Week in review
ESPN employees and business units were honored coast to coast this past week – and this weekend we will all honor our employee-veterans and veterans across the nation.
But before we immerse ourselves in the Memorial Day Weekend respite a few of the highlights from the week:
Wednesday in Charlotte, N.C., ESPN’s NASCAR analyst Rusty Wallace, the 1989 series champion who won 55 races, headed the group of five picked as NASCAR’s newest Hall of Famers.
Wednesday in New York City, the Sports Business Journal (SBJ) Awards were announced. ESPN’s WatchESPN app was honored with the Best in Sports Technology Award. The Best in Digital Sports Media citation went to ESPN Digital Media.
Wednesday in Boston, ESPN’s Chuck Pagano, Executive Vice President, Technology, was honored with the The Vanguard Award for Science & Technology. The award was presented by the National Cable & Telecommunications Association (NCTA) at its annual “Cable Show.”
And earlier this week in Los Angeles, SportsCenter anchor and espnW producer Hannah Storm won a Gracie Award® for Outstanding Individual Achievement: Producer–Entertainment for the video, Iraq Vet takes on Mount Kilimanjaro. ESPN’s production of the 2011 FIFA Women’s World Cup match between Team USA and Brazil also was cited as the Outstanding Sports Program.
Let’s review our week on Front Row:
* The forces of ESPN came together to see if ESPN Radio’s Colin Cowherd could honor his claim of running a mile in under-6 minutes and 30-seconds. On a rainy track and with almost no one in his corner Cowherd could not be stopped. Colin, as he’ll gladly tell you, ran running the #HerdMile in six minutes and 11 seconds.
* Outside The Lines host Bob Ley recently traveled to Brazil as part of his reporting on the special “Countdown to Brazil” episode. The show will air Sunday, May 27 at 9 a.m. ET on ESPN. Ley goes in-depth to find out what it takes to be the host country for the FIFA World Cup, including preparations, renovations and more.
* Through the 15 games of the NCAA Men’s Lacrosse Championship Presented by Enterprise Rent-A-Car a series of promotional “bumps” aired. This weekend with the Final Four on Saturday on ESPN2 and the title game on Monday, full-length teases will run, combining Native American narrative with scenes from present day life from the Onondaga Nation.
* With 16 affiliates descending upon the Bristol, Conn. campus and four national network shows also emanating from the ESPN campus “quad,” ESPN Radio held its second annual Audio Avenue. We caught up with some of the employees who explained the levels of coordination needed to pull off this event.
