Episode 100 is here, in the flesh, or in this case, in the computer. This episode is so big, we’ve cut it up into five parts. The DL, in conjunction with washingtonpost.com was given the opportunity to go behind the scenes with Monday Night Football. These interviews took place throughout the day, and into the night.

Today, we present Part 5. Parts 1,2, 3 and 4, uploaded last week, are conversations with Tony Kornheiser, Ron Jaworski, MNF producer Jay Rothman and Suzy Kolber. To end our 100th Episode Extravaganza...

Part 5 is a sit-down with Mike Tirico.

The interview with Tirico is actually in two parts of its own. First we talk on location at his radio show at Mitchell & Ness in Center City Philadelphia. We had the chance to tape part one of this interview in between segments of Tirico & Van Pelt on ESPN Radio.

In that segment we talk about his role at ESPN and why he likes doing, well, everything. He does NFL, NBA, PGA and less we forget the radio show he was doing at the time. Why?

Mike talks about why he loves doing all the different sports and different mediums and the reason he does it is because that’s how the people he grew up watching and listening to did it. I ask if anyone up at the WWL harbors any resentment toward Mike for taking some of the bigger gigs away from other people. It’s a tough question to answer – do other people hate you because you’re successful –  but Tirico handles it like he handles everything...with candor and professionalism.

I ask Mike about his first love, or at least what seems to be his first love, golf. From a host perspective, how hard is a golf event to call, with everyone in your ear and very few breaks in a very long day, constantly having to drive traffic all over the course? Mike calls golf both the easiest and hardest of all the sports.

We also talk about his national Radio show and if he feels he can’t be as opinionated or stir as much controversy because of his status at ESPN. Does he feel he speaks for the network now?

Part two of the interview takes place in the booth of Monday Night Football, just before kickoff of the Eagles and Browns. That alone is pretty freaking awesome. We follow up on the radio show conversation to talk about the difference between a national show and a local format show.

That leads to a lengthy conversation about competition. Everyone is everyone’s competition now. If you can get someone’s attention for five minutes on the street (or 25 in a podcast) you are taking away from national radio or TV or movies. The world has changed, so we discuss the changes in media. Mike really seems to get this whole blogosphere thing.

1. “You can’t just say the blogosphere. It’s it’s so short-sighted and small minded to say, ‘what they say in the blogs’ because, what is a blog? A blog is somebody who is closer to a traditional journalist. A blog could be somebody who is the farthest away from a traditional journalist.
   

1. “I’m a firm believer that there is a flight to quality – that’s a CNBC term, a financial term. I think there’s always a flight to quality. If you put out a product with quality, people will find it and people will keep coming to it. What’s the difference of Deadspin, The Big Lead...one one to the other to the other...to the blogs on the more traditional sites like ESPN.com or the blog that goes along with Dan Patrick’s radio show? What’s the difference in what sticks and what gets more people to check it on a regular basis? Quality.”
   

We touch on the BCS coming to ESPN. With Mike cutting his teeth in the college ranks I wanted to get his thoughts on the current system, the NCAA and Barack Obama’s push for a playoff system. He really takes the NCAA to task there.

Last, we talk about what Mike hasn’t done yet. Is there anything out there that he wants to do? Oh, and then he ends the interview to go call a Monday Night Football game, so I’m pretty sure you can guess that answer.

Link to this:

| | | | | |