“Sarah Spain Brings The Heat” on ESPNU’s “Unite”

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I was on the ESPNU show “Unite” last week to talk about Game 1 of the Bulls and Heat series. Check it out!

My Favorite Pieces from 2012

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It’s pretty much impossible to embrace a new year without looking back at the year that just ended. The same questions always arise: What did you do? What did you learn? Where did you go? Who did you meet? What changed? And what stayed the same?

A new year is also a great time to look back at the work you did–a practice that is particularly easy for those of us who put much of our work into print (virtual or actual). With that in mind, here are a few of my favorite espnW pieces from 2012…

Don’t be “that guy” at the game–A list of Foul Fan Behavior.

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Tom failed again? Blame Gisele!–Pinning men’s defeats on women.

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Calling out Osi & questioning the use of femininity as an insult.

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Just say “No” to pink–The unwritten rules of female sports fans.

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The heartbreaking & inspiring story of rower and activist Jenn Gibbons.

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Finding a kindred sports spirit in the most surprising of places.

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53rd Man–Bears TE Kyle Adams on faith, on the field and off

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Ryan Garcia’s incredible 366 Random Acts of Kindness

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In honor of a lost friend, Kelcey Harrison ran from NY to SF.

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Street Clothes–Packers tune in when CJ Wilson plays the piano

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53rd Man–Third time’s a charm for Tommie Campbell.

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‘Twas the night before Christmas–A years of sports in verse.

 

Check Out My Video Game At Dave & Buster’s!

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Great news! By late November of this year, every Dave & Buster’s restaurant in the country will have two X Games SnoCross arcade games! Made by Raw Thrills (the people behind Big Buck Hunter) the game is a Winter X Games-branded snowmobile racing game.

Head out to a Dave & Buster’s next month and play a game or two — you’ll recognize the voice cheering you on! I’m the game’s announcer, helping you select your vehicle, giving you props when you complete a trick and congratulating you on your finish. (I really channeled my inner-surfer bro for lines like “Sweet Trick!” and “Huge Air!”)

Go check it out and let me know what you think! If you send me a picture of yourself with the game, I’ll post it on my site!

Fan On The Run

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I got a great email today that made me feel all warm and fuzzy inside.

Back in April I wrote a column for espnW about turning your baseball team’s successes into personal motivators. Inspired by the MasterCard “Priceless Chicago” campaign, which rewards Cubs fans for pledging support for their team, I took a pledge of my own:

I decided to use the Cubs pledge as a motivational tool. For the last few months I’ve wanted to get back on a regular running regimen but haven’t been able to get motivated. Running used to be one of my main sources of exercise, but after straining a muscle behind my knee, I took it out of my workouts and never really got back to it in earnest.

In an effort to reclaim my status as a runner, I will pledge an offseason mile for each of the Cubs wins. So if the Cubs win 75 games, I’ll have to log 75 miles between the end of their season and Opening Day 2013. Now for the marathoners out there, 75 miles over a few months may not sound like much, but to me a couple miles every few days sounds like a perfect way to reintroduce myself to the treadmill.

The Cubs are slogging through one of their worst seasons ever (49-79) so I shouldn’t have too much trouble keeping my promise over the offseason. Five miles a day a few times a week and I’ll be done in no time. Maybe next year I should pledge a mile for each Cubs loss…But I digress.

Reader Jennifer was inspired by my post and, despite being a fan of the rival White Sox, decided to follow my lead. Here’s the email she sent me today.

Thank you
In january of this year I couldn’t run a BLOCK without stopping. Then I read your column about running a mile for every cubs win. Well as a Sox fan I said – hey I can do that too, that’s a way to get into shape. As you know, the Sox are doing very well so I’m running a lot but have switched gears. Now I’m training to run my first 5k in September (AIDS run). But I did want to say “thank you” for the inspiration. Your column is more than just enjoyable – it’s inspiring.

The Sox have definitely kept Jennifer moving–they’re already won 71 games this year. It was so great to hear that my pledge inspired someone else to get moving, and hearing that Jennifer is going from not running at all to taking on a 5k makes me want to step up my game, as well.

Thanks for the note, Jennifer, and good luck with the race!

Look Ma! I Made it to SportsCenter!

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This past Monday I was one of the judges at the McDonald’s All-American Game Powerade Jamfest along with WNBA star Ivory Latta, Comcast sportscaster David Kaplan, v103 personality Ramonski Luv, former Bears greats Otis Wilson and Dan Hampton and a young girl whose family spent some time at the Ronald McDonald House when she underwent brain surgery.

Not only did we have a blast that night, my card-holding abilities (along with some dunks, I guess) made it to SportsCenter’s Top Ten plays! Here’s a pretty terrible iPhone video I got of my SportsCenter debut.

SportsCenter Top Plays #10

SportsCenter Top Plays #2

Better Than Anything You Saw on Day 1 of March Madness

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You wanna see some March Madness? Check this out…

That triple-OT winner from Lauriane Rougeau pushed the Cornell women past Boston University in the NCAA Quarterfinals.

Tonight at 8pm Central the Big Red (30-4-0) will face the second-seeded Minnesota Gophers (32-5-2) in the second Women’s Frozen Four semifinal. Check the schedule at http://www.ncaa.com/liveschedule to watch the game live online!

GO BIG RED!

Happy Valentine’s Day from Michael Jordan…

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This past Christmas my boyfriend’s sister gifted me these retro Michael Jordan Valentine’s Day cards. It’s not an exaggeration to say my heart skipped a beat at the sight of super-dreamy MJ, in all his ’80s glory, sending me his Valentine’s Day love.

If you’re alone this February 14, let the greatest of all time, Michael Jeffrey Jordan, warm your heart with his thoughtful compliments (“Lookin’ fine!” and “You’re cool!”) and his unintentionally euphemistic declarations (“You give me a lift!”).

Awkward!

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On Thursday the Lake County News-Sun, a local paper in Chicago’s northern suburbs, had a little blurb about me.

The accompanying photo, from my high school track and field days, is a real doozy.

Now that’s the face of a winner, right?!

I have no choice but to chalk it up to my awkward phase. And I must point out that it’s very difficult to look attractive whilst long jumping. See Exhibits A-D…

Fortunately the blurb was actually quite nice…

■ Sports-talk radio station “The Score” is celebrating 20 years on the air this week.

But the guess here is that the Chicago sports-talk radio personality most likely to go national real soon works at the other station in town — WMVP/ESPN-1000.

Sarah Spain first showed up in the sports pages of this newspaper in the late-1990s as a track star at Lake Forest High School.

She was one of the county’s best in track and field, with the emphasis on “field.”

Her senior year, she was a state qualifier in the discus, the long jump and the triple jump.

Fast-forward to 2012, and she’s now strong as the sports-news reader on AM-1000 during the morning sports-talk shows.

She’s even logged some time as a talk-show host on weekends and when regulars are on vacation, though her strong suit is definitely reading the sports news.

Which, at the ESPN “Mother Ship” in Bristol, Conn., is what the cable-TV network is always on the lookout for.

Don’t be shocked if she’s behind a “SportsCenter” desk there sometime in 2012.

I guess I’ll have to forgive them for the photo…

There’s So Much Beauty In The World…

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“There’s so much beauty in the world. Sometimes I feel like I’m seeing it all at once, and it’s too much, my heart fills up like a balloon that’s about to burst…And then I remember to relax, and stop trying to hold on to it, and then it flows through me like rain and I can’t feel anything but gratitude for every single moment of my stupid little life.”

(H/T @BruceArthur, @JPNikota)

“Press Hop”

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If you follow me on Twitter or on Facebook you’ve likely seen me post this a dozen or so times. Well if you ask me, it never gets old.

Check it out – DJ Steve Porter’s “Press Hop.”