
Those Guys Have All the Fun
Inside the World of ESPN
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Narrated by:
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James Andrew Miller
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Matt McCarthy
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Joan Baker
About this listen
ESPN began as an outrageous gamble with a lineup that included Australian Rules Football, rodeo, and a rinky-dinky clip show called Sports Center. Today the empire stretches far beyond television into radio, magazines, mobile phones, restaurants, video games, and more, while ESPN's personalities have become global superstars to rival the sports icons they cover.
Chris Berman, Robin Roberts, Keith Olbermann, Hannah Storm, Bill Simmons, Tony Kornheiser, Stuart Scott, Erin Andrews, Mike Ditka, Bob Knight, and scores of others speak openly about the games, shows, scandals, gambling addictions, bitter rivalries, and sudden suspensions that make up the network's soaring and stormy history. The result is a wild, smart, effervescent story of triumph, genius, ego, and the rise of an empire unlike any television had ever seen.
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A history of Saturday Night Live that finally reveals what really went on backstage, on the set, in the writers' offices, and on the town. Dozens of stars, writers, and guest hosts recall the backstage gossip, feuds, foibles, drugs, sex, struggles, and calamities of the show that changed television.
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Interesting inside look, so-so presentation
- By Tim on 12-22-02
By: Tom Shales, and others
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Who Is Michael Ovitz?
- By: Michael Ovitz
- Narrated by: Michael Ovitz - prologue, Dennis Boutsikaris
- Length: 11 hrs and 54 mins
- Unabridged
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As the cofounder of Creative Artists Agency, Michael Ovitz earned a reputation for ruthless negotiation, brilliant strategy, and fierce loyalty to his clients. He reinvented the role of the agent and helped shape the careers of hundreds of A-list entertainers, directors, and writers. But this personal history is much more than a fascinating account of celebrity friendships and bare-knuckled deal making. It's also an underdog's story: How did a middle-class kid from Encino work his way into the William Morris mailroom and eventually become the most powerful person in Hollywood?
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Yep, that's the guy
- By T. gates on 10-07-18
By: Michael Ovitz
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DisneyWar
- By: James B. Stewart
- Narrated by: Patrick Lawlor
- Length: 25 hrs and 40 mins
- Unabridged
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DisneyWar is an enthralling tale of one of America's most powerful media and entertainment companies, the people who control it, and those trying to overthrow them. It tells a story that - in its sudden twists, vivid, larger-than-life characters, and thrilling climax - might itself have been the subject of a Disney classic - except that it's all true.
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Really interesting story... No ending.
- By rotinaj on 12-18-17
By: James B. Stewart
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I Want My MTV
- The Uncensored Story of the Music Video Revolution
- By: Craig Marks, Rob Tannenbaum
- Narrated by: Luke Daniels
- Length: 20 hrs and 38 mins
- Unabridged
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It was a pretty radical idea - a channel for teenagers, showing nothing but music videos. It was such a radical idea that almost no one thought it would actually succeed, much less become a force in the worlds of music, television, film, fashion, sports, and even politics. But it did work. MTV became more than anyone had ever imagined. I Want My MTV tells the story of the first decade of MTV, the golden era when MTV's programming was all videos, all the time, and kids watched religiously to see their favorite bands, learn about new music, and have something to talk about at parties.
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The Most Entertaining Book of the Year
- By David on 10-24-12
By: Craig Marks, and others
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Oscar Wars
- A History of Hollywood in Gold, Sweat, and Tears
- By: Michael Schulman
- Narrated by: Charlie Thurston
- Length: 21 hrs
- Unabridged
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In Oscar Wars, Michael Schulman chronicles the remarkable, sprawling history of the Academy Awards and the personal dramas—some iconic, others never-before-revealed—that have played out on the stage and off camera. Unlike other books on the subject, each chapter takes a deep dive into a particular year, conflict, or even category that tells a larger story of cultural change, from Louis B. Mayer to Moonlight. Schulman examines how the red carpet runs through contested turf, and the victors aren't always as clear as the names drawn from envelopes.
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Fascinating and FUN
- By Peter Riley on 06-11-23
By: Michael Schulman
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Hot Dog Money
- Inside the Biggest Scandal in the History of College Sports
- By: Guy Lawson
- Narrated by: Dan Bittner, Guy Lawson
- Length: 10 hrs and 8 mins
- Unabridged
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When the federal government catches hotshot financial adviser Louis Martin “Marty” Blazer defrauding his NFL-player clients, it’s time to come clean. He has no reasonable defense. What he has is a bigger story to spill to the feds—that of a multibillion-dollar conspiracy that exploits the most talented college athletes and implicates one of the most popular entertainment industries in the nation. The DOJ is listening, and the truth could literally set Marty free. All he has to do is prove that the NCAA is a vast ongoing scam.
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Outstanding
- By Jake on 11-30-24
By: Guy Lawson
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When the Game Was War
- The NBA's Greatest Season
- By: Rich Cohen
- Narrated by: Cary Hite
- Length: 8 hrs and 41 mins
- Unabridged
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The 1980s were a transformative decade for the NBA. Since its founding in 1946, the league had evolved from a bruising, earthbound game of mostly nameless, underpaid players to one in which athletes became household names for their thrilling, physics-defying play. The 1987–88 season was the peak of that golden era, a year of incredible drama that featured a pantheon of superstars in their prime—the most future Hall of Famers competing at one time in any given season—battling for the title, and for their respective legacies.
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Phil Jackson accuses Red Auerbach of cheap tactics
- By Sean on 01-03-24
By: Rich Cohen
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Nitro
- The Incredible Rise and Inevitable Collapse of Ted Turner's WCW
- By: Guy Evans
- Narrated by: Guy Evans
- Length: 17 hrs and 37 mins
- Unabridged
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Nitro is a story about much more than WCW and the Monday Night Wars. It is a story of an era, a time in which the media and cultural landscape precipitated - and later supported - pro wrestling's mainstream popularity. It is a story of how a company made in the image of an intuitively brilliant risk-taker betrayed its original promise. It is a story of how a handful of men, each struggling with their own limitations, facilitated a public obsession that changed television forever.
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way better than the death of wcw
- By DMCizzle on 01-05-21
By: Guy Evans
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Unscripted
- The Epic Battle for a Media Empire and the Redstone Family Legacy
- By: James B. Stewart, Rachel Abrams
- Narrated by: Robert Petkoff
- Length: 12 hrs and 23 mins
- Unabridged
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In 2016, the fate of Paramount Global’s entertainment empire hung precariously in the balance. Its founder and head, ninety-three-year-old Sumner M. Redstone, was facing a very public lawsuit brought by a former romantic companion, Manuela Herzer, which placed Sumner’s deteriorating health and questionable judgment under a harsh light.
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I could t wait for it to end
- By Abbie L. Smith on 03-01-23
By: James B. Stewart, and others
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Why We Love Baseball
- A History in 50 Moments
- By: Joe Posnanski
- Narrated by: Joe Posnanski, Ellen Adair
- Length: 11 hrs and 53 mins
- Unabridged
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New York Times bestselling author Joe Posnanski is back with a masterful ode to the game: a countdown of 50 of the most memorable moments in baseball’s history, to make you fall in love with the sport all over again. Posnanski writes of major moments that created legends, and of forgotten moments almost lost to time. It's Willie Mays’s catch, Babe Ruth’s called shot, and Kirk Gibson’s limping home run; the slickest steals; the biggest bombs; and the most triumphant no-hitters.
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Narration
- By Peter on 01-10-24
By: Joe Posnanski
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The Fifty-Year Mission: The Complete, Uncensored, Unauthorized Oral History of Star Trek: The First 25 Years
- By: Edward Gross, Mark A. Altman, Seth MacFarlane - foreword
- Narrated by: Helen Litchfield, Alex Hyde-White, Jason Olazabal, and others
- Length: 23 hrs and 16 mins
- Unabridged
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The original Star Trek series debuted in 1966 and has spawned five TV series spin-offs and a dozen feature films, with an upcoming one from Paramount arriving in 2016. The Fifty-Year Mission is a no-holds-barred oral history of five decades of Star Trek, told by the people who were there. Hear from the hundreds of television and film executives, programmers, writers, creators, and cast as they unveil the oftentimes shocking story of Star Trek's ongoing 50-year mission.
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Best book I've ever heard on making pop culture
- By Chris Smith on 07-13-16
By: Edward Gross, and others
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Rickey
- The Life and Legend of an American Original
- By: Howard Bryant
- Narrated by: JD Jackson
- Length: 18 hrs and 37 mins
- Unabridged
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Few names in the history of baseball evoke the excellence and dynamism that Rickey Henderson’s does. He holds the record for the most stolen bases in a single game, and he’s scored more runs than any player ever. “If you cut Rickey Henderson in half, you’d have two Hall of Famers,” the baseball historian Bill James once said. But perhaps even more than his prowess on the field, Rickey Henderson’s is a story of Oakland, California, the town that gave rise to so many legendary athletes like him.
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An All Time Grewt
- By Anonymous User on 10-09-23
By: Howard Bryant
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Business Is About to Pick Up!
- 50 Years of Wrestling in 50 Unforgettable Calls
- By: Jim Ross
- Narrated by: Jim Ross
- Length: 9 hrs and 25 mins
- Unabridged
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For wrestling fans, Jim Ross’ voice is the soundtrack of an era. This book is your ringside ticket to wrestling’s most unforgettable moments—from the announcer who made them iconic. In the last 50 years, professional wrestling has risen up from a collection of regional territories to become a global phenomenon—and Jim Ross has been there for it all. From the grit and glory days of the 1970s with NWA, to the rise of WCW and the heyday of WWF and WWE, to signing on as on-air talent and senior advisor for wrestling’s newest chapter at AEW, Jim Ross has long had the best seat in the house.
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business is about to pick up
- By Patrick Hall on 02-13-25
By: Jim Ross
What listeners say about Those Guys Have All the Fun
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- Kevin
- 04-09-15
Good
Very long and almost too detailed. It is all the info you ever wanted on ESPN.
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- Phillip O'Konski
- 09-16-11
Strong story hindered by structure & performance
I am a big fan of ESPN and have watched it from the very beginning. The birth and growth of this network was intriguing to me. I was expecting a sports book. But surprisingly we get a lot of insight into corporate America, contract negotiations, and company politics. For insight into executive management of a high growth company, this book delivered a surprising result.
Unfortunately, the writers were lazy by just citing interview after interview. The content was solid, and the access they received was unprecedented. But there was no insight, perspective, nor conclusions on the events that occurred over the 30 years. Plus, some quotes and conversations appeared to come out of nowhere and provided little overall insight.
The two male actors performed fine. However, the female voice was WAY over the top. I cannot imagine Michelle Tafoya, Erin Andrews, Linda Cohn, or Robin Roberts acting SO over-dramatically when giving their perspectives. In fact, this is the first time that I think the performance of audio book could actual change what a person was trying to say. My guess is the actor reading the female parts probably over emphasized words in sentences that could change what the person was trying to say.
If you can put these distractions aside, and are a big fan of ESPN, this is still worth the buy . The insight into the growth of a sports empire, and the insight into corporate boardroom, is worth the investment.
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- Michael Noga
- 06-21-16
ESPN has always had conrltroversy
Now you get the stories behind the stories. The history and the personalities come together in this recount..
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- Shane
- 08-20-11
Enjoyed Parts 1 & 2, 3&4 written by ESPN
the first 2 parts that dealt with the origin and establishment of ESPN were excellent. The insider view of the various complex negotiations regarding; venture capital, broadcasting rights, production, talent, etc, were fascinating. Part 3 was basically a pointless run down of every show idea ESPN put on the air. Part 4 seemed to be ESPN's chance to address (unchallenged) any negative situations that had arisen over the years and put thier spin on it. The female voice on this audiobook was terrible and made the women sound juvenile and naive.
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- Stirling
- 08-27-11
An insider's view into my favorite network
I thought this book told a very interesting story extremely well. It gives a certain level of insight that isn't available anyplace else. I also found the narration light and engaging with the changes in point of view which kept me listening even when the subject matter went off on a tangent. The story of the origins of ESPN were especially interesting along with the early days as the new kid on the block. I would recommend this book to all of my friends who love sports and like a good story.
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- Scott Engstrom
- 11-08-18
Many great stories - possibly too many
This book excels at providing the early history of ESPN. The early part is a fantastic business book with great stories of the people, events, and circumstances that laid the groundwork for what is the modern day ESPN.
The remainder of the book is a set of hit & miss stories that I wish had been edited down to just the hits.
Overall, if you are an American sports fan of the last 40 years, you will no doubt enjoy the book. There will just be moments you enjoys less than others.
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- Byron
- 10-29-12
Like Hanging Out At A Cocktail Party
What made the experience of listening to Those Guys Have All the Fun the most enjoyable?
I liked getting the inside scoop on all of the prominent ESPN personalities from behind the scenes. You get to see the human and flawed side of these people that put on the polished act in front of the screen.
What other book might you compare Those Guys Have All the Fun to and why?
I have not read many books related to sports, so I don't have a good comparison. Most of the text consisted of first person quoted accounts as opposed to a third person narrative. Felt more like an in depth conversation at cocktail party.
Have you listened to any of the narrators’s other performances before? How does this one compare?
I have not listed to these narrators before. I liked the fact that they had a man and a woman to do the voices depending on who was being quoted in the book.
Was there a moment in the book that particularly moved you?
The book did not have a crescendo that moved me in particular. I am a big ESPN fan and sports fan in general, so I was interested in the historical evolution of the station that paralleled the evolution of sports in general.
Any additional comments?
If you are a sports fan, you will love this book. It brought back many sports memories through the eyes of ESPN.
There was a lot of name dropping of ESPN behind the scenes executives. It was a little hard to keep up with all of them and what their role was in the organization.
The fact that the sports backdrop was always woven into the anecdotes helped to keep the book entertaining.
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- John Gunter
- 12-02-16
Expansive, Enlightening and Entertaining
At once an overview of a monolithic brand and first-person accounts of the people who helped build that brand over decades.
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- Steve Rowles
- 02-10-16
Pure love
This behind the scenes is exactly what I hoped for. Especially great was the stories about the beginnings of ESPN. Listen and enjoy.
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- Paul
- 04-25-15
Great book ..... Bad female voice
Absolutely great book. It is unfortunate the voice they used for the female parts, it did not per tray accurately what they were trying to say. But great book
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