Len Berman: A Q&A With New York Sports Media Legend

By JOHN P. WISE
One Great Season

Len Berman is a self-proclaimed "old fart." He also happens to be the godfather of New York's local sports media, and I was lucky enough to get him on the phone for a little while on Thursday afternoon.

Berman is a New York native who worked for WNBC for nearly 30 years. His run there ended last year when the Peacock's flagship station made heavy staffing cuts to save its budget.

But Berman is still at it, with his website — thatssports.com — which he updates readers with a "Len's Top 5" every morning, providing visitors with a snapshot of each day's top talker stories. He's also promoting his new children's book, "The 25 Greatest Baseball Players Of All Time."

You can follow Berman on Twitter at @LenBermanSports.

One Great Season: How is the website going?
Len Berman: I think it's growing nicely. It targets a certain audience. There are so many sports websites out there, so I've kind of tried to open up a little niche like I did on my broadcast. I've tried to open it up for sports fans but also for non-sports fans, too.

OGS: And how about the book?
LB: The book's great. I just spoke to a school (Thursday) out in Long Island. The kids are great. It's my fourth kids' book, and fifth overall. "The 25 Greatest Baseball Players Of All Time." It's a lot of fun. Great fodder for debates and arguments. If you're from Dallas, you're wondering why Nolan Ryan didn't make it. And in Pittsburgh, people write to me asking how I could leave Roberto Clemente off the list. It's not easy narrowing down to just 25.

OGS: How are you enjoying the transition from old-school journalism, where you excelled for so many years, to the new digital age?
LB: I like the digital age. I spoke at Mashable at one of their conferences a few months back. The title of my speech was "What's An Old Fart Like Me Doing On Twitter?" Facebook and Twitter are great ways to reach people.

And I like the hours. I worked nights for most of my life, which is not conducive to family life. But the new hours are great.

OGS: OK, on to sports. What is your assessment of the Yankees postseason so far and how likely is it that they'll win two at Texas?
LB: It's hard to say. Before the playoffs began, I thought the Philadelphia Phillies were the team to beat, and by the time you publish this, they may be eliminated. Texas has the edge heading home, even though they're not playing well at home, because they'll have Cliff Lee pitching.

OGS: Among the major sports, is home-field advantage least relevant in baseball?
LB: It seems that way because of pitching, more often than not. In the eight games of the first round of the American League Division Series, the home team won only one game. Clearly in basketball and football, you see home-field factored into point spreads, but yeah, pitching is the great equalizer in postseason baseball.

OGS: Growing up a Yankees fan and being in New York for so many World Series, you've seen plenty of great October performances. Where does Cliff Lee rank among postseason pitchers in your opinion?
LB: Sensational. I immediately think of Sandy Koufax. I remember coming home from school, and already The Post was out and there was Koufax, with 15 strikeouts in Game One of the 1963 World Series against the Yankees. This year has definitely been the year of the pitcher, and Cliff Lee ranks right up there.

OGS: And if you could only choose one favorite Yankees memory, whether as a fan or as someone covering the men in stripes, what would it be?
LB: The most striking to me was the night they clinched the World Series in 1996, when Charlie Hayes made that catch for the final out. The Yankees came back from two games down to beat Atlanta. I had not been at Yankee Stadium fora clinching of a World Series; that was my first time in 1996. Just walking under the stands was just remarkable. Tim Raines was drinking a glass of champagne with his wife, sobbing and hugging. I did what any respectable journalist would do ... I stuck a mic in his face.

But the second thing I'll remember is anytime Mickey hit a home run. He was my hero. My interest in sports probably revolved around whether Mickey hit a home run. If we had to leave the house to go see relatives or something, we'd say, "Mom, wait five minutes. Mickey's up in the next inning. It was always an event."

OGS: It's funny that in a town where pro sports rule, one of the best sporting events in New York each year is the Big East basketball tournament. What makes that event so special?
LB: I was fortunate to be the first voice of the Big East when that league began. It was a little more special then because guys stayed in college for for years, so you saw a lot of Patrick Ewing and Chris Mullin in the early 1980s. But it's expanded so much that you have teams from the midwest now. In its purest form, though, college basketball is a fun, rah-rah campus activity, and when you bring all those schools together at Madison Square Garden, especially the types of teams that are in the league now, it's always going to be a great event.

OGS: Thoughts on the Brett Favre-Jen Sterger situation?
LB: While what he may have done wasn't illegal, athletes do have to set some kind of standards, and commissioners in pro sports certainly have the power to punish those who aren't behaving up to those standards. There seems to be some fire around the smoke there and I'd imagine there will be some type of sanctions.

OGS: Being an old-school guy, did you ever imagine a day where a "former Jets sideline hostess" would not only be making national news, but would be an actual job title?
LB: It's amazing what's been going on. And you can't forget that other reporter from Mexico who showed up like a Hooters hostess and was shocked that people were whistling at her. I guess it's the nature of the business. I'm not surprised.

OGS: What has evolved more, sports or the sports media?
LB: The evolution of sports media has been unbelievable, and of course with everyone who covers the celebrity aspect like TMZ and others on the web, it's just been remarkable. The sports media landscape has really exploded.

OGS: With the approach of the NBA season, what do you say to NBA fans who are now Lebron James' haters?
LB: Every good story needs a villain. Everyone loves to root against the Yankees, the Celtics and the Lakers. Lebron will be perceived, right or wrong, as a guy who wronged his hometown team, even though he gave them his all for seven years. He'll be an easy targeet, but when all's said and done, more people will be paying attention.

OGS: Should the ESPNs of the world be to blame for overhyping players and stories?
LB: I don't know; it's hard to justify blaming the messenger. Certainly they've contributed in some areas, like putting players and their individual or excessive celebrations on the highlight reels, or celebrating dunks instead of a guy who moves well away from the ball or something like that. You can point to (ESPN) for some things. But I don't think you can go around blaming the media. They're a major player, obviously. They have so many channels, and websites and a magazine. They're the 600-pound gorilla, that's for sure.

OGS: And finally, if you had to choose between Tiger, Lebron or Favre to sit down with for dinner, who would you choose and what advice would you give him?
LB: Well I know none of them would listen to me. But I'd pick Tiger and get advice from him on golf. Tiger's such a rare talent, but I don't know if he'll ever get it back. As far as Favre is concerned, though, he's done. His career is finished. Lebron still has many great years ahead of him. But I'd pick Tiger's brain and get some golf advice.