ESPN the Magazine - February 3 2014

THE MUSIC ISSUE

STARRING

KOBE BRYANT

NICKI MINAJ

CALVIN JOHNSON

EMINEM

CHRIS PAUL

KENDRICK LAMAR

HOPE SOLO

SKYLAR GREY

MANNY MACHADO

AND MORE!

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cover and th is page photographs by MATTHIAS CLAMER

ADDITIONAL CREDITS, PAGE 84

02/03/2014 ESPN The Magazine 7

02.03.14

DON’T MISS

40 COLLECTION

T-shirts from wannabe Super Bowl champs.

48 TENNIS

The new racket specs for Serena and Federer.

46 NHL

The larger ice in Sochi will put goalies on edge.

44 COLLEGE BASKETBALL

Cleanthony Early talks WSU’s shocking start.

42 BODY SHOT

Rodney Stuckey’s ready-for-contact abs.

25 SUPER BOWL PREVIEW

The stats that matter and the plays you’ll see on Super Sunday.

50 HIS GAMES TO WIN OR LOSE

For better or worse, these are Vladimir Putin’s Olympics. By Brett Forrest

14 OLYMPICS PREVIEW

Six U.S. medal hopefuls show of techniques that’ll be on display in Sochi.

116 THE FIX

Team USA’s backyard-grown luger. By Chris Jones

10 THE TRUTH

Leave the playofs alone, Roger. By Howard Bryant

12 THE NUMBERS

The benefts of hitting the glass. By Peter Keating

64 KILLER CROSSOVER

In the ever-evolving relationship between music and sports, Chris Paul and Kendrick Lamar have both fgured out how to play the game. By Sam Alipour

72 FANTASY ACTS

A backstage look at our so-good-you’ll-wish-it-were-real Super Bowl halftime show, featuring too many megastars to count. By Stacey Pressman

63 THE MUSIC ISSUE

The overlap between music and sports is everywhere. It’s seen sitting courtside at NBA games. It’s heard in anthems piped through arenas. And it’s lived by the athletes and musicians who constantly keep us on the edge of our seats.

87 TAKE IT FROM THE TOP

Drake is ushering in hip-hop’s new era with the same voracity as his predeces-sors while keeping both eyes on the sports scene. By Danyel Smith

92 &

Justin Tucker can sing (like, seriously sing), and Bieber is bros with Money Mayweather (well, sort of). Our rundown of the most ridiculous—and surprising—hookups across music and sports.

104 IN THE BEGINNING, THERE WAS A NIPPLE ...

Ten years after Janet Jackson’s Super Bowl snafu, we re-examine the 9/16 of a second that changed everything. By Marin Cogan

72MLBers Yonder Alonso and Manny Machado step up with reggaeton sensation Yandel (center) and crew.

ISSUE

THE

INSIDE PLAYBOOK

8 ESPN The Magazine 02/03/2014 photograph by BOB CROSLIN

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SPOTLIGHT DR. DEAN SANDIFEREvery year for LSU-Florida week, Sandifer, a 55-year-old critical care physician, loses the scrubs and spreads his voodoo

to the Gators-loving patients (and staff) at Lakeland Regional Medical Center in Lakeland, Fla. “When I moved here,

I got tired of all the talk,” says the LSU med school grad. So the LSU Witch Doctor dreams up a new costume for each

day of the game week and for each Tigers game he attends. This custom-made outfit was easily his most expensive:

Inspired by the Swiss Guard at the Vatican, it cost Sandifer about $2,000. As for his most controversial getup?

“Houndstooth is sacred to Alabama fans,” he says. “So to see it in purple and gold boils the blood—I fear for my safety.”

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It’s not every issue we get a four-time NBA MVP and a six-time Grammy winner together for our cover. In other words, this one’s wall-worthy. espnmag.com/covers

I WANNA BE ON THE COURT TOO. I CANÕT PLAY BALL, SO IÕLL BE A REFEREE.Ó

—KENDRICK

LAMAR

TAKE A PIC, IT ’LL LAST LONGER … AND IT ’S EASIER TO SHARE.

02.03.14ON FEB. 5, STAY GLUED TO ESPN.COM/RECRUITING FOR INSTANT COLLEGE FOOTBALL SIGNING DAY UPDATES +

10 ESPN The Magazine 02/03/2014 i l lustrat ion by MARK SMITH

by HOWARD BRYANTTHE TRUTH

[M]

[ PICKED CLEAN ] Roger Goodell is considering giving fans more of what they want—

playof football. But at what price?

benefts, even as some of the players call out the league for its mixed

messages, passing rules to curb the most violent hits on one hand but

considering adding more games on the other. “Every time they are doing

these things that make more money for football but don’t protect

players,” Steelers safety Ryan Clark said recently on Mike & Mike, “it

makes you question the way that we’re changing the game on the feld.”

Yet extra playof games don’t come just at the expense of player safety.

They will also diminish the quality of the product. Salary caps and

restricted free agency haven’t produced parity as much as exciting

mediocrity. The raucous, up-and-down NFL is trending toward

arena football, and because of the game’s breakneck speed, it remains

ultraviolent despite the rule changes. The cap, meanwhile, prevents teams

from paying for real backups. The result is a lower skill level, with turn-

overs and injury reports often determining the most important games.

The NFL basked in the illusion of wild-card weekend in all the close

games. It did this while curiously ignoring that for the sixth time in the

past eight years, multiple teams reached the postseason without winning

even 10 games. Goodell has responded to this reality by ofering seconds.

Under his proposal, with one additional wild-card team per conference,

10–6 Arizona would have made the NFC playofs. In the AFC, however,

the 8–8 Steelers would’ve beaten out the 8–8 Jets, Ravens and Dolphins.

But maybe the NFL wants it this way. Maybe the extra playof games,

in the name of fan interest, are simply attractive cover for the real

motive: to recoup the $765 million the NFL agreed to pay players in the

concussion lawsuit settlement, a number the judge on the case prelimi-

narily rejected for being too low. Or maybe, because injuries so dominate

the league, more playof teams are necessary, since a lower playof bar

indirectly softens the impact of broken bodies on a team’s fortune.

If these are the NFL’s reasons, so be it, but these reasons do not

promise a quality winning product. It is one thing to watch, quite

another to be fooled.

aybe Roger Goodell knows football is doomed and has

decided to plunder as much as possible from the village. As the commis-

sioner oversees a sport in which camera close-ups of concussed players

are routine and the mediocrity of fawed teams scoring on each other at

will passes as excitement, it is more honorable to see his recent proposal

to add two wild-card teams this way: He is emptying the tank of a

fnancially soaring—but morally suspect—enterprise.

Otherwise, the truth of the situation is far starker: that Goodell and

his owners might seek extra playof games in an era of CTE and eight-

win playof teams because they actually believe it is good for the sport.

Goodell was exposed as compromised on the issue of player safety

when he advocated an 18-game season in 2010, just as the severity of

concussions was coming into clearer, deadlier focus. Goodell reasoned

that players did not face increased injury risk from two extra games,

because the number of preseason contests would be reduced by two.

But that argument asked the public to believe that pros play the preseason

with the same intensity as they do when the Super Bowl is at stake.

So Goodell is once again looking to add games—high-stakes games—

and although he sells the appearance of responsibility and has taken some

credible actions to address the head-injury crisis (like bolstering concus-

sion protocols), the overriding consideration then, as now, is money.

Of course it is. The job of the commissioner is to increase the value of

franchises for the owners, and in this, there is no doubting his efcacy.

Ex-players might be in wheelchairs, and addled legends like Tony Dorsett

might have harbored suicidal thoughts, but NFL revenue is up an

estimated 3% from 2009, and viewership for the frst two rounds of this

season’s playofs spiked by 7% from last season. The public cannot get

enough, so Goodell wants to give it more. Meanwhile, the players’

association has no position on an expanded playofs because, according to

spokesman George Atallah, the NFL has not presented a formal proposal.

But should that come, it too will give plenty of weight to the fnancial

ASK YOURSELF, WHAT’S IN YOUR WALLET?®

©2013 Capital One

12 ESPN The Magazine 02/03/2014 i l lustrat ion by JASON SCHNEIDER

THE NUMBERS by PETER KEATING

[T]

[ SHATTERED GLASS ] NBA teams need a crash course in the benefts of crashing the ofensive boards.

That goes for the defending champs too.

defensive efciency and ofensive rebounding rates, as measured by

TeamRankings.com. Yes, the champion Heat get back quickly on D.

But you can hit the boards and still play transition defense, the way

the Bulls did before they started giving players away, or as the Pacers

did last season. It’s also possible to slough of ofensive rebounds and

get torched on fast breaks anyway—just watch the Knicks. I do, and

I’m treated to a team that’s 21st in ofensive rebounding rate yet ranks

last by a huge margin in points per possession allowed on fast breaks.

At frst glance, it’s hard to fnd a statistical relationship between

ofensive rebounding and winning; the correlation between ORs and

team winning percentage is actually negative this season (about

minus-0.19). But part of that is a mirage, because it’s easier to pile up

ofensive rebounds when you’re misfring on a ton of shots. For instance,

Charlotte had 375 ORs through Jan. 12, roughly akin to Phoenix’s 412

ofensive boards. But the Suns were shooting 45% and the Bobcats 43%,

which means more balls are clanking of the rim in Charlotte’s contests.

That’s why it’s crucial to look at ofensive rebounding percentage,

which is ORs as a proportion of available rebounds after missed shots.

Ofensive rebounding percentage reveals that Phoenix has actually been

grabbing a higher proportion of reboundable balls (26.1%) than

Charlotte (22.1%). And leaguewide, OR% correlates more closely with

winning percentage than raw rebound totals do (minus-0.05 versus

minus-0.19). Even more important, there’s a strong correlation (0.41)

between changes in a team’s ofensive rebounding percentage and

changes in its winning percentage. To see this in action, watch the

analytically smart Rockets, who have jumped from 17th in the NBA in

OR% to eighth since last season. They give up fewer points per posses-

sion on fast breaks—and are winning 63% of their games, up from 55%.

Fans love ofensive rebounding because it requires efort. GMs, take

heed: It wins games too. Now just imagine how scary the Heat would

be if they got the message.

hese days, the NBA seems to be giving up on the idea of

ofensive rebounding. It’s not just that teams are averaging 11 ofensive

boards per game this season, down from 14.4 in 1991-92, when Dennis

Rodman was the last player to grab more than 500 ORs in a season.

It’s that Miami ranks dead last in the NBA in total ofensive rebounds

(through Jan. 12), with Indiana, shockingly, 29th and San Antonio

28th. Apparently, the best minds in the league believe that crashing

the glass doesn’t win games.

Usually, I let Gregg Popovich and LeBron James go about their busi-

ness. But the numbers say that the teams that shun ofensive rebounding

do so at their peril. They are failing to maximize their scoring, and they’re

creating a giant opportunity for smart clubs to surpass them in the future.

Amid the NBA’s evolution from big men to mobile wings and sharp-

shooters, many organizations have bought into the notion that hitting

the boards leaves a team vulnerable on transition defense. But when a

team of MIT graduate students actually studied the trade-ofs involved

in crashing versus retreating, it found that “focusing on the ofensive

rebound immediately after the shot goes up seems to trump the gain

a team gets with a head start on getting back.” The study tracked how

every team in the NBA responded to missed shots during the 2011-12

season and concluded that an average team that missed 25 jumpers per

game could hike its net scoring by four points per game by regularly

sending two players to hit the boards instead of one.

Why the huge gain? For one thing, ofensive rebounds are even more

valuable than the extra chances they give an ofense. Players who grab

ORs are often near the basket and have already beaten opponents to the

ball, meaning they’re likely to shoot more efciently. As Dean Oliver, now

ESPN’s director of production analytics, wrote in his pioneering 2004

book Basketball on Paper, “Not only does an ofensive rebound preserve

a possession, it really does provide an easier opportunity to score.”

Further, there’s actually very little correlation between fast-break

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The XXII Winter Games (Feb. 6-23) in Sochi, Russia, will be a blur of power, speed, grace and agility. To help you better understand what you’ll be seeing, we’ve broken down the techniques of six medal hopefuls representing Team USA. Look closely enough and you might even spot their golden edge.

1 CASTELLI: “I like to have

both my hands out on take-

of. There’s tension in my left

arm to create momentum,

and Simon puts his right

hand on my stomach to

guide me into the throw.”

2 SHNAPIR: “My job is to

assist her jump. She’s like

a continuation of my arms,

which should be straight

and extending forward.

They should point to where

Marissa is going.”

3 CASTELLI: “I take of

from the back inside edge

of my left foot, and I have

to relax as I do. If I’m tight,

I won’t go up in the air cor-

rectly. When we do it right,

I just hang out and spin.”

1

2

3

SOCHI

OLYMPICSPREVIEW

photograph by JOHN HUET

WHO Marissa Castelli and

Simon Shnapir

WHAT Pairs fgure skating

WHEN Competition starts Feb. 6

HOW Their considerable height diference—Castelli is fve feet, Shnapir is 6'4"—helps the reigning U.S. champions execute spectacular

lifts and throws. While the audience and judges focus on Castelli, Shnapir’s job is to project his partner up to four feet into the air, then

meet her when she lands more than 24 feet away. “It’s about sticking with what feels comfortable for Marissa,” Shnapir says. “I’m not

the one being thrown across the ice.” The duo, who frst competed together in 2007, showed us their unique twist on a move they added

to their free-skate repertoire in 2012: a throw quadruple salchow, one of pairs skating’s most difcult jumps. —NOAH DAVIS

4 CASTELLI: “I can always

get plenty of height,

so the trick is staying

steady. If there’s too

much up and down, I bring

my right leg out a bit to

catch myself.”

5 CASTELLI: “My arms help

me manage the rotation

while I’m in the air. I put

my right arm back and

out to the side to help me

control the speed of

the spin.”

6 CASTELLI: “On my last

half-rotation, I open up

and try to spot Simon.

I can’t really see or tell

where I am when I’m spin-

ning, so I look for him to

get my bearings.”

7 CASTELLI: “The hardest

part is the landing.

I have to land on the

back outside edge of my

right skate and then

immediately move into

our next element.”

4

5

6

7


WHO Heather McPhie

WHAT Freestyle

mogul skiing

WHEN Competition

starts Feb. 6

HOW In Olympic freestyle mogul skiing, a superlative jump can be the diference between silver and gold.

“It provides the ‘wow’ factor,” says McPhie, a two-time U.S. champion. “It puts a big exclamation point on your

run.” No trick on the circuit involves a higher degree of difculty than the D-spin, or of-axis 720, and McPhie

is one of the only women to throw it in competition. The 29-year-old, who crashed in the 2010 Olympic fnal,

hopes to ride the D-spin to redemption in Sochi. Here’s how her wow move unfolds. —DEVON O’NEIL

1 “Coming in, I try to keep

my hands in front of me

and look past the jump as

I come into it. I want to be

like water. I think: What

would water do down this

path? How do I flow as

smoothly as possible?”

2 “A little lateral move-

ment in the upper body is

fne. But I try to keep my

shoulders square down the

hill. If I’m hitting the tops of

the bumps with my poles,

that gets distracting—and

it slows me down.”

3 “I’m almost to the end

of my run here, so at this

point I’m charging down

the hill, trying to maintain

speed, pumping the turns,

staying within a narrow

path—all so I get a huge

lift of the jump.”

4 “The D-spin is all about

the takeof. If you come

into the jump well, stand

tall and get big, the rest will

take care of itself and you’ll

accelerate. But if you skimp

on the takeof, you’ll be

working the entire trick.”

43

2

1

SOCHI

OLYMPICSPREVIEW

5 “On water ramps, you

know exactly when you

want to pop. On snow, it

depends on the jump and

the drop time. Unlike

water, snow doesn’t fall

away on the landing, so

I need a lot of air.”

6 “The frst quarter of the

trick is the scariest part;

I’m looking at my knees

instead of the snow. My best

spins feel easy and foaty.

I initiate them with my hips

and shoulders, bring in my

knees, and it just happens.”

8 “I spot my landing

three-quarters of the way

through the trick. I use my

left arm to spot the ground.

On my best tricks, it stops

rotating and slows me

down so I can home in and

get in position to land.”

7 “The high point can be

10 or 12 feet, depending

on the jump. The course in

Sochi has a lot of air time

on the bottom jump. There,

I’ll get closer to 20 feet

high. Then, on the way out,

you get a lot of hang time.”

02/03/2014 ESPN The Magazine 17photograph by JOHN HUET

8

7

6

5

WHO Steve Holcomb

and Steve Langton

WHAT Two-man bobsled

WHEN Competition

starts Feb. 16

HOW Holcomb, who drove the four-man “Night Train” to gold in 2010, says that when push comes to sled,

coordination is key. “If you’re trying to move a car, you don’t each push it individually—you need to move at the

same time,” he says. “It’s the same thing with a [500-pound sled].” In 2012 Holcomb and pushman Steve Langton

became the frst American team to win the two-man world championship. In November they won a World Cup

race in a track record of 1:49.22 with these ice moves. —ANNA KATHERINE CLEMMONS

1 Holcomb: “To start, I’m

in a track stance, with one

foot forward. I signal to

Steve that I’m ready, and

we start our cadence, a

countdown to us moving.

We want to hit the sled at

the exact same time.”

2 Langton: “I grab the

sled handles and crouch.

Steve says ‘set,’ I say ‘back,

set, ready,’ and we hit it

together. The frst 15 meters

aren’t timed, but we want

to be at top speed by the

time we get that far.”

3 Holcomb: “You hold on

and push as hard as you

can while you’re running.

But you should never be

sprinting upright. We don’t

run far, and we’re pushing

a 500-pound sled the

entire time.”

4 Holcomb: “Before I hit

top speed, I grab the

opposite side of the sled

and jump in. Lateral move-

ments slow it down, so I

jump forward.” Langton:

“He makes a gymnastics

move, like he’s on a

pommel horse.”

5 Langton: “After Steve

gets in the sled, I take

three to fve more steps.

I want to get in before we

hit top speed, so my last

step—usually with my left

foot—is really powerful.”

4

5

6

7

8

SOCHI

OLYMPICSPREVIEW

6 Holcomb: “If we load at

the same time, we’ll run

into each other. I have to

get my feet up front and

grab the steering ropes

before the frst curve.

That’s the trickiest part—

I have two seconds to grab

the ropes or we’ll crash.”

8 Holcomb: “We have

maybe three seconds to

get from the ice to being

seated and holding the

ropes, all while the sled’s

accelerating.” Langton:

“By the time we’re seated

in the sled, we’re going

almost 30 mph.”

7 Langton: “When I launch

myself into the sled, it’s

feet stick, butt hits, into

position, grab my handles.

My legs are slightly bent,

tucked around Steve’s

seat, and my head is down,

between my knees.”

photograph by JOHN HUET 02/03/2014 ESPN The Magazine 19

1

2

3

photograph by JOHN HUET

WHO Sarah Hendrickson

HOW Hendrickson, 19, has already landed almost 10,000 jumps in her life. “People ask if I freak out about fying so high, but I’ve done it so much, I don’t get nervous anymore,” says the reigning world ski champion, who started alpine skiing at age 2 and launched herself of a ramp fve years later. The 5'4" wunderkind can soar up to 437 feet and, provided she has recovered from right knee surgery, is a podium contender in the women’s K90 (70-meter) event, which makes its Olympic debut in Sochi. Here’s how she takes fight. —MATT McCUE

WHAT Ski jumping

WHEN Competition is

Feb. 11

22 ESPN The Magazine 02/03/2014

1 “Before I start,

I crouch as low as

possible, position my

skis inside the ice

tracks in the snow

and balance on the

middle of my feet.

I want to be as low as

possible—you can’t

jump from straight

legs. By the time I

reach the end of the

ramp, I’ll hit 55 mph.”

2 “Race ofcials put

a tree branch down

six meters before the

spot where you’re

supposed to take of,

but I know instinc-

tively when to start

my move by feeling

the rhythm of the

hill. I push of from

my quads, and the

speed carries me into

fight position.”

3 “People think

the ramp tilts up,

but the end of the

inrun is actually at a

negative-10-degree

angle, so I have

to carry my speed

through to takeof.

My skis tilt down at

frst, but as I leave

the ground, they get

air underneath them.

It feels like I’m fying.”

4 “To start, I lean

forward and tilt my

ankles up to bring my

skis almost parallel

to my body. Then I

move my skis into a

V-shape because I’ll

catch more air in that

position. I try to keep

my body as still as

possible to combat

wind resistance and

earn style points.”

5 “The No. 1 rule

of ski jumping is:

Don’t bend your

knees. If you bend

them while you’re in

the air, your ski tips

will point straight

down, and you will

not land smoothly.

I’m in the air for three

seconds, and by the

time I land, I’ll be

going 100 mph.”

FOR MORE OLYMPIC TECHNIQUES, INCLUDING CURLING, HALFPIPE SNOWBOARDING AND SPEEDSKATING, GO TO: ES.PN/SOCHIOLYTECH

1

2

3

4

5

SOCHI

OLYMPICSPREVIEW

Team USA may be over 5,000 miles away,

but they can still hear us loud and clear.

It’s our time to get behind the athletes

who have worked so hard to get to Sochi.

Let’s tweet, blog, post and shout our support

from the rooftops. It may just mean one more

gold on the medal count.

THERE ARE NO SHORTCUTS

TO OLYMPIC GOLD.

BUT HAVING A NATION BEHIND YOU

DOESN’T HURT.

SHANI DAVISTeam USA

att.com/TeamUSA

36 USC 220506. ©2014 AT&T Intellectual Property. All rights reserved. AT&T and the AT&T logo are trademarks of AT&T Intellectual Property. All other marks contained herein are the property of their respective owners.

MAKE TIME FOR NEW CHAMPIONS

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A F i f t y Ye a r H e r i t a g e o f Q u a l i t y, D e s i g n , a n d Va l u e

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02/03/2014 ESPN The Magazine 25FROM LEFT: AARON M. SPRECHER/AP IMAGES; PAUL KITAGAKI JR/SACRAMENTO BEE/ZUMA PRESS

SUPER BOWL XLVIII PREVIEW

THINK THE DBS ARE WORRIED ABOUT PASS INTERFERENCE PENALTIES ON SUPER SUNDAY? THINK AGAIN.

IN FACT, HARASSING PEYTON MANNING’S RECEIVERS IS KEY TO A SEATTLE VICTORY. By David Fleming

LIFE OF PI

Seahawks CBRichard

Sherman

Broncos QB Peyton Manning

26 ESPN The Magazine 02/03/2014 FROM TOP: EVAN PIKE/CSM/LANDOV; RON CHENOY/USA TODAY SPORTS

On his way to the airport,

Ravens cornerback Jimmy

Smith always checks and

rechecks his backpack for the

one item he absolutely must

have when traveling home to

California: his Super Bowl

ring. A year ago in New

Orleans, Smith’s aggressive,

physical coverage on 49ers

receiver Michael Crabtree

on fourth and goal with 1:46

to play secured the Ravens’

win, despite the volcanic

protestations of coach

Jim Harbaugh, who simply

couldn’t believe Smith wasn’t

fagged. To this day, Niners

fans who cross paths with

Smith keep up the barrage.

“They still see me and go,

‘That was holding, that

was holding, that was

holding,’” says Smith. “I

always just fash my ring

and say, ‘Yeah, well, the only

thing I’m holding now is the

championship.’”

Smith’s mostly incidental

contact with Crabtree did

more than help the Ravens

procure the world’s most

ostentatious trump card,

featuring 243 diamonds

and custom amethyst. It also

ushered in a new, ingenious

and highly efective tool

for defensive backs in this

pass-happy era of the

NFL—and that tool played

a big role in determining this

8S T O P C A R I N G A B O U T P E N A LT I E S

Eight of the past 12 Super Bowl winners were fagged for more penalty yards than their opponents. This is a clear departure from the

regular season, in which teams that are fagged more have just a .452 winning percentage since 2001. So memo to all Broncos and

Seahawks: Bump, interfere and hold all you want. If history holds, you’ll be leaving Jersey with a nice trophy.

S I X W A Y S

T O W I N T H E

S U P E R B O W L 1

Kuechly wasn’t flagged for PI (top), and Bailey didn’t commit a penalty all season.

© 2014 DD IP Holder LLC.

GO FOR TWO.


year’s Super Bowl matchup.

Watch closely downfeld

inside MetLife Stadium

during the big game and

you’re sure to see the same

sleight of hand Smith and

the Ravens pulled a year ago:

not just embracing pass

interference but using it

as an efective weapon. In

today’s NFL, the choice is

simple: Defenses can back

of, stay penalty-free and

surrender 500 yards passing,

like the 3–13 Redskins (one

pass interference call all

season, 29.9 ppg allowed).

Or they can follow the lead

of Seattle (NFL-most 13 PIs,

NFL-best 14.4 ppg) and push

the boundaries of what the

rulebook allows.

Bruising Broncos corner

Chris Harris certainly did.

He had seven penalties (four

for defensive holding) for a

Denver defense that fnished

with 10 PI calls, but he’s

out with a torn ACL. And

make no mistake: He’ll be

missed on Super Sunday. The

otherwise soft Denver pass D

gave up 254.4 ypg this

season, 27th in the league.

Veteran Champ Bailey will

shift over from safety to

replace Harris, and as

counterintuitive as it sounds,

Bailey (zero penalties in

2013) may want to consider

digging out the mugging

gloves that got him seven

yellow hankies in 2012. “It’s a

no-brainer,” says Smith. “I’d

rather risk a PI than play too

tentatively and let Crabtree

catch the game-winning

touchdown in the Super

Bowl and never, ever be able

to redeem myself.”

The numbers suggest

the NFL is cracking down

more than ever on PI—233

penalties cost defenses

4,058 yards in 2013; by

notorious noncall of the 2013

season. In Week 11, the

Panthers held on, literally, to

beat the Patriots 24-20

when, on Tom Brady’s fnal

throw into the end zone,

linebacker Luke Kuechly was

initially fagged for impeding

tight end Rob Gronkowski’s

path to the ball. The

underthrown pass had been

intercepted, and gun-shy

ofcials ultimately picked

up the fag, claiming the ball

was uncatchable. “The refs

gave me a bone there,”

Kuechly admits now.

Expertly exploiting the PI

loophole helped catapult

Kuechly and Carolina into

the playofs. Last year

Smith’s touchy coverage

helped the Ravens secure

their Super Bowl bling.

Now Seattle’s ultra-aggressive

secondary has set the

Seahawks up for a chance at

their frst-ever NFL title. For

defenses trying to survive in

this pass-happy league, if you

want a shot at a Super Bowl

ring, the message is clear:

Just reach out and grab it.

comparison, fve years ago

those numbers were 154 for

2,534 yards. But the truth is

that defenses are actually

camoufaging new, überag-

gressive coverage techniques

by hiding them in plain sight.

It’s the same logic loophole

long used by ofensive

linemen: hold on nearly

every single play because refs

simply won’t throw 50 fags

in a game. The same

principle works on defense.

If everything in the NFL

looks like pass interference,

that’s the same thing as

saying nothing is. It’s genius,

really. “Coaches tell us that

now: ‘Hey, they can’t call it

on every play,’” Smith says.

“You see how much Seattle

gets away with? They get

called for it a lot, but they

also get away with it a lot.”

That’s because referees are

often tentative, confused and

fat-out fatigued watching all

the holding, pushing and

hand-checking going on

during nearly every pass play.

That, in turn, only increases

the upside to a DB’s risk/

reward calculation. What’s

more, when corners and

safeties do get called for

interference, it’s not a

punishment but a license to

be even more aggressive,

knowing that odds are, they

won’t get fagged again right

away. A pass interference

call once shamed DBs into

compliance. Now it embold-

ens them to harass receivers

even more. “That concept is

very prevalent out there, but

especially so with the teams

in the playofs,” says Gerry

Austin, an NFL ofcial for 26

years who now serves as a

rules analyst for ESPN. “NFL

leadership has very serious

concerns not just about the

number of PI calls being

made but the number of PI

calls not being made. The

whole thing is headed for a

major review.”

More than likely, the

investigation will start with

the Seahawks, who led the

league in both penalties

(1,183 total yards) and total

defense (273.6 ypg). The

connection is no coincidence.

In the past decade, the most

penalized pass defenses

(holding and PIs) all have

one thing in common:

winning records. Pass

interference, materially

impacting a receiver’s

opportunity to catch the ball,

is a spot foul that results in

an automatic frst down.

Even so, defenses still lost

only 17.4 yards per game

from PI calls this season. The

trade-of is so advantageous

that, in the Legion of Boom,

interference fags don’t mean

you’re sloppy or undisci-

plined—they mean you’re

doing your job. “You have to

go for it and play as aggres-

sively as you can,” says Earl

Thomas, Seattle’s All-Pro

safety. “If that means a PI

call goes against you, so be

it.” Adds teammate Richard

Sherman: “Maybe years ago

it would have been better to

back of and not risk that

30-yard penalty. You just

can’t do that anymore.”

On Super Sunday, the

Seahawks DBs will meet their

match in Denver’s crafty

wideouts. Broncos receiver

Eric Decker drew fve PI calls

this year, tied for third most

in the NFL, and Wes Welker

had a dubious divisional

round fourth-quarter fop in

a win over San Diego. Most

observers thought it was

inadvertent contact between

Welker and safety Marcus

Gilchrist; refs said it was a

23-yard foul.

The reality is, however,

that refs usually are reluctant

to toss an interference fag in

a game’s critical moments.

Take, for example, the most

5-1D O N ’ T L O A D T H E B O X

Since 2006, Super Bowl ofenses that faced a loaded box on more than 20% of snaps are 5–1. The reason? Overall, the

stats from the past seven Super Bowls indicate that crowding the line of scrimmage with more defenders than the

ofense has blockers nearly triples the likelihood that the ofense will score a touchdown on that play.

S I X W A Y S

T O W I N T H E

S U P E R B O W L 2

WHAT IS YOUR OPINION OF THE NUMBER

OF PASS INTERFERENCE CALLS IN THE

NFL THIS SEASON?

TOTAL VOTES: 16,905 through Jan. 17

Not enough

Too many

Just the right amount

37.7%

47.2%

15.1%

Once pass interference is called, how good are

refs at spotting the ball? We analyzed tape

of 167 PI calls from 2013, respotting each

ball where it should have been placed. The

verdict: Refs get PI spots wrong by at least one yard 71.9% of the time. Often it’s much

more than a yard (24.6% of calls were

three-plus yards of), and that matters—

especially in the Super Bowl. —KC JOYNER

71.9%

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THROWING DOWNQBs threw more than 18,000 passes in 2013, and ESPN Stats & information tracked where and how far each one traveled and whether the pass was completed. The result is a comprehensive look at the strengths and weaknesses of every QB and pass defense. The grids below plot the completion

percentages of Russell Wilson and Peyton Manning, along with what the defenses they’ll face on Super Sunday allowed in the regular season.

SEAHAWKS BRONCOS

1 0 2 0 3 0

1 0 2 0 3 0

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1 0 2 0 3 0

1 0 2 0 3 0

Lin

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61 72 78 7163 69 75 6152 34 39 37

N/A* 55 82 6772 70 73 73N/A* 39 77 N/A*

60 56 67 4975 57 71 6149 38 39 38

Behind the line Behind the line0-15 yards 0-15 yards15+ yards 15+ yards

RUSSELL WILSON VS. BRONCOS DEFENSE PEYTON MANNING VS. SEAHAWKS DEFENSE

Wilson’s 16.6 ypa on these

throws is second in the NFL. Denver has allowed

637 yards here, second worst.

Manning’s 5 TDs on these throws is tops in the league. Seattle faced

only three such passes this

season.

1 WR Wes Welker (1A) and TE Julius Thomas (1B) run basic underneath routes. The goal is to draw the attention of the LBs and FS (1C). If the D backs of either player, Manning has an easy completion.

2 Because of his 14.8 ypc average, WR Eric Decker (2A) forces the

PICK YOUR POISONPeyton Manning’s record-setting season—5,477 yards and 55 TDs—was paved by plays like this iso and go. It’s impossible to cover all four Denver pass catchers. All it takes is one faulty move by the D and the Broncos are ripping of yet another big play. —FIELD YATES

nickel corner (2B) and SS (2C) to account for the deep ball.

3 Demaryius Thomas (14 TDs, second in the NFL) has been the true target all along. If everything goes to plan, Manning will have Thomas isolated one-on-one with nothing but green in front of him.

THE NUMBERS BEHIND THE MATCHUP

2.11S TA R T T H E S E C O N D H A L F W I T H T H E B A L L

Since 2001, teams have averaged 2.11 points per drive in the second half of the Super Bowl, compared with

just 1.52 points per drive in the frst half—a 39% diference. Post-halftime drives have netted nearly 5% fewer

points in the regular season over that same span.

S I X W A Y S

T O W I N T H E

S U P E R B O W L 3

2A

2C2B

1B1A

3

1C

*Sections listed as N/A did not meet the minimum attempt threshold.

GET INTO

YOUR CHEESE HEAD

Introducing Campbell’s Chunky Cheeseburger Soup.For cheeseburger lovers like Clay Matthews.

OFFICIAL SOUP SPONSOR OF THE NFL

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32 ESPN The Magazine 02/03/2014 GREG TROTT/AP IMAGES

Wins by Peyton Manning in nine career outdoor starts played in freezing temps since 2001. That’s the fewest of any QB with at least eight such starts over that span. FYI: It’s supposed to be a little nippy in New Jersey on Super Sunday.

3

DO NOT PASSIn this era of quick-strike QBs, it should come as no surprise that six of the past eight Super Bowl winners have boasted above- average pass D’s. As the chart shows, that gives the Seahawks’ top-ranked pass D the advantage over the Broncos’ 27th-ranked unit.

BR

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172

254.4

235.6

4:51C O N T R O L T H E C L O C K

The past 12 Super Bowl winners have had, on average, a time of possession advantage of 4:51, and teams

that control the clock are 9–3 in the big game since 2001. That .750 winning percentage is higher than even

the .678 mark compiled by teams with a positive time of possession margin in the regular season since ’01.

S I X W A Y S

T O W I N T H E

S U P E R B O W L 4

KNOWSHON MORENO, BRONCOS4 . 3 YA R D S P E R C A R RY

MARSHAWN LYNCH, SEAHAWKS4 . 2 YA R D S P E R C A R RY

SEAHAWKS DEFENSE3 . 9 YA R D S P E R C A R RY A L LOW E D

BRONCOS DEFENSE3 . 9 YA R D S P E R C A R RY A L LOW E D

5.8

4.9

4.4

4 .2 4 .2

4.1

3 .5

5 .6

3 .5

5 .3

4.5

2 .5

5 .0

3 .2

4.3

5 .3

3 .1

4 .4

4 .23 .7

WHERE TO RUNKnowshon Moreno’s 5.7 yards per carry on runs outside the tackles ranked second among all RBs with 40 such carries this season, and it just so happens the Seahawks’ No. 7 rush defense is weak of left tackle. The Broncos D usually controls the middle well, but Marshawn Lynch is a beast up the gut: He has 737 carries inside the tackles since 2011, most in the NFL.

All yards-per-carry numbers from the regular season.

Passing ypg allowed

IF PEYTON MANNING WINS ANOTHER SUPER BOWL, WHERE WILL HE RANK AMONG THE BEST QBS OF ALL TIME?

28%

TOTAL VOTES: 21,568 through Jan. 19

25%

NO. 2

OUTSIDE THE TOP TWO

NO. 1

47%

Tow. Haul. Build anyTHing.

toyota.com/tundra Prototype shown with options. Production model may vary. ©2013 Toyota Motor Sales, U.S.A., Inc.

34 ESPN The Magazine 02/03/2014 GREG TROTT/AP IMAGES

RING OF TRUTHPlaying in the Super Bowl is no doubt the pinnacle of an NFL player’s career. But at what price? In a poll of more than 300 players conducted by ESPN.com’s NFL Nation reporters, an overwhelming majority admitted they’d play in the title game even with a concussion.

85%

T R U E O R FA L S E I’D PLAY IN THE SUPER BOWL

WITH A CONCUSSION.

BOMBS AWAY

THE AGE-OLD QUESTION: YOUTH

VS. EXPERIENCE

Anyone who’s written of the read-option hasn’t watched the Seahawks lately. They’re averaging 4.8 ypc on read-option rushes, and perhaps more important, the scheme is also efective at loosening the secondary

and opening up the vertical passing game, as shown in this play. —FIELD YATES

1 RB Marshawn Lynch (1A) was second in the NFL with 301 carries in 2013, so the D can’t ignore the possibility that QB Russell Wilson (1B) will hand the ball to Lynch rather than keep it. When neither happens, the defense is left scrambling.

2 WR Jermaine Kearse (2A) runs

a seam route, which draws the attention of the free safety (2B).

3 Despite his 5'10" frame, Golden Tate is a great jump-ball WR. With Kearse distracting the FS, Tate is left one-on-one up the sideline. Tate has 4.42 speed, so that’s a tough cover for any CB.

Don’t expect the frst punt return TD in Super Bowl history to happen against Seattle. It allowed 82 total punt return yards in 2013, fourth fewest of any Super Bowl team since 1978.

82

6.1L E AV E T H E B L I T Z E S O N T H E B U S

Since 2006, defenses have employed a standard pass rush on nearly 75% of QB dropbacks in the

Super Bowl. The reason? Bringing four or fewer pass rushers nets a sack on 6.1% of dropbacks—

nearly double the 3.2% sack rate when D’s blitz.

S I X W A Y S

T O W I N T H E

S U P E R B O W L 5

PEYTON MANNING, DEN

RUSSELL WILSON, SEA

240

32208

2 0 1 3

SUPER BOWL

XLVIII

FRAN TARKENTON, MIN

KEN STABLER, OAK

214

511631 9 7 6

SUPER BOWL

XI

JOHNNY UNITAS, BAL (COLTS)

CRAIG MORTON, DAL

172

291431 9 7 0

SUPER BOWL

V

FRAN TARKENTON, MIN

TERRY BRADSHAW, PIT

187

511361 9 7 4

SUPER BOWL

IX

JOHN ELWAY, DEN

CHRIS CHANDLER, ATL

219

981211 9 9 8

SUPER BOWL

XXXIII

As the chart shows, this Super Bowl features the largest experience disparity between

starting QBs in NFL history. But consider this: Since 1999, nine QBs in their 20s have won

Super Bowls; none over age 35 has. Advantage: Russell Wilson.

DIFFERENCE IN STARTS

STARTS BY MORE EXPERIENCED QB

STARTS BY LESS EXPERIENCED QB

1A1B

2A

3

2B

GO BEHIND THE SCENES AT THE 10TH PUPPY BOWL: ES.PN/

PUPPYBOWL2014

For more results from the NFL Nation Confdential, go to es.pn/1aBURkS Only regular season starts included; Source: Elias Sports Bureau

T R U E

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photograph by JOHN LOOMIS 36 ESPN The Magazine 02/03/2014

The distinguished gentleman settles into

his chair in a hotel dining room, eyes his

breakfast companion the way he did

middle linebackers 40 years ago and says

with a slight smile: “This isn’t going to be

about race, is it? I would much rather it

be about the importance of opportunity.”

Then James Harris turns to the waiter

and says, “I’ll have the oatmeal, please.”

With all due respect, the story of James

“Shack” Harris, now a senior personnel exec

for the Lions, is very much about race. In

1969, a year before the NFL-AFL merger,

Harris started Week 1 for the AFL’s Bills, the

frst black quarterback to do so in either

league. The headline previewing that game

in the Sept. 10 New York Times read: jets

are likely to face harris, bills’ negro

passer, on sunday. Put another way, his

story is about the door he left ajar so Super

Bowl QBs Doug Williams, Steve McNair,

Donovan McNabb, Colin Kaepernick and

Russell Wilson could push it open. To think,

this season began with nine black starters

under center, the most in NFL history, and

ended with two of them fghting for a Super

Bowl berth. In 1974 Harris became the frst

black QB to even start a playof game.

So if you thought it was headline news

when 49ers coach Jim Harbaugh pulled

Alex Smith for Kaepernick in 2012, imagine

1974, when Rams coach Chuck Knox

traded John Hadl, the 1973 NFC player

of the year, midseason and started Harris.

For the next two seasons as the Rams’

No. 1 QB, Harris endured a death threat,

front ofce politics and thinly veiled racism.

What follows are remembrances of

those on or around the Rams when, as

Harris recalls, “all hell broke loose.”

RON JAWORSKI RAMS ROOKIE QB THEN, ESPN ANALYST NOW

I was excited to get to camp. I’d followed

Hadl’s career and I’d seen Harris play in

Bufalo. I was a Bills season-ticket holder.

Section 23, Row 13, Seat 3.

JOHN HADL

RAMS STARTER THEN, KANSAS ASSOCIATE AD NOW

The Chargers traded me after 11 seasons,

but my two years with the Rams were the

best time I ever had in football. I loved

Shack and Jaws. Going over at weigh-in

cost $100 a pound, a lot of money then.

WHEN RUSSELL WILSON STARTS SUPER BOWL XLVIII,

FANS WON’T BAT AN EYE. BUT WHEN JAMES HARRIS STARTED A PLAYOFF

GAME IN 1974, AMERICA WASN’T SO COLORBLIND. By Steve Wulf

“ALL HELL BROKE LOOSE”

SUPER BOWL XLVIII PREVIEW

©

®™ 2

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#YouDontJustEatEm

38 ESPN The Magazine 02/03/2014 NFL PHOTOS/AP IMAGES

Well, you can take of 6 pounds if the guy

behind you lifts up your buttocks with his

fsts. Shack and I did it all the time.

CHUCK KNOX*

RAMS COACH, 1973-77

My second season begins, and we win three

of our frst fve games. This would be fne for

most teams, but it meant we had already

lost as many games as in all of 1973. And in

the public’s and management’s eyes, that

meant trouble. Coach Dan Devine of Green

Bay calls. He sounds as desperate as I’m

starting to feel. He says he needs a quarter-

back. Bad. He needs our MVP, John Hadl.

*Knox’s quotes from Hard Knox, his 1988 autobiography.

HARRIS I was trying to fgure out how I ft

in. Hadl was the present, Jaws the future.

Then Chuck gave me the news—I thought,

Does he know I’m black? After I got home,

my phone started ringing of the hook.

WARREN MOON

STAR QB AT LA’S HAMILTON HIGH SCHOOL THEN, NFL HALL OF FAME QUARTERBACK NOW

I was a huge Rams fan, and to suddenly

have an African-American quarterback

I could look up to was great. We’d go to

training camp and sneak into the Coliseum

through a fence to see him in preseason.

He had tremendous arm strength, but I

really tried to emulate how he stood in the

pocket, so tall and calm. I frst met Shack at

the University of Washington, but he came

to see me at West LA College. He later told

me he watched from his car because he

didn’t want to cause a commotion.

On Oct. 20, 1974, in his frst Rams start,

Harris threw for three TDs and ran for one

in a 37-14 rout of the 49ers. He went on to

lead the NFC in passer rating (85.1) and

made his only Pro Bowl as LA won seven of

its last nine games. Harris also led a 19-10

playof win over the Redskins to set up the

NFC championship game at Minnesota.

KNOX We’re down late 14-10. It’s second

and goal from the 6-inch line. I call a QB

sneak. [Defensive tackle] Alan Page jumps

ofside, but the umpire says [guard] Tom

Mack has drawn Page ofside. Now we’re

at the 5-yard, 6-inch line. We run a couple

of yards and then try a surprise pass.

The ball is tipped, then intercepted.

HARRIS I still go to sleep trying to fgure

out a way to win that game.

KNOX Instead of blaming the ref, or even

Mack, the fans and some media had the

audacity to blame him for that call.

Blamed it on what they thought was his

sometimes-ofbeat signal cadence. Can you

imagine that? Maybe by then fans had

realized that James Harris really was our

starting quarterback. Since they didn’t like

him, they had to fnd something against

him. And that’s how it started.

JAWORSKI In ’75 I get to our room before a

game and he’s clearly nervous. Some club

ofcial told him they were beefng up

security after a death threat. Not to make

light, but I told him maybe I should ride

with [running back] Rob Scribner. We

couldn’t aford to lose both quarterbacks.

HARRIS That was the longest night of my

life. We had security outside the door.

They escorted me to the game. Man, I ran

through that tunnel to the feld as fast as

I could. I don’t remember much about the

game. But I do remember running fast

through the tunnel on the way out.

KNOX After the 1975 season, owner Carroll

Rosenbloom invited [wife] Shirley and

me to one of his infamous dinner parties.

I think Jonathan Winters and Ricardo

Montalban were there. With this spark in

his eye, he said: “Let’s play a game. Let’s

vote on who we want for president this

year, and then, just for fun, we’ll vote on

who we want for Rams quarterback.” So he

passed around these little pieces of paper

and everybody voted. Shirley and I were

the only ones who voted for James Harris.

SKIP BAYLESS

LOS ANGELES TIMES STAFF WRITER THEN, CO-HOST OF ESPN’S FIRST TAKE NOW

The 1976 season was total chaos. You

literally would not know who was starting

until the morning of the game. Shack

had the players’ backing, and Jaws was

getting antsy because of his potential. But

Rosenbloom favored [rookie] Pat Haden.

It was pretty clear that he and GM Don

Klosterman were pulling the strings.

KNOX We’re heading to Miami for a game

scheduled on the Jewish holiday Yom

Kippur. Rosenbloom raised all kinds of

hell with commissioner Pete Rozelle about

not honoring a Jewish religious event. We

play anyway, and after being down 21-7,

Harris throws for [436 yards] and we win

31-28. Afterward Rosenbloom, in a big

show in the locker room, kisses Harris on

the cheek and says, “Great job, from one

member of a minority to another.” Five

games later, Harris is benched.

HARRIS The Rams made me, but they

also ruined me. I was never the same. My

passion, my motivation was gone. After

all I’d been through, I didn’t want to go

through it anymore.

LAWRENCE MCCUTCHEON

RAMS PRO BOWL RB THEN, RAMS NATIONAL SCOUT NOW

He’d done everything humanly possible to

win the job. He was worn down by the

whims of the front ofce, fed up with the

racism of the fans. Any of us would have

said the same thing had we gone through

what he went through: What’s the use?

KNOX I think James Harris could have

been one of the NFL’s all-time great

quarterbacks.

Harris, 21–6 as the Rams starter,

never won over the front ofce.

FOR THE FULL STORY ON SHACK, GO TO

ESPN.COM AND SEARCH: JAMES HARRIS MAG

BLACK QBs IN

THE PLAYOFFS

STARTS

TOTAL QBs

JAMES HARRIS

50T H R O W T H E B A L L O U T S I D E T H E N U M B E R S

Six of the past seven Super Bowls have been won by teams whose quarterbacks have thrown

more than 50% of their passes outside the numbers. Why, you ask? Since 2006, passes

toward the boundaries have a 1.3% INT rate, compared with 4.5% on throws inside the numbers.

S I X W A Y S

T O W I N T H E

S U P E R B O W L 6

Compiled from an informal study; Super Bowl XLVIII not included in 2013 starts total.

1974

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What does being

lucky feel like? Let me

check...hmm, sorta

smooth and round.

“

”

A Nut

Above

the RestOnly 1 in 100 peanuts is lucky enough to

become a delicious M&M’S®

Peanut. And being one of a

kind is what makes Yellow

America’s favorite nut.

Photography by Martin Wonnacott

©

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facebook.com/mms


PLAYBOOK VISUALS

COLLECTION

NO, YOU’RE NOT IN A PARALLEL UNIVERSE.

THESE CHAMPIONSHIP TEES REALLY

EXIST, EVEN IF YOU’LL PROBABLY

NEVER WEAR THEM.

Somewhere in the world, the 2007 Patriots really did go

undefeated. With Bill Belichick’s squad 35 seconds from winning

Super Bowl XLII, thousands of “19–0, Perfect Season” tees were

set to be released. But all of the Pats items, including the gear

from their Super Bowl XLVI rematch, made their way to World

Vision. Every year since the mid-1990s, the nonproft has donated

thousands of preprinted “championship” T-shirts, hats and other

merchandise from every major league to the underprivileged

around the globe. (The items would otherwise be destroyed.)

Good luck getting your hands on anything: The leagues strictly

forbid the donated goods from being sold in the U.S. So

here, anyway, the ’07 Patriots will always be 18–1.

—ANNA KATHERINE CLEMMONS

photographs by THOMAS LIGGETT

Did you know? Your subscription includes FREE Insider, the

all-access pass to ESPN’s premium digital content.

For full access, go to:

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photograph by DUSTIN SNIPES42 ESPN The Magazine 02/03/2014

PLAYBOOK BODY SHOT

NBA

“Growing up, I was short and

chubby, but as I got into high

school and started growing,

I got tall and skinny. Once I

entered college, I started hit-

ting the weights and building

muscle. To take care of my

body, I make sure I eat right.

I don’t eat meat, I stay away

from carbs, I eat yogurt and I

drink a lot of water and almond

milk. Being able to take

contact is really important

in basketball. You have to

be strong to go up against

seven-footers every night. I

need to be able to penetrate

and attack the basket, so

having strong shoulders and

abs is key. For training, I like

to do P90X. It’s fun! One day

you’re doing legs; the next

you’re doing back; three times

a week I do abs. It’s pretty

intense. I also love hot yoga.

It takes the stress away.”

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PLAYBOOK COLLEGE BASKETBALL

You had a big season last year after

joining the Shockers as a transfer.

Why’d you choose a New York junior

college [Sullivan County CC] over

a bigger program?

I had interest from a number of

Division I schools coming out of prep

school in 2010. But that summer, my

older brother [Jamel Glover] drowned

in the Hudson River extension—he

was swimming, jumping of the

docks. He was like a father fgure to

me. He protected me, had my back

and gave me comfort. I didn’t want to

be too far from home after that,

so I chose a juco 45 minutes away.

How’d you hear about his death?

I was at my friend’s crib. It was a

summer day. It was so sunny. And

then as soon as I got that call, the

weather changed. It got nasty out.

There was a storm. We had to

go identify the body upriver where

they had recovered it. It was awful.

I can see it like it was yesterday.

What were things like after that?

My mom was a single mom.

Everything wasn’t all peachy. But

there was love. I play for him. I

play for my mom, my grandma,

people who have my back. I don’t

take anything for granted. I live

for a purpose.

Is that what your daily tweet—

“Thank God for today”—is about?

I’ve done that every day since prep

school. It’s something so simple.

It is a reminder to be appreciative

and grateful for what we have.

During your recruiting trip to

Wichita, you got stuck there due

to Hurricane Irene. How did that

infuence your choice?

It was crazy—I was here an extra

four or fve days. It went past the

glamour of the two days when they

do the meet and greet; I was a part

Nothing about Cleanthony Early is conventional. Not his name, not his road to

Wichita State and not his decision to stick around for his senior season—one in

which the Wooden Award candidate leads the Shockers in scoring. Fitting, really:

Wichita State is on a winning ride that’s anything but typical. —ANDY KATZ

of the program. Everyone thought

I was going to San Diego State,

but I wanted to be at a place that

was under the radar. I wanted

to go somewhere where we could

shock the nation.

What’s it like playing for coach

Gregg Marshall?

He’s intense, but there is a method

to the madness. You’ve got to believe

in the system as much as you believe

in yourself. If you’re not diving on

the foor, you’re not playing.

How did last season’s surprise Final

Four run change Wichita State?

People knew us before, but now we

can’t go anywhere. Even when I go

back home now, everyone knows me.

They want to take pictures and sign

autographs every time we go out.

There were reports that you

were considering turning pro after

that. Why did you return for your

senior year?

I had so much more to learn and

improve and understand. I knew

I could increase my stock and could

get in a position to think like a pro.

I also knew we could be so much

better than we were.

How is this Wichita State team

[17–0 through Jan. 13] better than

that Final Four team?

We rebound just as good and our

defense is just as good, but I feel like

we can score better than that team.

What are the Shockers’ chances

to win the national title?

If we can continue to work, then

the only team that can beat

Wichita State is Wichita State.

I don’t see nothing stopping us.

You don’t have to have the better

team in March Madness. You

just need to stay hungry and stay

humble and continue to fght.

We want to play angry. We feel we

belong. We’re Wichita State.

K ATZ KORNER

“WE COULD SHOCK THE NATION”

SEE THE MANY SIDES OF JAY

BILAS IN THE COMING WEEKS

AS HE GOES ONE-ON-ONE

WITH THE VERY PLAYERS

IMMORTALIZED ATOP THE

WOODEN AWARD TROPHY.

WOODENAWARDVOTE.COM

WATCH

JAY BILAS AND THE

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CHECK OUT KATZ KORNER

TUESDAYS AT 1 P.M. ET ON ESPNU

*THROUGH JAN. 13

INTERNATIONAL RINK

STANDARD NHL RINK

The blue lines are six feet closer on inter-national ice, so defensemen will shoot closer from the point.

The NHL surface is 200 feet by 85 feet, while international

rinks are 15 feet wider and the neutral zone is eight feet

deeper. Most of the extra space

is on the outside and behind the

net. “You can lose your angles

a little bit on the bigger ice,”

Richter says.

“Good players can take five or six steps from here and build speed by the time they get to the net, making them hard to defend,” Richter says.

RINKS CHEAT SHEET: NHL VS. OLYMPIC

PLAYBOOK NHL

FROM LEFT: JUAN OCAMPO/NHLI/GETTY IMAGES; RYAN REMIORZ/THE CANADIAN PRESS/AP IMAGES;

WILL SCHNEEKLOTH/ICON SMI; JOHN TLUMACKI/THE BOSTON GLOBE/GETTY IMAGES; TONY GUTIERREZ/AP IMAGES


BIG ICE, BIG PROBLEMSTHE LARGER SURFACE IN SOCHI COULD AGAIN STYMIE THE U.S. AND CANADA, WHOSE GOALIES HAVE SLIPPED UP ACROSS THE POND. By Ben Arledge

Since NHL players frst laced up for the Olympics in 1998, Games held outside of North

America have not been kind to teams from the U.S. and Canada. But it’s not the language

barrier or the foreign cuisine that’s the issue. It’s the larger surface. Like Nagano in 1998

and Torino in 2006 —where both the Americans and Canadians failed to medal—the

Sochi Games will be played on international ice, which is 15% bigger than an NHL-size rink

(see right). “The larger ice favors skill,” says Mike Richter, who tended net for the U.S. on

rinks of both sizes over three Olympics, winning silver in Salt Lake City in 2002. “A guy like

Alex Ovechkin or Evgeni Malkin or Sidney Crosby will have more ice to work with.” That extra

room tests the positioning and timing of goalies accustomed to cozier surfaces, and their

ability to adjust to the diferent angles depends much on their style. For example, those

who play out beyond the crease—such as the U.S.’s aggressive trio of Jonathan Quick,

Ryan Miller and Jimmy Howard—must make reads and react on shorter notice. By contrast,

those goalies who stay deep in the net, like Sweden’s Henrik Lundqvist, are rarely caught out

of position because they can more easily recover in the fast-paced, east-west style of play.

But as Miller proved in 2010, when he posted a stellar .946 save percentage over six games,

a hot hand in net is key regardless of surface. “The Olympic tournament is short and

extraordinarily intense,” Richter says. “You need a goalie to catch fre and ride him.”

CANADASWEDEN, FINLAND,

RUSSIAUNITED STATES,

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Carey Price

Roberto Luongo

Mike Smith

SWEDEN

Henrik Lundqvist

Jonas Gustavsson

Jhonas Enroth

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Tuukka Rask

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Semyon Varlamov

Sergei Bobrovsky

Alexander Yeryomenko

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PLAYBOOK TENNIS

21

ROGER FEDERERSERENA WILLIAMS

WILSON BLADE 104

After a straight-sets loss

to Caroline Wozniacki in

March 2012, Williams asked

Wilson about switching to

the strings Federer uses.

She tried the mix of natural

gut and synthetic strings

he favored, then switched to

a new synthetic string

the company hadn’t

released yet. Since then,

she has gone 130–4.

WILSON PROTOTYPE

Frustrated after his ranking

slipped to No. 5, Federer

switched from a 90-inch

racket to a 98-incher after

the French Open last year.

But a 3–2 record had him

quickly reversing course.

After failing to improve

his standing, Federer

announced in December

he’d be using the 98-incher

at the Australian Open.

ANDY MURRAY

HEAD YOUTEK GRAPHENE

RADICAL PRO

98-square-inch head16x19 pattern, 310 g Switched to a lighter

racket in 2013.

RAFAEL NADAL

BABOLAT AEROPRO DRIVE 2013

100-square-inch head 16x19 pattern, 300 g

Seeking even more topspin, he changed rackets in 2013.

NOVAK DJOKOVIC

HEAD YOUTEK GRAPHENE

SPEED PRO

100-square-inch head18x20 pattern, 315 g

Switched deal from Wilson to Head in 2009.

VICTORIA AZARENKA

WILSON JUICE 100 BLX


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LI NA

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A heavier racket helps make her one of tennis’s hardest hitters.

WHY TWO LEGENDS

SWITCHED RACKETS

TO SUPERCHARGE

THEIR CAREERS.

By Kevin Fixler

Last year Serena Williams had

one of the greatest of her 17

seasons: trophies at the French

and U.S. Opens, 11 titles and 45

weeks in a row at No. 1. At 32,

she is the oldest woman ever to

top the rankings.

Williams credits a return to

top form in part to a change in

racket strings. Inspired by Roger

Federer’s control, Williams went

from all-natural gut strings to a

mix of natural and synthetic in

March 2012.

Meanwhile, Federer, also 32,

has switched back and forth

from 90- to 98-square-inch

racket heads over the past year,

with mixed results. He started

this year at No. 6 in the world and

with the 98-inch model he tried

last summer. Maybe he holds out

hope that his new gear can make

up for his not-so-new body.

Here’s a look at how the two

icons’ new rackets are serving

(or not serving) them well.

i l lustrat ion by CHRIS PHILPOT

4⅜" GRIP

UNKNOWN WEIGHT A heavier racket

provides more power and stability and

transfers less shock to Federer’s body.

27" LONG

289 g UNSTRUNG A lighter racket is more

maneuverable, and Williams can swing

it faster.

4⅝" GRIP

104-INCH HEAD

A larger head brings more power to Williams and is more forgiving on mishits due to a larger

sweet spot.

18x19 PATTERN

A tighter string pattern provides increased control and longer

string life.

27.5" LONG

16x19 PATTERN A more open pattern

allows for more spin on the ball but can lead to more broken strings.

98-INCH HEAD What a smaller racket face lacks in power, it

makes up for in control.

Whether as part of an endorsement deal or to fx part of

their game, most players try a diferent racket at least once.

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WHAT TO ASK THE RULER? Last summer I joined the presidential press pool in Sochi,

Russia, the home of February’s Olympics. Russian president—and self-appointed Sochi

Games manager—Vladimir Putin was in town to christen an Olympic hockey rink and

watch a junior game between the U.S. and Russia. The woman from his press ofce said

I would have the chance to ask him a question. This was a signifcant proposal. Putin

holds just one press conference a year, and even that is more like an autograph

session. • I hopped inside the van outside the Sochi Breeze Spa Hotel, near the eastern

coast of the Black Sea. I was the only foreigner. The rest were journalists from state-

controlled TV. We drove along Sochi’s winding main road, past the construction zones

that had plagued this resort town for the past seven years, past Olympic rings, 20 feet

high, set among a tangle of new highway overpasses. My foreign colleagues were sociable,

and we conversed in Russian. It wasn’t long, however, before they pressed me to answer

for America’s shortcomings: the NSA’s gathering of personal data, Barack Obama’s

THE DEFIANT STRONGMAN OF A DETERMINED NATION, RUSSIAN PRESIDENT VLADIMIR PUTIN IS PULLING

OUT ALL THE STOPS TO DOMINATE THE WEST WITH HIS OLYMPIC SHOW. By Brett Forrest

HIS GAMESTO WIN OR LOSE

SOCHI

OLYMPICSPREVIEW

Several men in dark suits

ran us through a body

scanner. The detector

emitted a few beeps and

blips, but no one seemed to

pay much attention.

We waited in the hockey

rink’s press room for a few

hours, but no sign of Putin.

He is a notorious dawdler.

He has kept the pope

waiting for him. Queen

Elizabeth too. He is also

tautly disciplined. He carries

himself with controlled

menace and rarely smiles.

When he walks into a room

and coolly levels his gaze at

those gathered around him,

this is no act. His opponents

have routinely wound up in

exile or in prison. In Putin,

there is nothing of a Western

political leader, the perpetual

candidate who charms his

public, conveying a person-

able disposition. Putin is in

charge, and he doesn’t care

what anybody thinks.

This delay gave me

plenty of time to consider

my question. Maybe I

should ask: How will

these Olympics afect the

international perception of

Russia and your leadership?

After all, Putin has concocted

a story for his people, that

he is the one man strong

enough to defend Russian

territory and values against

the Western invaders.

sinking approval rating.

Having lived in Russia from

2003 to 2008, I was used

to these types of questions.

I just smiled. I had other

things to consider.

Hoping to strike the right

balance, professional but

probing, I thought I might

ask Putin: What is the

meaning of the Sochi

Olympics for the Russian

people? Then I imagined he

would purse his lips, as he is

known to do upon felding a

dull question, and quack out

a pat reply. That wouldn’t do.

As one of my colleagues

asked me why I wanted to go

to war with Syria, I thought

I should ask Putin something

as provocative. There was no

shortage of material.

These are Putin’s Games,

after all, a product of the

ego, built by blunt com-

mand. The command is to

construct a stage on which

the style of Putin’s “managed

democracy” will enlighten

the world. Yet as the

Olympics approach, that

stage sure is getting

crowded. The Russian

parliament recently ratifed

a bill, signed by Putin, that

outlaws gay propaganda. And

just 200 miles north over

the Caucasus Mountains,

the leaders of Russia’s

Islamic insurgency have

pledged to disrupt the

Olympics with terrorist

violence. Every country has

its troubles, but given

Russia’s theatrical scope,

here problems assume

dramatic proportions.

We arrived at the coastal

cluster, a collection of ice

rinks where the skating

competitions will take place.

PAGE 50: ALEXEI DRUZHININ/RIA NOVOSTI/AP IMAGES; THIS PAGE, CLOCKWISE FROM ABOVE LEFT: DMITRY ASTAKHOV/ITAR-TASS/ZUMA PRESS;

ALEXEI NIKOLSKY/ITAR-TASS/ZUMA PRESS; ALEXEI DRUZHININ/RIA NOVOSTI/AP IMAGES; ALEXEI DRUZHININ/AFP/GETTY IMAGES


Putin’s photo ops

are meant to

project an aptitude

for mastering

difcult skills,

but he can portray

the fearless,

resourceful leader

a bit too lustily.

THE STORY HE HAS CONCOCTED FOR HIS PEOPLE IS THAT HE

ALONE CAN DEFEND RUSSIAN VALUES FROM WESTERN INVADERS.

surprised most everyone—to

the International Olympic

Committee in Guatemala.

He then pledged $12 billion

from the state budget to

build the Sochi Olympics

from scratch. (The 2010

Vancouver Olympics cost

$7 billion.) The frst of that

$12 billion fowed into Sochi

from the state starting in

late 2007, funding the

construction of ski resorts,

roadways, rinks and power

plants. It soon became

clear that Putin’s estimate

would have to be adjusted.

Considerably. Last February

RIA Novosti, Russia’s state

media service, announced

that the Olympics had cost

the government $50 billion,

transforming Sochi into

the most expensive

Olympics ever.

When he assumed power

in 1999, after a calamitous

decade in which his

predecessor, Boris Yeltsin,

devolved into a bumbling

alcoholic, Putin brought

stability to his country,

relative to the period that

preceded his presidency.

That much is indisputable.

Principally, he accomplished

this because of rising global

oil prices (Russia projects to

be No. 3 in the world for oil

production in 2013) and his

re-establishment of state

rule over business. He also

clamped down on political

opposition and the free

press, peddling his concept

of state control to the

populace over Kremlin-

owned TV. Increasingly, he

used the imagery of sports to

communicate his vigor to his

people, from his longtime

practice of judo to his recent

conducting his press

conference, and I was free to

take notes. I looked around

the room, searching for

support from my Russian

colleagues. There was none.

One cameraman pointed his

lens at the TV screen and

began to record.

AS PUTIN ENTERS his 15th

year in a position of power,

he has never been more

securely in control of Russia.

Part of this is by design, part

plain coincidence, condi-

tions having conspired to

make Putin appear to be the

world’s craftiest statesman.

The onetime KGB ofcer

and former prime minister

has faced down the U.S. on

Syria, defusing the chemical-

weapons controversy, and

also the EU on Ukraine,

lending Kiev $15 billion to

remain in the Russian

sphere. He has granted

asylum to Edward Snowden,

the NSA whistle-blower. He

has trivialized a domestic

opposition movement. In

October Forbes named him

the most powerful person in

the world. He leapfrogged

Obama in the rankings,

and how much fun that

must have been for Putin, a

virtual unknown when he

was appointed president in

1999. Now the West, and

the rest of the world, will

be compelled to come to

Sochi to live under his

decree for a while.

Like almost no national

leader before him, Putin has

expended personal capital on

these Olympics. In 2007 he

presented Russia’s Olympic

bid—speaking in both

English and French, which

Russian victories at Sochi

will prove this.

The press woman led us

upstairs to watch the game.

Then Putin appeared, down

at center ice, his voice

emanating from the PA

system. The press woman

promised we would see him

after the game. Now what

I wanted to ask Putin was:

Will I ever see you?

The fnal buzzer sounded

and we hurried to a

conference room. We waited

more. I peeked through the

doorway and down the hall.

There I saw the great

commotion that attends the

approach of a very impor-

tant person. The moment

was nearly upon me, and

I inhaled deeply.

Several large security men

barged into the room. “Get

out,” they barked. They

ushered us into a storage

room and closed the door.

There were a few chairs

there, a small TV and a box

of chocolate marshmallow

bars. The press woman

ficked on the TV, and the

image on the screen was of

the conference room we had

just left. A group of men

fltered into the room, Putin

bringing up the rear. Seated

at the conference table, he

spoke with a measured tone.

He said he was proud of the

Russian victory in the game

that had just ended. This

was a good sign, a harbinger

of Olympic victory.

I asked the press woman

why we had been ejected

from the conference room.

Her face tightened. She

spoke to me as though I

failed to grasp the utility of

my situation. Putin was

FROM TOP: THE YOMIURI SHIMBUN/AP IMAGES; MICHAEL HEIMAN/GETTY IMAGES; THE YOMIURI SHIMBUN/AP IMAGES54 ESPN The Magazine 02/03/2014

COST AND EFFECTPUTIN SPARED NO EXPENSE WHEN IT CAME TO PREPPING RUSSIA FOR

THE WORLD STAGE. HERE’S A LOOK AT WHAT $50 BILLION CAN BUY.

BOLSHOY ICE DOME This 12,000-seat arena is one of two venues that will host hockey. The other, Shayba Arena (below), sits 1,000 feet away.

COASTAL CLUSTER The six venues in Adler, which include both hockey arenas, were designed for a fve-minute commute to the Olympic Village.

$303M

SHAYBA ARENA The U.S. women’s hockey team plays the frst game of the Games on Feb. 8 at this movable structure, which seats 7,000 fans.$27M

$1.4B

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skiing, snowboarding and

sledding events will take

place. He referred, in his

own way, to how Putin took

Russia back from the

oligarchs who ruled Russia

in the 1990s and gave it not

“to the people” but to those

like himself—ofcials from

the KGB, the military and

the security services, who

have divvied up Russia’s

spoils anew. “These KGB

people are really low-quality

people,” he said, slurring his

words. “Like Putin.” Sochi

has been another such

opportunity and an example

of how the system fostered

by Putin works via kickbacks

among government

contractors or, perhaps

worse, an absence of legal

agreements or any collegial-

ity between builders and

operators. In Russian

development, sometimes it

is better to put your head

down and go it alone, no

matter if the job and the

building may fall apart.

A few people within

earshot shuddered to

hear such blunt talk. The

Russian government

under Putin has jailed and

handed stif punishments

to people who have done

little more than attend

political protest rallies.

The vindictiveness has

unnerved people into

believing even simple words

could result in life-threaten-

ing consequences.

Adding to the tension of

the moment is the fact that

Putin has only just been in

Sochi, a mere 30 miles away.

He spent an evening at the

waterfront nightclub

Platforma, entertaining his

at whim. In January,

Pyatigorsk, just 168 miles

east of Sochi, was put on a

terror alert after police

discovered six bodies riddled

with bullets beside a series of

explosives rigged to go of.

Soon afterward, in Nalchik,

195 miles east of Sochi,

police arrested fve terror

suspects, claiming they were

country in the world.

But when it comes to

real-world dilemmas, Putin

has his real-world limita-

tions. The city of Volgograd,

which stands 400 miles

northeast of Sochi, has

sufered three suicide bomb

attacks in recent months.

The latest bombings, carried

out frst at a train station

and then on a trolleybus on

consecutive days in late

December, left 34 dead. The

attacks showed that Russia’s

Islamic terrorists, headquar-

tered just over the Caucasus

Mountains from Sochi, can

perform coordinated actions

close friend Steven Seagal.

Two summers before this,

Putin, a black belt in judo,

entertained Jean-Claude

Van Damme. This is Putin’s

level, the people he enjoys

having around him. Imagine

a country ruled by Frank

Dux, played by Van Damme

in Bloodsport, an Army

ofcer looking for a fght. Or

Nico Toscani, Seagal’s role in

Above the Law, a special ops

veteran, a renegade Chicago

cop on a mission. In Russia

there is no need to imagine.

Vladimir Putin is like a

1980s action hero, except he

commands the largest

dabbling in hockey. He’s

been photographed fshing,

hiking, hunting and riding

horseback, all without a

shirt. The 61-year-old’s

photo ops provide steady

reminders that today’s leader

of Russia is alert at the helm.

He can portray the

resourceful, fearless

commander a bit too lustily.

In 2011 Putin went scuba

diving at an archaeological

camp of the Russian coast.

He soon re-emerged

carrying the remains of what

looked to be earthen jars. He

strode up the dock in his

wet suit, a satisfed look on

his face, apparently having

made an archaeological

discovery. “Treasure,” he

said. It turned out that these

were Greek pieces from the

early medieval period. It also

turned out that the archae-

ologists working in the area

had unearthed these jugs

some time previous to

Putin’s recreational dive and

placed them in shallow

water for Putin to fnd.

The resulting perception

that he was playing a role

hardly mattered. Putin so

monopolizes Russia’s

national conception of itself

by now that whatever he

does is by defnition

acceptable. After all, there

is no other candidate, no

other option.

THE MAN WHO was talking to

me at Starbar, a locals’

watering hole, was involved

in his own competition,

overturned shot glasses

forming the Olympic rings

on the bar in front of him.

We were in the village of

Krasnaya Polyana, where the

After several

bombings near

Sochi and social

unrest, Putin is

dispatching 37,000

security ofcers.

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no “Free Pussy Riot”

placards in Sochi, no

interviews on NBC Sports

with Khodorkovsky’s

lawyers. Putin scored

points as the compassionate

leader, Vladimir the Kind,

proving that it’s easy to be

merciful, if at frst you are

without mercy.

IT IS AFTERNOON at the

nightclub Cabaret Mayak in

Sochi. Without the evening

clientele, it is difcult to

fgure out what sort of club

Mayak is. But the beefcake

shots on the wall give it

away. Isn’t this just the sort

of “gay propaganda” that was

made illegal recently? Putin

has made a point of vilifying

the growing support for gay

rights in the West. This is a

strange topic to stress, with

so many important issues to

choose from, but his version

of Russia is a conservative,

insular, anti-Western

country built on a clear

choice: either Putin or a

morally decrepit West,

where identity and gender

are blurring into a single

perverted mongrel.

“Europeans are dying out,”

Putin said in a speech in the

will challenge Putin, Gudkov

believes. “If we do poorly, it

will be the failure of the big

illusion. People will need

someone to blame. And it

can bury this regime.”

Gudkov is perhaps too

hopeful. Putin has grown

crafty through his years in

power, manipulating

perceptions with surprising

timing and deftness. Without

warning, in late December,

Putin freed Russia’s three

most celebrated prisoners,

two members of the punk

collective Pussy Riot and

Mikhail Khodorkovsky, who

was once Russia’s richest

man. The amnesty was

something less than it

appeared to be. All three

prisoners were due for

release within months. No

matter. This was a brilliant

move. Now there will be

I MET DMITRY GUDKOV in a

Moscow café. Gudkov

is a member of the Duma,

Russia’s lower house of

parliament. For a time, he

belonged to the political

party A Just Russia, one of

the few opposition fgures in

the chamber that exists as

Putin’s rubber stamp. This

explains why, despite the

absence of reliable oversight

on the $50 billion of state

money that has gone into

Olympic development, there

has been no discussion

about Sochi in the Duma

for the past few years.

Gudkov is one of the few

elected politicians in Russia

who is willing to speak about

such things. His father,

Gennady Gudkov, did the

same, before his fellow

Duma members voted

him out of the chamber

on fraud charges.

There are issues in Russia

far more important than

Sochi. Gudkov mentions

education, road construc-

tion, health care. But Putin,

he says, has persuaded those

who sufer most acutely

from society’s shortcomings

to look to the Olympics for

salvation. “People are

waiting for a miracle,”

Gudkov says. “The Russian

president has been building

a big illusion that there are

enemies all around us. Putin

is considered to be a very

strong leader. And because

we are strong, we will win

these Games.”

But there is a fip side that

in possession of grenades,

ammunition and a home-

made bomb.

A few days after the

Volgograd bombings, Putin

skied down the slopes in

Krasnaya Polyana as TV

cameras followed him,

showing how safe it was.

“Putin is heading forward to

his cherished goal,” said a

friend of mine, a Volgograd

native. “Hosting the Winter

Olympics in a subtropical

beach resort next to the

Caucasus, where bombs

explode virtually every day.

It’s where he likes to ski, and

he’s going to force everyone

to like to ski there. No

matter what it costs.”

FROM TOP: ALEXEI NIKOLSKY/ITAR-TASS/LANDOV; MATT SLOCUM/AP IMAGES58 ESPN The Magazine 02/03/2014

For six-plus years,

Putin has assumed

a second job, as

general manager of

the Sochi Olympics.

PRESSURE’S ONPUTIN IS INSISTING THAT RUSSIA REVERSE THE TREND OF DECLINING

MEDAL COUNTS—ESPECIALLY THE GOLD-COLORED ONES.

1ST2ND 3RD 4TH5TH 11TH1ST * **

1994Lillehammer

1992Albertville

1998Nagano

2006Turin

2002Salt Lake City

2010Vancouver

1988Calgary

GOLD MEDAL RANKING

WINTER OLYMPIC GOLD, SILVER AND BRONZE

MEDALS

Alex Ovechkin, the

NHL’s top goal

scorer (34 through

Jan. 15), is making

his third Olympic

appearance.

*MEDALS EARNED AS USSR **MEDALS EARNED AS THE UNIFIED TEAM

Rookie to All-Star.

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radio, his voice concealed by

the noise, and said, “I know

where they’re buried.” He

said there is a mass grave in

the mountains, holding the

bodies of 50 or so workers.

I asked him where this grave

was located, if he could take

me there. His face went

slack, and he mumbled

something indecipherable.

Later, others spoke of such a

grave. It exists as a phantom

of local conviction, that the

Russian state and its

contract construction frms,

in their authority, are

capable of ripping up not

only the land but the people.

IT IS SAID that when Putin

visited Sochi over the past

few years and clouds

happened to speckle the sky,

exceptional measures were

taken to accommodate him.

As the presidential plane

descended, military

helicopters took fight. Their

rotor blades spinning, the

helicopters dispersed the

clouds. In this way, Putin

could obtain an unobstructed

view of his creation along

the coast of the Black Sea.

Back in the storage room,

watching Putin speak a room

away, eight hours into a day

administered like Russia

itself—by fat, without much

planning and with no

accountability or protest—I

fnally saw what I should ask

Putin: How will the Sochi

Olympics truly refect your

view of the world?

But when I turned to go

fnd Putin, security guards

blocked the door. I was

going nowhere. So I grabbed

a marshmallow bar and

watched the rest of the show.

Olympics, Russia has

medaled only twice, once

earning silver, once bronze.

While Russians revere the

dominant Soviet team with

emotional attachment, they

deride its pathetic Russian

successor, stocked as it has

been with individualistic

mercenaries from the NHL.

With the games in Sochi,

under Putin’s banner of

new Russian strength, the

pressure on the team will be

immense. It will be stocked,

but the general manager of

one Scandinavian national

team says: “Russia might

not medal.”

The players’ eyes moist-

ened in the memory of what

was, nostalgia strongest in

those who have lost a (cold)

war. All they talk about is a

Sochi fnal matchup with

Canada, their old antagonist

and measuring stick from

the days of the Canada Cup.

Alexander Stus, a manager

for Olympstroy, gestures at

the rink. “Why do you think

we built all this?” he asks.

“If we lose, they should

shoot everyone.”

Russia’s hockey players

aren’t the only ones who

might be concerned about

their future. In Krasnaya

Polyana, my taxi drove past

hundreds of muddied

migrant workers. Workers

have continually complained

of late payment. In October

one laborer appeared at

Sochi’s Olympic media

center, his lips sewn together

in protest of two months’

worth of unpaid wages. In

2012 more than 25 laborers

died in accidents on

Olympic-related sites. My

driver turned up the car

fall. “Gay marriages don’t

produce children ... Without

the values at the core of

Christianity and other world

religions, without moral

norms that have been

shaped over millennia,

people will inevitably lose

their human dignity. [In

Western Europe] there is a

policy equating families

with many children with

same-sex families, belief in

God with belief in Satan.”

Mayak’s owner, Andrei

Tenichev, said he has faced

no crackdown since the new

law went into efect. He said

his club operates as it always

has, with no interference,

here right of the Black Sea

beach. “Sochi has always

been a tolerant place,”

Tenichev said. “I’m worried

about extremism in Russia,

but we haven’t experienced

it so far.” Putin is perhaps

too smart to give such

ammunition to the openly

gay delegates, including

Billie Jean King, whom

Obama is sending to Sochi.

I JOINED A hockey game in

the coastal cluster just a few

months after the fake

presidential press confer-

ence. I skated with a team of

employees from Olympstroy,

the state-owned contractor

for Olympic venues. We

played on a modest practice

rink, which national teams

will use at the Olympics.

On the bench, the players

discussed the importance of

Russia’s winning gold in

hockey. Vladimir Cherkasov,

the manager of the Olympic

rinks, mentioned the

humiliation of Russia’s last

Olympic game, a 7-3

quarterfnal defeat to Canada

in Vancouver. “Other teams

will come here to win or

lose,” he said. “We will win,

or we will die.”

They speak in the context

of the Soviet hockey team,

the Big Red Machine, symbol

of Soviet geopolitical power.

There is strong in Russian

society, and there is weak,

and there is nothing else. In

the Soviet era, the national

hockey team dominated

international tournaments

(de facto professionals in the

amateur competitions),

winning gold in seven of the

nine Olympics in which it

entered. In the last fve

ALEXANDER NEMENOV/AFP/GETTY IMAGES60 ESPN The Magazine 02/03/2014

IF WE DO POORLY, IT’LL BE THE FAILURE OF THE BIG ILLUSION.

D M I T R Y G U D K O V , D U M A M E M B E R

Our fi nest almonds delicately kissed with cocoa

powder. Just one of our decidedly refi ned fl avors.

EmeraldNuts.com

A little taste of the good life.

PLAYBAR UNLEASH YOUR TV SOUND. UNLEASH ALL THE MUSIC ON EARTH.

02 .03 .14

ISSUE

THE MUSIC

02/03/2014 ESPN The Magazine 63photograph by MATTHIAS CLAMER

ADDITIONAL CREDITS PAGE 84

IN WHAT KIND OF WORLD

DOES NICKI MINAJ STAND

TALLER THAN KOBE BRYANT?

A world in which Jay Z,

Drake and Timberlake

brand teams. In which

musicians are years ahead

of athletes in rights and

revenue streams. A world

in which half a second of

nipple can loom larger

than the Super Bowl itself.

In which the games might

be over the moment theyÕre

played, but some Fall Out

Boy song will blast arenas

(and crank out residuals)

for eternity. And so we ask:

Who stands tallerÑthe

5'2" singer or the 6'6"

guard? But never mind. ItÕs

actually a trick question.

See? SheÕs wearing heels!

FOR BEHIND-THE-SCENES VIDEOS,

PHOTO GALLERIES AND AUDIO FILES,

GO TO ESPN.COM/MUSICISSUE

Many of the stories in this issue contain mature subject matter.


KILLER CROSSOVERONE HAS ELECTRIFIED A FRANCHISE. ONE IS CHALLENGING AN INDUSTRY. CHRIS PAUL KENDRICK LAMAR AREN’T JUST BUDS. THEY’RE THE FACE OF THE NEW MUSIC/SPORTS PARADIGM.BY SAM ALIPOUR PHOTOGRAPH BY MATTHIAS CLAMER

PR

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S S

PR

EA

D A

DD

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84

66

PAUL: I respect fans that’ve been straight Lakers

and don’t come over. I respect that loyalty.

LAMAR: But it’s all love, because it’s all LA.

Still, within the LA hoops and music scenes,

competition isn’t a terrible thing. Kendrick, you

get it—you made some waves when you dropped

that verse into Big Sean’s track “Control,” where

you called out virtually every young MC in the

game.2 Is competition as important to you as it is

to Chris’ day job?

LAMAR: It’s very important. It only helps the

craft. If you’re making good music, I want to

make good music too. I want to be right there

at that level. If you always have this competitive

nature, as far as upping our game, the people

will always be happy. The music will live forever.

PAUL: When I heard that verse, I immediately

texted him and told him how crazy it was.

[Laughs] But like he said, competition is what

keeps you going. When I played against Steve

Nash the frst time, the night before, I couldn’t

sleep. He’d just won MVP, and I couldn’t wait to

compete against him. Now, it’s funny, I’m nine

years into the league, and there are so many

great young point guards in our league. They’re

coming for me like I was going for Nash. It’s

competition—it’s why we do this.

Today we’re seeing a symbiotic relationship

between music and sports, with each side using

the other to sell its product—whether we’re

talking about Bieber walking Floyd to the ring, or

how Beats by Dre wouldn’t be Beats without

LeBron. Have you guys thought about what the

other side can do to help sell what you’re selling?

PAUL: That’s something me and my brother, my

business manager, have been working toward.

We had a great opportunity recently to talk

about brand-building with O.G. Juan.3 We’ve

also spoken to Scooter Braun,4 who works with

Justin Bieber. That stuf is big, and we’re still

trying to fgure it out.

THE MAG: You’re both LA-based celebrities.

Have you two ever crossed paths?

PAUL: Actually, it’s crazy—we frst connected

on Twitter.

LAMAR: [Laughs] Yup.

PAUL: I tweeted that I was listening to his album

on the way to a game. I was following him on

Twitter. I don’t know if he was following me.

LAMAR: Yup. And then I sent him a DM.

PAUL: And I told him, “Every fight, every bus

ride, your album is our team’s theme music.”

LAMAR: It’s dope because I wasn’t feeling like

I was in the starlight. That was before Good Kid,

probably during Section.80.1 I’m a new artist, so

I’m looking at him like he’s famous, know what

I’m sayin’? [Both laugh] I let him know that

his trade to the Clippers was perfect timing

because what’s about to happen to LA is going

to be great for the music scene. Then we

chopped it up. He’s a real good dude.

Kendrick, growing up in Compton, I’m guessing

you claimed the Lakers?

LAMAR: I gotta go, day one, with the Lakers,

of course. I support the Clippers too, because

they’re LA, but I ain’t about to jump on their

bandwagon just because of my boy right here,

know what I’m sayin’? [Laughs]

Inside a Hollywood studio, Clippers guard Chris Paul is shirtless, baring his ravaged skin to Kendrick Lamar. The Compton-bred rapper? Uncharacteristically tongue-tied. “Looks like I got a bunch of hickeys, right?” Paul says, pointing to the circular discolorations on his newly separated shoulder. “I tore this and this, so they put these suction cups on me. And then they stabbed me, to pull out all the bad blood.” “Blood?! That’s crazy,” Lamar says, grimacing as if some of it had been squirted directly into his eyes. “That’s another reason I couldn’t do what you do.” Lamar does what he does just fne. In 2012 the 26-year-old released his major-label debut, Good Kid, M.A.A.D City, a platinum album that cemented his status as one of rap’s most compelling storytellers. Leading the applause for Lamar is his new pal Paul, who, in his third season in LA, has led the once-moribund Clippers to title

contention and his locker room to harmony. In CP3’s bag of tricks: making Lamar’s smooth sound a permanent fxture in the team’s iRotation. A week into the new year—and less than a week removed from a shoulder-frst tumble to the hardwood that should sideline the Clippers captain into February—the two gathered for a sit-down to discuss the busy, and lucrative, nexus of sports and music.

C H R I S P A U L

is a six-time All-Star in his third season as Clippers point guard.

K E N D R I C K L A M A R

has been nominated for seven Grammy Awards this year.

1 Lamar’s second album, which has sold 148,000 copies. 2 “I’m usually homeboys with the same n—s I’m rhymin’ with / But this is hip-hop and them n—s should know what time it is / And that goes for Jermaine Cole, Big K.R.I.T., Wale / Pusha T, Meek Millz, ASAP Rocky, Drake / Big Sean, Jay Electron’, Tyler, Mac Miller / I got love for you all, but I’m tryna murder you n—s / Tryna

make sure your core fans never heard of you n—s / They don’t wanna hear not one more noun or verb from you n—s. 3 “O.G.” Juan Perez, former president of the now-defunct Roc-La-Familia label. 4 Braun, 32, who owns School Boy Records and Raymond-Braun Media Group, has a reported net worth of $40 million. His client list includes Justin Bieber, Asher Roth and Carly Rae Jepsen.




ESPN.COM/ACTIVATE





68

LAMAR: Hip-hop and being a pro athlete go hand

in hand. When they come together, it’s a win,

not just for your business brand but also for

culture. I always use the word “culture,” because

that’s frst—everything else falls behind it. When

they see that this guy loves rap the way he does,

and this guy loves basketball like he does, the

business is gonna fow behind it.

PAUL: That word “culture” is everything. For

example, earlier today, you mentioned Beats by

Dre—do you remember when they frst started

being worn?

The 2008 Dream Team, right?

PAUL: That’s right—our 2008 Olympic team.

Everybody saw us walking around with those

headphones on, and now everybody’s got one.

LAMAR: Uh-huh, that’s the culture right there.

PAUL: And it was brilliant. It shows you the

cultural infuence of basketball. But I don’t care

what anybody says, there’s nothing like the

cultural infuence of hip-hop. For me, hip-hop

culture is involved in everything—it’s in me, in

who I am, in how I dress, how I talk. It’s in my

son and my wife.

It can reach an audience that basketball can’t

reach on its own?

LAMAR: Yeah, it’s a force.

PAUL: That’s exactly right—and something me

and Kendrick talk about. I play basketball and

I love what I do, but when I went to Kendrick’s

show and saw him on that stage, I was envious.

I’m envious of the audience he’s able to touch.

LAMAR: These kids out here, yo, they’re hanging

on every word you say—everything. That’s why

you have to be cautious about what you say. We

could be playin’ around, and I’ll say, “Slap your

mama,” and a kid goes home and slaps his

mama. It makes you realize hip-hop’s power.

You both wield that power in a positive way. CP,

you’re a husband, father, union president.

Kendrick, you’ve spoken out against everything

from Molly to weed. How have you sidestepped

the land mines in your felds?

LAMAR: The negative infuences, the drinking

and smoking, you’re around it every day. But

that doesn’t entice me. You do it, and you think

it’s cool because your boys are doing it, so you’re

a follower. I reached a point in my life where

I wanted to be a leader. If this stuf don’t entice

me, why am I following you? Once I looked in

the mirror and decided this is who I am, and I’m

not scared of who I am, and I’m not scared that

I can’t be like you, and I’m good with just doing

me, that’s when I found myself, as a man.

PAUL: Family was real important in putting me

on my path. I’m so blessed to come from a home

with a mother and a father. What I do for

a living, a lot of people didn’t have that. And like

Kendrick’s saying, I learned not to give in to

peer pressure. You think those people are your

friends, but I think they see it as a weakness.

If you don’t give in that frst time, that second

time, not only will they leave you alone, but

they’ll realize how strong you are. You know, I’m

a little brother. I’ve always been small.5 People

have said I have a Napoleon complex. But I’ve

always had to fght for everything that I have.

LAMAR: That’s what makes the relationship

between sports and music so cool. At the end of

the day, what’s most important is that these two

kids who kept on grinding super hard are

coming together. And that shows the next little

kid in the neighborhood, if Chris and Kendrick

can do it, I can do it.

PAUL: That’s the other side of the business

relationship: Genuine friendship has to be there

too. I mean, my brother is my ace, my wife is my

wife, but some of the things I go through, they

can’t understand. That’s where this relationship

with Kendrick initially comes from—you see

somebody just like you who overcame hard

times and strives to be the greatest in their feld.

Back in the day, the relationship between music

and sports was one-sided: Musicians mostly

stayed in their lane, while athletes got into the

music biz, as MCs or heads of labels. You know

the names: Shaq, Deion—and suddenly dozens

of ballers were recording music.

LAMAR: And I’m still waiting for that Allen

Iverson album.6

L E T ’ S F A L L I N L O V E

( P A R T S 1 & 2 )The Isley Brothers

1979

A G A I N S T

A L L O D D S2Pac1996 W I N D O W S E AT

Erykah Badu 2010

R O A D S Portishead

1994

S L I P P I N ’DMX1998 A R E B E L L I O N

Ab-Soul featuring Alori Joh

2012

KENDRICK LAMAR

T H E P L A Y L I S T

To fnd his fow, CP3 punches up KL. So what’s emanating from Kendrick’s

Beats? A surprisingly timeless mix.

HIP-HOP IS IN WHO I AM,

IN HOW I DRESS, IN HOW I TALK.

IT’S IN MY SON AND MY WIFE.

FOR AUDIO OF SAM ALIPOUR’S INTERVIEW WITH CHRIS PAUL AND KENDRICK LAMAR, GO TO ESPN.COM AND SEARCH: MUSIC ISSUE PODCAST

C H R I S P A U L

5 Listed height: six feet. Actual height: 5'11√". 6 In early 2001, Iverson, under his hip-hop name, Jewelz, planned to release his debut album, Non Fiction, which reportedly contained ofensive lyrics. Prior to the release, after meeting with NBA commissioner David Stern, Iverson agreed to alter some lyrics and changed the title to Misunderstood. By October 2001, the release was canceled.

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70

N-WORD CONFIDENTIAL

We asked 100 black athletes from across sports and eras how much the N-word still divides locker rooms.

The answers from active and retired athletes (over age 60) showed a change in times, but one response stayed true: 90% of both groups say hip-hop music

has had a large impact on encouraging use of the N-word in sports. “Right or wrong, athletes and

musicians are role models,” says an NFL Hall of Famer. “When kids see athletes singing songs that

celebrate the N-word, it becomes okay.” BY MORTY AIN, AIMEE BERG, ANNA KATHERINE CLEMMONS,

DAN FRIEDELL, THERESA MANAHAN, MATTHEW MUENCH,

STACEY PRESSMAN AND MICHAEL WOODS

DO YOU BELIEVE THERE IS A DIFFERENCE BETWEEN SAYING N—A AND N—R?

IS IT EVER ACCEPTABLE FOR A WHITE TEAMMATE TO USE THE N-WORD?

IN YOUR EXPERIENCE, IS THE USE OF THE N-WORD GOING UP, GOING DOWN

OR STAYING THE SAME?

Percent of retired athletes who

say it is …

Percent of active athletes who say it is …

Percent of active athletes who say yes

Percent of retired athletes who say yes

36% of active athletes say yes20% of retired athletes say yes

GOING UP

GOING DOWN

STAYING THE SAME

Rumor is, Commissioner Stern wasn’t having it.

LAMAR: No, he defnitely wasn’t.

Anyway, today you still get the occasional athlete-

rapper hyphenate: Iman Shumpert, Stephen

Jackson—word is Durant is an aspiring MC. But

the numbers appear to be dwindling. Why?

PAUL: I don’t know, but I’ll give you my opinion

on this: If Kendrick really felt like he could play

my position, point guard for the Los Angeles

Clippers, I ain’t gonna lie—I’d have a problem

with it. This is what I do for a living, and I put

a lot of time and passion into it. I’m not gonna

say I can do what Kendrick does and sell out

Staples. You gotta stay in your lane.

Kendrick, when you hear that somebody like

Stephen Jackson or Iman Shumpert is putting out

a mixtape, what goes through your mind?

LAMAR: I don’t take it too serious if he don’t take

it too serious. [Laughs] No disrespect, but if he

feels he’s having fun rapping, I’m cool with it. But

the minute he says, “N—, I’m a rapper”—excuse

my language—now you’re competing, and you

better be ready, because I breathe this s—.

Kendrick, if you could take any job in sports, what

would you do?

LAMAR: I want to get into refereeing.

PAUL: [Laughs] Oh, no you don’t. I’m tellin’ you,

you do not want that job.

LAMAR: Nah, man, ’cause the referees get to be

on the court with those players for every game.

I wanna be on the court too. I can’t play ball, so

I’ll be a referee.

Well, the trend today is music titans taking roles

in sports—not as referees but guiding franchises

and careers. Drake is a brand ambassador for the

Raptors, Justin Timberlake is a minority owner of

the Grizzlies. Then you have the management

types: Master P led the way,7 Fitty has his boxing

promotion,8 Jay Z jumped from owner to agent.9

Why do music industry power brokers feel they’re

well positioned to succeed in sports?

LAMAR: First of all, with the cast you named,

this is the urban community. We’ve always been

fascinated by and knowledgeable about sports.

Now that you have people from this community

in positions of power, like Jay Z and Drake, it’s

only right that they spread their knowledge and

love of the game. It’s passion, not just business.

I mean, I’ve been to their houses—they’re

watching each and every game!

PAUL: And why is that any diferent than any

wealthy person who always wanted to buy a

team, so they go out and buy a team?

And some of these cats are succeeding. At frst,

we saw Jay Z as a novelty. Then he scores

Robinson Cano a $200 million deal.10

PAUL: Well, I have a real relationship with Jay.

I know him very well; we talk all the time.

I know how smart and how knowledgeable he

is. He educates me on various things. This is

bigger than him just being Jay Z, the music

artist. His mind is brilliant.

LAMAR: Yeah, man, it’s crazy—going back to

branding, Jay Z has that down. In 2004, when

we formed this label called TDE, we molded it

after him. Look how he branded himself and

Roc-A-Fella.11 Look at Master P and No Limit.

Look at Beats by Dre and how they use athletes.

When you see them, you see the brand. But

here’s the thing some brands forget—it all goes

back to whether people like what you do frst.

A lot of people forget about that part.

PAUL: What you’re saying, that’s huge. Like for

me, with the building of my brand, this is my

ninth year in the league and still, at the end of

the day, what I do is I play basketball. And I play

basketball to win a championship. That champi-

onship is everything to me. And that’s what gets

people to buy in to your brand—being a winner.

LAMAR: Look at Michael Jordan. Prime example.

He wouldn’t be Jordan without all those

championships.

PAUL: That’s right. Whether you’re an artist or an

athlete, you have to be a winner frst. That’s the

brand you want.

Five years ago, in this mixtape track, Lamar game-planned his future:

“… never listen to what the industry say / Don’t be a typical artist, be more like Jay /

Russell, Berry Gordy, Quincy Jones, Bob Johnson, Sean Combs, L.A. Reid /

Young black entrepreneurs did what it took to succeed, yeah / So I gotta see success, I gotta make it off them Rosecrans steps /

Rising to the top like a soda shook up / Bout to pop, and I’ll pop on

whoever’s in my way.”

LYRICS FROM

D E T E R M I N E DKendrick Lamar

2009

7 Percy Miller (aka Master P), who launched No Limit Records at age 20 and later No Limit Sports Management, is reportedly worth $350 million. 8 Curtis Jackson (aka 50 Cent) initially sought to become a promoter with Floyd Mayweather’s Money Team in 2012 before founding SMS Promotions. His reported net worth is $260 million. 9 In 2013 Shawn Carter (aka Jay Z)

launched Roc Nation Sports, whose clients are Robinson Cano, Victor Cruz, Skylar Diggins, Geno Smith and Kevin Durant. His net worth is a reported $500 million. 10 Cano signed a 10-year, $240 million deal in December. 11 Founded in 1996 by Jay Z, Damon Dash and Kareem Burke, Roc-A-Fella’s roster has included Kanye West, Jadakiss and Jay Z.


FANTASYACTSBACKSTAGE AT THE GREATEST

SUPER BOWL HALFTIME

SHOW THAT NEVER WAS ...

BECAUSE EVERY ATHLETE

DREAMS OF A BIGGER STAGE.

NICKI MINAJ, FEAT. KOBE BRYANT

PHOTOGRAPHS BY

MATTHIAS CLAMER

The Black Mamba’s choice for fantasy halftime-

show partner? A lady some call the Mamba of

Hip-Hop. “Nicki Minaj is the entire package,”

Bryant says. “I don’t care what profession you’re

in, it’s hard to have success year after year.

And that’s a testament to her work ethic.” Later

this year, his dream will come true: The two

will collaborate on The Muse, Bryant’s music

and sports integration project.

PRODUCED BY

STACEY PRESSMAN

TROMBONE SHORTY, FEAT. KENNY STILLS AND CAM JORDANWhen the Saints go marching in—

if wide receiver Stills (white shirt)

and defensive end Jordan (blue

shirt) have anything to say about

it—New Orleans jazz favorite

Trombone Shorty (sunglasses) and

the Grambling State marching band

will be leading the way.

ESPN The Magazine 75

YANDEL, FEAT. YONDER ALONSO AND MANNY MACHADO

Feeling the Caribbean connection:

Puerto Rican reggaeton star

Yandel (sunglasses) isn’t sweating

backstage warmups with Cuban-

born Padres frst baseman

Alonso (behind him, left) and

his soon-to-be brother-in-law,

Dominican-American Orioles

third baseman Machado (right).

76 ESPN The Magazine


EMINEM, FEAT. CALVIN JOHNSON

Marshall Mathers’ Detroit connections run deep—and so do Calvin Johnson’s since the wideout was drafted by the Lions

in 2007. Who better than Johnson to stand in as Slim Shady’s backup? Provided Megatron’s rhyming game is as swift as

his receiving game, it could be a match made in Motor City heaven.

JEEP.COM/CHEROKEE

R I G H T H E R E , T H E N E W S T A N D A R D O F B E S T - I N - C L A S S 4 X 4 C A P A B I L I T Y E M E R G E S . W I T H S E L E C - T E R R A I N ® A N D J E E P A C T I V E

D R I V E L O C K D E L I V E R I N G T H E R E N O W N E D T R A C T I O N A N D T O R Q U E M A N A G E M E N T W O R T H Y O F T H E T R A I L R A T E D ® B A D G E ,

A C L A S S - E X C L U S I V E N I N E - S P E E D T R A N S M I S S I O N A N D A N I N T E R I O R F E A T U R I N G A V A I L A B L E L E A T H E R - T R I M M E D S E A T I N G A N D

8 . 4 " T O U C H S C R E E N C O M M A N D C E N T E R , T H E 2 0 1 4 J E E P C H E R O K E E T R A I L H A W K I S R E A D Y F O R A D V E N T U R E O N A N Y T E R R A I N .

E V E RYT HIN GY O U N E E D T O D O E V E R Y T H I N G Y O U WA N T

INTRODUC ING THE ALL-NE W 2014 C HEROKEE

J e e p “ M i d - S i z e S U V ” s u b - s e g m e n t a t i o n b a s e d o n 13 M Y c r o s s - s h o p a c t i v i t y. E x c l u d e s v e h i c l e s w i t h t h i r d - r o w s e a t i n g . J e e p i s a r e g i s t e r e d t r a d e m a r k o f C h r y s l e r G r o u p L L C .


Two-time Olympian Hope Solo

riding the bench? Only when

it means sitting alongside

singer-songwriter Skylar

Grey and swapping stories.

“Music is all subjective,”

Grey told Solo about what

she envies about athletes,

“but in sports it’s all about

the points—you’re either

killing it or you’re not.”

SKYLAR GREY, FEAT. HOPE SOLO


CAPITAL CITIES, FEAT. DUSTIN PENNERAnaheim Ducks left winger

Penner (top center) skates by

with his dance moves during

rehearsals for “Safe and Sound,”

the hit single from indie band

Capital Cities (clockwise from

top left: Ryan Merchant,

Sebu Simonian, Channing

Holmes, Manny Quintero and

Spencer Ludwig).

v i k i n g s




KENDRICK LAMAR, FEAT. CHRIS PAUL

NICKI MINAJ & KOBE BRYANT

SET DESIGN Sean Duggan

WARDROBE STYLING (Minaj)

McClairn + McKenzie/Opus

Beauty WARDROBE STYLING (Bryant) Derek Roche/The

Vanity Group/Cloak + Swagger

HAIR Oscar James/Ken

Barboza Associates Inc.

MAKEUP Joyce Bonelli

GROOMING Nicole Bushnell

PRODUCTION Brooke Ludi

Production

------

NICKI MINAJ, COVER

Milly body suit; John Galliano

skirt and shoes; Versace

belt; Chanel jewelry

PAGE 72 Balmain dress;

Versace boots; Chanel

accessories

KOBE BRYANT, COVER Paul

Smith jacket; BuddhistPunk

tee; Robin’s Jean denim;

Nike Masterpiece Kobe 9 Elite

sneakers; Dior sunglasses;

Lorraine Schwartz lapel pin;

Bryant’s own jewelry

PAGE 72 Versace jacket; Velvet

by Graham & Spencer T-shirt;

Robin’s Jean denim; Nike

Masterpiece Kobe 9 Elite

sneakers; Bryant’s own jewelry

TROMBONE SHORTY & CAM

JORDAN AND KENNY STILLS

WARDROBE STYLING Kano

Branon GROOMING Marcos

Gonzales PROP STYLING

Kami Laprade

------

TROMBONE SHORTY H&M tank;

Lip Service pants; Ray-Ban

sunglasses; Kano Branon scarf

and gloves; J. Lindeberg belt;

Wicked Clothes leather wallet

with chain; Via Spiga shoes;

stylist’s own necklace

CAM JORDAN UAL shirt; True

Religion denim; Kano Branon

gloves and suspenders; Gucci

belt; Balenciaga shoes; stylist’s

own necklace

KENNY STILLS Kano Branon

shirt; Diesel denim; vintage

Halston shoes; Kano Branon

cufs; J. Lindeberg belt; Wicked

Clothes ear cuf

YANDEL & MANNY MACHADO

AND YONDER ALONSO


WARDROBE STYLING (Machado, Alonso and

dancers) Courtney Dion Mays

WARDROBE STYLING (Yandel)

Ed Coriano HAIR AND MAKEUP

Teresa Morgan and Obi Reyes

GROOMING Marcos Gonzales

PRODUCTION Kendra Silvera/

FatCat305

------

YANDEL Emporio Armani jacket;

Versace T-shirt; Hudson Jeans

denim; Giuseppe Zanotti belt

and sneakers; Dsquared2

beanie hat; Yandel’s own

sunglasses and jewelry

MANNY MACHADO J Brand

jacket; Valentino sweatshirt;

J Brand cargo pants; Givenchy

sneakers; Hublot 45mm

Limited Edition Ferrari Carbon

Fiber watch; Haimov Jewelers

Inc. jewelry

YONDER ALONSO 3x1 jacket;

Lanvin T-shirt and pants;

Bottega Veneta sneakers;

Hublot 48mm King Power Unico

Gold Carbon watch; Haimov

Jewelers Inc. necklace

EMINEM & CALVIN JOHNSON

SET DESIGN Jonathan Krueger

WARDROBE STYLING Dawn

Boonyachlito GROOMING

Michelle Willis McAuley

------

EMINEM James Perse T-shirt;

Detroit Deadstock & Vintage

Sportswear jacket; Levi’s pants;

Nike sneakers; Casio G-Shock

watch; Eminem’s own jewelry

CALVIN JOHNSON John Varvatos

T-shirt; Raleigh Workshop

denim; Wolverine boots; Rolex

watch; New Era hat

SKYLAR GREY & HOPE SOLO


WARDROBE STYLING Britten

Park HAIR Bobby Eliot/

Tomlinson Management Group

MAKEUP Kathy Jeung/The

Magnet Agency PRODUCTION

Brooke Ludi Production

------

SKYLAR GREY Joyrich hat;

Hollywood Made sweater;

Skingraft pants; MIA shoes;

Chic Little Devil jewelry

HOPE SOLO Skingraft pants;

Steve Madden shoes; Skingraft

tank top; Bebe jacket; Chic

Little Devil jewelry

CAPITAL CITIES

& DUSTIN PENNER


WARDROBE STYLING Courtney

Dion Mays GROOMING Hee Soo

Kwon/The Rex Agency and

Sienree/Celestine Agency

PRODUCTION Brooke Ludi

Production

------

DUSTIN PENNER Prada jacket;

Rag & Bone shirt; stylist’s own

tie; Five Four jeans; Ferragamo

shoes; Happy Socks socks

RYAN MERCHANT Topman

jacket and jeans; Dope T-shirt;

Ferragamo shoes; J. Crew pocket

square; Happy Socks socks

SEBU SIMONIAN Dope jacket;

Topman fannel shirt;

Simonian’s own T-shirt; Neil

Barrett denim; Bloomingdale’s

Men’s Store private label shoes

SPENCER LUDWIG Topman

jacket; BLK DNM shirt; Ludwig’s

own pants; Ralph Lauren

shoes; Happy Socks socks;

Miansai bracelets and necklace

MANNY QUINTERO Raf Simons

x Fred Perry jacket; Topman

T-shirt; Quintero’s own jeans;

Underground shoes

CHANNING HOLMES Bar III

jacket and shirt; Holmes’ own

denim; Hugo Boss shoes;

stylist’s own sunglasses

KENDRICK LAMAR

& CHRIS PAUL


WARDROBE STYLING (Lamar)

Dianne Garcia WARDROBE

STYLING (Paul) Courtney Dion

Mays GROOMING William Long

Jr. and Christina Guerra/

Celestine Agency PRODUCTION

Brooke Ludi Production

------

CHRIS PAUL Burberry Brit

jacket; TACKMA T-shirt; Gant

by Michael Bastian cargo

pants; Paul Smith socks;

Jordan Brand sneakers; Paul’s

own necklaces; Rolex watch

KENDRICK LAMAR T by

Alexander Wang T-shirt; That’s

It! Folks jacket; Denim & Supply

by Ralph Lauren denim;

Timberland boots

FOR MORE,

GO TO ES.PN/

FANTASYACTS

LA native Kendrick Lamar is a big

fan of Clippers star Chris Paul,

but with one pesky caveat: He’s

a lifelong Lakers fan. “I respect

that,” Paul says. “He still comes

to our games, so I know he

supports me.” Says Lamar, “I love

Chris’ skill to look over the entire

court. It’s the same in rap—you

have to see everything.”

v i k i n g s






ESPN.COM/ACTIVATE





JESS BAUMUNG 02/03/2014 ESPN The Magazine 87

HIP-HOP’S NEW GENERATION, LED BY DRAKE, REVEALS HOW ATHLETES AND ARTISTS PUSH

EACH OTHER TO COMMAND THEIR TRUE VALUE.

BY DANYEL SMITH

THE SOUL OF New Games has

emerged. Sports and music—

specifcally hip-hop—are as one.

This coalition is known already in

our bones, like a new song to which

everyone already knows the words.

This is true particularly in basketball

and football, and to a lesser degree in

soccer, baseball and hockey. Hip-hop

has given athletes a series of chal-

lenges—be real, do you, demand your

worth. Professional athletes have seen

the challenge—and, frankly, raised it.

Harbinger: Madcap Heisman

winner and potential No. 1 pick Johnny

“Football” Manziel is going pro—with

a record 80-plus other underclassmen.

Foreshadowing: It’s the business

partner/manager of LeBron James

(King James might as well have rapped

TAKE IT FROM

THE TOP

FRANK GUNN/THE CANADIAN PRESS/AP IMAGES88 ESPN The Magazine 02/03/2014

a beat over “taking my talents to South Beach”),

Maverick Carter, who will lead the Manziel

charge in “of-the-feld projects.” Wink: Manziel

counts Toronto rapper/superstar/ofcial

Maple Leaf Sports & Entertainment global

ambassador Drake as adviser and friend.

And while heirloom columnists suck

Lemonheads over Manziel’s attitudinal “antics”

(as they are always called), let’s also note the

state of O’Bannon v. National Collegiate Athletic

Association, a case that survived a motion to

be dismissed in federal district court, and as

Inside Higher Ed observes, places “athletes …

on a path to claim a share of television and

other revenue that now fows almost entirely

to colleges, coaches and the NCAA.” Perhaps.

Perhaps not. But folks are valuing their value.

“Your old road is rapidly agin’.” —Bob Dylan,

1964’s “The Times They Are A-Changin’ ”

“I just think it’s funny how it goes.” —Drake,

2013’s “Started From the Bottom”

NINETEEN EIGHTY-SIX. The future Champagne-

papi was born into a world where the wild-ass

Mets actually won it all. The Toronto Raptors

were nine years away from existence—Vince

Carter was 9 years old. Everything in ’86 was

Run-DMC and Eric B. and Rakim. “The Bridge,”

the Beasties, Ice T’s “6’n the Mornin’ ” and

Salt-N-Pepa’s Hot, Cool & Vicious. The Cosby

Show was on Season 3. In the way that those

born into the Obama era will take for granted

the reality of a black president of the United

States, Drake is of a generation that has

no consciousness of hip-hop not existing.

For his cohorts, rap is like water—everywhere,

and likely free.

Eighteen years later, in an award-winning

2004 episode of Canada’s wild, popular

Degrassi: The Next Generation, Aubrey Drake

Graham portrays rich high school basketball

player Jimmy, and Jimmy is shot. This is a

thing that happens to black actors on television

and in the movies. A standout version of the

device is future Hall of Famer Jamaal Wilkes

as Nathaniel “Cornbread” Hamilton (shot and

killed) in Cornbread, Earl and Me. Lawrence

Hilton Jacobs as casual basketball player

Cochise (beaten to death) in Cooley High. Those

were 1975 releases. Morris Chestnut was the

USC football-bound Ricky Baker (shot and

killed) in 1991’s Boyz n the Hood. But Drake’s

Jimmy lives. He becomes “Wheelchair Jimmy.”

For Drake, Degrassi was means, not end.

Drake would not be weirded out by his roots —

teen dramatic, Jewish, Canadian—or by his

focus on singing as much as rapping. He knew

that potential was not protected; his own Jimmy

was a cautionary tale. And by 2008, Drake was

on the road with Lil Wayne, prepping So Far

Gone. The February 2009 free mixtape and the

September 2009 retail EP weren’t his frst

attempts at being what heirlooms sometimes

still call an MC, but they were his best yet. The

lucent, generation-defning “Successful”

(featuring Lil Wayne and Trey Songz) and the

indelible “Best I Ever Had” were a sign to the

cool kids to desert him for newer rappers more

thrillingly underground. These are the kind of

nerdy, infuential kids who pride themselves on

having seen Carmelo or LeBron as McDonald’s

All-Americans and are then bored with them as

their jerseys go to No. 1. They knew Drake was

well on the road to being Jay Z to Kendrick

Lamar’s Nas. As Drake supposed on

“Successful”—he wanted the money, the cars

and the clothes. Not to mention the acclaim,

the accolades and his own piece of the future.

By 2011, Drake received the Songwriters Hall

of Fame Hal David Starlight Award. In 2012 he

broke Sean “Diddy” Combs’ and Jay Z’s hip-hop

As Toronto’s resident

cool kid, Drake was crucial

to the Raptors’ eforts to

host the NBA All-Star Game.

singles sales records. Last year he sold almost

700,000 (in the frst week) of his Nothing Was

the Same, while his single “Hold On, We’re

Going Home” with Majid Jordan became his

33rd top-10 single and broke a radio airplay

record. Drake has 18 Grammy noms and one

win. All this while introducing the starting

Raptors as part of Drake Night at the Air

Canada Centre. All this while helping recruit

British striker Jermain Defoe to Toronto FC.

All this while having voice and text chats with

Manziel about “sacrifce” and hosting Johnny

Football in Toronto. Manziel, after all, has had

an OVO tat, the emblem that stands for Drake’s

label, October’s Very Own, on his right wrist

since before he even met Drake. “He was that

much of a supporter,” Drake has said, “and a fan.”

THE NEW GAMES do come complete with

naysayers. The heirlooms, after all, frst said

that Jay Z, working via his recently launched

(with Creative Artists Agency) Roc Nation

Sports, was not truly involved in the massive

Robinson Cano deal. Still pumped on alarm,

they then said that Jay Z was too involved.

Brodie Van Wagenen, CAA’s co-head of

the baseball division, doled brass tacks when

he responded: “[Jay] helped Robinson

understand what it means to be a free agent.”

When everyone in the offce started asking for tablets, no way did I think they were going to be a good deal. Turns out this Windows tablet runs Offce, has a USB port and a real keyboard. So it’s a tablet that actually works for work.

ASUS Transformer Book T100 $349

Windows.com

Estimated retail price shown. Retail prices may vary. Apps from Windows Store.

Honestly

I couldn’t fnd a reason not to buy it.


This as he reconfrmed Jay Z’s participation in

the prep, the approach, as well as ofers made

and countered. This as the fve-time All-Star

Cano—who also has a championship ring,

two Gold Gloves and a World Baseball Classic

MVP award—signed a deal with the Mariners

worth $240 million over 10 years. It is the

third-largest contract in baseball history. All

respect to Percy “Master P” Miller, whose

vision of No Limit Sports Management was

ahead of its time, but this was not the 1999

Saints/Ricky Williams saga.

Van Wagenen mentioned “free agent.” Even

if not compared with the terms “owner” or

“trade,” which of course remain thick with

history as they relate to colored men and labor,

“free agent” is a dangling totem fnally

snatched, a self-given name wrought in fat

platinum cursive and draped nonchalantly

around a neck of one’s own. As Drake raps:

“Just as a reminder to myself, I wear every

single chain, even when I’m in the house.”

Free. Agency. One who doesn’t have any

commitments to restrict his or her actions.

The capacity of a person to act in the world as

one wishes. Who better than the shark poet

born Shawn Carter to decode jargon taken for

granted? Who better than a reformed dope

dealer to demand value? It seems Jay Z sees in

“free agent” a tiny verse as glorious as Baldwin:

“Freedom is not something that anybody can be

given. Freedom is something people take, and

people are as free as they want to be.”

Drake’s precision selfness—his absolute

comfort with being both “biracial” and “black,”

pop and hip-hop, corny and cool—is made

possible by the hip-hop rights era, including the

shooting deaths of Tupac Shakur and the

Notorious B.I.G., of the 1980s and 1990s.

Spoonie Gee and Eazy-E and Chuck D and

Jay Z didn’t pave the way as much as create a

world for Drake and J. Cole and Nicki Minaj

and Wale. Allen Iverson came up through the

earthquakes of Tupac and Wu-Tang, Timbaland

and Clipse and in turn laid out for the likes of

Russell Westbrook and Blake Grifn and Dame

Lillard a freedom to not be him. Rap allows

Grifn his dryly sincere irony, Westbrook his

avant-garde game-day looks. James Harden’s

beard should send a quarterly thank-you note.

Combine all this with how endorsement

deals are now more of the matrix than they

used to be. People like Drake and Blake and

LeBron and Jay Z aren’t endorsing brands;

they’re helping brands exist via the stars’ stated

or assumed core beliefs and surrounding aura.

This is possible now because hip-hop’s infu-

ence is at last a true and not merely an ancillary

currency. It’s not just the Grammys, and it’s not

just the games—life itself is to be touchdowned

and home-runned, slam-dunked and Spotifed.

The game is always on. And it’s to be won.

“WE’RE INFLUENTIAL TO athletes,” USC Trojans

fan Snoop Dogg said last spring about himself

and his musical colleagues. “And we’re very

business-minded and savvy. So what better

way to do, than our way?”

His way is fst-bumping with Secretary of

State John Kerry at the Kennedy Center Honors.

It’s training his son, Cordell Broadus, a wide

receiver deciding among scholarship ofers

from Notre Dame, UCLA, USC, Washington

and more. Cordell himself dubs his highlight

recruiting video with self-spouted, original

lyrics. Snoop’s Youth Football League

(established 2005) counts the Denver Broncos’

Ronnie Hillman as an alum. “There’s a lot of

kids who come out of my league who are

venturing of into the NFL … ” Snoop said to

AOL’s Paul Cantor in April of last year. “They’re

going to need direction … so that may be a

feld that I want to venture in.”

UCLA carries a 5'7", 170-pound cornerback

named Justin Combs, son of Sean/Diddy.

Recently, Combs the elder said, “I will become

the frst African-American majority owner …

Not having a small stake but actually owning

an NFL team … it’s time for that. A majority

of players who are in the NFL are African-

American, but there are no African-American

owners.” Combs is of course the founder of

Bad Boy Worldwide and Sean John apparel,

co-owns cable channel Revolt TV and partners

with Diageo (Ciroc vodka) in a deal likely,

according to Forbes, to end up making the

Harlem native “hip-hop’s frst billionaire.”

There are, as Philadelphia rapper Meek Mill

spits: “levels to this s—.”

No matter how much some might act like

the music has changed for the worse or hasn’t

done enough (most everything falls short

when what is desired is fairness and equality),

hip-hop with all its faws has given Generation X

and Generation Y—black and white and

Asian and Latin and otherwise—a common

(if male-centered) language. It has given

them, in many ways—some superfcial, many

real—a comfort level around each other. And,

not least, it has given black athletes a

confdence in managing the value of their

bodies and intellects in a country that bought

and sold both as a matter of course.

“We just want the credit,” rhymes Drake in

his “Started From the Bottom,” a song that

might one day be understood for being the

monument to unheralded creative genius that

it is. “We just want the credit where it’s due.”

Danyel Smith, a John S. Knight Journalism

Fellow at Stanford, was the editor of Vibe and

Billboard. Her top-secret project is HRDCVR.

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HERE AT THE INTERSECTION

OF SPORTS AND MUSIC, WE’VE

GOT THE MOST RIDICULOUSLY

INSPIRED HOOKUPS OF 2014

ON SHUFFLE.

photograph by NANCY NEWBERRY

WHETHER HE’S SPLITTING

the uprights or singing arias,

Justin Tucker can go deep.

The Ravens placekicker and

bass-baritone was a standout

athlete growing up in Texas.

He also loved to sing and

perform. But during his

freshman year at Westlake

High, Tucker was told he’d

have to choose between

sports and music. It wasn’t

a hypercompetitive coach,

however, who pressured him

to fully commit to the

gridiron. It was the music

director. “We had a pretty

A KICKER WHO KNOWS THE SCORE

FIELD GOALS & CURTAIN CALLS

STEVE MARCUS/REUTERS/LANDOV94 ESPN The Magazine 02/03/2014

competitive band,” he says.

Football has worked out

just fne. In two seasons

with the Ravens, Tucker,

24, has connected on

91.9% of his feld goal

attempts. But he didn’t

completely abandon

his inner band geek.

Tucker majored in

recording technology at

Texas and studied under

professor Nikita Storojev,

a renowned opera singer.

“He’s a former pro hockey

player, so it was more

like a player-coach

relationship,” Tucker says.

“He pushed me beyond

my comfort zone.”

Tucker learned to sing in

seven diferent languages,

which came in handy when,

as an NFL rookie, he sang

for Ravens veterans in

camp. Jaws dropped when

he responded with a

booming aria.

“It takes a level of

technicality to kick a

football, and the same

is true of music,” says

Tucker, who has been

invited to perform with

the Baltimore Symphony.

“There is a composure

that’s required and a

confdence that comes

with preparation.” As

his 61-yard game winner

to beat the Lions in

December showed, he can

nail an operatic ending.

—KEVIN VAN VALKENBURG

FROM PREVIOUS PAGE

Why Bieber? It’s the question everyone asks every time Justin Bieber flanks Floyd Mayweather on

the boxer’s ring walk. A brief exchange between the two before Mayweather’s Sept. 14 bout against

Canelo Alvarez provides a clue. About 90 minutes prior to the fght, Bieber made a clumsy entrance

into Mayweather’s dressing room, barging in with hand-slaps and bro-hugs. Mayweather nodded in

Bieber’s direction but otherwise ignored him. Thirty minutes later, though, came the crystallizing

moment: Mayweather wordlessly called Bieber over, put his arm around him and said, “Take a

photo and send it out to your followers.” For a moment, Bieber looked a part of Money’s posse.

And assuming even an infnitesimal portion of those 48,735,521 Beliebers persuaded their parents

to buy the fght, they juiced the fght’s record payday of nearly $150 million in pay-per-views.

Suddenly, the pairing that makes no sense at all made all the sense in the world. —TIM KEOWN

MONEY & THE BIEBS

AN EXCHANGE OF CRED FOR CASH

L I K E S , I N T H O U S A N D S ,

for Bieber’s prefght Instagram post: “Me and

@floydmayweather before the fght ... Order on

PPW now.”

FROM TOP: TAYLOR HILL/FILMMAGIC; FRANK MICELOTTA/INVISION/AP IMAGES96 ESPN The Magazine 02/03/2014

88 78

VICTORIA &

DAVID BECKHAM

SHAKIRA &

GERARD PIQUE

92

JEWEL &

TY MURRAY

87 53

JESSIE JAMES &

ERIC DECKER

83 83

PINK &

CAREY HART

83

MONICA&

SHANNON BROWN

74 81

CARRIE UNDERWOOD

& MIKE FISHER

90

TWO-PART HARMONIESSinger-jock pairings strike a chord. But based on Klout scores, which measure influence over

social media, the headliner of each act isn’t always as clear-cut as you’d expect.

SINGER’S KLOUT JOCK’S KLOUT

For once, Shaun White is not the

star. The two-time defending

Olympic gold medalist is also

juggling a job as guitarist for

synth-rock band Bad Things.

“When people knew it was my

group, I think they expected me to be front and center,

but hopefully they were pleasantly surprised,” says White.

“I play guitar and sing some backup. That’s my role.” Many

action-sports athletes dabble in music, but few approach

it with the single-mindedness that White—who won his

frst guitar in 2004—has. In addition to trying to master

a triple cork 1440 in slopestyle, he’s learning to play

keyboard. “That’s what they need,” he says. “It’s making me

a better musician.” White has lugged his guitar and amp

to snowboarding events this winter and spent evenings

rehearsing for the band’s upcoming tour. Will it pay of?

Bad Things’ self-titled debut album dropped Jan. 21, and

they’ll play the Firefy Music Festival in June. So if he wins

gold again in Sochi, perhaps White will follow up with

platinum. —ALYSSA ROENIGK

HERO & GUITARBRIDGING THE HALFPIPE AND HALF NOTES

85 82 81

T I M E S F E N W A Y F A N S

sang along to World Series hero Shane Victorino’s walk-up song—Bob Marley’s “Three Little Birds”—after it became his

(and Boston’s) new anthem on July 4.

BRENDAN WALTER 02/03/2014 ESPN The Magazine 99

“LIGHT ’EM UP” & EVERY SPORTS EVENT FROM NOW UNTIL ETERNITY

ALL-STARS & AUTHENTICITYA gig at the NBA’s midseason showcase has become the most coveted means to reach the chart-moving 18-to-49 male demo.

THE POP-EMO BAND will have bookended

its comeback with performances at both

the 2013 NBA All-Star Game and the

halftime show of the 2014 Pro Bowl.

Lyricist and bassist Pete Wentz explains

how integrating its songs into sports—

especially during the Stanley Cup run of

the Blackhawks, the band’s hometown

team—helped transform “My Songs Know

What You Did in the Dark (Light ’Em Up)”

into the year’s biggest arena anthem.

—AS TOLD TO DAVID FLEMING

We had a sense that “Light ’Em Up”

could be a kind of sports song when we

were writing it. We’ve tried to do that

before, but those songs never even make

it on the album. It has to be way more

organic because people can smell a fake.

You’re always trying to write those big

songs regardless, and they just become

sports anthems on their own.

Ten years ago, genre in music was so

built up that people would say, “You can’t

do a remix with 2 Chainz at an NBA event.”

FALL OUT BOY PRODUCES A PRIMAL ANTHEM

FOR MORE ON THESE PAIRINGS OF MUSIC AND SPORTS, INCLUDING PLAYLISTS AND PHOTOS, GO TO ESPN.COM/MUSICISSUE

But sports is now unique in that music

genre matters less. The players and

crowds like rock, hip-hop, pop, a little bit of

everything. We knew we had something with

“Light ’Em Up” because our rock friends

said it sounded like hip-hop and our hip-hop

friends said it sounded real heavy.

Music is more present now than ever in

people’s lives. They associate moments of

their life with specifc songs. So integrating

your music into the texture of a larger

experience, like a sporting event, is

important. “Empire State of Mind” and

Jay Z and the Yankees are a thing. Forever.

The music and the experience become

interwoven. That’s powerful.

So when we reached out to the NBA for

our frst big televised appearance for “Light

’Em Up” and they agreed, it was a big deal.

The song hadn’t yet become something

that high school marching bands would

cover or people sang to me at 3 a.m. at

Walmart. And here I am looking out at the

crowd and seeing Drake and Kobe. I’m not

sure any of them knew who we were, but it

was cool and humbling to be a part of it.

After the All-Star Game, the song started

getting played in Chicago during the

playofs. There’s nothing like hearing your

song in a stadium, especially during a rally

moment. It’s diferent from hearing it on

the radio for the frst time. You get this

whole diferent kind of shiver. People are

singing the whoa-ohh part and it’s so

much more primal, more fanatical, so loud

and so big. You hold your head up high

when they put your song on the Jumbotron

and people in your hometown get behind it.

It all culminated for us at Riot Fest in

September. A hometown show with 40,000

people and the Stanley Cup shows up on

our stage? And we helped a little with this?

Insane. We’re in the middle of a new model

of mixing sports and music, and a lot of it

is still uncharted territory. When it works, it

takes both sides to a whole other plane.

2013 TV RATINGS IN MILLIONS

N B A A L L- S T A R G A M E

V M A S A M A S

THIS PAGE FROM LEFT: DOMINIC L IPINSKI/PA WIRE; TED SPIEGEL/NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC CREATIVE; NEXT PAGE: RANDY JOHNSON100 ESPN The Magazine 02/03/2014

FROM LYRICAL TO LAME, HIP-HOP WAS RIFE WITH

SPORTS SHOUTOUTS IN 2013:

PEYTON MANNING

MICHAEL JORDAN

Hollas to His Airness, including one from Wale’s song “88”:

This is no Space Jam, I’m out the globe stunting I’m a one man band, I prolly Jordan 1 em

And all my singles golden.

Lone mention of the four-time MVP, from Logic’s song “Prime”:

Strategically planned it like Peyton Mannin’ way before s— was even real.

18 KOBE BRYANT

15 LEBRON JAMES

10 SHAQUILLE O’NEAL

8 MANNY PACQUIAO

7 KEVIN DURANT

6 DERRICK ROSE

6 TIGER WOODS

5 USAIN BOLT

4 MICHAEL PHELPS

4 SERENA WILLIAMS

3 ALLEN IVERSON

3 DEREK JETER

2 CARMELO ANTHONY

2 TIM TEBOW

2 TOM BRADY

2 WAYNE GRETZKY

2 VENUS WILLIAMS

1 FLOYD MAYWEATHER

Other notable name-drop totals:

MAKE THAT 3,155. Twenty years after

George Brett retired from baseball with

3,154 career hits, he’s getting credit for

another one—“Royals,” the song by Lorde

that has been near the top of the Billboard

charts for months. In an interview with

VH1, the 17-year-old singer from New

Zealand revealed the inspiration for the

haunting tune about real life in a dream

world: “I had this image from Nat Geo of

this dude signing baseballs, a baseball

player, and his shirt said ‘Royals.’”

That “dude” was the Hall of Fame third

baseman. “It’s cool to think that some

magazine she found in a dentist’s ofce

grew into this enormous song,” says Brett.

“I love the song. My tastes run to Bob Dylan

and Frank Sinatra now, but I was young

LORDE & GEORGE BRETTTHE HITTER INSPIRES ANOTHER HIT

once. I listened to Cyndi Lauper on my

Walkman on the bus to the ballpark.”

The photo was taken by Ted Spiegel

for the July 1976 issue of National

Geographic, which celebrated America’s

bicentennial. At the time, Brett was 23.

“I remember the scene vividly,” he says.

“The Royals had autograph sessions in the

concourse of the stadium. The photo was

totally natural, nothing posed about it.”

When Lorde saw the photo, she

envisioned “Cristal, Maybach, diamonds on

your timepiece.” But Brett was a blue-

collar guy who was hard on himself. Once,

after making an out, he disappeared into

the tunnel and was found in a trash bin.

“I quit,” Brett said. “I can’t hit anymore.”

Luckily, he didn’t quit. He made the

Hall of Fame in 1999 and could also have

inspired Lorde’s next hit, “Team.” As it

happens, she’s playing Kansas City’s Arvest

Bank Theatre on March 21. “I’d love to go,”

says Brett. “But I’ll be in Arizona coaching.”

Turns out the Royals are on the road that

day. US Airways and Southwest have

nonstop fights from Phoenix to KC. Surely

there’s a way for the woman who wrote

“Royals” to meet the man who embodied

them. —STEVE WULF

See subway.com for nutritional information. ©2014 Doctor’s Associates Inc. SUBWAY® is a registered trademark of Doctor’s Associates Inc.

2014 is a big year for athletes everywhere, and world champions

Michael Phelps, Apolo Ohno and Justin Tuck know that greatness

takes hard work and eating right. Like the protein-packed Footlong

Oven Roasted Chicken on freshly baked bread.

THE BIG UNIT & THE BIG PICTURE

During his 22-year

MLB career, 6'10"

lefty Randy Johnson

intimidated both

opposing batters

and the occasional

photographer. Now

the fve-time Cy Young

winner fnds himself on the opposite end

of the camera as a rock photographer.

Johnson majored in photojournalism at

USC and shot concerts for the school

paper during the ofseason. He stayed

interested in the form as a pro. “On

the days I wasn’t pitching, I would be

at the end of the dugout talking to

photographers. I would pick their brains

and try to implement what I learned in

RANDY JOHNSON WINDS UP IN THE MOSH PIT

my own photography,” says Johnson, who

notes that each craft demands precision.

“When I was pitching, I had tunnel

vision, and I was looking at the little

glove that I was throwing my fastball to,”

he says. “When I shoot, I look through a

viewfnder, and it shows me what’s in that

little box.” While honing his digital skills

or adding postproduction to his quiver,

Johnson shoots events as varied as

NASCAR and the X Games. He’s also

joined three USO tours to Afghanistan

and gone on safari to Africa. But rock

stars remain his favorite subjects. During

his playing days in Seattle, the metalhead

forged friendships with baseball-obsessed

bands like Rush and Soundgarden, both

of which have since hired him as a tour

photographer. Check out rj51photos.com;

his portfolio of concert shots is as riveting

as a Gene Simmons lick. “It’s a labor of

love,” says Johnson. “I’m not saying I’m

Ansel Adams. I’m just saying it’s

something I enjoy doing.”

—STEFAN MAROLACHAKIS

THE BEAT & THE “BURN”


British songstress and avid runner Ellie Goulding is Nike’s latest muse. She partnered with the shoe giant to produce

both a half-marathon-friendly album and a tricked-out training shoe. Here are her personal running songs.

PROGENY & PIGSKINHIP-HOP KIDS FLIP THE SCRIPT TO FOOTBALL

TRE MASON IS about to make history. When

he comes of the board in May, the junior

running back from Auburn, a Heisman fnalist

whose father is Vincent “DJ Maseo” Mason of

De La Soul, could become the frst child of a

hip-hop star to make it to the NFL. Looking

ahead a few years, if the prep ranks are any

indication, history will repeat itself.

Cordell Broadus, a 6'2" junior wide receiver

at Diamond Bar (Calif.) High, has already

received ofers from more than a dozen

blue-chip programs. His father, Calvin Broadus,

is more commonly known as Snoop Dogg.

Cornerback and fellow Californian Naijiel Hale

is an Arizona commit with 4.6 speed and the

same DNA as late West Coast rapper Nate

Dogg. Then there’s Jabrill Peppers. Besides

being the No. 2 recruit in the class of ’14, the

future Michigan cornerback is also the son of

Terry Peppers, a break-dancer who was an

unofcial member of the trio Naughty by Nature.

“A lot of us rappers are athletically inclined,”

says Snoop. “Our kids are athletic too, and sports

is a great way for them to get out of their parents’

shadow.” What’s surprising is that their track has

taken them to the turf rather than to the hardwood.

“Football is what the world is about right now,”

Snoop says. Ever since Kurtis Blow released the

1984 hit “Basketball,” hip-hop and hoops have

been joined at the hip. “Back then, basketball was

my favorite sport,” says Blow. “But football has

taken the reins.”

It doesn’t hurt football’s chances that the

FROM LEFT: ROBERT E . KLEIN/AP IMAGES; PARAS GRIFFIN/FILMMAGIC 02/03/2014 ESPN The Magazine 103

CHARTER & VERSEPITBULL SCHOOLS LITTLE HAVANA ON SPORTS

H E A R T B E AT SThe Knife

2003

G I V E I N

( F O R T H E F A M E )Kuhrye-oo

2012

B L U EJoni Mitchell

1971

G E N E S I SGrimes

2012

R U N A W AYKanye West featuring

Pusha T2010

R O L L U PFlosstradamus

2012

S N O W Y AT L A S

M O U N TA I N S Fionn Regan

2006

Armando Perez’s frst love was basketball,

not music. The artist better known as

Pitbull credits hoops with keeping him

in school and of the streets of Miami’s

Little Havana. So when he helped create

a charter school in his hometown earlier

this year, he lobbied to lend the curriculum

a sports bent. The Sports Leadership &

Management (SLAM!) Charter Middle/

High School opened its doors in August

to 800 students; 4,000 more are on the

waiting list. The curriculum’s elective

oferings focus on sports broadcasting,

marketing and sports medicine, and

athletics are infused into courses like

math, where students play fantasy

football to learn statistics and strategic

thinking. “My mom taught me that with

certain subjects, it may not be that you

don’t understand it, you’re just bored,”

Pitbull says. “Tap into what these kids

want to do and they won’t want to leave.”

—ANNA KATHERINE CLEMMONS

average musician, and therefore the average

musician’s child, isn’t gifted with baller height.

Hale, 5'11", stands a better chance of making a

living wearing a helmet than wearing high-tops.

The 6'4" Snoop may have been an exception, but

he played QB in youth leagues and always loved the

sport. Eventually, he used his own money to start a

league aimed at giving inner-city kids the chance

to play. Soon after, while visiting Nate Dogg in

the recording studio, Snoop pitched the idea of

Cordell and Naijiel, then 9, playing together. At frst

Hale’s mother balked, fearing that her son would

get hurt. But when Snoop pressed the issue, she

relented. The rest is history. “Once I started playing

football and understood it,” says Hale, “I started

liking it more.” —EDDIE MATZ

IN THE BEGINNING THERE WAS A NIPPLE …TEN YEARS AGO, 90 MILLION PEOPLE WATCHING SUPER BOWL XXXVIII SAW JANET JACKSON’S BREAST FOR 9/16 OF A SECOND. OUR CULTURE WOULD NEVER BE THE SAME. BY MARIN COGAN ILLUSTRATION BY NATHAN FOX


Talk to me boy …

No disrespect I don’t mean no harm

Talk to me boy …

I can’t wait to have you in my arms

Talk to me boy …

They’re marching up the steps, to a platform

in the middle of the stage.

Hurry up ’cause you’re taking too long

Talk to me boy …

Better have you naked by the end of this song.

You know what happens next. Justin reaches

over, grabs a corner of Janet’s right breast cup

and gives it a hard tug. Her breast spills out.

It’s way more than a handful, but a hand is the

only thing Janet has available to cover it, so she

clutches it with her left palm. The breast is on

television for 9/16 of a second. The camera cuts

wide. Fireworks explode from the stage. Cue the

end of halftime. Cue the beginning of one of the

worst cases of mass hysteria in America since

the Salem witch trials.

THE WOMAN WHO planned the show wasn’t on

the feld to see her months of work go up in

fames. Salli Frattini, an executive producer at

MTV, which was contracted by the NFL to

produce the halftime concert, was supervising

from the production truck outside the stadium.

She and her crew were riding high on the

adrenaline of pulling of a 12-minute spectacu-

lar of music and choreography and pyrotech-

nics. When it ended, the truck erupted with

cheering and high-fving and hugging. The

euphoria lasted just a few seconds before the

phone rang. The ofciating booth was calling,

wanting to know whether they’d really just

seen Janet Jackson’s boob.

The man on the phone was Jim Steeg, who

had been head of special events for the NFL

since the late 1970s, overseeing the evolution

of the halftime show from a small-scale

IF OUR CHILDREN or our children’s children ever

dig up a time capsule from the beginning of the

new millennium, they will fnd that in February

2004, America collectively lost its damn mind.

Here’s what they’ll see: Janet Jackson on a stage

in the middle of Houston’s Reliant Stadium,

wearing a leather kilt and bustier, surrounded

by dancers in corsets and bikini tops and

bowler hats and helmets, looking like a ragtag

steampunk army of cabaret chorus girls and

Highlander extras and BDSM enthusiasts.

They’re grinding their hips, Janet is caressing

her corseted torso and 71,000 Super Bowl

spectators are screaming themselves hoarse for

the beatboxing of a 23-year-old white boy. Justin

Timberlake emerges from an elevated platform

beneath the stage in too-big khakis and a too-big

jacket—pff-ti-pf-ti-chk! pff-ti-pf-ti-chk!

pff-ti-pf-ti-chk! pff-ti-pf-ti-chk!—and a brass

band blasts him into “Rock Your Body,” a song

from his frst solo album. He and Janet are

romping across the stage, pausing their cat-and-

mouse game every so often to work her booty

into his hips. They’re singing call and response:

Before 2004, the FCC received only a handful

of indecency complaints a year. It received

540,000 about Jackson’s breast.

THE

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“TRUE DETECTIVE”

HBO’s new drama “True Detective” stars

Matthew McConaughey (Rust Cohle) and Woody

Harrelson (Martin Hart) as two detectives whose

lives collide during a 17-year hunt for a killer.

New episodes Sundays at 9PM. Only on HBO

darknessbecomesyou.com

NAVY

Whether it’s preserving the freedom

of our own people, or helping others

who’ve been touched by disaster

halfway around the world, America’s

Navy truly is A Global Force for Good.

To learn more, call 1.800.USA.NAVY

or visit navy.com.

production featuring marching bands and

dancing snowfakes and local heritage celebra-

tions to full-scale rock extravaganzas starring

the likes of Diana Ross, Michael Jackson and

Aerosmith. When Nipplegate happened, Steeg

was sitting next to the league’s head of ofciat-

ing, who was TiVo-ing the event. “He rewound

it for me, and then I immediately called Salli,”

he says. “You could hear everyone screaming

and hollering because what they pulled of

and accomplished was over. I said to Salli, ‘Did

you see what just happened?’ ”

“We were like, ‘Uh, we’re playing that back

right now,’” Frattini says. “There was lots of

chaos in the truck, and we played it back and we

were like, ‘Oh, s—. What just happened?’ ”

Frattini stepped out of the truck and immedi-

ately ran into then-CBS Sports president Sean

McManus. He looked her in the eye and asked

gravely, “Did you guys know?” Frattini promised

she had no idea that Jackson was going to be

exposed. “Okay. That’s what I needed to know,”

she remembers him saying.

Whether Frattini or the higher-ups at MTV,

CBS and/or the NFL knew what was coming

remains one of the enduring mysteries of the

event—at least that’s the generous explanation

for why millions of people watched the clip with

the same intensity as that of JFK conspiracy

theorists poring over the Zapruder footage.

To this day it remains the most watched video

in the history of TiVo, becoming such a touch-

stone that “wardrobe malfunction” soon earned

a dictionary defnition and Nipplegate became a

household word. (For the record, not much

areola was even visible underneath Jackson’s

large starburst nipple shield.)

The common assumption by the media and by

the public was that the fash of nudity was an

DAVID PHILLIP/AP IMAGES (4)108 ESPN The Magazine 02/03/2014

attention-grabbing publicity ploy; the question

was by whom. Some signs seemed to point to

MTV. Before the show, a few of the producers

had entertained themselves by mock-ripping

their clothes of at Timberlake’s fnal line.

And in rehearsals, they had tried a move

where Timberlake tore of Jackson’s kilt.

Then there was an article on MTV’s website

beforehand in which Jackson’s choreographer

promised “shocking moments.”

To this day, everyone involved maintains the

conspiracists have it wrong. The mock-ripping?

That was their natural response to Timberlake’s

closing lyric—“better have you naked by the

make sure she was okay,” he says. “Her entire

camp stopped answering the phones. I fnally

got to her tour manager, and they were already

at the airport.” At frst, Coletti assumed the

singer was so mortifed that she fed immedi-

ately. Then a new thought dawned on him.

“No, she set us up and she’s out of here,” he

says. “That was the last time I’ve seen or heard

from Janet Jackson.”

Ultimately, it didn’t matter to the NFL

whether the producers knew: The league

decided that MTV would never again be

involved in a halftime show. Says NFL corpo-

rate communications VP Brian McCarthy:

Jackson backed up the producers, insisting

she decided on the big reveal after the fnal

rehearsal, without the knowledge of anyone at

MTV. Timberlake was meant to pull of a piece

of the costume, she later explained, but it was

supposed to reveal only a lacy red undergar-

ment; unfortunately, as it played out, that

undergarment came of in Timberlake’s hand

too. Timberlake also apologized but never

ofered his own version of events other than to

coin the term “wardrobe malfunction.”

After the show, MTV producer Alex Coletti

tried to fnd Jackson. “I tried to get in touch to

end of this song”—not in anticipation of

anything he might do. The tearing of of the

kilt? It didn’t look good, so members of the

production team say they killed it and never

discussed another option. The article? The site

was later updated with an editor’s note: “At

the time of this report, MTV thought that the

‘shock’ was going to be the as-yet-unannounced

appearance of Justin Timberlake as part of

Janet’s performance. Janet Jackson’s subsequent

performance was not what had been rehearsed,

discussed or agreed to with MTV.”

In an on-camera apology after the event,

“We turned over the keys to MTV, and they

crashed the car.”

MICHAEL POWELL, THEN the chairman of the

Federal Communications Commission, was

watching the game at a friend’s house in

northern Virginia. He’s a football fan and was

excited to relax and watch the game after a

rough couple of weeks. “I started thinking,

Wow, this is kind of a racy routine for the Super

Bowl!” he says, his voice pitching up in bemuse-

ment. “He was chasing her kind of with this

aggressive thing—not that I personally minded

Talk to me boy …No disrespect I don’t mean no harm

Talk to me boy …I can’t wait to have you in my arms

Talk to me boy …Hurry up ’cause you’re taking too long

Talk to me boy …Better have you naked by the end of this song.

LYRICS FROM

R O C K Y O U R B O D Y

Justin Timberlake featuring Janet Jackson2004

Timberlake never fully explained his role in exposing Jackson, and Jackson said later she was upset that he remained mostly silent when people blamed her for Nipplegate.

it; I just hadn’t seen something that edgy at

the Super Bowl.”

Then it happened. Powell and his friend gave

each other quizzical looks. “I looked and I went,

‘What was that?’ And my friend looks at me and

he’s just like, ‘Dude, did you just see what I did?

Do you think she … ?’ And I kept saying, ‘My

day is going to suck tomorrow.’ ” Powell went

home and watched the moment again on TiVo.

The same thought kept running through his

mind: Tomorrow is going to really suck, he

remembers thinking. “And it did.”

Typically, the FCC’s work is of little interest to

people outside of the community of businesses,

lawyers, lobbyists and Hill stafers involved in

telecommunications policy. But L. Brent Bozell

had been on a mission to make on-air indecency

a cause for national outrage, and Jackson’s

breast was his biggest opportunity yet.

Nine years earlier, Bozell had founded the

Parents Television Council, an advocacy group

dedicated to forcing advertisers, networks and

the FCC to keep sleaze out of family-friendly TV

programming. Just a year before Super Bowl

XXXVIII, Bono, accepting a Golden Globe for

best original song, called the moment “really,

really f—ing brilliant” on a live NBC broadcast.

PTC members fled a complaint, triggering an

FCC investigation. Nine months later, Powell’s

group determined that Bono’s feeting F-word

didn’t warrant a network fne. The PTC vehe-

mently disagreed, and with its encouragement,

members of Congress took to the House foor

to call for action against indecency on TV. Two

months before the Super Bowl, the Senate

unanimously passed a resolution calling on the

commission to reconsider the Bono decision

(the FCC reversed its judgment in 2004 but still

did not issue a fne) and to more strictly police

indecency standards generally.

“We realized we’d really hit a nerve out there,

and we weren’t alone in this thinking,” Bozell

says. “That was all before Janet Jackson. Jackson

was what lanced the boil.”

Previously, Powell says the FCC received only

a handful of indecency complaints a year. It

received 540,000 about Janet Jackson’s breast.

as Republican-driven. For one of the only

moments in recent memory, Congress was

united, passing a bipartisan bill increasing the

maximum fne for incidents of indecency from

$32,500 to $325,000. In a Texas congressional

race several months after the Super Bowl,

a Democrat circulated newspaper clips about

his Republican opponent—who’d written an

op-ed decrying Jackson’s behavior—streaking

as a college student.

Michael Powell himself immediately decried

the show in no uncertain terms. “Like millions

of Americans, my family and I gathered around

The PTC launched a campaign to punish

everyone involved. “An outraged public needs to

make this backlash long and commercially

painful,” Bozell wrote in an article. “The NFL

needs to back of its trend of treating its fans

with the lowest common denominator of sleaze.

CBS afliates need to worry about license

revocations if these ofenses keep repeating

themselves. And MTV ... ought to just be thrown

out with the rest of the rusty garbage.”

Powell, a Republican whose father is Colin

Powell, the then-secretary of state, hates when

people remember the Nipplegate controversy


TOMORROW IS GOING TO REALLY SUCK. AND IT DID.

M I C H A E L P O W E L L


the television for a celebration,” he said in a

public statement. “Instead, that celebration was

tainted by a classless, crass and deplorable

stunt.” He announced an investigation of the

show, promising it would be “thorough and

swift.” He made the rounds in the

media to underscore his point.

Today, Powell runs the National

Cable and Telecommunications

Association, the major trade

association for the cable-TV

industry. He loves reading about

the latest developments in

behavioral economics, neurosci-

ence and mindfulness. He’s 50, but

he looks no older than 35, dressed

in gem-toned pants and glasses

that look like they came from

Warby Parker. Sitting in his ofce

at the NCTA’s sleek modern

building in DC, he does not look

like a man who wants to spend his

time policing boobs on TV. He

does not sound like a man who

wants to spend his time policing

boobs on TV. Since leaving the

FCC in 2005, he has declined

almost every interview request

to talk about boobs on TV. But

10 years later, Powell is fnally

ready to admit that he never

wanted to police boobs on TV.

“I think we’ve been removed

from this long enough for me to

tell you that I had to put my best

version of outrage on that I could

put on,” he says, shrugging his

shoulders and rolling his eyes.

“Part of it was surreal, right? Look,

I think it was dumb to happen, and

they knew the rules and were

firting with them, and my job is to

enforce the rules, but, you know,

really? This is what we’re gonna do?”

Powell was driven in part by fear: The

indecency statute is part of the criminal code, so

someone convicted of broadcasting indecency

could be imprisoned—as could an artist, at least

theoretically. “As a leader, I thought that was

really wrong,” Powell says. “I didn’t want this

moment and settled on a combined $550,000

fne for the 20 Viacom-owned stations—then

the largest against a broadcaster in the commis-

sion’s history. Powell ended up testifying on the

wardrobe malfunction more than anything else

in his entire career, including his

confrmation hearings. “I ended up

testifying for nine hours on just

this,” he says. “On 9/16 of a second.”

OF COURSE, OUR children and our

children’s children will never

need to dig up an actual time

capsule to fnd out about the

wardrobe malfunction. As soon

as they hear about the time

Janet Jackson’s breast was

exposed on live TV, they’ll watch

it online. And the reason they’ll

watch it online is that in 2004,

Jawed Karim, then a 25-year-old

Silicon Valley whiz kid, decided

he wanted to make it easier to

fnd the Jackson clip and other

in-demand videos. A year later, he

and a couple of friends founded

YouTube, the largest video-sharing

site of all time.

Across the web, the moment

went viral, back when that

phenomenon was still somewhat

novel. (Facebook was launched

three days after the halftime show.)

“Janet Jackson” became the

most searched term and image in

Internet history. And “we put TiVo

on the map,” says MTV producer

Coletti—TiVo enrolled 35,000

new customers in the aftermath of

Nipplegate. When Coletti was

having trouble with his service, he

let slip to a customer service rep

that he was the guy who produced

the Super Bowl halftime show. TiVo gave him

lifetime service and a special number to call in

case he had any trouble.

The moment created other seismic cultural

changes as well. Howard Stern—already a shock

jock goliath with an audience of millions he

built, in part, on testing the boundaries of the

ground to stand on when members of Congress

started asking why he wasn’t going after

Jackson. Frattini and her team had to hand over

their laptops; the government wanted access to

every document and every bit of communication

among the show’s creators. The FCC found

nothing to suggest they had planned the

CRISP LIKE AN APPLE . BREWED LIKE AN ALE .

snowball, this juggernaut, to turn into pressure

to go after Janet and Justin Timberlake.

I thought we were getting into dangerous

territory.” Launching an investigation into the

halftime production quickly gave him some

FCC—was dropped from Clear Channel two

months following the Super Bowl, after the FCC

fned the company $495,000 for a broadcast in

which Stern discussed “sexual” and “excretory

activity.” “Janet Jackson’s breast got me in a lot

of trouble,” Stern told his listeners. Six months

later, he signed a contract with fedgling satellite

radio, framing the decision as an opportunity

to break free from broadcast’s conservative

constraints. As of early 2014, SiriusXM had

24.4 million subscribers, and Stern is credited as

the media fgure most responsible for introduc-

ing a new era in radio.

While Timberlake’s career as a solo artist took

of after the Super Bowl, Jackson’s sufered.

When her album Damita Jo debuted the month

following the halftime show, low play counts led

to online rumors that she’d been blacklisted by

Viacom, the parent company of MTV and VH1.

The record was her lowest-selling album since

1984. She withdrew from the Grammys under

pressure, while Timberlake performed and

accepted two awards. Throughout the contro-

versy, the bodice-ripped Jackson sufered much

more than the bodice-ripping Timberlake. “I

personally thought that was really unfair,” Powell

says. “It all turned into being about her. In

reality, if you slow the thing down, it’s Justin

ripping of her breastplate.”

Some critics saw gender and race at play and

thought Timberlake ducked the heat. In a 2004

remix of the Jadakiss song “Why?” rapper

Common asks, “Why did Justin sell Janet out

and go to the Grammys?” Timberlake himself

said he believed Jackson had taken a dispropor-

tionate amount of the backlash. “I probably got

10% of the blame,” he told MTV. “I think

America’s probably harsher on women, and

I think America is, you know, unfairly harsh

on ethnic people.” After initially apologizing for

the incident, Jackson told Oprah in 2006 she

regretted taking the blame for an unplanned

accident. Informed of Timberlake’s comments,

Jackson smiled uncomfortably and confrmed

that she felt her co-star hadn’t done enough to

defend her. “Certain things you just don’t do

to friends,” she said.

Clearly, it remains a sore subject for both

artists. Jackson told Oprah she would never

comment on the controversy again. When

recently asked by The Mag about what he had

taken away from the incident, Timberlake

laughed nervously as his representative signaled

to end the interview. “I take that I chose not to

comment on it still, after 10 years,” he said.

“I’m not touching that thing with a 10-foot

pole,” he quickly added.

Meanwhile, for the people behind the media

spectacle, the controversy never really went

away. After the incident, Frattini and Coletti

both left MTV to start their own production

companies. “That was the last year I did the

[MTV Video Music Awards],” Coletti says.

“I’d produced six VMAs, all the highest-rated

THE HALFTIME SHOW’S

PRODUCER REVEALS EVEN

MORE DETAILS OF THE NIGHT.

GO TO ESPN.COM AND SEARCH:

JANET JACKSON MAG VIDEO

CHANGE YOUR

GAME PLAN.

PICK DIFFERENT.TM

CRISP LIKE AN APPLE. BREWED LIKE AN ALE.

LUKE FRAZZA/AFP/GETTY IMAGES

ones at the time. And all of a sudden, I wasn’t

that guy anymore.”

The incident transformed how they work too:

Frattini says she’s warier of talent, insists on

knowing everything about their wardrobe

before they perform and is careful to note every

step of her production work in writing, cogni-

zant that if anything goes wrong, government

investigators may be reviewing her notes.

The wardrobe malfunction changed live

television production too. Before then, most

broadcasters employed audio delays only,

but many began delaying video as well. The

Grammys broadcast the Sunday after the Super

Bowl used a fve-minute delay, which Frattini

says was an extreme example of a larger trend.

Longer delays are more expensive and require

more efort, but they became part of the cost of

putting on live television.

Meanwhile, the NFL created contracts with

more specifc language about appropriate

conduct, including wardrobe, and set stif

penalties for breaking them. The next six

Super Bowl halftime performers were middle-

aged men. One year after the league broke that

streak with the Black Eyed Peas at Super Bowl

XLV, M.I.A. raised her middle fnger during

Madonna’s 2012 performance and was sued by

the NFL for $1.5 million.

THE MOST LASTING impact of the wardrobe

malfunction was the way it highlighted the

government’s inability to regulate indecency in

our new digital democracy. The FCC has never

had major control over regulating the media—

the First Amendment prevents the commission

from having a say over what appears in the

newspaper, on cable networks or online. But in

1978, the Supreme Court ruled that because

broadcasting was “uniquely intrusive,” the FCC

had an obligation to regulate indecent content

during the hours when children might be

watching. The idea, Powell says, was that “you

never know what’s going to come on, and so

rooms—the Supreme Court’s original thesis

that you can have this sanctity of your home

and nothing should be able to invade you in that

way,” Powell says. “I just think that’s probably

a bygone era.”

As society has reached a consensus that

there’s no way to control everything children

see, the number of indecency complaints has

decreased signifcantly. When Miley Cyrus

twerked at the Video Music Awards last

summer, the FCC received only 161 complaints

(of course, as a cable channel, MTV doesn’t

answer to the commission anyway). The

moment became fodder for celebrity bloggers

and morning show chatterboxes but was never

treated as a problem that needed to be legis-

lated away. The PTC dutifully issued a state-

ment denouncing MTV for “sexually exploiting

young women,” but no national outcry resulted.

Perhaps not coincidentally, CBS never actually

paid a fne in connection with Nipplegate—an

appeals court ruled in 2008 and again in 2011

that CBS could not be held liable for the actions

of contracted performing artists and that the

FCC had acted arbitrarily in enforcing inde-

cency policies. The Supreme Court declined to

hear the case in 2012.

So for Powell, the halftime show represents

“the last great moment” of a TV broadcast

becoming a national controversy—the last

primal scream of a public marching inexorably

toward a new digital existence: “It might have

been essentially the last gasp. Maybe that was

why there was so much energy around it. The

Internet was coming into being, it was intensi-

fying. People wanted one last stand at the wall.

It was going to break anyway. I think it broke.

“Is that all good? Probably not, but it’s not

changeable either. We live in a new world, and

that’s the way it is.

“They said the same thing when books

became printed, right? They said it was the

end of the world.

“But it wasn’t.”

your kid can be in the audience, and then boom!

By the time they get hit with it, the harm is done

and your kid is blind.”

That gives broadcasters an amorphous

obligation to act “in the public interest” and puts

the FCC in the awkward position of judging

indecency. It’s hard to imagine a legal theory less

well-suited to the modern era, when TV guides

are as anachronistic as rotary phones because

everyone watches on demand, online and on

their phones. “The Internet and YouTube have

exploded the notion of balkanized living

A L L F O R Y O U

Janet Jackson

H O T I N H E R R E

Nelly

R H Y T H M N AT I O N

Janet Jackson

B A W I T D A B A

Kid Rock

B A D B O Y F O R L I F E

P. Diddy

M O M O N E Y

M O P R O B L E M S

P. Diddy

R O C K Y O U R B O D Y

Justin Timberlake featuring

Janet Jackson

C O W B O Y

Kid Rock

SUPER BOWL XXXVIII


The duet between Jackson and Timberlake capped an eight-song set of late-’90s and early-2000s classics.

On Capitol Hill, Powell

called the halftime show

“a new low for prime-time

television.” Now he says the

outrage was overblown.

ESPN (ISSN # 1097-1998) (USPS # 016-356). Volume 17, No. 2, February 3, 2014. ESPN is published biweekly, except monthly in January and July, by ESPN, 77 West 66th St., New York, NY, 10023-6201. Periodicals postage paid at New York, NY, and additional mailing offces. POSTMASTER: Send address changes to ESPN, P.O. Box 37325, Boone, IA 50037-0325. For subscription queries, call customer service at 1-888-267-3684. To change your address, log on to www.accountinfo.espnmag.com.

116 ESPN The Magazine 02/03/2014 i l lustrat ion by MARK MATCHO

by CHRIS JONESTHE FIX

[O]

[ BIGGEST LUGERS ] Inspired by the 2002 Olympics, Brett West and son Tucker built a luge track in their backyard.

Twelve years later, Tucker is on his way to Sochi.

Luge Run was ready for human trials. Tucker insisted on the honor.

Brett took a position in the middle of the run, “ready to perform CPR if

needed,” he says, mostly joking. (He had also stacked hay bales, just in

case.) But the track, and Tucker, performed beautifully. “It was quite the

experience,” he says. “I went straight down, and I’m still alive to this day.”

The backyard luge track fast became a local legend, attracting kids and

adults alike, a frozen Field of Dreams. Brett continued to tinker: PA and

irrigation systems, banners and electronic timing completed the home-

grown Olympic experience. Tucker diligently practiced his form, even

riding a wheeled sled down the chute during summers. Within a couple

of years, word had spread farther afeld of the family and their unlikely

obsession. “I heard about this nutjob in Connecticut who’d built a luge

track in his backyard and decided to pay a visit,” says Gordy Sheer, a

silver medalist and today the marketing director for USA Luge.

Sheer brought his medal to Ridgefeld, and backyard dreams suddenly

became something more real. He invited the Wests to Lake Placid to try

out the Olympic run. “It was so fast and smooth,” Tucker says. “I just

loved it.” The Wests joined the Adirondack Luge Club and began making

frequent trips to Lake Placid, plywood having been replaced with

concrete, lunacy with possibility. Together they made run after run down

the mountain, the son soon overtaking his father, each chasing his love.

In December in Park City, Utah, Tucker raced his way onto the

Olympic luge team, the youngest American man ever to make it. Brett

West was there. “Like Noah, I felt somewhat vindicated,” he says with a

laugh. “I can’t really describe the moment. Your kid making the Olympic …”

and he trails of. He’s thought about tearing down the old track, which

doesn’t get used much anymore, but Tucker has asked him to keep it up.

It still stirs something inside him, even just seeing it, banking crooked

through the trees. “I’m just so thankful my dad did that and we got to

share that experience together,” he says. Lugers know better than most

the importance of starts.

lympic dreams require some level of delusion, a built-in

resistance to statistics and physical sanity. The odds are so long and the

demands so great. But when Brett West and his son Tucker, then just

6 years old, sat in their Ridgefeld, Conn., living room and watched the

luge events from Salt Lake City in 2002, the familial defance of reason

would soon surface in ways that set them apart from even the most

weightless of fathers and sons.

“We just thought, Boy, doesn’t that look like fun?” Brett remembers

today. Almost immediately, he disappeared into the backyard and started

building a run out of snow and ice. There are pictures of Tucker, smiling

brightly, making his frst slides on plastic toboggans. “I was just super

stoked that we had this awesome sledding hill,” the 18-year-old says today.

The problem with snow, of course, is that it melts, and most dads might

have let their passion evaporate with it. “I came up with the dumb idea of

building a wooden luge track,” Brett says. Nearly every word of that

sentence is an understatement. Brett is not a carpenter; he owns a media

company. Without any of the requisite experience, he spent the next

spring, summer and fall designing and building a run, complete with

banks and drops and chicanes. Every Friday night, he would head to

Home Depot and bring home another load of pressure-treated lumber

and plywood, and every weekend, he and Tucker would measure and cut

and bolt another section of track that, at its peak, extended 780 feet.

“It was a bit like Noah’s Ark,” Brett says. “The neighbors would come

over and say, ‘Whatcha building?’” The following winter, an expectant

Brett iced down the chute with a garden hose and prepared to launch its

frst test subject: a bowling ball. The ball clattered and caromed down the

track—until it reached what the Wests were already calling Devil’s Curve.

That’s where the ball went airborne, rocketing over the side and crashing

into the trees. Father and son shared an uneasy moment of silence.

Brett broke down the curve and rebuilt it, and after sleds loaded with

sand had found their way safely to the bottom, the West Mountain

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