To tweet: https://es.pn/12OF02F

Joe O’Brien:  Road from Ruin
Outside the Lines (Sunday, 9 a.m. ET, ESPN)
The Sporting Life with Jeremy Schaap (Friday, 10 p.m., ESPN Radio)

Cameraman Bryan Brousseau and soundman
Eric Diebner of HSCUSA.TV where Joe O’Brien was arrested 9/12/03

Former Boise State All-American and professional football player Joe O’Brien was the assistant head coach at Montana State in 2003 when his career took a stunning turn: he was busted for conspiracy to sell methamphetamine, and revealed that for half his life he had a secret drug addiction. O’Brien served 28 months in prison, then for six years after his release no school would give him another coaching job until tiny Simms (Mont.) High School hired him in February. But, his troubled past created a contentious divide in the community. Steve Delsohn reports.

Steve Delsohn and Joe O’Brien

“I believe that if someone has rebuilt their life, they deserve a second chance.” — Russ Bloom, father of two Simms H.S. Football players

“I just don’t think being around kids should be his second chance.” — Keith Rohrer, father of a Simms H.S. Football player

“I remember one day I came home after one of his (O’Brien’s) speeches and I told my parents there was no way I’m ever going to touch any sort of drug after hearing what this did to his life.” — Drew DeBolt, Simms H.S. football player

Draft of a Generation
(Sunday, 10 a.m. ESPN)
“An Oral History of the 2003 Draft” (ESPN.com)

The 2003 NBA Draft, featuring LeBron James, Carmelo Anthony, Chris Bosh and Dwyane Wade, was hyped to be one of the best in history. A decade later it has produced eight All-Stars and several potential Hall of Famers. While Detroit’s selection of Darko Milicic is widely panned, and the Heat taking Wade lauded, ESPN.com writer Brian Windhorst’s report examines why there’s more than meets the eye to those franchise-changing decisions. For his ESPN.com piece, Windhorst interviewed dozens of NBA personalities including James, Anthony, Pat Riley, Joe Dumars and Jerry West.

The 2003 NBA Draft, featuring LeBron James, Carmelo Anthony, Chris Bosh and Dwyane Wade, was hyped to be one of the best in history. A decade later it has produced eight All-Stars and several potential Hall of Famers. While Detroit’s selection of Darko Milicic is widely panned, and the Heat taking Wade lauded, ESPN.com’s Brian Windhorst examines why there’s more than meets the eye to those franchise-changing decisions.

“The 2003 draft was viewed as one that could really turn around your whole franchise. It was viewed as a three-person draft, with three franchise-changing players, and that would be LeBron, Darko and Carmelo.” — Kiki Vandeweghe, former Nuggets general manager

“I think any GM in the 2003 Draft would’ve selected Darko, certainly in the top three.  I don’t think it would’ve been unanimous that he was selected over Carmelo, but I would say with confidence that the majority of general managers would’ve selected him above Carmelo. I don’t think many would admit to this, but he was really considered a can’t-miss prospect that most general managers would’ve loved to have had.” — Marc Cornstein, Darko Milicic’s agent

“We actually went (out of our way) a little bit to make sure people did not know we were interested in (Dwyane Wade). We didn’t bring him back for a second workout. I think we tried to lay low a little bit, bring up some other names so that people wouldn’t know.” –Randy Pfund, former Heat general manager

 

Venezuelan Center Hopes to Fulfill Dream: Get Drafted June 27
Reportaje Especial (Sunday, 11 p.m., ESPN Deportes)

https://youtu.be/ii4Fh6cmYGk

Anticipating the NBA Draft, ESPN Deportes’ Reportajes Especiales chronicles Gregory Echenique, a 6-foot-9 center who has been travelling cross-country trying out for NBA teams. The Creighton University grad came to the United States from Venezuela as a 14-year old, looking for a high quality education and a professional basketball career.

Pedro Gomez Interviews Miguel Cabrera in Spanish & English for Family & Fans
Sunday Conversation (Sunday 10 a.m. SportsCenter, ESPN)
Sunday Conversation (Sunday, 11 p.m., SportsCenter, ESPN Deportes)

Reporter Pedro Gomez will interview reigning American League Triple Crown winner Miguel Cabrera in Spanish and English, providing ESPN the unique opportunity to present a dual “Sunday Conversation” on both ESPN’s and ESPN Deportes’ SportCenters. A short English portion of the interview, conducted this afternoon at Detroit’s Comerica Park, will run on tonight’s Baseball Tonight (10 p.m., ESPN2), with a clip from the Spanish interview airing on Sunday’s Beisbol Esta Noche (7:30 p.m. ESPN Deportes).

“I’ve found that athletes are always very willing to take the extra time to conduct interviews in both languages because they believe that the Spanish one will be watched by their family and friends back home — in Cabrera’s case, Venezuela. I tend to ask similar questions in each language, and have discovered that it is usually better to do in Spanish first because it relaxes them, and they tend to open up more in their native language, which usually helps open an avenue I might not have known about. That winds up making the English interview better.” – Pedro Gomez, ESPN reporter, prior to interviewing Detroit Tigers Miguel Cabrera

 

ESPN Reporters to Speak at IRE Conference

Investigative reporters T.J. Quinn, Mark Fainaru-Wada, Steven Fainaru and Michael Fish will be speakingat the Investigative Reporters and Editors (IRE) 2013 Conference this weekend in San Antonio. Quinn and Fish will headline a panel on Performance Enhancing Drugs along with national Associated Press writer Jeff Donn, while brothers Fainaru-Wada and Fainaru will lead a discussion on Concussions and Sports withFRONTLINE Managing Editor Phil Bennett.

“It’s humbling to speak at the IRE conference, an incredible gathering of some of the smartest people working in journalism. I’m more likely to learn something from my fellow panelists and anyone in the audience than they are to learn something from me.” – T.J. Quinn

“Having attended several IRE conferences, and benefitted from their great panels, it’s extremely flattering to be asked to speak in San Antonio. Steve and I are really looking forward to discussing a topic that has so consumed us for the past year-and-a-half, and to be doing it with Phil Bennett from FRONTLINE is a total boon for us. Mostly, though, I’m eager to attend the other panels and get to spend time with some talented and fun folks.” — Mark Fainaru-Wada