To tweet: https://es.pn/14KZcij

Did Bobby Riggs fix the “Battle of the Sexes?” 
Outside the Lines (Sunday 9 a.m. ET, ESPN)
ESPN.com (Van Natta piece to be posted Sunday)

https://youtu.be/sKw9aXZBp-k

For 40 years, rumors have swirled about “The Battle of the Sexes,” one of the most iconic sporting events in American history. While Billie Jean King’s win at the Houston Astrodome on Sept. 20, 1973 over Bobby Riggs was a seminal moment for gender equality, some people in tennis have wondered whether Riggs, the 55-year-old hustler and con man, purposefully threw the match for a big pay day. Now, for the first time, a man who claims to have never-before-released information on what really happened comes forward to tell his story to Outside the Lines. Don Van Natta examines whether the “Battle of the Sexes” was Riggs’ greatest hustle.

“Ninety-nine percent of me would say she beat him fair and square, but if you know Bobby Riggs you can’t put anything past him.” – Chris Evert

“Immediately afterwards, if you were a tennis person that knew Bobby Riggs, the first thing that comes to your mind is he threw the match.” – Doug Adler, tennis broadcaster and friend of Riggs

“I know when a player wants to win, and they don’t want to win. Bobby Riggs wanted to win that match. I saw it in his eyes. I saw it when we changed ends, and there is no question.” — Billie Jean King

 

The Freak
SportsCenter (Sunday, 10 a.m. ESPN)

https://youtu.be/iskXZD5KAe0

No player is more feared in college football than South Carolina’s Jadeveon Clowney.  His legend grew on a national scale after his mammoth hit on Michigan’s Vincent Smith, but SEC coaches had already been dealing with Clowney and his 22 sacks through his first two years as a Gamecock. His athletic ability and football instincts all measure through the roof and are giving opposing players and coaches nightmares. Clowney and the No. 6 Gamecocks will be in action against visiting North Carolina on Thursday, Aug. 29, at 6 p.m. on ESPN.

“He’s blessed with everything. It’s like when he was in his mom’s womb, the football gods just looked down on him. Speed, power, size, all bundled up into one specimen.” — Chaz Sutton, teammate

“There’s something about him that he makes you think, not once, not twice, not three times, but four times when he’s out there.” – James Franklin, Missouri quarterback.

“When I come to the line of scrimmage, they are all staring at me before the snap. They start fumbling and just sliding to the ground just thinking I’m there.” — Jadeveon Clowney

 

The Losses of Dan Gable
ESPN.com
ESPN The Magazine (Wright Thompson’s piece on newsstands Friday)
Outside the Lines (John Barr’s report Sunday, Sept. 1, ESPN)

Wrestling’s most famous winner is taking on one final battle: To save his sport and all he’s ever been.

 

Media On Campus – See New Digital Studio, Lunch with Skipper

This week ESPN welcomed journalists from around the country for a special “Media Day.” The event featured sessions with ESPN executives discussing college football (with the College Gameday team of Chris Fowler, Lee Corso, Kirk Herbstreit and Desmond Howard), the NFL (withAdam Schefter, Keyshawn Johnson and Tedy Bruschi), and  SportsCenter (with Steve Levy and Lindsay Czarniak in the new SportsCenter studio which will open in Spring 2014). In between was lunch with ESPN President John Skipper. Click ESPNFrontRow for a review of Media Day 2013.