Those Guys Have All the Fun
Inside the World of ESPN
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Narrated by:
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James Andrew Miller
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Matt McCarthy
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Joan Baker
About this listen
ESPN began as an outrageous gamble with a lineup that included Australian Rules Football, rodeo, and a rinky-dinky clip show called Sports Center. Today the empire stretches far beyond television into radio, magazines, mobile phones, restaurants, video games, and more, while ESPN's personalities have become global superstars to rival the sports icons they cover.
Chris Berman, Robin Roberts, Keith Olbermann, Hannah Storm, Bill Simmons, Tony Kornheiser, Stuart Scott, Erin Andrews, Mike Ditka, Bob Knight, and scores of others speak openly about the games, shows, scandals, gambling addictions, bitter rivalries, and sudden suspensions that make up the network's soaring and stormy history. The result is a wild, smart, effervescent story of triumph, genius, ego, and the rise of an empire unlike any television had ever seen.
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In Dream Team, acclaimed sports journalist Jack McCallum delivers the untold story of the greatest team ever assembled: the 1992 U.S. Olympic men's basketball team that captivated the world, kindled the hoop dreams of countless children around the planet, and remade the NBA into a global sensation. As a senior staff writer for Sports Illustrated, McCallum enjoyed a courtside seat for the most exciting basketball spectacle on earth, covering the Dream Team from its inception to the gold medal ceremony in Barcelona.
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Great insight into the great basketball team ever.
- By James O'Brien on 09-04-12
By: Jack McCallum
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Loudmouth
- Tales (and Fantasies) of Sports, Sex, and Salvation from Behind the Microphone
- By: Craig Carton
- Narrated by: Craig Carton
- Length: 6 hrs and 17 mins
- Unabridged
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In this debut, Carton invites the listener to join him as he recounts tales from his suburban youth, defends his long-held love affair with the New York Jets, reminisces about the shenanigans of some of the highest paid and most celebrated athletes playing today, and reflects on his work as one of radio's craftiest, most hilarious personalities ever to get behind the microphone.
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Fun but too much about early life
- By Anthony A. Ciaccio on 07-13-13
By: Craig Carton
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War Room
- The Legacy of Bill Belichick and the Art of Building the Perfect Team
- By: Michael Holley
- Narrated by: Mirron Willis
- Length: 12 hrs and 18 mins
- Unabridged
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Bill Belichick is one of the titans of today's game of football. Now, sports commentator and best-selling author Michael Holley follows three NFL teams - the New England Patriots, Kansas City Chiefs, and Atlanta Falcons - from training camp 2010 through the Super Bowl and into the April draft, opening a new window into Belichick's influence on the game. This one-of-a-kind exploration takes football fans behind the scenes of the most popular sport in America, with unprecedented insider access to the head coaches, scouts, trainers, and players.
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Narrator choice - HUH?
- By Ryan Mullaney on 03-25-18
By: Michael Holley
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Got to Give the People What They Want
- True Stories and Flagrant Opinions from Center Court
- By: Jalen Rose
- Narrated by: Jalen Rose
- Length: 9 hrs and 32 mins
- Unabridged
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Jalen Rose has never been quiet. Not as a kid growing up in Detroit in the '70s and '80s. Not as the brash, trash-talking leader of the legendary "Fab Five" at the University of Michigan. Not as the player under the stewardship of Hall of Famers Larry Bird, Isiah Thomas, and others throughout his 13-year NBA career. And certainly not as a commentator and analyst on ABC/ESPN and Grantland.
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Amazing book - a MUST download / read
- By Terry on 10-08-15
By: Jalen Rose
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Often Wrong, Never in Doubt
- Unleash the Business Rebel Within
- By: Donny Deutsch, Peter Knobler
- Narrated by: Peter Knobler
- Length: 5 hrs and 13 mins
- Abridged
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Often Wrong, Never in Doubt is an inspirational book from one of America's most colorful and exciting entrepreneurs. Donny Deutsch lays out the core principles that propelled him to create tremendous wealth, build a huge and influential business, and become a national personality.
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Deutsch is cool!
- By Michael on 10-27-05
By: Donny Deutsch, and others
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Madden
- A Biography
- By: Bryan Burwell
- Narrated by: Mark Moseley
- Length: 8 hrs and 33 mins
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Several years after his playing career was cut short by injury before it had a chance to really begin, John Madden was hired as an assistant coach by the Oakland Raiders, one of professional football's most iconoclastic franchises. Two years later he was named the team's head coach and proceeded to lead the Raiders to five championship games in his first seven seasons. Following years of heartbreaking losses in some of history's most memorable games.
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Essential For Raider And Madden Fans
- By MovieGuy on 03-08-16
By: Bryan Burwell
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Over Time
- My Life as a Sportswriter
- By: Frank Deford
- Narrated by: Frank Deford
- Length: 12 hrs and 26 mins
- Unabridged
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Over Time: My Life as a Sportswriter is as unconventional and wide-ranging as Frank Deford's remarkable career, in which he has chronicled the heroes and the characters of just about every sport in nearly every medium. Deford joined Sports Illustrated in 1962, fresh, and fresh out of Princeton. In 1990, he was Editor-in-Chief of The National Sports Daily, one of the most ambitious and ill-fated projects in the history of American print journalism.
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Memories
- By Amazon Customer on 05-18-18
By: Frank Deford
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Golden Days
- West's Lakers, Steph's Warriors, and the California Dreamers Who Reinvented Basketball
- By: Jack McCallum
- Narrated by: Jack McCallum
- Length: 11 hrs and 47 mins
- Unabridged
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In Golden Days, acclaimed sports journalist Jack McCallum uses these two teams - the Jerry West/Wilt Chamberlain/Elgin Baylor Lakers and the Stephen Curry/Kevin Durant/Draymond Green Warriors - to trace the dynamic history of the National Basketball Association, which for much of the last half century has marched memorably through the state of California. Tying together the two strands of McCallum's story is Hall of Famer West, the ferociously competitive Laker guard who later became one of the key architects of the Warriors.
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Very interesting and fun to read
- By Joe on 06-12-18
By: Jack McCallum
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Play by Play
- Calling the Wildest Games in Sports - From SEC Football to College Basketball, the Masters and More
- By: Verne Lundquist
- Narrated by: Malcolm Hillgartner, Verne Lundquist
- Length: 11 hrs and 5 mins
- Unabridged
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Verne Lundquist's remarkable broadcasting career has placed him at the center of major sporting events in America for more than 50 years, from Jack Nicklaus' final victory at the 1986 Masters to Tonya Harding's attack on Nancy Kerrigan at the 1994 Olympics to the Auburn-Alabama shocker of 2013. In his first memoir, he replays highlights from his career, taking sports fans behind the scenes of some of the most dramatic moments in modern sports history.
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Decent Sorry, Bit Boring
- By Allena on 08-20-24
By: Verne Lundquist
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Calling the Shots
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- By: David Dein
- Narrated by: Arsène Wenger, David Dein
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There's no doubt that Dein has been one of the most significant and influential figures in British football for over three decades—operating at club and international level. He was a prime mover in the creation of the Premier League, hugely influential within the England set-up and, of course, was the mastermind—along with Arsène Wenger—in creating the glory days of Arsenal Football Club, leading the team for almost a quarter of a century.
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Modern Day Herbert Chapman
- By Will on 02-10-23
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Seinfeldia
- How a Show About Nothing Changed Everything
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Comedians Larry David and Jerry Seinfeld never thought anyone would watch their silly little sitcom about a New York comedian sitting around talking to his friends. NBC executives didn't think anyone would watch either, but they bought it anyway, hiding it away in the TV dead zone of summer. But against all odds, viewers began to watch, first a few and then many, until nine years later nearly 40 million Americans were tuning in weekly.
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This bad narration is making me thirsty...
- By Audio Gra Gra on 10-06-16
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What listeners say about Those Guys Have All the Fun
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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- Kevin
- 04-09-15
Good
Very long and almost too detailed. It is all the info you ever wanted on ESPN.
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- Phillip O'Konski
- 09-16-11
Strong story hindered by structure & performance
I am a big fan of ESPN and have watched it from the very beginning. The birth and growth of this network was intriguing to me. I was expecting a sports book. But surprisingly we get a lot of insight into corporate America, contract negotiations, and company politics. For insight into executive management of a high growth company, this book delivered a surprising result.
Unfortunately, the writers were lazy by just citing interview after interview. The content was solid, and the access they received was unprecedented. But there was no insight, perspective, nor conclusions on the events that occurred over the 30 years. Plus, some quotes and conversations appeared to come out of nowhere and provided little overall insight.
The two male actors performed fine. However, the female voice was WAY over the top. I cannot imagine Michelle Tafoya, Erin Andrews, Linda Cohn, or Robin Roberts acting SO over-dramatically when giving their perspectives. In fact, this is the first time that I think the performance of audio book could actual change what a person was trying to say. My guess is the actor reading the female parts probably over emphasized words in sentences that could change what the person was trying to say.
If you can put these distractions aside, and are a big fan of ESPN, this is still worth the buy . The insight into the growth of a sports empire, and the insight into corporate boardroom, is worth the investment.
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- John Gunter
- 12-02-16
Expansive, Enlightening and Entertaining
At once an overview of a monolithic brand and first-person accounts of the people who helped build that brand over decades.
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- Steve Rowles
- 02-10-16
Pure love
This behind the scenes is exactly what I hoped for. Especially great was the stories about the beginnings of ESPN. Listen and enjoy.
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- Paul
- 04-25-15
Great book ..... Bad female voice
Absolutely great book. It is unfortunate the voice they used for the female parts, it did not per tray accurately what they were trying to say. But great book
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- Michael Noga
- 06-21-16
ESPN has always had conrltroversy
Now you get the stories behind the stories. The history and the personalities come together in this recount..
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Overall
- Shane
- 08-20-11
Enjoyed Parts 1 & 2, 3&4 written by ESPN
the first 2 parts that dealt with the origin and establishment of ESPN were excellent. The insider view of the various complex negotiations regarding; venture capital, broadcasting rights, production, talent, etc, were fascinating. Part 3 was basically a pointless run down of every show idea ESPN put on the air. Part 4 seemed to be ESPN's chance to address (unchallenged) any negative situations that had arisen over the years and put thier spin on it. The female voice on this audiobook was terrible and made the women sound juvenile and naive.
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- Stirling
- 08-27-11
An insider's view into my favorite network
I thought this book told a very interesting story extremely well. It gives a certain level of insight that isn't available anyplace else. I also found the narration light and engaging with the changes in point of view which kept me listening even when the subject matter went off on a tangent. The story of the origins of ESPN were especially interesting along with the early days as the new kid on the block. I would recommend this book to all of my friends who love sports and like a good story.
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- Scott Engstrom
- 11-08-18
Many great stories - possibly too many
This book excels at providing the early history of ESPN. The early part is a fantastic business book with great stories of the people, events, and circumstances that laid the groundwork for what is the modern day ESPN.
The remainder of the book is a set of hit & miss stories that I wish had been edited down to just the hits.
Overall, if you are an American sports fan of the last 40 years, you will no doubt enjoy the book. There will just be moments you enjoys less than others.
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- Byron
- 10-29-12
Like Hanging Out At A Cocktail Party
What made the experience of listening to Those Guys Have All the Fun the most enjoyable?
I liked getting the inside scoop on all of the prominent ESPN personalities from behind the scenes. You get to see the human and flawed side of these people that put on the polished act in front of the screen.
What other book might you compare Those Guys Have All the Fun to and why?
I have not read many books related to sports, so I don't have a good comparison. Most of the text consisted of first person quoted accounts as opposed to a third person narrative. Felt more like an in depth conversation at cocktail party.
Have you listened to any of the narrators’s other performances before? How does this one compare?
I have not listed to these narrators before. I liked the fact that they had a man and a woman to do the voices depending on who was being quoted in the book.
Was there a moment in the book that particularly moved you?
The book did not have a crescendo that moved me in particular. I am a big ESPN fan and sports fan in general, so I was interested in the historical evolution of the station that paralleled the evolution of sports in general.
Any additional comments?
If you are a sports fan, you will love this book. It brought back many sports memories through the eyes of ESPN.
There was a lot of name dropping of ESPN behind the scenes executives. It was a little hard to keep up with all of them and what their role was in the organization.
The fact that the sports backdrop was always woven into the anecdotes helped to keep the book entertaining.
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