Showing results by narrator "Ron Barr" in All Categories

Hall of Famer Lynn Swann won four Super Bowls with the Pittsburgh Steelers and was selected to two Pro Bowls. Swann also served as the chairperson of the President's Council on Fitness, Sports, and Nutrition. Swann returned to his alma mater, USC, and became the athletic director. Swann discusses his career with the Steelers, what drew him to USC, and what has changed since he returned.

Shirley Babashoff owns eight Olympic swimming medals and has a part in 39 national records. Widely regarded as one of the best female swimmers of all time, she received the Olympic Order and was inducted into the International Swimming Hall of Fame. She discusses her book, Making Waves: My Journey to Winning Olympic Gold and Defeating the East German Doping Program, her Olympic experiences, and how her childhood affected her career.

Apolo Ohno is an eight-time medalist in the Winter Olympics and the 2017 champion of the hit TV show Dancing with The Stars. As the face of short-track skating, he became the youngest US national champion at 14 and was the reigning champion 12 times. This Sports Byline Classic from 2016 examines his career.

College Football Hall of Famer Steve Spurrier is the only person to win both the Heisman Trophy and the NCAA FBS Championship as a coach. Spurrier played for nearly a decade in the NFL before returning to college football, where he became the winningest head coach at both Florida and the South Carolina. He talks about his book, Head Ball Coach: My Life in Football, Doing it Differently - and Winning, his playing career, and his road to becoming a head coach.

Author Erica Westly’s work has been featured in the New York Times, Slate, the New Republic and many more. She wrote Fastpitch: The Untold History of Softball and Women Who Made the Game, which was a finalist for the 2017 PEN/ESPN Award for Literary Sports. She discusses the rise of women’s softball and the key figures that elevated the game.

Mark Price is a 12-year NBA veteran, most noted for his shooting. A member of the Cleveland Cavaliers for nine years, he was a four-time All-Star and two-time 3 Point Shootout Challenge winner. His #25 jersey is retired by both the Cavs and Georgia Tech, his alma mater. Price discusses how the recruiting process has evolved over the years and how style of play has changed the game.

In this Sports Byline Classic interview from 2016, Andre Ward talks about the mental aspect of boxing and his career highlights, including bringing home a gold medal in 2004 and subsequent WBA Super and WBC Super Middleweight title accolades.

Yogi Berra comments on his book, When You Come to a Fork in the Road, Just Take It!, a collection of his famous witticisms. The baseball legend also talks about growing up in St. Louis and his baseball career.

John Feinstein on his first attempt at writing a fiction novel. In the interview the plot of the book, Last Shot: A Final Four Mystery, is discussed as well as college athletics in general.

Orel discusses his book, Between the Lines: Nine Principles to Live By, his childhood, and all aspects of his Major League Baseball career.

Don Katz discusses the history and marketing strategies of Nike as detailed in his book Just Do It: The Nike Spirit in the Corporate World.

Let Me Tell You a Story: A Lifetime in the Game is a book that John Feinstein co-wrote with legendary basketball coach Red Auerbach. In the book, they cover Red's life in detail as well as his coaching career highlights.

Michael Lewis talks about his books Moneyball: The Art of Winning an Unfair Game and Coach: Lessons on the Game of Life. Moneyball looks at A's General Manager Billy Beane and the strategies he uses to compete in MLB as a small market team GM. Coach is a book talking about Lewis' high school baseball coach and the lessons that he learned from him.

Feinstein chronicles the years spent renovating "chewed-up" Bethpage (N.Y.) Black for the first-ever U.S. Open held on a municipal course, and the biggest ever net profit, at $13 million. He also talks about writing sports books in general and golf.