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 Photo: Sandusky Register
In my never ending quest to get unique prospectives from Cleveland sports fans from all walks of life, I recently sent ESPN's Jay Crawford, originally from Sandusky, OH and host of the morning show First Take, a tweet asking if he'd like to answer some questions. He was kind enough to answer a few, and here's what I received back.
The Cleveland sports fan in me demands that I ask if Skip Bayless is really as diabolical as he plays on television. What exactly did LeBron James do to him?
Skip is just playing a character for TV, although everything he says, he firmly believes. The loud, angry guy is not who he is at all. Skip actually likes LeBron as a person and has nothing against him. Here's the history: he was in Chicago to witness Michael Jordan's magic first hand. He is Skip's all-time favorite athlete, so when LeBron is constantly compared to MJ, Skip wants to see it (greatness in
big spots, etc.). He loses sight of the fact MJ wasn't MJ his first 7 seasons, he was just LeBron.
How much do you get jabbed at around ESPN for being an Ohio State/Cleveland sports guy? Does it feel like fighting an uphill battle?
I get a fair amount of ribbing, but I think I also get sympathy. How can you not feel sorry for a guy who has watched his pro sports teams go a collective 0-129 in quests for championships?
How did you get discovered for First Take?
I was working in Tampa, Florida when I got a call from an ESPN executive about this new show called Cold Pizza. It sounded different, fun and cool, so I left Tampa. It's been a great run; starting our 7th year in October. Wow!!!
Give us a scouting report on Jay Crawford the pitcher. (Pitches, speeds, etc.)
Ha! Well, I'm a junk pitcher for sure. Mid 80's fastball now that I have 2 seperate tears in the MCL of my right elbow; nasty slider and duece. Action on my fastball is down and in to righties which makes it tough to crush; a lot of ground ball outs. Due to injury, only 10 innings this year, but yet to give up a run in a very competitive 18 and up amateur league.
I went to Danbury High School , about 25 minutes from Perkins High School , your alma mater, on the Marblehead peninsula. Did you ever play the Danbury Lakers in any sport?
Danbury wasn't in the Sandusky Bay Conference. We played St. Mary's, Huron, Margaretta, Clyde, Port Clinton, Tiffin Calvert, and Fremont St. Joe's. Also played out of conference, Vermillion, Sandusky, Fremont Ross, etc.
Edison and Norwalk as well. I don't remember playing Danbury.
A hot question right now is what the Cavaliers should do during the off-season. Any suggestions?
I would love to see them get a true point guard.
Thanks again to Jay for taking time out of his busy schedule to answer a few questions for us. GREAT answer on the Skip Bayless question; that sure explains a lot for me. Look for more of these Q&As this summer as I continue to use exhaustive efforts to contact people of interest in Cleveland sports.
Kirk
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