The Noise Report

Sports Illustrated
March 23, 2016
by Richard Deitsch

I thought Karl Ravech, Eduardo Perez and Doug Glanville did a terrific job interviewing President Barack Obama during ESPN’s broadcast of the Rays playing the Cuban National Team in Havana on Tuesday. Where others might have tried to yuck it up with the President given the setting, the trio adeptly mixed substantive questions with more fun stuff, such as Obama’s White Sox fandom. Obama addressed his meeting with Cuban dissidents and his reasons (which many disagree, obviously) for why his Administration changed course on Cuba and did not shy away from discussing human rights violations in Cuba. He also addressed why he was at the game hours after a terrorism attack in Brussels. It was a quality interview given the setting and props to the commentators and coordinating producer Phil Orlins. This was ESPN at it’s treat-the-audience-like-adults best.

Republished from SportsIllustrated.com.