ON THE DL

Ernie Johnson On His Relationship With Turner, With Barkley, With God...And So Much More.

Ernie Johnson from TNT joins the show to talk about his relationship with Turner, his relationship with Charles Barkley and his relationship with God. And so much more.

The TNT NBA studio show, anchored by Johnson, won the 2009 Sports Emmy for best daily studio show. But Bob Costas pulled down the top studio host trophy yet again. Doesn’t Johnson, who shared the award with Costas once and won it by himself one other time, just want to punch Costas in the face? Note, Johnson starts to admit that he would like to (almost had him!) then offers a more passive alternative which makes a lot of sense. Name the darn award after Costas and let someone else win it.

Johnson has been at Turner since 1989. He’s undoubtedly had other opportunities from the networks, so why hasn’t he taken them? Why stay with Turner all those years? EJ simply loves his job. He was raised from the age of eight in Atlanta. His family has roots there. And he gets to work on a great show.

“The overriding thing, I love it there. I absolutely love it at Turner. And I love it in Atlanta. This is where I pretty much grew up, being born in Milwaukee but moving down here when I was eight, and I love it here. My family loves it here. We have a special needs child who is really well taken care of with the doctors here.

“There’s something to be said, and I think it’s very important, there’s more to it than trying to get the next place all the time, or looking around. It has to do with your family surroundings...and we’re very comfortable here. We love it. And Turner has been more than generous with me through the years. So, this is our place. I’m probably my agent’s worst nightmare.”

But what if he had to pick another job? What would his dream job be other than the dream job he has? Would it even be in sports?

People may not know that Johnson is a baseball guy at heart. His father played for the Milwaukee Braves (winning a World Series) and Johnson used to watch BP on the field while some of the biggest names in the history of the game (Paging Mr. Aaron. Mr Aaron please come to the batting cage) took time to ask him about his little league games. In fact, the Johnson thinks his greatest professional experience was getting the chance to call baseball games with his dad who moved to the booth after his retirement from the game. So when TBS got the opportunity to do some playoff baseball the last few years, it was more than just another good assignment for Johnson.

We discuss working with a guy like Cal Ripken and how that compares to working with a guy like Barkley. Polar opposites, I’d think. And he mentions that this season David Wells will be joining the TBS studio crew with Ripken and Dennis Eckersley, so the MLB show might be getting one of their own Barkley type characters.

Which brings up another point. The NBA show with EJ, Charles and Kenny Smith is so good (hence all the Emmys) that I’m not sure if we should thank them for the entertainment, or curse them for making all other studio shows try to copy what they’ve done. And fail. Every time we watch a studio show with a bunch of former players giggling and talking

over each other it makes us cringe. But it works on TNT. Why does it work on TNT?

Well it works, according to EJ, because it’s not forced. They have a plan and if something comes up and changes that plan, they reshuffle on the fly. They are real. That always makes for good TV, even if sometimes, being real is not a positive thing.

Twice in the last year few years, EJ has done a very public sit down with Barkley on the air. . Second was after his recent arrest. (Video clip at right). Everyone loves Barkley, but was that hard for EJ to do? Did he feel like an angry father asking his son for an explanation in front of the whole country?

“To a degree it’s difficult because it’s somebody you really care about. And you want him to get it. You want, if we’re talking about gambling or we’re talking about a DUI, that I ask the right questions and that I’m not easy with him. That I’m not just going to say, ‘okay Charles, we all make mistakes, that’s fine.’ We have to go to the next step and see where he’s going to go from here.

“It’s not the ideal situation and if we don’t have to have another five minute sit-down with just me and him on the air, that would be great with me.”

You may not know (he mentions it in speeches but he doesn’t preach it on air) that EJ is a very religious man. His email signature is ‘Trust God...Period.’ I honestly wasn’t sure what that meant and in my research I came across a speech (at right) he made about putting his faith in his God. Period. So how is he able to personally and spiritually reconcile the behavior of Barkley and some of the malfeasance by players in the league he has to cover every day? On a personal level, is it difficult for him to do that?

This shifts the show into an interesting conversation about faith and religion. How has EJ been able to ‘Trust God...Period’ when he was diagnosed with cancer and for years had to fight that disease? How did he have the strength to Trust God...Period?

“Because it’s not me doing it. You know. That’s the deal. It’s that faith and that trust that allows me to cope with it. And if it was just up to me, and if I had no faith, and I received that phone call that I got back in 2003 from the doctor, where do you go? And so it’s been a no-brainer for me, and that’s how my faith really carried me through that.

“Look, we all have stories and there will be something good that comes out of this. When I’m able to maintain that perspective, then it really doesn’t make it that difficult at all. Does that mean that I didn’t struggle? No, it doesn’t mean that. At first I shook my fist a little bit and said, ‘why me?’ But that disappeared in no time. And it’s not why it happened but how God will use that chapter in my life. And that’s a pretty easy place for me to land the plane.”

And how in the world was he able to keep it his cancer quiet for so long? Diagnosed in 2003, EJ didn’t take a leave of absence for treatment until 2006. Some people at Turner knew when he was originally diagnosed, but he didn’t even tell Charles or Kenny for a few years that he was dealing with non-Hodgkins lymphoma. It wasn’t until he saw footage of himself and noticed how swollen his lymph nodes started to look that he decided to make an announcement.

Three years going to work every day with cancer and not even telling your co-workers. Man he really does love his job.

We finish up with some actual talk about basketball. With MLB mired in steroid scandals and the NFL being held hostage by Brett Favre, is this a golden opportunity for the NBA to recapture America’s sporting attention? Other than some questionable officiating (very questionable officiating) the NBA has been great this playoffs. Are we seeing a rebirth of the league? Has the NBA gotten back to the the level we saw in the 80s and 90s?

And what about the stars in the game... many of whom are still left in the playoffs. The NBA momentum is very high, but does the league still need Kobe vs. LeBron to get to the finals to cap off a great season? How much does the league need its two biggest stars in the Finals for anyone to really care?

Thanks to EJ for spending the time and many thanks to you for listening. Not just today, but every day.

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Friday, May 15, 2009

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CLIPS

Why is EJ so darn likable? And doesn’t he want to punch Bob Costas in the face?

EJ has been at Turner since 1989. He’s undoubtedly had other offers, so why has he never left TNT?

Other than his current job, what would be EJ’s Dream Job? Is it even a job that’s in sports?

He covers basketball, but most people don’t know he’s really a baseball guy at heart. Why?

Why does the TNT studio show work so well. And should we thank them, or curse them for all the copycats?

What is his relationship with Charles Barkley. And how difficult were his very public sit-downs with Chuck.

What does Trust God...Period mean. And how has EJ lived his life by this motto?

How was EJ able to keep his cancer a secret for so long? And how can you trust God when something like this happens?

We finish up with a little NBA talk. Are we witnessing a rebirth of the league? And how bad does the NBA need Kobe vs. LeBron in the finals.

The TNT show is hilarious.

Charles Barkley is a Dumbass.

The show is also real. Barkley’s return to TNT after his recent DUI arrest.

Johnson’s speech at an Athletes In Action function, talking about his cancer and his motto, “Trust God...Period.”

Buy the new On the DL merchandise for 2009! While supplies last (which means forever).

Yesterday my friend who works for the American Cancer Society sent me this, so I pass it along to you. If you can spare the money to donate, this is a good place to do it.

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