Enterprise Journalism Release – March 24, 2011
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Tony Gwynn – Hit Hard
Outside the Lines (Sunday, 9 a.m. ET, ESPN)
ESPN.com
In August, 50-year-old Hall of Famer and former San Diego Padre Tony Gwynn underwent surgery for a malignant tumor in his mouth. Now the head coach at his alma mater, San Diego State, Gwynn talks with Tom Friend of Outside the Lines about the fears he had for his future and the battle he waged against a cancer he attributes to his addiction to smokeless tobacco. Gwynn also recalls how he broke down when he told his team the news that he had cancer.
”He really looked straight in my eyes and he said, ‘I’m dying?’” — Alicia (Mrs. Tony) Gwynn, on breaking the news of the cancer diagnosis to her husband
“I didn’t have control of my face the way I’d like to, couldn’t control my eye, couldn’t control my mouth. You don’t know if you’re going to be able to smile again.” — Gwynn, post-surgery
“I hate to say it, but yeah, I’m a tobacco junkie. It’s frustrating, because I know a lot of guys who have tried to quit, and just tried to quit cold turkey, and I tried that and it didn’t really work for me. I feel like a criminal sometimes because I had nights where I got up in the middle of the night at two o’clock and everybody’s sleeping, and I got in the car and I drive down to the Circle-K or 7-11 to get a can and the lady behind the counter doesn’t want to sell me a can because she knows what I’m doing to myself.” — Tony Gwynn, in a 1997 ESPN interview
Layup Drill: Ex-Xavier Player Still Dealing with Missed Shots
Outside the Lines (Sunday, 9 a.m. ESPN)
With the clock winding down in the 2010 women’s Elite 8 matchup between Xavier and Stanford, Xavier’s Dee Dee Jernigan missed a layup that would have put the Musketeers ahead. Seconds later she got the ball back — wide open right under the basket – and missed again. Stanford then drove the length of the court in the final four seconds to win the game and a berth in the Final Four. Ridiculed by fans, Jernigan, a consensus-top twenty recruit and McDonald’s All American, walked away from the sport she loved, but now says the final seconds of her college career won’t define her. John Barr talks with Jernigan about how she’s overcome the final two shots of her college career.
“It was rough. It was pretty bad. Like, I watched it before. I watched it a couple days ago just to see how bad it looks — it looks bad.” — Dee Dee Jernigan,
“The second one, I felt it. It didn’t even come off my hand right. It was just, too, I was too open. Like, ‘Why would they leave me open like that?’ That’s what I was thinking. Like, I was too open. I was too open.” — Jernigan
“It was embarrassing. I don’t even think people even understand how embarrassing it was — just to be on national TV. If it was one shot, it probably would be a little bit better, but I had two tries at it. I missed it twice.” — Jernigan
“I guess when you don’t hear it, it’s different. Everybody else, a lot of people, praise me, tell me how I am. But just hearing it from your mother, you know, it’s different, it’s different, it’s a different feeling.” – Jernigan, emotionally speaking of not knowing if her mother, who died before her high school graduation, is proud of her
Chad Ochocinco: MLS Star?
SportsCenter (Sunday, 10 a.m., ESPN)
As the NFL lockout enters its second week, players look for ways to fill their time. Cincinnati Bengals’ WR Chad Ochocinco, who started playing soccer at age four but quit in high school to focus on football, has decided to attempt to make a childhood dream come true. The six-time Pro-Bowler has secured a four-day tryout with Sporting KC of Major League Soccer. SportsCenter goes behind the scenes — from yesterday’s arrival at Swope Park Training Center, through the workouts and the final decision — to see if the NFL star has the skills to make it as a professional soccer player in America’s top league.
Story
Leander Schaerlaeckens reports on D.C. United striker Charlie Davies playing “his first senior game of soccer since providing the game-equalizing assist to Conor Casey during the U.S.’s 3-2 victory in Honduras, which clinched its World Cup berth on Oct. 10, 2009.”
Davis would return March 19 against the Columbus Crew after being badly hurt in a car accident in nearby Arlington, Va.
“It’s not going to faze me if I don’t have any recollection of the accident. I’m sure if I remembered it, it’d be different to get in a car.” – Charlie Davies, who remembers only bits and pieces of the car accident
Blaine Gabbert: Not the Sharing Type
ESPN.com
The spotlight on Missouri quarterback Blaine Gabbert has grown bright, but he doesn’t care to reveal much. ESPN.com’s Elizabeth Merrill reports.
