Tag Archives: ESPN

Friday Night Lights Cinema: FRIDAY NIGHT LIGHTS

Posted on by

fridaynightlightsHigh school football returns tonight. In honor of that, each Friday in September will feature a movie about high school football.  Up first, the eponymously titled Friday Night Lights.

This 2004 film is based on Buzz Bissinger’s book of the same name.  The book is non-fiction, but the movie employs a mix of fact and Hollywood-ization.  It was directed by actor-director Peter Berg, a cousin of Bissinger’s.  It was originally slated to be directed by Alan J. Pakula, who died before filming started.

Billy Bob Thornton, Jay Hernandez and Connie Britton lead the cast.  Lucas Black, Garrett Hedlund, Derek Luke, Lee Jackson, Lee Thompson Young, Grover Coulson, and Tim McGraw also were in the cast.

The movie won the 2005 ESPY for Best Sports Movie.  It inspired a TV series which ran from 2006 to 2011.  Connie Britton was in the series playing a coach’s wife, as she had in the movie – but the names and aspects of the character were different.  Brad Leland played a team booster in both the movie and series.  It received 13 Emmy nominations and 3 Emmy awards during its run.

Tonight Amy Dubois Barnett speaks at Bless the Mic on Philander Smith campus

Posted on by

amy-dubois-barnettPhilander Smith College’s free lecture series “Bless the Mic” finishes the season tonight with journalist Amy Dubois Barnett.  She will speak at 7pm in the M.L. Harris Auditorium on the Philander Smith campus.

In August 2014, she was named Executive Editor of ESPN’s The Undefeated.  Prior to that, Barnett was Editor-in-Chief of Ebony, the oldest and largest African-American magazine in the country. At Ebony, Barnett executed the publication’s first top-to-bottom redesign in its 68-year history and also re-launched Ebony.com, both to critical acclaim.

Before Ebony, Barnett was the Deputy Editor-in-Chief of Harper’s Bazaar. Barnett was also the Managing Editor of Teen People. Before Teen People, Barnett served as Editor-in-Chief of Honey magazine where she oversaw a major redesign of the magazine.  Prior to Honey, Barnett was with Essence magazine, heading up the publication’s style content and lifestyle department.

For her work as a journalist, Barnett was named the 2012 Media Executive of the Year by Target Market News.  In 2013, she was included on the Folio 100, a list that honors the most innovative and influential professionals in magazine media.

This past school year, Barnett was also an Adjunct Professor of Management & Organizations at Northwestern University’s Kellogg School of Management, teaching a Spring semester class on Shifting Business Frameworks in Media and Entertainment.

ESPN’s Jeremy Schaap is 2014 CALS J. N. Heiskell Distinguished Lecturer

Posted on by

espnschaapArkansans love their sports! They probably discuss and cuss sports more than any other topic.  Therefore it is fitting that ESPN’s Jeremy Schaap will deliver the 2014 J. N. Heiskell Distinguished Lecture tonight at 6:30 p.m. at the CALS Ron Robinson Theater, 100 River Market Avenue. Schaap will discuss his experiences in sports journalism at An Evening with Jeremy Schaap.

Clint Stoerner, former quarterback for the Arkansas Razorbacks, will introduce Schaap.  The event is free and open to the public. A book signing and reception will follow the program. Seating is general admission. Reservations are appreciated, but not required. RSVP to pedwards@cals.org or 918-3009.

An ESPN reporter since 1996, Jeremy Schaap functions in a variety of roles at the network. He is a correspondent for E:60, the host of ESPN Radio’s The Sporting Life, and a frequent contributor to Outside the Lines, NFL Countdown, and College Gameday. His reports, interviews, and commentaries are regularly featured on SportsCenter.

Schaap has won multiple national Sports Emmy Awards and many other honors for his work, including a national Edward R. Murrow Award in 2012, and a National Headliner Award in 2007. He is the author of Cinderella Man, a New York Times bestseller, and Triumph: The Untold Story of Jesse Owens and Hitler’s Olympics. In December 2013, Disney secured the movie rights to Triumph and enlisted Schaap for a consulting role on the film.

In addition to his contributions for ESPN The Magazine and ESPN.com, Schaap’s work has appeared in the New York Times, Sports Illustrated, Time, the Wall Street Journal, and Parade.

As quarterback, Stoerner led Arkansas to a 2000 Cotton Bowl Classic victory, and went on to play for the NFL, the NFL Europe, and the Arena Football League.  He regularly appears on radio and television in Arkansas to discuss sports events.

The Heiskell Distinguished Lecture is named for J.N. Heiskell, the longest-serving member of the Library’s Board of Trustees and editor of the Arkansas Gazette for more than seventy years. Speakers and programs honor Mr. Heiskell’s commitment to excellence in journalism as well as his support of the library.