In what they dubbed as a “home and home” event, New England Patriots head coach Bill Belichick ’75 and ESPN superstar analyst Chris Berman addressed an overcapacity audience at the Exley Science Center last night. In their second recent event together—the two spoke at Berman’s alma mater, Brown University, last week—the sports icons conducted an informal conversation that ran the gamut from Van Morrison concerts and dart competitions to the effectiveness of a 3-4 defense and the need for more minorities in sports front offices.
“We had a good time at Brown last week, and Bill asked me to do a home and home here, and there is nothing we enjoy more than talking with folks that are on their way,” Berman said.
After a long standing ovation for the two as they appeared onstage, the evening began with an introduction of Belichick by Bernadette Doykos ’04, captain of the women’s lacrosse team, sponsor of the event.
“Bill Belichick and I have followed pretty similar paths in life,” Doykos said. “We are both alumni of the same high school; we have been or are captains of the Wesleyan lacrosse team; and we will be or are alumni of Wesleyan. Unfortunately the similarities end there. As head coach of the New England Patriots, Coach Belichick has also led his team to two Super Bowl championships. I haven’t done that yet.”
Belichick then came out and introduced Berman, who he called “the featured guest of the night.” While Belichick has frequented campus since his graduation, especially with his daughter Amanda ’07 now a student, it has been a little longer since Berman was at Wesleyan. His last experience was a Van Morrison concert 25 years ago.
“Van Morrison was really good… I vaguely remember it,” Berman said to laughter from the audience.
Belichick and Berman then embarked on a 30-minute back and forth conversation with each other. One of the topics covered included Berman’s favorite sports moments that he has covered. For baseball, he mentioned Cal Ripken breaking Lou Gehrig’s record for games played in a row. For football, he harkened back over 20 years to “the catch” by Dwight Clark of the San Francisco 49ers in the 1981 NFC Championship against the Dallas Cowboys.
“[Belichick] wasn’t the defensive coordinator for Dallas so they didn’t have everyone covered,” Berman said of the event.
The two went on to discuss the comparative rise in popularity of football and cable TV in the late 70’s, when both men were beginning their respective careers.
“I came into the N.F.L. in 1975 from little old Wesleyan,” Belichick said. “Nowadays, you talk about halftime adjustments and what goes on at halftime. I’ll tell you what went on at halftime in 197—he players came in and ran right to their lockers and pulled out cigarettes. It was like a Bruce Springsteen concert. But, you know, football has just exploded, and it is so competitive now across the board.”
Berman discussed how ESPN was basically run with “two cans and a string” when it began 25 years ago. At a time when cable TV was practically nonexistent, ESP—ow the biggest sports network in the worl—as originally created to cover UConn basketball and football, exclusively in the state of Connecticut. When network founder Bill Rasmussen discovered that he could broadcast nationally for the same price as within Connecticut, ESPN was born and Berman was one of the first brought on board. Berman’s early days at the network even included covering dart competitions.
“It was at about 9 a.m. in the morning,” Berman said of the experience. “Instead of a pitching coach, [the dart thrower] went straight to the bottle and took shots of Wild Turkey or Jameson.”
Belichick also asked Berman about his penchant to make up nicknames for all athletes that he covers.
“Babe Ruth, that was a good one,” Berman said jokingly of one of the few nicknames in sports that he didn’t create.
After some more banter that included stories from Belichick’s two Superbowl victories, the two men then moved on to a question and answer session with the audience. One woman commented that Belichick had just been named one of Time Magazine’s100 most influential people in the world today. After a long round of applause, Belichick took a self-mocking tone.
“ I’m so influential that I can’t get my dog to come inside,” he said.
Joel Pratt ’07, a member of the football team, then asked both speakers about opportunities in sports for athletes that will not go on to play professional sports.
“Your lessons in sports will go a long way,” Berman said. “Be creative. Wesleyan taught you to be creative…if you are interested in sports then follow your heart.”
Lauren Pearlman ’04 asked Belichick about the lack of minorities hired as head coaches in football.
“I think the league has taken a lot of steps,” Belichick said. “I don’t think anyone wants to get a job because of anything, whether it be race, creed, religion, or whatever. You want it to be based on performance and be deserving. So you are trying to balance opportunity with teams selecting who they think is the most deserving candidate. It’s a tough situation but I certainly think it is moving forward.”
Berman provided many great soundbites on the during the Q and A session.
On Division I athletes making it in pro sports despite not graduating from college: “People playing football or lacrosse at Wesleyan will be their boss some day.”
On wanting all pro athletes to graduate from college: “If we can’t be idealistic on a college campus, where the hell can we?”
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