Fours, several Indianapolis 500, Daytona 500 and other auto races, major prize fights and golf tournaments, college football bowl games and more. In 1999, he was honored by the National Association of Black Journalists for ranking as the longest-running black sports columnist in the history of major newspapers. Terence currently works as a national columnist for Forbes.com, writes opinion pieces for CNN.com, and is a contributor to ESPN.com, MLB.com and MSNBC.com. He also does work for the NFL Network, has a YouTube channel called Atlanta Sports Unlimited, and makes TV appearances every week on Sports Zone Sunday for the local ABC affiliate in Atlanta, the most-watched ABC affiliate in the country. That’s the city’s top-rated sports show. His national TV appearances include a guest spot on The Oprah Winfrey Show, regular commentaries on CNN-SI, and five years as a panelist on ESPN’s Rome is Burning. Terence spent 25 years as a general sports columnist for the Atlanta-Journal Constitution before becoming a national sports columnist for AOL Sports in 2009. He later served as a national columnist for SportsonEarth.com. Before moving to Atlanta in January 1985, Terence spent five years as a reporter at the San Francisco Examiner, where he covered the San Francisco Giants, the Oakland Raiders, the Oakland Athletics and the San Francisco 49ers. That followed three years as a sports reporter at the Cincinnati Enquirer, which hired him eight days after he graduated from Miami (Ohio) University in 1978. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Sheldon Ocker reflects on more than four decades of being a sportswriter in northeast Ohio with his customary wit and dry sense of humor. He takes into the clubhouse and behind the scenes during his 33 seasons of covering Major League Baseball in Cleveland for the Akron Beacon Journal. The Hall of Fame writer shares anecdotes from when the then-Indians were miserable in the 1980s and from when they morphed into memorable mashers in the ’90s. Hear about the time Albert Belle raced Ocker in their rental cars, about Manny Ramirez asking him for a $60,000 loan, and about what pitch call Jose Mesa shook off in the ninth inning of Game 7 of the 1997 World Series. Sheldon also has some great tales from his 10 years of covering the NBA as a Cavaliers beat reporter in the 1970s. His story about a day spent with infamous Cavs owner Ted Stepien is one of the best we’ve heard in nearly 70 episodes.   Ocker was honored with the J.G. Taylor Spink Award for meritorious contributions to baseball writing. He was presented with that award in July 2018 at the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum's induction in Cooperstown, N.Y. Besides his stellar reporting, Ocker was known for rarely taking a day off during a season when he covered baseball from 1981 until his retirement after the 2013 season. Sheldon was named the Ohio Sports Writer of the Year in 1997 and 2000 by the National Sportscasters and Sportswriters Association. He served as the president of the Baseball Writers’ Assocation of America in 1985 and as chair of the Cleveland chapter 11 times. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Filip Bondy describes his four decades as a sportswriter as being “crazy, stupid, frustrating, wonderful and a wild ride.” This episode explains why. Fights between writers. Lou Piniella flipping the bird. The Pine Tar Game’s connection to Rush Limbaugh. Billy Martin at his worst. John McEnroe relaying a message for Howard Cosell. Spying on Bernard King. Riding shotgun with Hubie Brown. Travel horror stories. The British press at Wimbledon. An infamous Olympic question. Nancy and Tonya. A mugging near Shea. Oh, and that rental car and . . . a portable toilet. The Associated Press Sports Editors named Bondy one of the top ten sports columnists in America during a career that took him to 48 states, 40 countries, six continents and regular assignments at the Olympics, World Cup and Wimbledon. He also covered the Super Bowl and World Series multiple times, as well as several NBA and Stanley Cup finals. Besides being a columnist, he was a beat writer on local Major League Baseball, NBA and NHL teams for four different newspapers in the New York City market. Bondy spent two stints at the New York Daily News, first from 1983 to ’91, and then as a regular columnist from 1993 until 2015. In-between, he worked two years at the New York Times, primarily as an Olympic and hockey writer. His career began in 1973 as a City Hall reporter, theatre critic and basketball writer for the Paterson (N.J.) News. After leaving to earn his M.A. in Communications at the University of Pennsylvania ’76, Bondy returned to the Paterson News in 1976 as a sportswriter. Four years later, he joined The Record of Hackensack, N.J., where he covered baseball and basketball until moving to the Daily News for the first time in 1983. Bondy is the author or co-author of eight books: “The Pine Tar Game: The Kansas City Royals, the New York Yankees, and Baseball's Most Absurd and Entertaining Controversy” “Tip-Off: How the 1984 NBA Draft Changed Basketball Forever” “The Selling of the Green: The Financial Rise and Moral Decline of the Boston Celtics” – co-author of Harvey Araton “Who's on Worst?: The Lousiest Players, Biggest Cheaters, Saddest Goats and Other Antiheroes in Baseball History” “Bleeding Pinstripes: A Season with the Bleacher Creatures at Yankee Stadium “Dreams of Gold” – co-author with Wayne Coffey “Chasing the Game: America and the Quest for the World Cup” “The World Cup: Players, Coaches, History and Excitement” You can follow Filip on X: @filipbondy. His son, Stefan Bondy, currently covers the New York Knicks for the New York Daily News. @SBondyNYDN Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Geoff Calkins takes us to Memphis, where he has been a high-profile fixture in the sports media scene for 27 years. He tells us about the indefatigable Hubie Brown, a voicemail from the volatile Jerry West, and what the view was like from atop John Calipari’s enemies list. Geoff explains the torture of writing on deadline at an overtime NCAA championship game. He recalls his struggles as a baseball beat reporter and what it was like to cover a Mike Tyson heavyweight championship fight. And he shares a tale involving exotic food at an Olympics. Oh my. Geoff also explains how his childhood leukemia led to writing, and why sports journalism lured him out of a career in law. Calkins has been named the best sports columnist in the country four times by the Associated Press Sports Editors and is a member of the Scripps Howard Hall of Fame. He recently moved to general news columnist at The Daily Memphian, where he had been writing a sports column since 2018 after spending the previous 22 years as the sports columnist for the Commercial Appeal in Memphis. He still hosts “The Geoff Calkins Show,” his sports radio program since 2010, five days a week. His 2016 book, “After the Jump,” chronicles how the Memphis sports scene grew over two decades. Before moving to Memphis, Calkins covered the Florida Marlins for the Sun-Sentinel of South Florida from 1994-96, and he was a high school sports reporter at the Anniston Star in Alabama for two years. Geoff had previously been a clerk in the U.S. Court of Appeals, D.C. Circuit, and a labor and employment attorney in Washington D.C. Switching from a law career to sports writing at age 31 eventually took Calkins to eight Olympics, multiple Super Bowls, World Series, and Masters golf tournaments. He has won various journalism awards, including a first-place honor in the 2022 APSE contest for a feature story looking back 20 years at Tyson’s loss to Lennox Lewis in Memphis. Calkins graduated from Harvard in 1983 and from Harvard Law in ’87. He served as editor-in-chief for the school’s paper, The Harvard Independent, and worked summer internships for Time Life and the Miami Herald. He earned a master’s degree from Columbia University’s School of Journalism. Calkins grew up outside Buffalo, New York as the eighth of nine children. You can follow him on X: @geoff_calkins Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

We trek into the Pacific Northwest and catch up with John McGrath about his 40 years of writing about sports. He puts us in Dodger Stadium for Kirk Gibson’s famous home run and recounts other deadline horrors. We’re on the field for The Drive, and with John as he stumbles unexpectedly into memorable Olympic moments. He recalls time with a young Michael Jordan, John Elway in his prime, and Bo Jackson playing baseball. Hear about John butting heads with Ken Griffey Jr., and how a magic run by the Mariners saved baseball in Seattle. Oh, and John shares his reaction behind the keyboard as the Seahawks lined up to pass from the one with a Super Bowl on the line. McGrath was the sports columnist at the Tacoma News Tribune from 1991 until his retirement in 2018. He was a fixture in Seattle, 45 minutes away, and at national and international sporting events. John covered six Olympics and a slew of World Series, Super Bowls, All-Star Games, Final Fours, and championship boxing matches. Prior to his 27 years in Tacoma, McGrath was a columnist, based in Chicago, for the National Sports Daily from 1989 until that paper folded in 1991. Before that, he was a sports columnist for the Denver Post from 1984-89. John was a general assignment sports reporter at the Atlanta Journal-Constitution from 1981-84 after working a year at the Clarion-Ledger in Jackson, Mississippi. His journalism career began at the Columbia Daily Tribune in Missouri in 1978-79. John is a native of Elmhurst, Illinois, outside Chicago. He graduated from the University of Missouri in 1976. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Peter King enters his 40th year of covering the NFL by sharing tales from his distinguished career. He recalls giving a car ride to rookie Boomer Esiason, being questioned by Bill Parcells as a young reporter, and watching an old movie at the home of Brett Favre. Peter tells us about being around Lawrence Taylor daily and what made L.T. special. Hear how Mike Holmgren granted King unlimited access to the Packers for a week. And Peter talks about owning up to mistakes like the one he made while reporting on Deflategate, how he has balanced working relationships with sources, and much more. King is a prolific NFL analyst for NBC Sports, which he joined in 2018 after 29 years of covering professional football for Sports Illustrated. He has been named national sportswriter of the year three times (2010, ’12, and ’13) in a vote of his peers by the National Sports Media Association. Peter has been a member of the Board of Selectors for the Pro Football Hall of Fame since 1992 and he became a Hall of Famer himself in 2009 when the Pro Football Writers of America named him recipient of the Dick McCann Memorial Award. Peter writes a Monday morning NFL column each week for NBCSports.com, makes weekly appearances on “Pro Football Talk Live” with Mike Florio, and, as he has since the station’s Sunday night studio show debuted in 2006, contributes to “Football Night in America.” He also appears on “The NFL on NBC” YouTube Channel and hosts “The Peter King Podcast.” In addition to his pro football responsibilities, King reports on NBC Sports’ high-profile events, including the 2020 Tokyo Olympics. The nearly three decades King spent at Sports Illustrated were highlighted by the widely popular “Monday Morning Quarterback” column that he wrote from 1997 through 2018. The column morphed into “The MMQ,” a pro football microsite for which he also served as editor-in-chief, overseeing a staff of reporters during his final five years at SI. Besides appearances as an NFL insider on NBC, King has worked on television for the HBO show “Inside the NFL” as a managing editor and reporter, was a halftime correspondent on ABC’s “Monday Night Football,” and served as an NFL reporter for CNN. After an internship at the Associated Press, King’s career began in 1980 with a five-year stint at the Cincinnati Enquirer, mostly as a general assignment reporter before taking on the Bengals’ beat in 1984. A year later, he moved to Newsday, where he covered the New York Giants until leaving to join Sports Illustrated in ’89. King earned a bachelor of science degree from Ohio University’s E. W. Scripps School of journalism in 1979. He was born in Springfield, Mass., and grew up in Enfield, Conn. Follow him on Twitter: @peter_king Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This is the second and final part of my conversation with the great storyteller Patrick Reusse, who looks back with humor and irreverence at his 60 years covering Minnesota sports. He takes us on journeys to small towns throughout his home state, recalls the world champion Twins managed by Tom Kelly, and puts us there when Roger Staubach’s Hail Mary Pass caused a whiskey bottle to fly. The longtime sports columnist for the Minneapolis Star Tribune and a member of the Minnesota Broadcasting Hall of Fame also recounts the heat and humor in an epic rant by Vikings coach Jerry Burns. And Pat talks about contrition and lessons learned in his coming around to appreciate women’s athletics. Reusse, 77, is senior columnist for the Star Tribune and is also the host of two popular podcasts: "Reusse Unchained" and "Monday Night Sports Talk with Patrick Reusse and Joe Soucheray." Patrick’s newspaper career started in 1963 as a copy boy for the Minneapolis Morning Tribune. Two years later, he began writing for the Duluth News-Tribune and Herald, then quickly moved to the St. Cloud Times. In 1968, Reusse joined the St. Paul Pioneer Press, where he went on to cover the Twins from 1974-78 before serving as that paper’s sports columnist for nine years, beginning in 1979. He moved to the Star Tribune in 1988 as sports columnist. The native of Fulda, Minnesota also became a fixture in Twin Cities talk radio and television. He was inducted into the Minnesota Broadcasting Hall of Fame in 2019. Patrick has done radio and podcast work with KSTP-1500 since 1980, when he partnered with Soucheray on “Sunday Night Sports Talk.” They shared the airwaves together or independently on “Sports Talk” in various forms nearly every year since. Patrick also hosted “Reusse & Company” for that station (2009-10) and co-hosted “Reusse & Mackey” with Phil Mackey from 2010-14. His show “The Ride with Reusse” appeared weekdays from 2014 until September 2018. Reusse began his radio career at KFAM-AM in St. Cloud in the mid-1960s, Reusse was also a 20-year panelist on “The Sports Show,” which aired on WUCW-TV, Fox Sports North, and Victory Sports One. Other panelists included Hartman, Mike Max, and George Chappel, better known by his nickname Dark Star. Books: · “Tales from the Minnesota Sports Beat: A Lifetime on Deadline.” - Co-authored with Chip Scoggins. Dan Barreiro (foreword). · “Tony Oliva: The Life and Times of a Minnesota Twins Legend” – by Thom Henninger. Reusse (foreword). · “Minnesota Vikings: The Complete Illustrated History” – by Reusse. Amy Klobuchar (afterword) · “Sid! The Sports Legends, the Inside Scoops, and the Close Personal Friends” – co-authored with Sid Hartman · “Minnesota Twins: The Complete Illustrated History” – co-authored with Dennis Brackin and Harmon Killebrew · “Minnesota Sports Almanac” – by Joel A. Rippel. Reusse (foreword). · “Michael Jordan Super Sports Stars Series (Stars of the Court series)” – by Reusse Follow him on Twitter: @Patrick_Reusse Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This is part 1 of a rollicking two-part conversation with Patrick Reusse, longtime sports columnist for the Minneapolis Star Tribune and a member of the Minnesota Broadcasting Hall of Fame. Reusse looks back at his 60 years covering Minnesota sports in his engaging, irreverent, and self-deprecating style. In this first episode, he recalls Glen Sonmor’s hockey goons, offers his classic explanation to Vikings general manager Mike Lynn about his philosophy for covering the team, and tells us how the idea for his Turkey of the Year Awards column originated and grew into a much-anticipated Thanksgiving tradition. Patrick provides some humorous tales, as well as a poignant moment with Gene Mauch, from his years as a baseball beat writer covering the Twins. Reusse also goes deep into his complicated relationship with Sid Hartman, another Minnesota media legend who was still working at age 100 when he died in 2020.   Reusse, 77, is senior columnist for the Star Tribune and is also the host of two popular podcasts: "Reusse Unchained" and "Monday Night Sports Talk with Patrick Reusse and Joe Soucheray." Patrick’s newspaper career started in 1963 as a copyboy for the Minneapolis Morning Tribune. Two years later, he began writing for the Duluth News-Tribune and Herald, then quickly moved to the St. Cloud Times. In 1968, Reusse joined the St. Paul Pioneer Press, where he went on to cover the Twins from 1974-78 before serving as that paper’s sports columnist for nine years, beginning in 1979. He moved to the Star Tribune in 1988 as sports columnist. The native of Fulda, Minnesota also became a fixture in Twin Cities talk radio and television. He was inducted into the Minnesota Broadcasting Hall of Fame in 2019.   Patrick has done radio and podcast work with KSTP-1500 since 1980, when he partnered with Soucheray on “Sunday Night Sports Talk.” They shared the airwaves together or independently on “Sports Talk” in various forms nearly every year since. Patrick also hosted “Reusse & Company” for that station (2009-10) and co-hosted “Reusse & Mackey” with Phil Mackey from 2010-14. His show “The Ride with Reusse” appeared weekdays from 2014 until September 2018. Reusse began his radio career at KFAM-AM in St. Cloud in the mid-1960s,   Reusse was also a 20-year panelist on “The Sports Show,” which aired on WUCW-TV, Fox Sports North, and Victory Sports One. Other panelists included Hartman, Mike Max, and George Chappel, better known by his nickname Dark Star.   Books: · “Tales from the Minnesota Sports Beat: A Lifetime on Deadline.” - Co-authored with Chip Scoggins. Dan Barreiro (foreword). · “Tony Oliva: The Life and Times of a Minnesota Twins Legend” – by Thom Henninger. Reusse (foreword). · “Minnesota Vikings: The Complete Illustrated History” – by Reusse. Amy Klobuchar (afterword) · “Sid! The Sports Legends, the Inside Scoops, and the Close Personal Friends” – co-authored with Sid Hartman · “Minnesota Twins: The Complete Illustrated History” – co-authored with Dennis Brackin and Harmon Killebrew · “Minnesota Sports Almanac” – by Joel A. Rippel. Reusse (foreword). · “Michael Jordan Super Sports Stars Series (Stars of the Court series)” – by Reusse   Follow him on Twitter: @Patrick_Reusse Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Liz Clarke looks back on her “accidental career” as a sportswriter with the same thoughtfulness she always put into her stellar work. Much of our conversation focuses on NASCAR legend Dale Earnhardt. Hear how she gained his trust in part by not being in awe of him, how his tough-guy exterior hid a soft heart, and how covering his death in the 2001 Daytona 500 shook Liz. She takes us along for “pinch-me moments” – such as the crowd’s emotional response to seeing Nelson Mandela at the 2010 World Cup in South Africa – from years of traveling the globe for The Washington Post. And we talk about the stress, the challenges, and the special camaraderie shared in a job that captured her heart amid sport’s wide range of emotions.   Clarke retired in April 2023 after 37 years as a reporter, the last 25 of them at The Washington Post, where she focused on enterprise stories, the Olympics, college sports, auto racing, and tennis. She also spent eight seasons covering Washington's NFL team and the scandals surrounding team owner Dan Snyder. Liz covered nine Summer and Winter Olympics, three World Cups, multiple Super Bowls, NCAA Tournament Final Fours, more than a dozen Daytona 500s, a half-dozen Indianapolis 500s, Wimbledon, the French Open, and thoroughbred racing’s Preakness and Belmont Stakes.   Before joining The Washington Post in 1998, Liz worked as a sportswriter at USA Today, the Dallas Morning News and The Charlotte Observer. She covered NASCAR for those three newspapers, and she is the author of the 2008 book, "One Helluva Ride: How NASCAR Swept the Nation." Liz was twice named National Motorsports Writer of the Year, in 1996 an ’98. Her other honors and awards include best sports feature in 2017 from the Society of Features Journalism, and best game story from the Associated Press Sports Editors in 2009.   Clarke began her career as a news reporter for the Raleigh (NC) News & Observer, covering higher education. She earned a BA in history at Barnard College, Columbia University; and the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, graduate studies in journalism. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Thom Loverro says boxing has the best stories, and he shares some favorites from many years inside the fight game. He takes us to Muhammad Ali’s training camp, puts us ringside for Mike Tyson’s ear chomp, and takes us behind the scenes on the day Riddick Bowe defends his heavyweight title. Hear about Las Vegas, George Foreman’s power and preaching, and the wisdom of trainer Eddie Futch. Thom also shares moments from other sports he has covered, including memorable baseball highs and lows involving Cal Ripken Jr. and Roberto Alomar. In 2019, Loverro was honored with the Nat Fleischer Award for lifetime achievement in boxing journalism by the Boxing Writers Association of America. Three years earlier, he was inducted into the Washington, D.C. Boxing Hall of Fame. Thom has been featured on several HBO Legendary Nights programs and ESPN's Sports Classics about boxing. He has covered numerous world championship fights over the past three decades, as well as three Olympics, the World Series, the NFL, NBA, and NHL playoffs. In 2005, Thom was one of just three sportswriters to be invited to the Oval Office in The White House to interview President Bush about baseball. Loverro has won more than 40 national, regional, and local journalism awards, including an honor from the Associated Press Sports Editors association for his 2014 article in which he revealed, through the Freedom of Information Act, that the FBI believed the first Sonny Liston-Cassius Clay fight was fixed. Thom was voted Maryland Sportswriter of the Year in 2009 by the National Sportscasters and Sportswriters Association. His other honors include first place in the National Society of Newspaper Columnists and being named best sports columnist in the Virginia Press Association competition three times. Loverro’s journalism career began in 1977. After working for a couple of small newspapers in Pennsylvania, he a joined the Baltimore Sun in 1984. There, he spent eight years as a news editor and reporter, covering crime, politics, and government. Thom moved to sports in 1992 when The Washington Times hired him to cover the then-Redskins. A year later, he switched to baseball and served three seasons as the paper’s beat writer on the Baltimore Orioles. The Washington Examiner hired Thom as a sports columnist in 2009. Four years later, he returned to The Washington Times, where he remains the lead sports columnist. He is co-host of The Kevin Sheehan Show podcast. Check out past episodes of Loverro’s “Cigars & Curveballs” podcast, which featured guests such as Ripken; Foreman, Larry Holmes, Sugar Ray Leonard, Joe Theismann, Dusty Baker, and the creator of “The Wire,” David Simon. Loverro is the author of 11 books: · Washington Redskins: The Authorized History (1996) · Home of the Game: The Story of Camden Yards (1999) · Cammi Granato: Hockey Pioneer (2000) · The Quotable Coach (2002) · The Encyclopedia of Negro League Baseball (2003) · The John Mackey Story, Blazing Trails: Coming of Age in Football's Golden Era (2003) · Oriole Magic: The O's of '83 (2004) · Hail Victory: An Oral History of the Washington Redskins (2006) · The Rise and Fall of Extreme Championship Wrestling (2006) · Eagles Essential (2006) · Orioles Essential (2007) Loverro received a Bachelor of Science degree in Liberal Studies from the University of Scranton and a master's degree in Journalism and Public Affairs from American University in Washington. He has taught journalism courses at Georgetown University, Towson State University, and American University. Follow him on Twitter: @thomloverro Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Sit down, strap in and go for a thrill ride with Al Pearce as he recounts more than five decades of writing about motorsports, particularly NASCAR. Al talks about his early days around stock car racing and how he’s covered 54 consecutive Daytona 500s. He puts us alongside iconic drivers such as Richard Petty and Dale Earnhardt Sr., and he recalls the courage and persistence of Wendell Scott, the first African-American driver to race full-time in NASCAR. Al also takes us to Montreal for Formula One racing, and he discusses how all drivers deal with the danger of their profession.   Pearce has covered thousands of races of all types: NASCAR, IndyCar, Formula One, NHRA and IHRA drag racing, APBA powerboats, SCCA, international sports cars and weekly short-track races. Motorsports has taken him to 50 states and a half-dozen countries on assignment including Japan, Australia, Mexico, Canada, and Le Mans, France. Al covered motorsports for the Times-Herald and Daily Press in Newport News, Virginia from 1969 until his retirement in 2004. He is still a NASCAR contributing editor for Autoweek magazine, which he has written for since 1973. Besides racing, Al also wrote about professional, college and high school sports throughout his 35 years in newspapers.   The Media Wing of the International Motorsports Hall of Fame at Talladega, Ala. Inducted Pearce in 2003. That same year, he received the Henry McLemore Award, the highest recognition for a motorsport journalist. He’s also been honored by Langley Speedway, Pocono Raceway, Martinsville Speedway, and by the Peninsula Sports Club. Al won eight Virginia Press Association Awards, and he’s a member of the Virginia Sports Hall of Fame.   Pearce has written 16 books about motorsports. “NASCAR 75 Years” is his latest. It was co-authored with Mike Hembree and published in April 2023. Al is a native of Rocky Mount, Virginia, graduated from Presbyterian College, and served in the Vietnam war as an officer before beginning his journalism career in 1969. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Wendell Barnhouse recalls the pressure of trying to find the right words in the immediate aftermath of the famous Duke-Kentucky basketball game. The overwhelming magnitude felt on press row at that 1992 NCAA tournament classic still lingers. That’s one of many anecdotes Wendell shares in this episode from his three-plus decades as a national college basketball and football writer. Hear about traveling to 27 cities in one season, how Bob Knight made a telephone jump, why Bill Snyder made a call with a surprising reaction, and where Wendell had to write from as a Fiesta Bowl erupted with Boise State’s trick plays. Wendell’s tales from his 50 years in the business also include typewriters, an intimidating first Major League Baseball game, waging an old-fashioned newspaper war alongside legendary sports editor Dave Smith, and finding himself in a unique argument with the copy desk on deadline. Barnhouse was a media fixture on the national scene of college sports for more than 30 years, beginning in the mid-1980s. After three years as assistant sports editor at the Fort Worth Star-Telegram, Wendell became that newspaper’s national college basketball writer during the 1985-86 season, which concluded with the Final Four being held in Dallas. He added national college football to his duties in 1994 and covered both beats – as well as writing a television-radio column – until his 25 years at the Star-Telegram ended in 2008 with the acceptance of a buyout. Wendell served as president of the United States Basketball Writers Association in 1995. He covered 26 Final Fours, 343 NCAA men’s tournament games, two women’s Final Fours, and 14 college football national championship games.   Wendell grew up in Columbia, Missouri, where his first journalism job was a summer part-time gig at the Columbia Daily Tribune in 1972. A year later, he was hired as the sports editor (one-person staff) at the Hannibal (Mo.) Courier-Post. Wendell spent four years as a sports reporter for the Quincy (Ill.) Herald-Whig beginning in 1974. He joined the sports copy desk at the Arizona Daily Star in 1979 for one year, then spent 18 months at the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, where he served as assistant sports editor. He moved to Texas in 1981 to edit sports copy and layout pages for the Dallas Morning News. That led to his job in 1983 at the Fort Worth-Star Telegram, where he eventually returned to writing. Wendell worked as a correspondent (writer, TV/video host) for the Big 12 Conference from 2008 until 2015. He then freelanced for seven years, including one season of covering college basketball for The Athletic, before retiring in 2022.   Follow him on Twitter: @WBBarnhouse Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This is the second of our two-part conversation with Claire Smith, who broke down barriers for women and journalists of color during her esteemed four decades of covering Major League Baseball. We talked a lot about the pioneering aspect of her career in the first episode, including the time she was thrown out of a team clubhouse. This second episode focuses on some of Claire’s favorite baseball stories and people. She takes us to Cuba with President Obama, as well as to London with the Yankees and Red Sox. Claire tells us about her special connection with the great Sandy Koufax. She recounts tales of the Niekro brothers, Joe and Phil. Claire also shares heartfelt memories of Don Baylor, the much-respected player and manager she co-authored two books with. You can listen to part one of my conversation with Smith here: https://evergreenpodcasts.com/press-box-access/claire-smith-part-1-how-you-used-those-barrels-of-ink-mattered#episodeContent Smith spent 32 years in the newspaper industry, starting in Pennsylvania at the Bucks County Courier Times. In 1979, she moved to The Philadelphia Bulletin, where she mostly covered college basketball and football. When that paper folded in 1982, she was hired by The Hartford Courant. By mid-season that year, she was put on the New York Yankees beat, making her the first woman to cover a Major League Baseball team, full-time. Claire covered the Yankees for five years before serving as the Courant’s national baseball columnist for three years. She became the New York Times’ first national baseball columnist in 1990 and held that role for eight years. In 1998, she moved to the Philadelphia Inquirer, where she was a columnist and assistant sports editor until 2007. Claire left newspapers in July 2007 to become a coordinator editor and baseball remote news editor at ESPN. She worked for the “Sunday Night Baseball” crew and the production team on MLB game broadcasts until November 2021.   In December 2016, Smith was named the 68th recipient of the Baseball Writers Association of America’s Career Excellence Award (formerly known as the J.G. Taylor Spink Award) – the highest honor a baseball writer can receive. She was the first woman to win the award, and the fourth African American, joining Sam Lacy, Wendell Smith and Larry Whiteside. Claire was honored at the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum’s annual induction in July 2017. She was also presented the 2017 “Robie Award” for Lifetime Achievement by the Jackie Robinson Foundation.   Smith was named the inaugural winner of the Sam Lacy-Wendell Smith Award for the Shirley Povich Center for Sports Journalism at the University of Maryland in 2013. Other milestones: Sports Journalist of the Year from the National Association of Black Journalists (1997); the Mary Garber Pioneer Award from the Association for Women in Sports Media (2000); the Sam Lacy Award at the Negro Leagues Baseball Museum (2010); and SAbR’s 2021 Dorothy Seymour Mills Lifetime Achievement Award. Smith was a member of the NABJ Hall of Fame’s Class of 2021. Claire was twice nominated for the Pulitzer Prize, and she was winner of three New York Times Publishers’ Awards.   Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This is the first of a two-part conversation with Claire Smith, a pioneer for women and journalists of color. She discusses breaking barriers while covering baseball for 39 years, including her worst day: When the San Diego Padres physically removed her from their clubhouse during the 1984 National League playoffs. Hear how Steve Garvey helped her in that moment, and how Claire’s love of baseball powered her through a career that led to her being honored at Cooperstown in 2017. Claire shares tales of George Steinbrenner, Billy Martin and Reggie Jackson from her time covering the Bronx Zoo Yankees. Claire also recalls her years of working with Joe Morgan, and how Jackie Robinson influenced her career, which has impacted so many others.   Smith spent 32 years in the newspaper industry, starting in Pennsylvania at the Bucks County Courier Times. In 1979, she moved to The Philadelphia Bulletin, where she mostly covered college basketball and football. When that paper folded in 1982, she was hired by The Hartford Courant. By mid-season that year, she was put on the New York Yankees beat, making her the first woman to cover a Major League Baseball team, full-time. Claire covered the Yankees for five years before serving as the Courant’s national baseball columnist for three years. She became the New York Times’ first national baseball columnist in 1990 and held that role for eight years. In 1998, she moved to the Philadelphia Inquirer, where she was a columnist and assistant sports editor until 2007. Claire left newspapers in July 2007 to become a coordinator editor and baseball remote news editor at ESPN. She worked for the “Sunday Night Baseball” crew and the production team on MLB game broadcasts until November 2021.   In December 2016, Smith was named the 68th recipient of the Baseball Writers Association of America’s Career Excellence Award (formerly known as the J.G. Taylor Spink Award) – the highest honor a baseball writer can receive. She was the first woman to win the award, and the fourth African American, joining Sam Lacy, Wendell Smith and Larry Whiteside. Claire was honored at the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum’s annual induction in July 2017. She was also presented the 2017 “Robie Award” for Lifetime Achievement by the Jackie Robinson Foundation.   Smith was named the inaugural winner of the Sam Lacy-Wendell Smith Award for the Shirley Povich Center for Sports Journalism at the University of Maryland in 2013. Other milestones: Sports Journalist of the Year from the National Association of Black Journalists (1997); the Mary Garber Pioneer Award from the Association for Women in Sports Media (2000); the Sam Lacy Award at the Negro Leagues Baseball Museum (2010); and SAbR’s 2021 Dorothy Seymour Mills Lifetime Achievement Award. Smith was a member of the NABJ Hall of Fame’s Class of 2021. Claire was twice nominated for the Pulitzer Prize, and she was winner of three New York Times Publishers’ Awards.   A 1979 graduate of Temple University, Smith returned to her alma mater in July 2021 as an assistant professor with Klein School of Media and Communications. With the assistance of the Black Women in Sports Foundation, Smith has long awarded Temple students The Bernice A. Smith scholarship, named after her mother, a Jamaican immigrant and Temple alum. In 2014, Temple honored Claire with a Lew Klein Alumni in the Media Award and inducted her into the School of Media and Communication Hall of Fame.    In October 2021, Temple announced the creation of The Claire Smith Center For Sports Media. Claire co-directs the center with John DiCarlo, managing director of student media at Temple. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Tim Kurkjian’s love of baseball radiates as he recounts his four decades of covering our National Pastime. The ESPN stalwart takes us to his early days as a newspaper beat reporter when terrible teams couldn’t extinguish his joy. Tim recalls Don Zimmer’s wisdom, Earl Weaver’s unforgettable greeting, and Cal Ripken Jr.’s ferocious competitiveness even off the field.. He puts us there for a Game 7 that Jack Morris wouldn’t leave, and a Game 7 when the Cubs broke a curse. We hear about Tony Gwynn’s favorite bat, an odd request from Mickey Rivers, and a shared fascination for the APBA board game. There’s a memorable moment with Johnny Bench sitting lakeside in Cooperstown. And, yes, that sausage mascot race . . . Yikes. Kurkjian was named the 2022 Baseball Writers’ Association of America’s Career Excellence Award winner (formerly the J.G. Taylor Spink award), presented annually to a writer “for meritorious contributions to baseball writing.” He was recognized at Baseball Hall of Fame ceremonies in July of ’22. Tim has been a senior writer for ESPN.com and a baseball writer, analyst, host and reporter for ESPN TV since 1998. He has served as an analyst for “Monday Night Baseball” and “Wednesday Night Baseball.” Tim earned an Emmy Award in 2002 for his work on “Baseball Tonight,” and he was honored with a second Emmy for his contributions to “SportsCenter” in 2003-04. Tim was one of the first sportswriters to appear on TV as an analyst. He spent the first half of his career at newspapers and at Sports Illustrated, where he was a baseball senior writer for nine seasons (1998-97). He also worked as an on-air reporter for CNN-SI in his final two years at the magazine. His journalism career began at The Washington Star in 1978. He then worked briefly for the Baltimore News American in 1981 before joining the The Dallas Morning News to cover the Texas Rangers as a beat reporter beginning in the 1982 season. Tim moved to The Baltimore Sun in 1986 and covered the Baltimore Orioles as a beat writer through the 1989 season. Kurkjian is the author of three books: “America’s Game” (2000), “Is This a Great Game or What?” (2007), and “I’m Fascinated by Sacrifice Flies” (2017). He grew up in Bethesda, Md. and attended Walter Johnson High School, named for the great Washington Senators pitcher. Tim graduated from the University of Maryland with a BS in journalism in 1978. Follow Tim on Twitter: @Kurkjian_ESPN Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Jeff Jacobs is a writer who bleeds on the keyboard, and his passion for the craft has never wavered during 46 years in the business. You’ll hear it as Jeff recalls his first big career moment when he unexpectedly became part of the story at a minor league hockey fight. He puts us there in January1980 when the Philadelphia Flyers’ record 35-game undefeated streak ended, and he provides other hockey stories that depict the sport’s unique culture. Jeff brings the Hartford Whalers back to life with vivid anecdotes and a few bars of the defunct NHL team’s fight song. And he shares details and tales of dustups from many years of covering Geno Auriemma and Jim Calhoun, two Hall of Fame basketball coaches at the University of Connecticut. Hear about heart attacks, hate mail, and a memorable phone call from a particularly cranky senior citizen.   Jacobs has been named Connecticut Sportswriter of the Year 11 times (including 2022) by the National Sports Media Association. He has been honored four times by the Associated Press Sports Editors as one of the top-10 columnists in the country. Jeff spent nearly 34 years at the Hartford Courant before becoming sports columnist for the Hearst Connecticut Media Group in January 2018. He was the Hartford Courant’s sports columnist for 22 years after covering the Whalers and NHL as the paper’s beat reporter. Jeff has covered all four of the UConn men’s basketball national championships and 10 of the 11 NCAA titles won by Auriemma’s women’s program. He’s also covered multiple Olympics, World Series, Super Bowls, and Stanley Cup Finals.   Jacobs was born in Kirkwood, Mo., grew up in Newport, R.I., and is a 1977 graduate of the University of Missouri School of Journalism. He began his career as a hockey writer at The Times Herald in Port Huron, Michigan, and then covered the Flyers for The Courier Post (New Jersey) before joining the Hartford Courant in 1984.   Jeff likes to say that his hobby is surviving heart attacks. He had a double bypass surgery after his second one in 2019. His first heart attack, in 2005, required a quadruple bypass. Here’s to wishing Jeff great health and many more years of writing.   Follow Jeff on Twitter: @jeffjacobs123 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices