Monday, January 5, 2009

World Wide Leader

You can all thank Jeffrey for this post. Without his innocent prodding...

2008 is obviously gone, but there will be one story from this past year that I will always remember: the Kevin Hart recruiting saga.



Not because of the bizarreness of the story or that it got me on ESPN (sorry, can't link to it, they took it off the site), but because of what it was like to track the different paths that story took from one day to the next -- even if it only was five days.

I remember going to bed thinking about it and waking up thinking about it. The afternoon he admitted it was all a hoax, I got him on the phone. He didn't want to talk but apologized for dragging me through what was essentially nothing. I told him, unlike some TV media members, I wasn't bitter. What I didn't say was how much fun working and covering the story was.

How could I be mad about that?

But it appears even in a new year the story will not go away. ESPN's Outside the Lines caught up with Hart this fall at his junior college (that's right, it's in Quincy) and ran the piece this past Sunday.

While technology allowed me to DVR the show, it is also keeping me from transferring it to my computer and posting it here. So, YouTube will have to do (pay special attention to Bob Ley's wording of "television exclusive").



The reason Ley had to use that wording is because I caught up with Hart back in September, when he wasn't nearly as forthcoming. And Sports Illustrated did a back-page column about it in October, but notice some of the similarities between theirs and mine.

Anyway, getting back to Jeffrey's question, no, I did not end up on the cutting-room floor. OTL did not interview me for this latest story; Laura, maybe you could have helped me out. I guess I've become old news, even if Kevin Hart hasn't.


And I'm spent, but still more posts written in the past 23 days (and counting) than Ernesto.

7 comments:

jgautrea said...

Thanks for the update. I appreciate you catering to my every whim through your blog.

Laura said...

Sorry buddy, I think the story was pretty much done by the time I got here. But if you have any more good ones don't hesitate to pass them on, and I'll try to get you some face time.

And I did tell Ernesto he should have updated while he was in CT with me but he didn't want to.

Marina said...

I didn't know he ended up going to Quincy, what a hilarious twist to this story.
Thanks for the recap :)

Anonymous said...

Kevin Hart actually looks like a bloated Chris Gabel with a full beard. -- Joe Genzel

Tammy said...

Um, no.

Anonymous said...

Ok maybe not. Comming to The East Valley this fall if you guys have any trips home scheduled for October.

JG

Chris said...

What's going on there? In October?