ESPN’s Mike Greenberg opened the April 6 edition of “Get Up!” with this heartfelt message: “First, foremost and forever, thank you to all the medical professionals and first responders who are working so hard, so bravely, to keep us safe and healthy. This program is for you. If it helps you get 10 to 15 minutes of relaxation, then it was well worth our effort.”
As Greenberg put it later during a 45-minute interview with the Tribune, “I feel like doing our show right now is valuable. We’re not saving lives, but we are providing some outlet.”
“Get Up!” launched two years ago against the backdrop of an April blizzard in New York. It fit. The start was messy, and critics questioned Greenberg’s decision to split with Mike Golic, his radio partner of 18 years.
Michelle Beadle exited, and the show pivoted away from fashion and pop culture.
“If I walk into McDonald’s and they say, ‘We’re not doing hamburgers right now,’ I would say: ‘What the hell are you talking about? That’s what you do,’ ” Greenberg said. “We made the wrong assumption and corrected it within a couple of weeks.
“What I heard loud and clear on social media and from friends was: ‘Greeny, we put on ESPN because we want the sports.’ “
February was the 12th consecutive month of ratings growth for the show, which airs from 7 to 9 a.m. Chicago time.
“I asked (fellow Northwestern alumnus) Seth Meyers: How long did it take before you felt like you really knew what you were trying to do on ‘Late Night’? He said two years,” Greenberg said. “I think it took us a year to where I thought: What we’re doing is right; now we just have to get better at it. If you and I are having this conversation 12 months from now, hopefully we’ll be much better still.”
More from our conversation with Greenberg:
Do you feel your role has changed at all during the pandemic?
We had these conversations after 9/11 and after (the U.S.) invaded Afghanistan. My thinking: If you’re turning on your television to ESPN, it is because you want an escape from that. You want to get away, whether it’s 10 minutes or, God bless you, the whole two hours. That’s my job and our job, to provide that respite.
And it’s only appropriate during this time to point out there are freaking heroes among us. Right now if I walked into a room and someone sneezed, I would get uneasy. You have doctors and nurses and EMTs who are doing their jobs in the most unimaginable conditions. It only feels appropriate to acknowledge that.
Your conversation April 3 with Doris Burke was touching. She was amazing on your air.
I exchanged notes with her right when I first heard she had been diagnosed (positive for the coronavirus). By the time the world knew about it, she was already doing much better. But the unknown is frightening. I think you heard her talking as a parent. I’m fine but I have this fear: Is this going to end differently for someone that I really care about? And I think that’s probably how most of us feel right now.
I think people feel they can come on our show and be their authentic selves. They’re not going to be asked a couple of quick formula questions and go. It was a memorable conversation.
As was Dan Orlovsky’s hummus joke Monday. (Orlovsky’s joke was: My ex-girlfriend tried to steal my hummus once. I told that chick peace.)
That is Dan to a T. He’s such a sweet guy, and if you follow his social media, you see he’s got four little kids in his house with triplets. I will confess, I love hummus. So I had all these things in my head I wanted to say because I am a firm believer that hummus is the world’s best sandwich spread. If you give me a turkey sandwich and I’m offered mustard or mayo, I will ask: Do you have hummus? That’s what I wanted to say, but he threw me off completely with that joke.
With the NFL draft approaching, you had a lot of practice pronouncing Tua Tagovailoa’s last name.
He’s 22-2 as a starter and that doesn’t even count his most memorable game, which of course was the three touchdowns he threw to win the championship in ’18. As far as risk-reward, he’s one of the most interesting storylines I can remember in recent draft memory. Would I be willing to bet my children’s college tuition that he will be healthy? My answer is no, but I’ll root like crazy for him and everyone who has a chance to make a living.
How much has the NFL bailed us all out?
I’ve seen criticism saying it’s bad optics to be carrying on as though it’s business as usual. My response to that would be, so long as they are not diverting doctors, nurses, EMTs, police officers, anyone like that from doing their jobs, I think they should carry on. And certainly in providing content for broadcasters and writers and all of us who cover sports, that kind of entertainment and diversion for people who are sports fans, I think they’re doing the right thing by holding the draft when they are (April 23-25).
Who should our Jets take?
I want the Jets to build an offensive line. They also need an explosive playmaker on the outside. So if there’s a D’Brickashaw Ferguson at 11, please take him. If not, a Jerry Jeudy or CeeDee Lamb kind of receiver.
When did this all become real for you? For me it was covering the Big Ten Tournament and seeing Fred Hoiberg get sick and getting the news of Nebraska’s players being quarantined.
I have quite a few friends who do business in China and I’ve been hearing about this for months. I remember reading about all those passengers who were on that cruise ship and I had long conversations with friends in mid-February. It was clear to me and a lot of people that this had the potential to be very disruptive.
From an American sports perspective, one night I went to sleep and we had an NBA season, and the next morning I looked at my phone and the headline was: NBA suspends season.
What has been the quote-unquote best thing to come out of this for you?
My daughter, Nikki, went from living her very independent life at Northwestern to being with her parents 24 hours a day. I don’t know that this has been great for her, but she and I have taken a long walk literally every day since she’s been home. We talk about anything and everything: What were your three favorite TV shows growing up? Tell me about your new friends and sorority sisters. When do you declare a major?
My son, Stephen, is also home all the time. We have not allowed them to hang out with friends or anything. We have taken shelter-in-place very seriously. In Connecticut it’s been no joke. We live in Westport, and that was one of the first hot spots. We’re watching shows we liked watching when our kids were growing up: “Modern Family,” “Glee,” “Hannah Montana,” “The Suite Life of Zack and Cody,” “iCarly.” It’s been fun.
I’m driving home now and the first thing I’ll ask Nikki is, when is our walk?
You are a celebrated metrosexual. Who is doing your hair?
No one is doing my hair or makeup. I am all alone. Our show unit is normally 18 people — not counting the on-air people. The objective is to have as many people as possible do their jobs from home, so we have only three (on site in Bristol, Conn.). It’s unlike any on-air experience I’ve ever had. The least of it is that we don’t have hair and makeup. I know how to do it. I started at CLTV, and we didn’t have anyone doing our hair and makeup then. But trying to put together a compelling television show under these circumstances has been a wonderful challenge, and I think we are doing a really good show.
Did the show move to Bristol to make the production potentially smoother or because New York is a corona hot spot?
All of the above. It just made sense.
The other day you lost Buster Olney’s audio. You rolled with it.
I think we just accept that now. If three months ago I’m talking to Buster Olney and we can’t get the signal to work and I can’t hear what he’s saying, I would be upset about it. Right now everyone gets it. The audience recognizes we’re doing the best we can with what we have.
And this is where experience comes in. I started hosting shows in 1995 on CLTV and I’ve been on air just about every day since. There are very few things that can happen that I won’t be fine with. If the biggest problem we have in a given day is that Buster’s signal goes down, that’s a pretty good day.
You showed Korean baseball players Monday in an empty stadium with many players wearing masks. Can you envision that here?
We better because I think it’s the most realistic possibility. Here is the position I’ve taken: I don’t think it does anybody any good for me to go on TV and say: Hey, I don’t think we’re going to have sports again for a really long time. What purpose is that serving? I am going to be optimistic because it costs the same as being pessimistic. But I’m also going to be realistic. I’m not going to lie to my audience.
I believe the most realistic option is that sports come back without (live) audiences. Let’s start with a tennis match. That strikes me as the easiest thing to do. Two competitors, a couple of line judges, a couple of ball kids, if you even need those, and some security. It will be a lot easier to get those people somewhere than to put 20,000 people in Arthur Ashe Stadium. Golf is another one, a non-contact sport that’s easier to bring back. Have the competitors tested and all that without crowds.
So that’s why I was so excited about the story that Jeff (Passan and Alden Gonzalez) did. I really want to give our audience an idea of what sports will look like when they come back. I will be delighted to watch golf, tennis, baseball, basketball, whatever it is that they could come back with. The sooner the better. I’m all-in. I think bringing sports back will be extraordinarily good for psyche.
