0:01

I love the Olympics. I

0:04

love them as a kid, and

0:06

I still remember some of the huge personalities

0:09

that came out of those games. I

0:11

remember Dick Fosberry in nine

0:14

eight he invented this new way of doing the high

0:16

jump called the Fosberry flop, where

0:18

he land on his back, and

0:21

I recently read he's almost seventy years

0:23

old, which quite frankly kind of freaks

0:25

me out. But I remember Peggy Fleming,

0:27

Olga Corvette, so

0:30

many great athletes, and of course, as

0:32

a little girl, I was most interested in

0:34

gymnastics and figure

0:36

skating. So imagine

0:38

my delight when I got to MBC in

0:41

the early nineties and started

0:43

working on the Today Show and I was told

0:45

that I got to cover the Olympics

0:47

in Barcelona. My daughter

0:50

was a little baby. She and my husband

0:52

came over and stayed for about

0:54

a week and it was so much

0:56

fun. And that was the beginning of my Olympic

1:00

extents. I covered eight Olympics

1:02

in all, and one

1:05

of the great things about covering the Games

1:07

is I got to see all these incredible cities.

1:10

Athens, I got to go to as I mentioned,

1:12

Barcelona, or as they say,

1:14

Barcelona, And I

1:17

also really loved Sydney

1:19

because the people in Australia are so friendly

1:21

and so nice, and they'd all gather around

1:23

the Today Show set and they'd scream azzazazi

1:26

Oi Oi Oi. Covering

1:31

the Olympics was really a positive experience

1:33

for me because it was a happy

1:36

thing to cover and these athletes

1:39

had worked so so hard and this

1:41

was their moment to shine. These

1:44

are some of my Olympic memory, sort

1:46

of smattering of them through the years.

1:49

But we also asked you to tell

1:51

us your best Olympic memory and why,

1:54

and here's what you had to say. Hi,

1:56

my name is Michelle Ducepara Ferrell. I'm

1:59

actually UM, an Olympic alumni,

2:01

member of the nineteen eighty four women's

2:03

gynastics team and UM.

2:06

Of course, one of my most indouble memories

2:09

of my childhood was watching Nadia scores first

2:11

perfect ten, which just celebrated

2:13

its fortieth anniversary of it happening.

2:16

Another hand Dan, look at that? Why did they

2:18

hand Dan? My

2:23

name is Susan Chapman. I live in Christinity,

2:26

Florida. Nineteen seventy two,

2:28

I think seventeen year old OGA Corp.

2:30

But did a couple of moves that are still repeated

2:33

today that changed the course of

2:35

the sport forever and the excitement

2:37

of Gordon Annis was the announcer

2:39

I think was the Chris Jankos did facts,

2:42

So you're right to the other bar. Has that been

2:44

done before by Earl? Never, not by any

2:47

human that I know of. I

2:49

mean this Oscar from Phoenix, Arizona

2:51

wanted to share one of my favorite Olympic memories.

2:54

We always see the triumphs, but the heartbreak

2:57

of Garrick Redman in the nineteen nine

2:59

two parcels one of games, who

3:01

was unable to finish this and

3:07

it was joined by his father, definitely

3:09

stands out as one of the most emotional, human

3:11

and touching moments of the Games. One

3:18

of the best things about covering the Olympics

3:20

for me was having the opportunity

3:23

to co host the opening ceremony

3:25

with Bob Costas. I did that

3:27

a few times and we had so much

3:29

fun. Now Bob has covered

3:32

more than a dozen Olympic Games. He started

3:34

out as the late night host in and

3:37

he's his name has really become synonymous

3:40

with the Olympics, so he kind of makes

3:42

me look like a piker covering only

3:44

eight. I think Bob is a living example

3:47

of the boy scout motto be prepared.

3:50

So I wanted to talk to him about that, but also

3:52

learn how he got interested in

3:55

covering sports. So Bob

3:57

Costas is with us. Hey Bob, we're

3:59

so excited. Hi Katie, let's

4:01

talk about your career. How did you get started. Well,

4:04

when I was a kid, like many

4:06

kids of my generation and every generation,

4:09

I was fascinated by sports, and as

4:11

tried as it sounds, it was a connection between

4:13

me and my dad and the other kids that

4:15

I grew up with. But maybe unlike

4:17

most of them, I was also as

4:19

interested in the broadcasters as I was

4:22

in the games themselves and the athletes.

4:24

To me, the games weren't

4:26

the same without the soundtrack. And

4:29

I grew up in New York in

4:31

the late fifties and in the sixties when

4:33

many of the greatest announcers of all

4:35

time were plying their trade in

4:38

New York. And these guys weren't just

4:40

competent announcers. And I say guys

4:42

because for the most part, although there are more women

4:44

now, there are originally no women's sports

4:46

broadcasters at that time. Uh,

4:49

those broadcasters didn't

4:51

just do a competent job. They

4:54

did a lyrical job. In many cases,

4:56

there was almost a melody to

4:58

a good broadcast, and the as of them had

5:01

a literate touch without being

5:03

pretentious. They gave you

5:05

the notion, the understanding that

5:08

they were men of the world, at least to some

5:10

extent, that they had interest beyond the game,

5:12

and they could weave some of those observations

5:14

in to give the broadcast a little

5:17

more texture than ball one, strike

5:19

two, or there's a person down or a touchdown.

5:22

And their mastery of

5:24

that craft was fascinating

5:26

to me. And that's when the notion of being

5:29

a broadcaster first took hold. And

5:31

that's what happened to me. I was going to say you

5:33

you became a master storyteller

5:35

and a sports fanatic, because

5:38

I think there are very few people in

5:40

broadcasting, in my opinion, who

5:42

are as sort of seamless,

5:45

fluent and eloquent as you

5:47

are in almost every situation. And

5:49

I'm assuming that you weren't

5:52

at Syracuse even studying communications

5:55

or really sports and

5:57

news. I'm sure you study a

6:00

lot of other things that were helpful to you

6:02

in your career. What were those things

6:04

that contributed to your ability to

6:06

be a critical thinker and to express

6:09

yourself so well, well,

6:11

you know, I've always been a reader,

6:13

and I've always been someone who was interested

6:16

in pop culture in the biggest sense.

6:19

Um, I think there's a part of me that's probably an

6:21

old soul, but I

6:23

was interested in what was going on at present. But

6:25

I was also interested in history

6:28

in the most classic

6:31

sense, but also the history

6:33

of pop culture, and a lot of that just

6:36

seeped in and I retained

6:39

of the portion of it. And then as

6:41

I watched and listened to people on radio

6:43

and television, I always admired

6:45

those who had a certain mastery

6:48

of language, the red Barbers

6:50

of the Vincecullies, who would never miss a

6:52

beat on what was happening in the game,

6:54

but at the same time would fill in all

6:56

the little brushstrokes along with the

6:59

broad strokes. Know what the weather was at

7:01

the ball game, or what the atmosphere

7:03

was, and you'd find out some interesting story about

7:05

a ballplayer's hometown or something

7:07

that happened the night before while they

7:10

were out to dinner in this city or that, and

7:12

that that to me made it a fuller

7:15

picture. It wasn't just the primary colors it

7:17

It had a texture to it. Bob,

7:19

could you tell us a little bit more about your

7:22

relationship with your parents. I remember

7:24

reading that sports in general

7:26

and baseball in particular, was

7:29

a way for you to connect with your

7:31

dad. Yeah, my father was

7:33

a colorful character. He was very smart,

7:36

he was charismatic, he was people

7:39

of an older generational understand

7:41

this reference. He was a runyonesque kind

7:43

of character. But he was also a compulsive

7:45

gambler, which led to some exciting

7:48

and interesting and numerous circumstances,

7:50

but also to some heartache because

7:52

very often, no joke, the mortgage

7:54

would be writing, or our ability to pay it would

7:57

be writing on whether or very stressed

7:59

out by that bos I stretched out,

8:01

Oh yeah, oh yeah, yeah, the whole

8:03

the whole family was stressed out. And very

8:05

often my mom, who was the sweetest

8:08

woman you could ever hope to meet, and my

8:10

younger sister two years younger than me, they

8:13

would leave and go to the neighbor's

8:15

house or go to grandma's house.

8:17

But I would stay and watch the

8:20

games with my dad, and there

8:22

was a lot of tension writing. He

8:24

made a pretty good living for a guy in the nineteen

8:26

sixties, but you know, we

8:28

lived in a house that he bought for nineteen thousand

8:30

dollars on the g I bill, and it was

8:33

not unusual at all for him to

8:35

have three, four or five thousand dollars

8:37

worth of action going on a weekend. So

8:39

those bets went well, terrific

8:42

that those bets went less well, then

8:44

we couldn't pay the mortgage.

8:47

And I remember going with him,

8:49

and this is kind of how we bonded. I remember

8:51

going with him once to

8:53

a donut shop in Brooklyn, was

8:56

around nineteen sixty six, and

8:58

he was going to meet the bookie. So there

9:00

we are sitting at the counter and a guy

9:02

who looks like he was sent in by Central Casting.

9:05

He's got a fedora on, he's

9:08

carrying a pinky ring. He

9:10

looks like Nathan Detroit. Nathan

9:13

Detroited would be charitable. He looks like a guy

9:14

who might be mob connected, but

9:17

on the other hand made the Detroit might have been too, But

9:20

he was. He wasn't as handsome as Marlon Brando,

9:22

let's put it that way. But nonetheless I

9:24

remember him saying, hey,

9:27

that your boy. But yeah,

9:29

he goes nice boy. He says,

9:31

you drink milk, And I'm thinking to myself,

9:34

I'm fourteen years old, No, you smicked.

9:36

I drink tequila. Yes, I drink

9:38

milk. And the guy goes give the

9:40

kid a glass of milk and a doughnut. And

9:42

then while all this stuff is unfolding, he

9:45

slides a paper bag across

9:48

the counter to my father and after a

9:50

few little pleasantries, were back out in

9:52

the car and under a street

9:54

light in Brooklyn in nineteen sixty

9:57

six, my father counts out fourteen

9:59

thousand dollars in one hundred dollar

10:01

bills that he had just collected

10:03

from the bookie because he had been on a winning

10:06

streak. Now, in that moment, despite

10:08

all the anxiety and heartache that came

10:11

at other times because of his gambling, at

10:13

that moment, I'm thinking, my father is

10:16

one of the coolest guys in the world. The

10:18

other dad's on the block, just mow the lawn

10:20

on Saturday. This guy, this guy

10:22

is living a life of danger and adventure.

10:25

And in moments like that, what would happen

10:28

is he took the money and he

10:30

went and bought a Ford Mustang, which, as

10:32

you remember, with a really cool car. I

10:35

remember going with him and he does

10:37

the usual things, you know, he's lifting the hood, he's kicking

10:39

the tires and I

10:41

remember distinctly the salesman

10:44

said, is it a little out of your league?

10:46

And my father reached into his pocket and he had

10:48

this giant load of bills. He goes, no,

10:51

I'm gonna bleep in buy it cash

10:54

if I bleep and decide to bleep and buy

10:56

it. Um so, And

10:58

he didn't say. To be clear, now

11:02

there was no senser involved. Did

11:04

that mess up your attitude toward money?

11:07

I mean, I would think that growing up with a father

11:09

like that and having that much stress

11:12

didn't make you a compulsive

11:14

saver. Did it affect your attitudes?

11:18

I'm not a thrifty guy. Um.

11:21

I think that if you're lucky enough to have some money,

11:24

to use it to enhance your own

11:26

life and the lives of others.

11:28

I'm not that much for material possessions, but I'm

11:30

big on experiences. So if you can

11:33

you can help someone have an enjoyable time, or

11:35

if you can do something with your family or people you care

11:37

about that I'm not looking to die

11:39

with the highest possible that we're you

11:41

know, we're lucky enough to not have to worry

11:44

about that, which is quite a contrast to

11:46

the way I grew up. What it did affect

11:48

was by attitudes toward gambling. UM

11:51

in the past when I've covered some boxing, which

11:53

I haven't done that much, but a lot of the

11:55

boxing when I was at HBO was either in Las

11:57

Vegas or an Atlantic city. I could walk

11:59

to it this know a hundred times and never

12:01

stopped. I'm just walking right through and

12:03

go into my room. UM. And I never

12:06

gambled as as an adult,

12:09

UM, because I saw what it did to my

12:11

dad. But at the same time, UM,

12:14

it connected me to him.

12:16

And when I was young, really

12:18

young, like nine, ten years old, he

12:21

would give me the keys of the car, not to drive

12:23

it around the block because I could barely see over the steering

12:25

wheel, but because you could get radio reception

12:27

in the car better than in the house. And at

12:30

that time there's no internet, there's no cable TV, there's

12:32

no way to follow his bets on non

12:34

New York teams except to hope that

12:37

through the crackle and static, maybe

12:39

you could pick up far away radio broadcast.

12:41

So when I was ten years old, I knew where all

12:44

the games were and if the atmospheric conditions

12:46

were just right, and if I calibrated

12:48

the dial like a safe cracker and hit just

12:50

the right spot. Maybe I could pick

12:53

up these out of town broadcasts. And those were my

12:55

first reporters jobs, because I'd go back

12:57

in the house and I would not only tell him

12:59

what this score was, but i'd a bellowship.

13:02

I'd say, well, clement A single

13:04

to right, and Stargell doubled. Clement

13:07

A scored Star was at second

13:09

Skinner single, he scored to nothing,

13:11

Pirates bottom of the fourth, and he papped

13:13

me on the head. Of course, I'd only do that

13:16

if I knew his bet was on the Pirates.

13:18

If he bet against the Pirates and this was bad

13:20

news, I'm going to tell him that I couldn't

13:23

get it, but I couldn't find it because I didn't want to

13:25

put up with what his possible reaction would

13:27

be to the fact that he was losing a thousand dollars.

13:30

Bob, you're talking about fighting, and

13:32

not that long ago, you and I actually

13:35

went to the funeral of Muhammad Ali,

13:37

and I know he's somebody you

13:40

deeply admired. I'm just

13:42

interested in and sort of what

13:44

that experience was like for you,

13:46

because it was a real treat for

13:48

me to see this very

13:51

interesting conglomeration of people,

13:53

including Don King, who really

13:56

had you figured for someone else?

13:58

Altogether? Tell that story because

14:00

it was very funny.

14:02

Don King comes walking in. He's

14:05

in his eighties now, he's a slightly

14:07

diminished version of Don King, but he's still

14:09

unmistakably Don King, with the

14:11

outrageous hair and the the outfits

14:13

that he's waving his American flags

14:15

and he's greeting everyone. Lennox lewis,

14:18

former heavyweight champion of the world, not

14:21

la most of the Today's Show, blah blah. And

14:23

he gets to me and you're standing right next to me, and

14:25

he goes, Michael J. Fox,

14:29

he wanted his picture with you,

14:33

and you said, very very

14:36

gently, don no, I said Mr

14:38

King, Mr King, Mr

14:41

Kings pok Costice, and he,

14:44

without missing a beat in a millisecond,

14:46

pivots and says Bob cost

14:48

this greatest commentator in the world.

14:52

Don knows no shame. That

14:55

was quite an event. And I'm

14:57

just curious now that some time

14:59

has pass, um, what do

15:01

you remember most about that day other

15:03

than being with me and having much

15:06

together. Of

15:08

course that's at the top of the list. Um.

15:11

Well, when when you've got a range

15:13

of people that goes

15:15

from former heavyweight champions of the

15:17

world, and Jim

15:20

Brown, who's a much respected figure,

15:23

and Billy Crystal and President Clinton,

15:25

but also includes Chubby Checker,

15:28

who you know. I've known Chubby

15:30

Checker for forty years. Uh,

15:32

And remember being eight or nine years old

15:34

when the Twist was a big hit, and

15:37

I guess the Chubby and Mohammed were close.

15:39

I mean, the number of people that eventually came

15:41

into Muhammad Ali's orbit

15:43

was was fast and

15:46

the kind of arc of his life. He

15:49

wasn't any one thing. Was he

15:52

this angry and too many Americans

15:55

frightening and polarizing figure

15:57

and to other Americans deeply inspiring

15:59

and ages figured, Yes he was,

16:02

and was he ultimately a figure

16:04

of reconciliation and unity

16:06

and brotherhood. Yes he was, which

16:08

didn't negate what he was

16:11

earlier in his life. His life just had

16:13

an extraordinary art to it. And when

16:15

you think of this guy who was once

16:17

not only arguably the greatest athlete

16:20

in the world, certainly the greatest boxer

16:22

in the world, but the most physically

16:24

beautiful athlete, the most fascinating

16:26

and charismatic to watch, the most

16:29

outspoken, humorous and entertaining,

16:31

and then he ends his life with

16:34

virtually no mobility when once he was

16:37

the very definition of athletic grace, and

16:39

no ability to verbally

16:42

express himself when once he was the

16:44

most valuable of of

16:46

athletes. There was something very poignant

16:48

about that, and yet, with the help of

16:50

his wife, Lonnie, he still managed

16:52

to be a public figure in a way that

16:55

had some dignity to it. The

16:57

whole art of his life is

16:59

unline that of any other athlete.

17:02

I remember Bob doing a piece with Michael

17:04

J. Fox about Muhammad

17:07

Ali, and that was very moving to see

17:09

them join forces. And I think he got

17:11

a lot of courage from Michael J. Fox,

17:13

because I think there was a period of time where

17:16

he was embarrassed to appear in public and

17:18

he didn't want people to see. You

17:22

know that he had become

17:24

diminished from this disease. And

17:27

I think all the things that he's done

17:29

for Parkinson's research and all the inspiration

17:31

he's given people who are dealing with the disease.

17:34

My father died of Parkinson's and so

17:36

I became very interested in sort

17:39

of the science. I think he

17:41

sort of died as he lived. I mean,

17:43

he was incredibly committed

17:45

to this cause and I think

17:48

very very inspiring to so many people.

17:56

We're going to take a quick break and we'll be right

17:59

back. Thanks

18:01

again to our sponsors. Let's get back to

18:03

the interview. Let's

18:06

talk about the Olympics. Bob, You've been the

18:08

primetime host for every Olympics

18:10

on MPC since n you

18:12

were the late night host of the Games.

18:15

Do you ever get sick of the Olympics? Be

18:18

honest, no, um

18:21

no, I don't get sick of them. No matter who

18:24

some days succeeds me. That

18:26

person, if they're a thinking person I assume

18:28

they will be, is not going to agree with every

18:31

aspect of it. It's just too vast. There

18:33

are parts of it that are going to appeal to you,

18:36

arts of it where maybe if you were making the decision,

18:38

you might emphasize this rather than that. But

18:41

in the big picture, being the host

18:43

is not only an honor, it's an important

18:45

responsibility because so many

18:47

hundreds of thousands of people work really

18:50

hard to produce these pieces and

18:52

to put everything in place. You owe it

18:54

not just to yourself and to the audience,

18:56

but to all your colleagues. Do the best possible job.

18:59

But are there lines when I say to myself,

19:01

you know what this particular thing

19:04

isn't my cup of tea, or if

19:06

I was running it, I'd do it this way, of

19:08

course. But of the time, you

19:10

know, I'm well aware that no

19:13

one else has a better position of

19:15

broadcasting during those three weeks than I do. And

19:17

you do such a great job. And I think

19:19

that people probably have no idea

19:22

of how much preparation is involved

19:25

in this, particularly when it comes

19:27

to you. I mean, you are just immersed

19:30

in all things Olympics. I mean, you know everything

19:33

about every athlete, every event.

19:35

It's ridiculous. I mean, are you just

19:37

reading Olympic material from the

19:39

time you wake up till the time you go to bed and

19:42

no offense? But that sounds kind of boring your

19:44

poor wife. Well, here's

19:47

here's what happens before over Olympics. You're

19:49

doing preparation, at least in a general

19:51

way in the months leading up to it. For

19:53

example, with Brazil, I'm aware on

19:56

an ongoing basis of all the issues and

19:58

obstacles that they face and

20:00

the controversies. But about

20:03

a month before the opening ceremony, you

20:05

go into a lockdown mode and

20:07

you take all of the research that uh,

20:10

the outstanding research department has prepared

20:13

and you start pouring through it and you close

20:15

everything else off. But one

20:17

thing that's really become important for me over

20:19

the years is I learned fairly early

20:22

on what you don't need to know. You

20:24

don't have to know everything

20:27

about or even the name of every hurdler

20:31

from Bolivia or platform diver from

20:33

Peru. That's what the people at the venues

20:35

are for. And if those athletes

20:38

become a story, the research department

20:40

is so good, and now with everything digitized,

20:43

you can get it so quickly. But as long as you're

20:45

someone who's able to take a briefing

20:47

quickly, and you know this from your days on

20:50

the Today Show or as the Network news

20:52

anchor, some stuff can be scripted

20:54

and planned, and other stuff just comes up

20:56

and you have to take it, take a quick look at

20:58

it, and use your experience to make

21:01

some sense of it and get it out there quickly.

21:04

Over time, you develop those muscles

21:06

and you're able to do it. You have to be a quick study

21:08

and incredibly fast on your feet.

21:10

You know. I want to talk about Rio because

21:13

having covered so many Olympics, and

21:16

many of them have been fraught, I

21:18

guess at the onset and usually

21:21

these cities rise to the occasion. But

21:23

gosh, I feel like Rio is under more pressure

21:25

than any other city

21:27

that that I've watched through,

21:30

you know, the Olympics that I've been aware of or

21:32

at least involved in. Rio

21:35

faces such an array of issues.

21:37

The pollution, the political term,

21:40

well, the financial crisis, the

21:42

zeke of virus, the

21:44

venues and the infrastructure, and

21:47

also security. When you say to yourself,

21:50

look, if they don't have enough money

21:52

to pay the police and security forces

21:55

when they've got to ask the federal

21:57

government for nearly a billion dollars in additional

22:00

cord, can we be sure that

22:02

everything will be as fully buttoned up

22:04

as it should be. And in addition to the kind

22:06

of terrorism that people worry about at

22:08

any big international event, um,

22:11

Rio has a problem with just general

22:13

crime, street crime. You've got

22:15

to be very careful if you visit

22:17

what areas you venture into and what

22:20

you stay away from. Are you worried about the athletes?

22:22

Are are you concerned a about

22:24

the security of the people

22:27

covering the games? And are you worried about

22:29

the athletes as well? Given gosh,

22:31

where we seem to be in such a volatile,

22:34

uh scary time all around

22:37

the world, not just in the United States.

22:41

What they have told the athletes is,

22:44

if you stay in Olympic

22:46

housing, then we'll have it

22:48

secured. If you choose to stay

22:51

elsewhere, then you're on your own. You've

22:53

got to get your own security. And

22:55

I don't want to be Debbie Downer here,

22:57

but it's worth noting that the

23:00

athletes in sports where the Olympics

23:02

are not the pinnacle. You know, it's

23:05

great to play on the Olympic basketball team,

23:07

but Steph Currier, Lebron James would rather win

23:10

the NBA titled than win a gold medal, or

23:12

Serena Will's rather win Wimbledon than win

23:14

an Olympic gold medal. So a

23:17

great number of these basketball players,

23:19

golfers, tennis players have already

23:21

announced their intention to skip these

23:23

Olympics, and most of them have very rationally

23:26

said, look, even if the risk

23:28

is low, it's not a risk that

23:30

I'm willing to take now. If

23:32

you're a pole vaulter with a

23:34

chance to win a gold medal, and you've trained for this for

23:36

four years and this is your one big turn

23:38

on the international stage, then that risk

23:41

is more than worth it. But those who have

23:43

other options, I'm not surprised that they've decided

23:45

this to take a pass this time. No real masters

23:48

for pole vaulters, is there No. I

23:50

mean, with the Olympics, it's at best

23:52

once every four years, and maybe for some of

23:54

these competitors it's once in a lifetime.

23:57

And most Americans don't pay that

23:59

much attention to Olympic sports outside

24:01

the context of the Olympics. So these competitors

24:04

stepped out of the shadows and into the biggest

24:06

spotlight for just that a

24:08

couple of weeks, or in the case of some events,

24:11

just a few minutes or a few seconds. I

24:14

think probably the biggest story coming

24:16

out of the Olympics in the United

24:18

States is the concern about Zica.

24:21

And you know, the Brazilian

24:23

health minister says that the odds of getting

24:25

it are very low because it's happening during

24:28

the South American winter. Uh.

24:30

And yet you have a number of athletes

24:32

who are deciding to skip it, as you know

24:35

better than we do, largely because

24:37

of this disease um you have.

24:39

You have a number of men who are participating

24:42

who say that they're going to preserve their sperm

24:44

and advance of going. How

24:46

are you doing that? I

24:50

think I'm at a stage of life where it's not a factor.

24:54

How how big of a crisis

24:56

do you think Zekea represents.

25:00

Well, I'm not a doctor, I don't play one on TV.

25:02

It does seem credible to me

25:04

that it being winter near the equator,

25:07

UH, that the risk would be diminished,

25:10

the mosquito population is diminished,

25:12

and that if you take uh proper

25:14

precautions, the chance of

25:16

it is relatively low.

25:19

But no one can guarantee that there's no

25:21

chance. And you can't blame someone from

25:24

not wanting to roll the dice if they're a

25:26

female athlete. Most of these athletes

25:28

are obviously people in the prime of their

25:30

lives. They're sexually active,

25:33

many of them are apt to become pregnant

25:35

or considering and starting a family whatever may

25:37

be. Or as male athletes,

25:40

that could affect their their partners or potential

25:43

partners. So for them to

25:45

be concerned about it makes makes perfect

25:47

sense to me. When you look at sort

25:49

of the highlights and low lights

25:51

of your Olympic experiences,

25:54

and I'm sure there's so many, and you must

25:56

write a book about this at some point,

25:59

but up were some of the moments

26:01

that are seared in your memory

26:03

that you know you still

26:06

think about today. Well,

26:08

we talked about Muhammed Ali a moment ago, when

26:10

he lit the cauldron as the final

26:12

torch bearer in nineties in Atlanta.

26:15

That was such a sunny moment because virtually

26:17

no one knew, including me and dick Enberg

26:20

on the opening ceremony. We might have guessed

26:22

it, but no one told us that it was

26:24

going to be Ali. And they had practiced at

26:26

one time at three o'clock in the morning, I'd say

26:28

fewer than twenty people actually knew

26:30

that it would be Mohammed Ali. In the way they staged

26:32

it, he stepped out of the shadows and into

26:34

that spotlight when Janet Evans, who

26:37

had the torch before him, handed it to him,

26:39

and there was a moment or two of silence

26:42

while it kind of sank in to the crowd

26:44

watching, and then there were almost audible gasps

26:47

followed by this deafening applause.

26:49

It was surprising, it was touching,

26:52

it was exciting because of his presence,

26:55

but it was also even though he lived another

26:57

twenty years after that, I think that was

26:59

the moment of reconciliation

27:02

for him on the world stage.

27:04

There were so many aspects to that

27:07

that when I'm asked, what's my most

27:09

memorable Olympic moment? Even though I could rattle

27:12

off another twenty. That's the ones at the top.

27:14

Were there any other athletes that just

27:17

inspired or moved to you? Yeah,

27:20

And sometimes they're big winners

27:23

and sometimes their relative footnotes.

27:26

When Kathy Freeman lit

27:28

the torch and then also won

27:31

her event at the Sydney Olympics

27:33

because of her Aboriginal background, there

27:37

was a story there that was meaningful

27:39

and inspiring to Australians

27:42

and which could be told and understood by

27:44

the rest of the world. And her performance

27:47

she won resoundingly

27:49

emphatically. But then you have other

27:51

moments, and you and I have covered them, but we could

27:53

list dozens of them. Will just give you one. In

27:56

ninety two in Barcelona, there

27:58

was a marathon her from Mongolia

28:01

named Pambo Tool, and

28:03

the Ambo Tool had zero chance

28:06

to win a medal um. He

28:08

came there with the idea of just representing

28:10

his country and finishing on

28:13

top of it all, he was legally blind. The

28:15

marathon finishes in

28:18

the main Olympic Stadium, which and it's

28:20

always the last day of the Olympics, and

28:22

the closing ceremony takes place in the

28:24

Olympic Stadium too. The Ambo

28:26

tool came staggering towards

28:29

the Olympic Stadium not minutes

28:31

but hours after what officials

28:34

thought was the very last competitor had

28:36

finished. It took him like seven

28:38

hours to run the marathon, but

28:41

he managed to finish. And when he got

28:43

to the entrance of the Olympic Stadium, security

28:46

at first stopped him, like who is this guy

28:48

and what is he doing? And after it was made

28:50

clear what was happening, they cleared

28:52

a path for him to get to

28:54

where the finish line would have been. And

28:56

right in the middle of a closing ceremony with

28:58

all the hooplah and pageantry,

29:01

this guy came staggering across the

29:03

finish line and he had accomplished

29:05

what he came there to do. And when

29:08

asked about it afterwards, he said,

29:11

my country didn't send me here to win

29:13

a medal because I had no chance.

29:16

The only thing I could do was finish. And if

29:18

you're not touched by that, you've got to check

29:20

your pulse. You know, there

29:23

are so many great stories, and

29:25

one Olympics in particular was

29:28

marred for you personally because

29:31

of an eye infection. You got how

29:34

how how how bummed were

29:36

you when you had to sit out in

29:38

two thousand fourteen because

29:41

you was it officially pink eye? What

29:43

happened to you? Exactly how pink I is

29:46

to viral conjunctive itis, what the

29:48

common cold is to a really

29:50

bad case of influenza. Um,

29:53

So I had viral conjunctive itis,

29:55

they hoped. I woke up the first

29:57

day that we're going to be on the air, felt

30:00

perfectly fine. When I went to bed, woke up,

30:02

looked in the mirror, my left eye was red

30:04

and virtually closed, and I'm thinking, what

30:06

the heck is this? So I go in and the

30:08

NBC doctors take a look, and at

30:11

first they thought it was some kind of bacterial infection.

30:13

They give me some antibiotics, They tell me it'll

30:15

be gone in like three days. But by

30:18

three days it had jumped from my leftot in my

30:20

right, and now both eyes were all

30:22

red and inflamed. And

30:24

they knew at that point that it's a viral.

30:26

So with something that's viral, all you

30:28

can do is make the person feel more comfortable,

30:31

but it just has to run its course

30:33

and the problem. Here's how

30:35

I felt if it had been my first or second

30:37

Olympics. I think I would have been crushed, but

30:40

because I've done so many Olympics, I really

30:42

wasn't crushed personally.

30:45

But I felt a professional responsibility

30:48

to all the people who worked so hard to put

30:50

on an Olympics, and you're the guy carrying

30:52

the ball for them. So I tried to be

30:54

as professional as I could about it, and

30:56

anyone who recalls it fairly knows that

30:58

the only references I'm me to it were

31:01

very brief, kind of self deprecating,

31:03

hopefully humorous remarks. I

31:06

just was afraid that I was creeping out

31:08

most of America, and in fact, maybe I was, but

31:10

here it became part of the story, especially

31:13

in a social media age, and no matter

31:15

how professionally tried to be, and no

31:17

matter how self deprecating he

31:19

tried to be about it, people are going to do with it

31:21

what they will. And then after five or

31:23

six days, it got to the point where

31:25

my eyes were so light sensitive. That's

31:28

when I had to step aside because I couldn't be in the studio.

31:30

So for six days I'm in a dark and hotel

31:32

room with various things

31:35

over my eyes, washed claus and dipped

31:37

in one solution or another and taking

31:39

whatever they told me to take, and

31:41

by I don't know, the six or seventh day, I

31:43

was able to come back and kind of stumble

31:46

through what remained of the Olympics.

31:48

But for about two months after

31:51

the games, my eyesight was compromised.

31:53

My prescription kept changing. I couldn't read the newspaper.

31:55

It was really hard to call baseball games because I couldn't

31:58

see out of the distance. And it was probably around

32:00

June or July before

32:02

it finally stabilized. Well, we're

32:04

glad that it did, and that that

32:06

you're all better. And you mentioned social media,

32:09

and I guess they had a field day with

32:11

this, which is sort of shitty

32:14

when you think about how miserable it must

32:16

have been for you. But social media

32:18

can be even more than sort

32:20

of shitty, and you experience that with

32:23

your remarks about Caitlyn Jenner when

32:26

she got the Arthur

32:28

Ash Award. Yeah, the backlash

32:30

wasn't too terrible. It came from certain quarters

32:33

and then in other places, like it was like, hey,

32:35

he's saying something that's just common sense.

32:37

But what happened with Caitlyn Jenner was

32:39

this. Dan Patrick has

32:41

a radio show which I go on from

32:44

time to time, and he

32:46

just says, what do you make of Caitlyn Jenner

32:48

winning the Arthur Ash Award at

32:51

the SPS? Now, I don't think

32:53

the SPS are really worth that much attention.

32:56

They're clearly made for TV event

32:58

and a promotional vehicle for ESPN,

33:01

and they're welcome to it. But the only

33:03

two things that redeem it are

33:05

the Jim Belvano Award and

33:08

the Arthur Ash Award, because they stand for something.

33:11

And my point was, and I

33:13

took pains to make this clear, I

33:16

support Caitlin Jenner in her decision.

33:18

I certainly hope we're moving toward a more tolerant

33:21

and compassionate society, for people

33:23

are free to choose their own path

33:25

in life, and we treat them with respect

33:28

and dignity, and so I'm all

33:30

for it, and I recognize that it takes a

33:33

measure of courage to do it. But at the same

33:35

time, the Arthur Ash

33:38

Award is supposed to represent

33:40

people who have used their position as

33:43

athletes two get

33:45

beyond just those achievements, and

33:49

up until that very moment, Bruce

33:51

or Caitlyn Jenner had never done that. So

33:54

what I said was what they should

33:56

have done, would have been A brilliant stroke

33:59

would be to have Caitlyn Jenner. Because

34:01

of her visibility, and it is television

34:03

and you're trying to bring eyeballs to set,

34:06

why don't you have Caitlyn Jenner present the Arthur

34:08

Ash Award to Renee Richards,

34:10

who had been Richard Raskin underwent

34:14

gender reassignment surgery I think in the nineteen

34:16

seventies while still an active tennis

34:19

player, then played as Renee Richards

34:21

against whoever her contemporary where she's

34:23

still alive and in her eighties. You could

34:25

have had Caitlyn Jenner make the speech

34:28

that she made, which was lovely, and

34:30

at the same time present the award

34:33

to someone who actually represented

34:36

what I took the Arthur Ash Award to

34:38

represent. But some people just

34:40

think in a binary way, and so to some

34:43

people, how you feel about Caitlyn

34:45

Jenner receiving the Arthur Ash Award is a litmus

34:47

test of how you feel about the rights

34:49

and dignity of transgender people. Well,

34:52

if that's how some people think, um,

34:54

I guess there's nothing to do about it. Do

34:56

you think if it were this year and

34:59

Caitlyn Jenner was up for the award, you

35:02

would feel more comfortable given that

35:04

she has given

35:07

voice to many transgender

35:09

people and sort

35:11

of I think increased understanding

35:14

of the whole issue to a whole generation

35:17

of people. Yeah,

35:19

somewhat. I think the very first thing that

35:21

Caitlyn Jenner did to take a step

35:23

in that direction actually was after

35:26

she received the award, when she made

35:28

the speech. There's no hostility in

35:30

my in my take, he asked me the question.

35:33

I gave him what I thought was a well considered answer

35:35

under the circumstances. But there's

35:37

still if you if you want to parse it, there's

35:40

a difference between the experiences

35:42

of Caitlyn Jenner, who had a five

35:44

million dollar reality series waiting

35:47

for her, and a well thought

35:49

out kind of rollout of this cover

35:52

of Vanity Fair up from the mistake in

35:54

the book. Reality show interview

35:57

with Diane Sawyer. I'm not criticizing

35:59

any us, but this is hardly typical

36:02

of the experiences and the

36:05

obstacles that a transgender

36:07

person is likely to encounter in going

36:11

forward. Bob, Before we wrap up,

36:13

I have to ask you about the other great

36:15

competition dominating the

36:17

media at this point,

36:19

which is, of course, the presidential campaign.

36:22

Do you know Donald Trump and what

36:24

do you make of his role in

36:26

this extravaganza. I

36:29

have known Donald Trump, not well,

36:32

but that acquainted with him since the nineteen

36:34

eighties. He's always had um some

36:36

relationships sports. He owned a team

36:38

in UH the old USFL,

36:41

which posed the challenge briefly to

36:43

the NFL. So I've encountered him at

36:45

charity events and whatnot, and I must say

36:47

that he was always extremely

36:50

friendly and nice to me. We

36:53

never talked politics, We talked sports

36:55

and television. I have not caused paths

36:57

with him, probably in the last

37:00

three years or so. What do you think

37:02

about his candidacy and sort of what

37:04

it has symbolized

37:07

I think, or what it has told us about

37:09

the state of our country. Well,

37:12

I think it comes about

37:14

because of a confluence of events. Um,

37:18

there's some similarity with Bernie

37:20

Sanders candidacy in that

37:23

UH at the root of it, the gut

37:25

reaction is discussed

37:27

or impatience with politics

37:30

and government and business as

37:32

usual, and that's understandable.

37:34

Depend there's also the aspect of

37:36

a celebrity culture and

37:39

left and right wing echo chambers

37:41

on cable television. We live in a post

37:43

factual universe where

37:46

anything, even if it doesn't check

37:48

out. That supports your gut feeling.

37:51

You'll find a place that will echo

37:53

that, and it will reverberate. And it doesn't

37:56

just apply to Donald Trump. It's hey, if I agree

37:58

with it, if I like him or her, I don't want to

38:00

hear anything that differs from that,

38:02

and anything that supports my viewpoint. It's

38:05

true. I don't have to check it out. It's

38:07

it's amazing. Daniel Patrick moynihan,

38:10

UM Senator, intellectual

38:12

long gone but famously once said,

38:15

you're entitled to your own opinion. You're not

38:17

entitled to your own facts, but

38:19

these days you are. We live in a post

38:21

factual world where at hominum

38:24

attacks and baseless assertions,

38:26

no matter where they come from, pass for

38:28

insight and pass forward legitimate arguments.

38:31

And I don't think on balance that that can

38:33

be good for the country. I'm curious,

38:35

as somebody who consumes media

38:37

and of course understands media as

38:40

much as you do. What's your

38:42

take? Was he given

38:44

too much airtime while

38:46

the other candidates weren't because

38:49

it was basically good for the bottom line. To

38:53

some extent, that has to be true. He moves

38:56

the needle news or what passes

38:58

for news is business,

39:00

just the same as any other television program

39:03

is UM And except for a

39:05

few people trying to hold the line

39:07

and uphold standards, UM,

39:09

it's not going in the direction that that you and

39:12

I grew up approving of

39:14

an aspiring to Well,

39:16

I'm that happy note going

39:20

to hell in a handbasket. Good night everybody.

39:24

Bob. It's always great to talk to you. It's always

39:26

so wonderful to hear your insights,

39:28

and you're quite a rock

39:30

on tour. By the way, Thank you.

39:33

Let's let's see how much trouble you and I can get

39:35

in over this one. Yeah, anyway,

39:38

Bob, I hope I get to see you soon.

39:40

Thanks so much for taking the time to talk to us

39:42

today. Thanks Katie, Thanks Brian. So

39:47

as you can see, Bob can talk about

39:49

everything and anything, not just about

39:51

sports, and that's why I love having conversations

39:54

with him, because I'm always dazzled

39:56

by his eloquence. He's

39:58

going to think that's really weird for me to say,

40:01

but it's true, Bob. I'm sorry. I

40:03

can't wait to hear what he says about Rio because

40:05

it's been plagued by some significant problems.

40:08

You have to feel sorry for the city in a way, because

40:10

they're dealing with Zeka, the economy,

40:13

crime, and apparently the Olympic

40:15

village itself is having some problems. So

40:17

I hope everything works itself out by

40:19

the time they say let the Games begin.

40:33

By the way, I just made an appearance on

40:35

this really fun parenting show

40:37

called The Longest Shortest Time.

40:40

I love the title because I feel like it

40:42

is the longest shortest time having

40:44

daughters who are twenty five and twenty and having

40:46

no idea how that happened. But

40:49

you can go listen for a little peek into my personal

40:51

life. I talk about what my mom did

40:53

when she found me making out in a

40:55

guy's basement when I was sixteen

40:57

years old, mortifying, and

41:00

how I'm dealing with my impending

41:04

sixtieth birthday. So

41:07

you can find The Longest Shortest Time on iTunes,

41:09

Stitcher, or wherever you get your podcasts.

41:13

We want to thank Gretta Cone and the

41:16

Right Reverend John Delore for producing

41:18

the show. Thanks to Mark Phillips

41:21

for our terrific theme music. David

41:23

Herman mixed this episode, and

41:26

thank you for listening. Please

41:28

subscribe, rate, and review the

41:30

podcast. That's what helps other listeners

41:33

find the show and we'll talk

41:35

to you next time. When

41:40

my baby smiles at me, I go to Rio

41:44

de Janeiro. Okay, Grett,

41:46

it's gonna find a way to use that. By the way, I

41:49

do have a good voice for radio. I think you

41:51

do have a good voice face for radio too.

41:54

I have a voice for print. No,

41:58

that's not true. That's

42:00

funny. M