ESPN’s highly touted E:60 sports newsmagazine series premieres Tuesday, Oct. 16 at 7pm ET. E:60 features a combination of investigative reports, profiles of intriguing sports personalities, compelling features on the best stories in sports, and cutting-edge stories on innovations in the sports world, including emerging sports and new technology. Correspondents include Jeremy Schaap, Lisa Salters, Tom Farrey, Rachel Nichols and Michael Smith — and “The Sports Guy” Bill Simmons will be a special contributor. In addition to reporters’ segments, viewers will also get a behind-the-scenes look at how these stories are covered — from the initial pitch to developing the storylines to the actual interview. (In my experience, this process is usual pretty boring. We hope it’s more interesting in TV journalism.)
E:60 is also the first TV magazine show to be produced and air in HD.
With HBO’s Real Sports With Bryant Gumbel and even 60 Minutes on CBS becoming better known for big, in-depth sports interviews and features, it was time ESPN stepped up and got back to some hard sports journalism (Outside the Lines excepted). Also, ESPN is often criticized for excessive hype and having too many opinionated (and ill-informed) personalities who shout over each other. Maybe E:60 will help change that perception.
After tonight’s premiere, E:60 will air on three more consecutive Tuesdays, then return for five more episodes in April 2008 and six more episodes in June 2008.
Features on tonight’s E:60 premiere:
Ray of Hope Last March, just hours before the North Carolina men’s basketball team prepared to play in the NCAA tournament at the Meadowlands, the student who dressed as the team’s mascot was struck by a car as he walked along a New Jersey highway. Jason Ray, 21, died of his injuries three days later. Ray wanted to be an organ donor and even as his parents agonized at his hospital bedside through the final hours, they decided to honor that request. In “Ray of Hope,” E:60 correspondent Lisa Salters and ESPN.com reporter Wayne Drehs accompany Ray’s parents as they travel from North Carolina to New Jersey to meet four recipients of their son’s organs and try to come to terms with Jason’s gift.
Justice Intercepted Miami Northwestern High School is the No. 1-ranked high school football team in many national polls. But the 2007 season was almost canceled after an incident last year in which the team’s star running back, then 18, had sex with a 14 year-old freshman in a school bathroom. Though as many as 21 school employees knew about the incident, none reported it to police. E:60 correspondent Tom Farrey examines how the reputation of a powerhouse football team may have led adults to look the other way. The story includes the first media interview with the girl’s mother.
Fielder’s Choice Cecil Fielder and his young son Prince were inseparable during the years when Cecil was becoming the preeminent slugger in Major League Baseball. But as Prince has grown to become one of the league’s most-celebrated home run hitters, he and his father have become estranged. In a revealing exclusive interview with correspondent Jeremy Schaap for E:60, the older Fielder divulges why he is estranged from his son and how, in turn, it has affected his relationship with his grandkids – Prince’s children.
