It’s been fun to be along for the ride
as we honor Dick Ebersol with our Lifetime Achievement Award. It’s been fun to become re-engaged with him, fun to hear his stories and fun to hear how highly others regard him.
When Ebersol walked out of 30 Rock in May 2011, I didn’t anticipate his almost complete departure from the public scene. For the past four years, he has kept a remarkably low public profile, purposely avoiding the media. When he left NBC, his relationship with SportsBusiness Journal/Daily was not great. He was upset with some stories we wrote; we were upset about a lack of access. It’s been good to have enough time pass that such antagonisms are history, and we were captivated as he reminisced on his career, his accomplishments, his high points, his missteps and most importantly, his relationships.
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John Ourand spent time with Dick Ebersol at his Litchfield, Conn., home.
Photo by: PATRICK E. MCCARTHY
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As you can see from the extensive coverage, our editorial staff, led by
John Ourand, put an enormous amount of time and effort into this package. No one spent more time with Ebersol than Ourand during this process, so I asked about his takeaways from the days spent with Ebersol and talking to some of his closest confidants and competitors. This is what Ourand told me:
I’ve written a lot of profiles over the years, and this one felt different from the start.
Even before starting the interview process, some senior TV executives that typically are difficult to get on the phone, reached out to say they wanted to be interviewed for it. Trust me, that has never happened before.
It felt like I was wading into a cult of Dick Ebersol.
I am still amazed at how many bold-faced names in our business really seem to love this man. Contemporaries like Bud Selig, David Stern and Gary Bettman talked about Ebersol in a way that I’ve never heard them talk about anybody else.
I was floored by the amount of loyalty younger executives that Ebersol mentored, people like David Zaslav, Jeff Zucker and Jim Bell, display for this man. Ebersol has been out of the business for four years, but these executives still seek his counsel regularly.
The reporting of this story was eye-opening because the Dick Ebersol that I covered from 2006 to 2011 did not seem to be so lovable — at least not to me. It was virtually impossible to set up interviews — I probably talked with him less than 10 times in those five years. Several times, he would be so upset with one of my stories that his PR staff would call to say that they weren’t going to deal with me anymore.
Those blackouts never lasted long.
After spending time with Ebersol for this piece, I got a window into why so many people feel so loyal to him. He’s a charmer. He’s a storyteller. And he’s smart as hell. I had a ton of fun reporting this story out.
Kudos to Ourand and others on our staff, as I believe this package will stand as the definitive piece on Ebersol the man and Ebersol the executive. I hope you all enjoy it, and I look forward to seeing Dick Ebersol receive the recognition he richly deserves this week in New York City, surrounded by his family and friends.
Abraham D. Madkour can be reached at amadkour@sportsbusinessjournal.com.
