Showing results by author "Ron Barr" in All Categories

Three-time NL manager of the year Dusty Baker played 19 years in the major leagues and most recently managed the Washington Nationals to an NL East Championship. In this interview, Baker talks about managing in the majors and his book, Kiss the Sky: My Weekend in Monterey for the Greatest Rock Concert Ever.

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.

Hockey Hall of Famer Phil Esposito played 18 years in the NHL. He’s widely considered one of the best hockey players of all time and ranks sixth all-time in goals. After his playing career, Esposito was a founder of the NHL’s Tampa Bay Lightning, where he’s still part of the broadcasting team. This interview looks back at his time playing youth hockey, how the game has changed, and his playing career.

One of the last living Negro American League players, Gilbert Black of the Indianapolis Clowns talks about growing up in NYC and sneaking into the Polo Grounds to watch baseball games as a child. Black recalls the segregation and discrimination he and other black baseball players faced in the major leagues, including being made to sleep outside on a porch at training camp with the Atlanta Braves.

Shirley Babashoff owns eight Olympic swimming medals and has a part in 39 national records. Widely regarded as one of the best female swimmers of all time, she received the Olympic Order and was inducted into the International Swimming Hall of Fame. She discusses her book, Making Waves: My Journey to Winning Olympic Gold and Defeating the East German Doping Program, her Olympic experiences, and how her childhood affected her career.

Jerome Williams, former NBA forward who played for Detroit, Toronto, Chicago, and the New York Knicks talks about the importance of academics for kids in sports, and the weight that was placed on basketball as a kid growing up in the Washington D.C. area. Williams talks about starting his college basketball career at Georgetown, what it was like to play at Madison Square Garden, and touches on the Chicago Bulls vs. Detroit Pistons rivalry.

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 industry, while illegal sports betting in the rest of the country has an estimated $150 billion 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.

David West, a power forward who played 15 years in the NBA with the Warriors, Spurs, Pacers and the Hornets/Pelicans, and won an NBA Championship with the Golden State Warriors, talks about his influential coach, playing college ball for Xavier, and the two instrumental coaches he’s played for in the NBA, Gregg Popovich of the Spurs and Steve Kerr of the Warriors. West touches on how he uses basketball as a medium to reach and influence young people.

Jon Kingdon started as an intern for controversial Raiders coach and owner Al Davis, and eventually became one of Davis’s confidants. Kingdon recalls memories from working closely with Davis including his run-ins with various players, his stretching of the rules, and more from the book he co-wrote, Al Davis: Behind the Raiders Shield: Untold Stories from Longtime Davis Confidants.

Charley Rosen talks about his book, The Chosen Game: A Jewish Basketball History, in which he discusses the impact the Jewish community had in the early days of basketball starting in Lower East Side Jewish immigrant neighborhoods of New York City. Rosen talks about the style of gameplay that developed there from the necessity of playing in the streets, and some of the most influential Jewish figures in basketball history.

In this interview, Ron Barr talks to Pierre Turgeon, 19 season NHL center and the 34th player in NHL history to score 500 goals. Turgeon reminisces about growing up seven hours north of Montreal, learning English, and Canada’s 1987 World Junior Ice Hockey Championships bench-clearing brawl with the Soviet Union.

Dave Kaval, president of the Oakland A’s and founder of the independent Golden Baseball League, talks about his mission to get a new stadium built in Oakland, as well as how he took inspiration from Steve Jobs to start the Golden Baseball League. Kaval gives insight on the Cleveland sports fan mentality, growing up in Cleveland and going to Municipal Stadium, and the intimacy of being a Cleveland sports fan in the 80s.

Paul Beston, author of The Boxing Kings: When American Heavyweights Ruled the Ring talks about his book and the history of America’s fascination with heavyweight champs. His book focuses on the history of boxing in America through the careers of John L. Sullivan, Jack Johnson, Jack Dempsey, Joe Lewis, Rocky Marciano, Mohamad Ali, and Mike Tyson: iconic figures that had the ability to appeal to people beyond the ring.

Sam Smith, author of the New York Times best seller The Jordan Rules talks about his book, Hard Labor: The Battle That Birthed the Billion-Dollar NBA, which details exactly how and why the NBA, and NBA players, make so much money. Smith explains the significance of the historic Oscar Robertson v. National Basketball Association lawsuit that allowed players free agency for the first time.

In this episode of Sports Byline, Ron Barr talks to the directors of the film Battle of the Sexes, a film based on the historic tennis match of 1973 between Billie Jean King and Bobby Riggs, starring Steve Carell and Emma Stone. Directors Valerie Faris and Jonathan Dayton discuss the technical difficulties of making a great sports movie and the lesser known backstories of King and Riggs.

David Vobora, a former NFL linebacker who played four seasons with the Rams and Seahawks, talks about drawing motivation from being the last pick of the 2008 draft and forming the Adaptive Training Foundation for physically impaired athletes and veterans. Vobora discusses how he overcame his struggles with opioid addiction and found a new purpose after the NFL helping others restore their confidence and find hope.

All-Pro linebacker Otis Wilson of the Chicago Bears talks about his 9 NFL seasons, 8 with the Chicago Bears, and the successes - and pranks - of the famous 1985 Super Bowl-winning Bears team, including the filming of the "Super Bowl Shuffle". Wilson is the author of the autobiography If These Walls Could Talk: Chicago Bears.

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.

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.