ESPNTheMag.Com Looks Back: A Brief Interview History

David Duchovny, Kevin Costner, Ice Cube, Cheech, and so.much.more.

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We did it up Frost/Nixon style a few times. OK, never.

As ESPNTheMag.Com merges with Insider, we're looking back.

We used to have this intern named Ben. You shouldn't and probably don't care about this fact, although the kid was pretty cool ("…for me to p**p on"). Asked him one day to catalog all the interviews we had done on this site, and he did it. Honestly figured he did a crappy, half-arsed job on this idea, but lo and behold -- here's the result, and he did a darn fine job. So yes, click that link and you can read every interview we've ever done. If you want us to pull out the highlights for you, read onward.

•From one of the earliest interviews we conducted on this site, with CNN's Wolf Blitzer:

What are the biggest similarities and differences between what you do for three hours a day and what someone working for our company, like a Chris Berman, does?

Basically, we do the same thing. Chris Berman has gotta be a conductor; he moves everything around. He brings out different points of view, and keeps people honest. When you're doing an interview and someone says something completely ridiculous, you gotta say, "What are you talking about?" I admire Chris Berman for what he does. Sports and news are both hard; you have to know A LOT about A LOT. These days, so many viewers are so connected, if you mess up something, you'll hear about it immediately.

If you, Lou Dobbs, John King, Anderson Cooper, and Candy Crowley are playing basketball, who's slotted 1-5 and why?

Anderson's gotta be a guard. I gotta be a guard. Candy and John forwards. Lou Dobbs at the center position.

Any logic to that?

It's basically completely random (laughs). We're filling out a roster and seeing what works.

•Jon Bon Jovi talking to us:

So honestly, could you take Richie Sambora 1 on 1?

No chance. That (expletive) has a hell of a jump shot. He can definitely shoot hoops. You know what else he's good at? Bowling. He'll beat your (expletive) at bowling. The guy's got pollak blood running head to toe. Hell of a curveball on his bowling shot.

•Shep Smith from FOX News:

Speaking of memories, Bill O'Reilly can apparently throw a fastball. He played for the Brooklyn Monarchs and tried out for the Mets. Does he talk about it?

O'Reilly? Does he talk? (Laughs) Oh man…but this is true?

Says right here…played a season for the Brooklyn Monarchs; tried out for the Mets.

Dude I tell you, he's a big guy, he's a frightening man (laughs), if you've seen clips of him lately you do not want to be in his way. His office is right next to mine, and if Bill O'Reilly says he can throw a fastball, I'll be damned, he can throw a fastball.

•Ice Cube:

Your famous line from "Today Was a Good Day" is "(bleeped) around and got a triple-double." Who did you have in mind when you wrote that?

Come on. Magic Johnson!

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Reggie Miller once felt the wrath of David Duchovny's jumper.

•Tim Robbins:

So who would be your all-time favorite Met?

Wes Westrum.

(laughs) Serious?

No. It's tough. I was in the stadium when they won it in 1969; it was my 11th birthday the exact day they won the World Series. So that whole '69 team is special to me, from Tommy Agee to Jerry Grote.

For a while one of our dads was collecting '69 Mets cards, but it's impossible to get Nolan Ryan.

Yea, the key is to get a Jim Fregrosi card and pretend it's Ryan.

•Kevin Costner:

A good anecdote from the set that nobody's heard?

I'll tell you what. Ronny (Shelton) likes pranks. Anyway, there's a guy in the film who was really enjoying himself in town when we weren't shooting, and may have had a good time out at the bars with a lady or two on the young side. Anyway, Ronny decides to get a local cop to come out and walk onto the set while we're in the middle of shooting a game scene and confront the guy, cuff him and arrest him for what would be, in the cop's words, having a little too much fun with an underage girl, unbeknownst to him. I mean, this is Durham and nobody's checking ID's. So the cops are basically there arresting the guy, and you can see the horror. Everybody else just loves this and it makes me almost want to throw up. I wanted to go hide in the dugout, and I'm dying. But the kid, the guy, he's just seriously watching his entire life crumble in front of him and it's in front of everybody! I'm pretty sure I snapped a bit and had to sort of reveal the prank, just for my own sanity. My stomach is just f**ing turning! And I mean, the thing is, Ronny had gotten actual cops to do this. They were taking him off the field. For all intents, this was no joke. I couldn't take the suffering.

•David Duchovny:

We've seen you in a bunch of celebrity hoops games over the years. Any good stories?

The first year of X-Files, I was in MTV's Rock-N-Jock game. Whoever was coaching the game kept me on the bench pretty much the whole time. I was getting so pissed off and hated the whole thing; I thought it would be real basketball and I get there and there's a 30-foot-high rim and all that. I'm supposed to pass the ball over to Queen Latifah? I'm never coming back to this thing. Finally the coach puts me in, and there's not much time left, and my only thought is: I gotta score. I can't leave here without scoring. I get the ball near the top of the key, and Reggie Miller's running at me with his hands up. I just step back and drain one, right over Reggie Miller. I hated him at the time, too, so it was sweet.

•Cheech Marin:

What are your own favorite sports memories?

Well, I was at the game where Koufax struck out 18 batters, and I was also at a game where Koufax threw a no-hitter. I also remember going to the '91 NBA Finals in LA when Jordan switched hands in mid-air, a play you see a replay of every day. Crazy.

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"You're on your own."

•Don Zimmer:

Your opinion on this must be incredible: best player ever?

That's a tough question. If you're asking me the best player I've ever seen, it's Willie Mays. For a pitcher, I'd say for five years, it was Sandy Koufax. You can't fit Koufax in the same category as a Bob Gibson or a Robin Roberts, but for those five years, he was the best I've ever seen. I practically saw 'em all. (laughs)

•Rick Sutcliffe:

What do you remember about the first night game at Wrigley?

That was the first time I can remember ever throwing a pitch and literally, it seemed like everyone in the ballpark was taking a picture. Harry Caray said it seemed like there was an explosion. Damon Berryhill throws the ball back to me, and I can barely see it from the glare in my eyes. So, of course, my second pitch Phil Bradley hits it out of the park. I guess in the booth, there's dead silence, and Bill Murray is up there with the guys, and he just goes "TURN 'EM OFF! THIS ISN'T GONNA WORK HERE!"

You gotta have a good Zimmer story, right?

(laughs) I'm sure. I'll say this: if ever a manager made a difference for a team, it's Don Zimmer. He might have won us 30 games. One good story is actually from '89, the year we went to the NLCS. I was struggling after the All-Star Break; after my third start post-break, he calls me in and he's getting on me, telling me I'm throwing stupid pitches. He goes, "I could call a better game than you!" I'm fired up and I say back, "You wanna call the game for me? DO IT!" I walked out. Five days later, we're at Shea. Zim calls me in and goes, "You know what you're doing; I'm not calling this game." I haven't even looked at the line-up yet, because I thought he was serious five days ago, so Zim says he will call it. Joe Giradi's catching the game, and the first pitch he calls for a change-up. Now, I've never thrown a change-up to open a game ever. I throw it, it works, and next thing I know, it's 9 up, 9 down.

In the 4th inning, the Mets load the bases, and Strawberry is coming up. Zimmer has called every pitch in the game to this point. He comes out to the mound, and Girardi runs out too. The Cubs were always on WGN, so whenever Zimmer put his hand over his mouth, you knew he was going to curse and he didn't want the TV cameras to see it. He looks at me and goes, "I got one thing to say. You're on your own." Just turns and runs off. Girardi and I just start laughing. He runs back, and I get Strawberry to pop up. The next guy is Kevin McReynolds, and I get him into a double play. Inning over.

The whole rest of that year, we're all saying "You're on your own!" to each other. It became a rallying cry.

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