ESPN.com MMA writer Brett Okamoto speaks on the panel “Unlocking Sports for the AAPI Journalist.”
More than a dozen ESPN employees attended the Asian American Journalists Association Convention in Las Vegas Aug. 10-13 at Caesar’s Palace.
With the support of Diversity and Inclusion Director, Jackson Davis, ESPN sponsored a special panel: “Race and Media Through the Sports Lens.”
ESPN.com’s Ohm Youngmisuk moderated the panel whose participants included sports agent Don Yee, who represents NFL star Tom Brady among many others, and former University of Hawaii at Manoa head football coach Norm Chow.
ESPN.com deputy editor Michael Huang moderated a panel on “Unlocking Sports for the AAPI [Asian-American and Pacific Islander] Journalist.” ESPN commentators Cary Chow and Prim Siripipat also were panelists on two non-sports offerings.
NBA Tonight host Cassidy Hubbarth presented Norm Chow with the AAJA Sports Task Force Award for his contributions to the Asian-American community.
Chow, who finished a four-year stint leading Hawaii last fall, has a storied college and NFL coaching resume. He was the offensive coordinator on national championship staffs at BYU in 1984 and Southern California in 2003 and `04. Chow coached Heisman Trophy-winning quarterbacks Ty Detmer, Carson Palmer and Matt Leinart.
Hubbarth also emceed a Korean barbeque outing that included a raffle of some sports items that netted nearly $500 for the Sports Task Force’s scholarship fund.
ESPN The Magazine and ESPN.com senior writer Pablo Torre helped secure a taped message from NBA star Jeremy Lin to the Sports Task Force. The Lin video was played several times during the conference.
Another highlight of the convention was the Second Annual Sports Task Force Summer Jam, sponsored by ESPN and held at Hakkasan nightclub. DJ Lil Jon gave ESPN several shout-outs during the evening. Attendees donated to the Al Young Sports Journalism Scholarship Fund. The Sports Task Force raised more than $5000 during the convention.
This year, ESPN was happy to welcome some staff members from the ESPN China/Tencent group. It was their first experience at the AAJA conference and an opportunity for some of ESPN’s newest employees to meet and mingle with their co-workers.
And there has been a changing of the guard: After co-founding the AAJA Sports Task Force, ESPN coordinating producer Carolyn Hong is stepping down as chairperson. ESPN International producer Howard Chen will take over as chairperson, while Hong remains in an advisory role, focusing on big-picture projects for the AAJA Sports Task Force.
