Matt Buckler: ESPN names Steph Curry as ESPY night host
Jun. 30—Steph Curry, the recent Most Valuable Player of the NBA Finals, is about to join a list that includes LeBron James, Jimmy Kimmel, Dennis Miller, Lance Armstrong, Sue Bird and Rob Riggle — ESPY Awards host.
This year's event will be televised live from Los Angeles on July 20 and the Golden State Warriors superstar will be in charge.
"I had the pleasure of attending the ESPYs, but never imagined I would have the honor of hosting this special event," Curry said in a press release. "As someone who loves the intersection of sports and entertainment, I look forward to delivering an exciting show."
Sometimes that's the problem with the ESPYs — the sports segments can be compelling, but the entertainment segments may contain plenty of gutter humor.
The ESPYs has never figured out what it wants to be — a sports highlight show remembering the year in sports, or an entertainment show with glitz and glitter.
As far as the sports awards are concerned, ESPN has announced that former heavyweight boxing champ and Mayor of Kyiv, Vitali Klitschko, will be the winner of the Arthur Ashe Courage Award and retired Army Command Sergeant Major Gretchen Evans will receive the Pat Tillman Award for Service.
The highlight of the ceremony, however, will probably take place when college basketball broadcasting legend Dick Vitale will collect the Jimmy V Award for Perseverance.
Vitale, whose ESPN career started in 1980, has been a tireless fundraiser for the Jimmy V Foundation for cancer research ever since the Foundation launched in 1993.
There should be plenty of emotion — after all, Vitale helped build ESPN and its college basketball coverage.
There's only one phrase you can use when talking about Vitale's career — "awesome baby, awesome."
Let's hope Curry can be awesome, too.
Purse curse
It seems like an unusual combination for a talk show — Tom Arnold and "Real Housewives" star NeNe Leakes. According to Arnold, it was just about a done deal, and it had the backing of Wendy Williams.
The show never made it to the air, however, and Arnold tells the New York Post it's because Arnold upset Williams by making fun of Leakes' purse
We're heard many reasons to pull the plug on a talk show, but ridiculing a purse many be a first.
This took place in 2014 and Arnold apparently hasn't gotten over it.
Arnold used to be a co-host on SportsChannel's "Best Damn Sports Show on Television," but hasn't been holding a steady job ever since.
His purse has been empty for a long time.
Max downtown
The merger of local and national sports took place Wednesday when New York Mets pitcher Max Scherzer, a three-time Cy Young Award winner, made a rehab start against the Hartford Yard Goats.
The best pictures of the night were from a packed Dunkin' Donuts Park — apparently Scherzer is a pitcher and a rock star all rolled into one.
As one would expect, the local newscasts all provided complete coverage, including comments by Scherzer following the game. There were no one-on-one interviews because of the volume of reporters, but Scherzer was polite and courteous.
There was one aspect, however, where local TV could have done a better job — talk to some of the Yard Goat players about what it was like to face Scherzer in their home ball park.
The New York media wasn't going to handle that part of the story — local media would have had it to itself.
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