Posted by Cubicle QB
Features on the Oct. 21 (7pm ET) edition of ESPN’s sports newsmagazine series E:60:
Chris Paul Chris Paul is one of the NBA’s top stars. His work ethic is exceptional. He won the league’s Rookie of the Year award in 2005 and last season was a runner-up for the NBA Most Valuable Player (2008). This summer, he was a member of the U.S. Men’s Basketball team that won the gold medal for the first time since 2000. On the court or in any competition, Paul hates to lose. Off the court, no professional athlete could be nicer. Through his CP3 Foundation in his hometown of Winston-Salem, N.C., Paul spends much of his off-the-court time helping out the less fortunate in the community. Paul gave E:60 and correspondent Rachel Nichols an all-access pass during his annual CP3 Winston Salem Weekend — a celebrity-filled charity weekend that raises money for several community organizations — featuring the likes of LeBron James, Dwyane Wade, Rudy Gay, NBA Rookie of the Year Kevin Durant, Jarrett Jack, Hornets coach Byron Scott and others. Nichols reports on the many sides of Chris Paul.
Brock Lesnar: The Next Big Thing Brock Lesnar was a standout high-school wrestler who went on to win the junior college heavyweight title and the NCAA heavyweight title. He then went on to become one of the biggest stars, called “The Next Big Thing,” for Vince McMahon’s World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE). Lesnar made millions of dollars and his likeness appears in several popular video games. But in 2004, at the height of his fame and success as a professional wrestler, Lesnar abruptly walked away from the WWE to pursue his childhood dream to play in the NFL with the Minnesota Vikings. Lesnar didn’t make it out of training camp, and since then has kept a low profile. That is, until now. Lesnar sat down with E:60 correspondent Tom Farrey for an in-depth interview in which he discussed growing up on a dairy farm on the outskirts of Webster, S.D., his days with the WWE, rumors of steroid use, his tryout in the NFL, his Playboy centerfold wife, and now, his life as a mixed martial arts fighter. With only three professional fights under his belt, Lesnar will face five-time champion Randy Couture in the Ultimate Fighting Championship’s heavyweight bout at UFC 91 on Nov. 15.
Competitive Eating For more than a decade, brothers George and Richard Shea have been running Major League Eating, a professional eating circuit. There are more than 10,000 registered eaters in their database, 50 of whom are ranked. The rules are simple: Eat as much food as you can in the designated time. The food ranges from hot dogs, most famous from Nathan’s Hot Dog eating contest at Coney Island, N.Y., to cannolis in New York City’s Little Italy. Eaters range in age, sex and size. While there is some prize money, most participants enter competitive eating for love of the sport, or in some cases, the food. There are 80-100 competitive eating events a year at venues across the country. The top two are Nathan’s in New York and Krystal’s hamburgers in Tennessee. In a sport replete with colorful personalities, E:60 correspondent Jeremy Schaap takes an in-depth look at competitive eating and addresses some of the sport’s salient health and social issues. Highlights include interviews with some of the greatest “eaters” in the world such as Takeru Kobayashi, Joey Chestnut, Juliet Lee, “Crazy Legs” Conti and Tim “Eater X” Janus.
