Bob Costas On the Kalb Report

Bob Costas was at the National Press Club on Monday as the guest on “The Kalb Report”. Costas is a familiar face to those who have watched the last five Summer Olympics and for baseball fans around the country. He is an award-winning sportscaster with 19 Emmys and eight “National Sportscaster of the Year”.

Much of the interview was spent on America’s past time and Costas’s favorite sport, baseball. Costas grew up in New York during an exciting time for baseball - when Mickey Mantle played for the New York Yankees.

Costas believes that although baseball has become more popular, the connection between the fans and the players has diminished. Line-ups change frequently and therefore it is difficult to become attached to a player. Pitching has dramatically changed over the years as well; pitchers used to throw complete games all the time, but now a coach is satisfied if he gets 6 or 7 innings out of his pitcher.

Another major change in baseball is the amount of money in the game. Costas always favors the rights of the players and does not mind that they earn millions of dollars a year.

The Olympics have also played a crucial role in Costas’s career. Costas was happy with NBC’s coverage of the Bejing games, but would have liked NBC to do more coverage on the social, economic, and political issues in China. While in China, Costas did not only focus on the sports events, but was able to cover various stories beyond the sports world.

-Roxanne Martin