Episode 144 of the Sports Illustrated Media podcast features Marty Smith, a college reporter for ESPN and the host of “Marty Smith’s America” and John Ourand, the media reporter for Sports Business Daily.

 

In this podcast Smith discusses how he is an anomaly on ESPN, from a reporting style that reminds one of a human energy drink to having, as he calls it, “a full-blown Appalachian Southern accent”; how he prepares and approaches long-form interviews; the challenges of reporting NASCAR, which Smith did from 2006 to 2014; what he was thinking when ESPN lost NASCAR to NBC in 2014; how former ESPN executive producer John Wildhack, now the athletic director at Syracuse, told him that his reporting passion in NASCAR would translate to college football.; growing up in Pearisburg, Va., about 24 miles north-worst of Virginia Tech in Blacksburg; how he weighs discussing politics on his social media feed; why Tony Stewart is the toughest interview in NASCAR and why Dale Earnhardt Jr. is the sport’s most interesting person; traveling to Iceland with producer Jonathan Whyley following the Iceland national team’s remarkable showing in the 2016 Euros; his top 5 atmospheres in college football; how to develop rapport with subjects; what the future holds at ESPN; talking to young sports broadcasters with Southern roots, and much more.

 

Ourand discusses his piece on the dissolution of the ESPN-Barstool relationship (and the end of the ESPN2 show “Barstool Van Talk” after one episode) including Sam Ponder’s agent sending an email to ESPN president John Skipper and Connor Schell, executive vice president of content about Barstool; how Ponder’s tweet galvanized a small but influential group within ESPN that voiced its displeasure internally; whether ESPN management did enough due diligence on Barstool’s content; the internal support at ESPN for the talent of Pardon My Take; why Skipper believed that Barstool would do something in the future that would put ESPN in a bad light; whether any ESPN managers or talent tried to talk Skipper out of his decision; whether any female senior managers at ESPN were involved in the final decision, and much more.

 

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