In this Sports Byline Classic interview from 2016, Andre Ward talks about the mental aspect of boxing and his career highlights, including bringing home a gold medal in 2004 and subsequent WBA Super and WBC Super Middleweight title accolades.
Andrea Kramer talks about her HBO's Real Sports piece on the state of legalization of sports gambling. Legal sports betting is an estimated 5 billion dollar industry, while illegal sports betting in the rest of the country has an estimated 150 billion dollar value. Kramer talks about the fight to legalize sports betting in the state of New Jersey, which would change the climate for sports culture in the rest of the country. Kramer also analyzed the pushback from sports leagues against the legalization of sports betting.
Andy Zlotnick is a baseball fan who was struck in the eye by a foul ball at Yankee Stadium. During a rainy game, umbrellas limited visibility, and Zlotnick couldn't see the ball. After sustaining a major eye injury, he met with a Yankees executive to discuss his medical bills and the umbrella policy at Yankees Stadium. He claims he was refuted. In this interview, Zlotnick tells his story and his fight for policy changes.
Apolo Ohno is an eight-time medalist in the Winter Olympics and the 2017 champion of the hit TV show Dancing With The Stars. As the face of short-track skating, he became the youngest U.S. national champion at 14 and was the reigning champion 12 times. This Sports Byline Classic from 2016 examines his career.
Armen Keteyian is an 11-time Emmy Award winning journalist and is a correspondent on 60 Minutes. Keteyian worked for CBS Sports as a NFL sideline reporter, as a featured correspondent for HBO's Real Sports with Bryant Gumbel and with ABC News. Here, he discusses how he got his start in sports journalism, his transition from writing to TV and his book Money Players: Days and Nights Inside the New NBA.
Ben Braun, 37 year college basketball coach of the University of California, Rice, and Eastern Michigan, talks in depth about the recent outbreaks of college basketball scandals being investigated by the FBI involving corruption and bribery. Braun talks about how the corruption has shifted from point shaving and gambling to bribery and taking advantage of players and their families.
NBA Hall of Fame center Bill Walton, one of the 50 greatest players in NBA history, looks back on his incredible career in this 2016 Sports Byline Classic interview. He talks about his New York Times best-seller, Back from the Dead, and how he was able to overcome injuries and physical obstacles to reach basketball greatness.
WNBA Center Brittney Griner has had an impressive career, including being only the second NCAA basketball player to score 2,000 points and block 500 shots. She played on the USA Women's Olympic Team and the McDonald's All-American Team. She discusses growing up in Houston, being bullied in her younger years and how basketball helped her to move past it.
Buz McKim, NASCAR Hall of Fame historian, NASCAR sign painter, and author talks about growing up in racing culture and how he ended up designing the paint jobs of two Daytona 500 winners. McKim explains the process of finding interesting pieces for the NASCAR Hall of Fame, and some of the exhibits he's worked on.
In this Sports Byline interview, Ron Barr talks to Cam Perron, who developed an interest in the Negro League baseball players when he was just 12 years old. Perron has since been chronicling his research on the players and the league, and was featured on HBO's Real Sports. Perron shares stories from the Negro League players he's become close with in his research and gives insight into this overlooked part of baseball history.
Carli Lloyd is a 2-time Olympic gold medalist with the United States women's national soccer team. She was awarded the 2015 and 2016 FIFA Player of the Year awards and played in 3 FIFA women's World Cups for the United States. She discusses her start in soccer, her book, When Nobody was Watching: My Hard-fought Journey to the Top of the Soccer World, and her career.
Executive Carmen Policy was an NFL trailblazer who was team president when the San Francisco 49ers were winning Super Bowls and was part of the expansion Cleveland Browns upon their return to the league in 2000. In this interview, Policy talks about making a decision to keep his grandson out of playing football, the dangers of head trauma for kids playing sports, and how new equipment and rules in high school sports help keep athletes safer.
