Happy Birthday, ESPN!

Here's a shout-out to all my friends at ESPN on the 31st anniversary of their company. They've got much to be proud of.
The man in the photo above (which was provided by ESPN from its latest Bristol groundbreaking) can take a lot of credit for the company's success. He's President George Bodenheimer, one of ESPN's earliest employees, hardest workers, smartest people and nicest guys.
You don't see him on the tube much, but he's responsible for setting the company's style, culture of giving back to the community and general good citizenship, from environmentally aware recycling and composting programs to providing employee daycare and workout facilities.
Cheers for 31 years to everyone at ESPN, and many happy returns!

Jonas Brothers, ESPN Softball Match-Up

ESPN photographer Joe Faraoni took some great shots of the Jonas Brothers/ESPN game Friday at the Rock Cats stadium in New Britain. I'll try to post more of them later.

Jonas Brothers, ESPN Matchup Today

Today's the big game, folks, between ESPN commentators and the Jonas Brothers boy band. It's a softball game at New Britain's Rock Cats stadium.
I'll have more on it after the big event, but if anyone out there is going and has photos or experiences they want to share through Extra B.S., send them to me at jmajerus@bristolpress.com.

No Shortage of Help for Bristol Kids

When it comes to backpacks, Bristol's neediest kids ought to be covered pretty well.
There's a massive effort going on in several different sectors to collect backpacks and school supplies for children whose families can't afford to provide them.
The United Way will distribute about 400 packs to kids from kindergarten to eighth grade. They've found individuals, companies and organizations to "adop" one or more students and buy them a backpack, an outfit for the first day of school and supplies.
Donna Osuch, president of the United Way, said the packs are stuffed. She said the donors really get into it and often provide much more than is asked.
Though its volunteer and charity work called Team ESPN, the Bristol-based sports media giant will distribute about 300 packs to middle and high school students in Bristol -- and 500 more to needy kids in other areas where ESPN has a presence, said Rosa Gatti, a senior vice president. (Thanks, Rosa and ESPN, for thinking of Bristol teens, who often get forgotten in these kinds of collections. They need a hand, too, and their stuff costs more.)
Gloria Dei Lutheran Church is also collecting backpacks for kids of all ages. That's still going on, so if you've got the itch to join this backpack brigade, bring pencils, protractors, calculators, crayons, folders and more to the church.
Donations of any school supplies, packs or other items can be bought to the church at 355 Camp St. on Sunday mornings or between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m. weekdays.
If you're a family or a student in need, my best advice is to check with The Salvation Army to see if you can get some help. If they can't help, I'm sure they'll send you to someone who can.
Thanks to all who are helping make the start of school a little easier on Bristol's struggling families.

ESPN Cuts Bait

The worldwide leader in sports is practicing the old angler's fish-friendly practice of catch and release.

ESPN announced today that it has "an agreement in principle" to sell BASS, LLC to a group of investors led by Don Logan, Jerry McKinnis and Jim Copeland. McKinnis, an outdoorsman, has a long history with ESPN as the host of the network’s second longest-running show, The Fishin’ Hole, which aired from 1980 until 2007, according to information provided by ESPN.

Until the deal is done, BASS will continue to be owned and operated by ESPN, which acquired it in 2001. Granted, holding it for most of a decade is a long time for catch and release, but my store of fishing word plays is somewhat limited.

BASS is the largest membership organization of bass anglers in the U.S. with more than 500,000 members, according to ESPN. It was purchased by ESPN in 2001 and includes several media platforms, including three magazines and a popular web site.

But viewers needn't fear that fishing will disappear from their television screens. As part of the deal, BASS’ core television programming assets – the Bassmaster Elite Series and Bassmaster Classic – will remain on ESPN networks, according to ESPN.

Maybe they'll even show those fins in 3D.

ESPN Traveler Loved South Africa

Let me introduce you to  Rick Abbott, who is head of global security and facilities for ESPN. That's a pretty big job, but when you think about how he had to figure out how to keep a crew of 350 ESPN employees safe while on location in South Africa for the FIFA World Cup this summer, it's hard to imagine how you'd even go about trying to tackle something like that.

Rick, who is as pleasant in person as he looks in his picture below, made a point of telling me how much he loved his experiences in South Africa. I wrote a story about it for Tuesday's edition of The Bristol Press (http://www.bristolpress.com/).

To keep things secure, he had to deal with the FBI, the CIA and the South African police, not to mention the U.S. State Department and fellow broadcasters from Mexico and England.

Together they worked out a strategy in hopes of keeping any kind of crime at bay, from petty theft to kidnapping and terrorism.

Whatever they did, including keeping police highly visible, worked, as the games ran smoothly.

He traveled to South Africa three times, and for the World Cup, stayed about a month, so he got to know the place.

What he learned from his experiences in South Africa, Rick told me, was that ESPN can do anything. And he didn't say it in a self important way, but more in a respectful realization of the power of an entire company all working together towards the same goal.

ESPN made its coverage of the World Cup one of the company's top three priorities this year. They take this stuff pretty seriously, too. Everyone has a company ID badge and right there are the top three priorities for the year. They're constantly reminded -- often in a fun way -- of the goal.

A little more about South Africa. He said the people were warm and so was the water. The wine? Fabulous. He wants to return, but for a vacation this time, not to work. He said he'll have plenty of friends to visit and places to stay when he gets there.

Larson Bringing Home $1 Million for Bristol Boys and Girls Club

Tucked in a federal transportation and housing bill passed last night is $1 million for the Bristol Boys and Girls Club's new building.
The club has veteran Congressman John Larson, an East Hartford Democrat who represents Bristol, to thank for that.
Now headquartered in a rundown building on Laurel Street, the club has plans to move to a brand new facility on West Street and is in the middle of raising funds for the project. ESPN already kicked in a sizeable chunk to help buy the land.
Looks like the club, which serves a lot of Bristol kids, many of them from poor families, has some pretty valuable support. That's gratifying to see.
I'll be working on a story about this today for The Bristol Press.

Jonas Brothers vs. ESPN Ticket Info

In case you're interested but still didn't know: tickets to see the Jonas Brothers play softball against ESPN commentators are free. They're available at the Rock Cats stadium box office in New Britain. There's a limit of six and there are about 6,000 available. I have no idea how many they gave out on the first day, which was Thursday, but if you want them, I suggest you make a beeline for the beehive.
While the tickets are free, if you are going and you can, make a donation. The money goes to the Connecticut Children's Medical Center, and as I understand it, it's designated for caring for patients with cancer and blood disorders -- a pretty worthy cause.
This straight from ESPN: the box office is at 230 John Karbonic Way, New Britain. You can also call (860) 224-8383. Additional event information is available at www.espnradio.com and www.rockcats.com.

Jonas Brothers vs. ESPN

The Jonas Brothers, the Walt Disney boy band shown above, are coming to the Rock Cats stadium in New Britain for a face-off softball game against ESPN.
The game is set for noon on August 13 and tickets are free, said Rosa Gatti, who heads corporate outreach for ESPN.
She said the hope is that people will give donations to the Connecticut Children's Medical Center.
The Jonas Brothers apparently love to play softball and have a team called the Road Dogs, said Gatti. She said they appeared on an ESPN fantasy podcast and when they talked about the Road Dogs, they were challenged to a softball game by ESPN's team, which is called the Goats.
This is definitely going to be something to see.
I will update more on Extra B.S. when I learn how to get tickets and all that. I'll also be writing a story about this today for The Bristol Press, so it should be in Friday's paper.

ESPN Baby Helps With Daycare Groundbreaking

Is this cute or what? Ani, Harper and Steve Levy all helped with the groundbreaking for ESPN's new childcare center on Thursday.

The massive new center, which will open in about a year, is under construction now on Enterprise Drive in 229 Industrial Park.

Steve Levy is an anchor on SportsCenter and Ani, his wife, is an attorney in the healthcare industry. Their sweet baby girl, Harper, is only two months old.

The groundbreaking drew all the big names -- Steve Levy and ESPN President George Bodenheimer being among them -- but little Harper, who never uttered a word, stole the whole show. She was more fun than the kiddie music or the fruit kabobs, that's for sure. She even upstaged Mayor Art Ward, and well, that's saying something.

So who put the baby in the hard hat? That was the brainstorm of ESPN public relations man Josh Krulewitz. It kind of looks to me like she's rapidly outgrowing it.
I wrote about this for Friday's edition of The Bristol Press so more details should be there, at www.bristolpress.com.

Filmmaker Documents a Bristol Stop on Route 6

While I've always tried to get my kicks on Route 66, Route 6 has some nice views, too.

The coast-to-coast interstate highway is the second longest in the nation. The longest one is Route 20.

I learned all this from Rachel Carey, a filmmaker with plenty of credentials (Yale and NYU for starters) who is making a documentary about Route 6.

Maybe she just wants an excuse to make a cool road trip, but what the heck. She's going to show us all some sights and sounds along the way.

One of them will be the tick, tock, tick, tock at the American Clock and Watch Museum, one of my favorite spots in Bristol. I bet after she finishes her documentary, this charming little clock museum might become more popular than ESPN.

ESPN, incidently, while not exactly camera shy, is not even close to Route 6 and so they lost out on this one. I hope they can cope with defeat. They're really not used to it.

The filmmaker promised to send me the trailer for the movie when she gets that far along in the project. When I get it, I promise to share. She's being supported, at least morally, if not financially, by the non-profit Route 6 Tourist Association. That's their logo at the top of this post. The clock is, of course, on Maple Avenue in front of the museum. It's also on the museum's website, www.clockandwatchmuseum.org.

Carey was filming today in the clock museum, interviewing Don Muller, the executive director, who was definitely looking his best for the camera. If he ever gets tired of the museum, he might consider going on camera for ESPN, since he can lord it over them that he's in the Route 6 documentary and they're not. The Mark Twain House in Hartford (another awesome Connecticut jewel) also made the director's cut.

This might be a good time to suggest that if you haven't ever visited the clock museum, don't wait to be lured by the Route 6 documentary. Go now. Same deal for the Twain house.

I wrote about all this, of course, for The Bristol Press. I think it might be in Wednesday's paper, but I don't really know. The story has more details about the film and the highway, but none of the 'tude here. When they use it, you can see it at www.bristolpress.com.

For Peace of Mind, ESPN Wants a Piece of Road

ESPN is asking the city for a portion of Ronzo Road. It's the part that starts after the Locknetics driveway and runs only to ESPN buildings and parking lots.

The company owns the land on both sides of the road and wants the piece of public road to improve employee safety and security on its sprawling campus.

ESPN first raised the issue with Mayor Art Ward in early June, Mike Soltys, an ESPN executive told me.

City councilors will consider the request at their meeting Tuesday night.

The diagram at the top of this post is part of the paperwork ESPN filed with the city in hopes of getting the piece of the road.

I wrote about this for Tuesday's edition of The Bristol Press, so if you want more info, check it out at http://www.bristolpress.com/.

More New Jobs at ESPN's Bristol Headquarters

ESPN is moving its publication ESPN The Magazine to Bristol, the company said today.
The move will take place next year, according to ESPN Vice President Mike Soltys.
That's means 125 jobs moving to the Mum City. It's likely that there will be openings for at least some of them.
That's excellent news for Bristol and for Connecticut.
I didn't write about this today for The Bristol Press. I'm off for a couple of days and I have to draw the line somewhere. But for my loyal Extra B.S. readers, well, I had to offer a little bit.
I'll be sure to return to the story when I'm back at work next week.

Really? Seth Meyers? Really!

Seth Meyers, probably my favorite TV journalist since we lost Uncle Walter, is hosting the ESPY awards next week.
Meyers, host of Saturday Night Live's "Weekend Update," and a key writer for SNL, is shown in this recent ESPN photo checking out the sports media giant's 3D programming.
Today I had a chance to chat ever so briefly with Meyers, who completely turned on the charm when he learned I worked at the Press.
I asked if he would visit Bristol and he told me, much to my chagrin, that he was here recently to do what ESPN types call the "Bristol car wash," or taping appearances on about 10 shows in rapid succession.
Of course, he loved the Mum City.
"It was amazing," Meyers told me. "It really is the Manhattan of Connecticut."
While in town, he did "everything," Meyers said. "I was there for two hours."
Given his brief window in Bristol, I could tell he'd missed the highlights, though, so I made him promise to let me know the next time he comes to town so I could properly show him around.
He said that was a good idea, since ESPN had clearly given him a "bum tour."

ESPN's New Veterans Monument

Today I went out to ESPN, one of my favorite spots in Bristol, for a nice ceremony honoring the company's veterans.
In addition to ESPN employees, the company invited a color guard from the Bristol American Legion, Post 2, Mayor Art Ward and state Rep. Frank Nicastro, who showed up in uniform to play his trumpet as part of the ceremony. It was generous the way ESPN included people from the community and nice to see the enthusiastic response from Bristol.
I wrote about it for Thursday's edition of The Bristol Press, so check out the story and probably a photo or two, at www.bristolpress.com.

Comcast Customers Can Get ESPN 3D

Just in time for the FIFA World Cup this summer, Comcast cable customers will be able to watch 3D programs from Bristol-based ESPN.Comcast is the first cable company to sign on to with ESPN’s venture into 3D programming.It’s not clear yet whether Comcast customers will have to pay extra for the experience.

I wrote about the deal for Friday's edition of The Bristol Press (http://www.bristolpress.com/), so if you want the nitty gritty, it should be there.

ESPN Aims for World Domination

You never know what news is going to break at a nice little awards ceremony.

There I was, listening to all the chatter about how wonderful Connecticut is, how fabulous its people are and best of all, how terrific ESPN is. I was lulled into a complacent slumber until BAM! I heard something that made my hair stand on end.

They're taking their claim as the Worldwide Leader in Sport a little too seriously, I'm afraid.

With my own ears that so far haven't failed me, I heard ESPN television host Trey Wingo say that they're aiming for world domination.

Need more proof?

Next to be announced, Wingo said, is "ESPN The Thursday."

It's a pattern, people. They've got ESPN, ESPN2, ESPN3, ESPN News, ESPN Radio, ESPN International, ESPN.com and ESPN The Magazine.

Now they've got a Genius of Connecticut statuette from the governor and there's no stopping them.

A Bird's Eye View of the Awards Ceremony

ESPN doesn't have enough stuff to decorate all those buildings with. Believe me, it's all bare walls and empty trophy cases in there.
(That's why security is so tight... they don't want anyone to know they don't have any furnishings.)
Anyway, thank goodness Gov. Rell and the state's culture and tourism people picked Bristol's own World Wide Leader for an Award for Excellence in Culture and Tourism. Now they have a nice little statuette for their trophy case.
This is a nice thing, though. The picture at the left is a view from above the atrium in the Legislative Office Building where they held the awards ceremony.
ESPN Vice President Mike Soltys was there to accept the award on behalf of the company and his lovely wife Teresa was there to see it. That's them in the front row, on the right side of the circle. She's wearing light colored clothing and he's just another dot in a dark suit.

Museum Honors Arts and Culture Contributors

This in from the New England Carousel Museum:

The Board of Directors and staff of the New England Carousel Museum will kick off the year-long celebration of our 20th anniversary on May 8 by honoring recipients of the fourth annual Arts, Culture and Entertainment Awards.
The 2010 ACE awards will be awarded at a May 8 fundraising dinner at the museum to retired teacher and musician Alexander Caruso and sports media company ESPN.
The award honors contributions to the art, culture, or entertainment in the Greater Bristol Community. Past recipients have been artist Glo Sessions, Hap Barnes, Ken Ferris, The Clinton Roberts Foundation, Elaine Sportelli and The Barnes Group Foundation.
Caruso, a Bristol native, first took piano lessons at age six. While serving in the U.S. Navy in Japan, he was noticed for his piano playing and often asked to play.
He later taught social studies and psychology for years and while at Bristol Eastern High School, was the musical director for numerous shows. He was also musical director for Bristol’s Civic Theater and master of ceremonies for over 40 years for the annual Christmas carol sing on Main Street. He recently performed at the Bristol Historical Society.
Members of Team ESPN, a community service arm of the company, have volunteered at many Bristol locations, including the museum, doing spring cleaning, landscaping and more.
The dinner on Saturday, May 8 will include a cocktail hour, buffet dinner by Emily’s, a door prize donated by local artist Rick Fitzsimons, an awards ceremony, raffle, music and dancing. The event begins at 6 p.m.
Tickets are $50 each or $400 for a reserved table of 8. Tickets can be purchased at the Carousel Museum building, 95 Riverside Ave. in Bristol, or from the following board members: Jack Driscoll, David Preleski, Veronica Hunter, Louise DeMars, Ed Krawiecki Jr., Ellen Ferrier, Jerry Olson, Kevin McCauley, Bob Palazzo, Cheri Bilodeau-Barton, Joan White, Joan Seguljic, Laureen Rubino, Frank Stawski, Eric Schwab, Jeanne Radcliff, Pat Byrne, Wendy Labadia, Mickey Goldwasser, and Derek Czenczelewski. The proceeds from this event will benefit the general operations and educational programming of the New England Carousel Museum. For more information, please call the New England Carousel Museum at 860-585-5411 or visit www.thecarouselmuseum.org.

Other Towns Restrict Vendors

For today's edition of The Bristol Press, (www.bristolpress.com), I wrote about how other towns, specifically Plainville, Southington, West Hartford and Farmington, handle food vendors who want to sell out of a cart or truck.
All of them make the vendor go through planning and zoning applications before they can set up shop.
None of them allow vending on a city street.
Southington came right out and said their policy is for the good of their downtown businesses and that it has helped their development quite a bit.
Today, the city council's ordinance committee is going to take up the issue, after downtown restaurant owners complained about the unfair competition. It could be quite a scene as the vendors have a lot of support.
Steve Collins will be there to soak it all in and report back on the Bristol Blog and in The Bristol Press. I'll be at the capitol watching Gov. Jodi Rell hand an award to ESPN.