"Real Sports"

HBO presents

August 15, 2000

Frank Deford, of HBO's "Real Sports," answers your questions about being a sports reporter, his writing, and his favorite athletes.

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HBO: Join our live chat with "Real Sports" Reporter Frank Deford, six times named "Sportswriter of the Year" by his peers. Discuss Frank's most recent story on Bobby Duval and the Haiti soccer revival, among other sports topics.

Frank Deford: This is Frank Deford. I've been with "Real Sports" since its inception four years ago. Mostly, I'm a magazine writer and a book writer, and this is a great opportunity for me to be on television and find a permanent place with "Real Sports." Of all the pieces I've done, I think the one this week, which airs tonight on Bobby Duval and Haiti, is my favorite, because it's so moving. It's a genuinely uplifting story about a man who is dedicating his life to helping poor kids, and that's a wonderful, wonderful thing.

Marty3: Hello, Frank. Describe what it's like to be a reporter for "Real Sports" with Bryant Gumbel and for CNN/SI ?

Frank Deford: Well, they are two entirely different experiences, because what I do for CNN/SI is I do a radio piece for National Public Radio every Wednesday morning, and that appears on CNN/SI. What I do in that…it's a commentary, it's opinion, and it's me shooting my mouth off. Whereas, with "Real Sports," I play an entirely different role. I'm a reporter. I'm an interviewer. I'm working with other talented people--a producer, a camera crew--so it's an entirely different situation. In one, I'm all by myself, and in the other case, it's a very collegial group effort. Obviously, radio and television are very different, because one is so visual. Radio is really closer to print than it is to television, and I would put the Internet in the same category with radio and print. Television is what stands alone.

Stephan: How did you get started as a Sports Reporter? Who were your sports idols growing up?

Frank Deford: I grew up in Baltimore. So like any good local boy, my idols were Baltimore heroes, Johnny Unitas, Gino Marchetti, and Brooks Robinson. I was very lucky in that when I was a kid, we had great teams in Baltimore, which we don't have now. And then, I got a job out of college as a researcher at Sports Illustrated. I wasn't sure that I wanted to be a sports writer. I knew I wanted to be a writer, but I found that I was happy in sports, and just stayed on!

Marty3: Hello, Frank. What do you think of ESPN'S "The Sports Reporters," and should there be more shows like this about sports on TV and radio in the future?

Frank Deford: Before my affiliation with HBO, I actually hosted "The Sports Reporters" on several occasions, filling in for Dick Schaap. I enjoyed the experience very much. It's a fun show, and the regulars are a bright bunch of guys. But whether you need more of these shows, I'm doubtful of that. I don't think you could top this one--it was the first and the original--and I would rather see an effort made to try something different, rather than just duplicating what we already have.

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