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Synopsis
In the July 8 installment of CostasNOW, Bob Costas spoke with Hall of Fame legends and tells the story of a legendary horse who became an unlikely heroine of the women's rights movement thirty years ago this month.
On the eve of his final appearance in a major, Jack Nicklaus sits down at his home in Florida with Bob for a conversation and look back at an amazing career. The 65-year-old Nicklaus has won 18 major tournaments, including two of three British Opens at the old course at St. Andrews, where this week's Open Championship is being held. The Golden Bear sat down with Bob about finishing perhaps the greatest career the sport has ever seen, as well as life after golf, which will involve plenty of family time with his five children and many grandchildren, all of whom live with fifteen minutes of each other in south Florida.
While Nicklaus says goodbye to his sport at age 65, another Hall-of-Fame legend in baseball is still going strong at 70. Frank Robinson is one of the Cooperstown museum's most underrated members, ranking behind just Ruth, Aaron, Bonds, and Mays on the career home run list, and the only man to ever win the Most Valuable Player award in both leagues. In addition to his outstanding numbers, Robinson also became a trailblazer for the sport in 1975 when he became baseball's first black manager. Thirty years later, he's managing again, and his team, the just-relocated Washington Nationals, finds itself in first place at the All-Star break. In an interview taped on the field in Washington, Robinson talked to Bob about his team, his career, and more.
Not too far behind Robinson on the home run list is perhaps the greatest third baseman the game has ever seen, Mike Schmidt, who pounded out 548 round-trippers in an 18-year-career with the Philadelphia Phillies. Schmidt came to New York to be part of the CostasNOW sports roundtable. Joining him were New York Giants Pro Bowl running back Tiki Barber and Jimmy Roberts of NBC Sports. Among the topics addressed are steroids in sports, the Kenny Rogers incident, and what it's like for professionals like Schmidt and Barber to watch their sport on television.
The feature story was on the great filly Ruffian. Thirty years ago, the undefeated female horse captivated the nation with her speed and grace, and her owners agreed to race her in a "Battle of the Sexes"-style match race against the Kentucky Derby winner, Foolish Pleasure. The pre-race hype was huge, but the race itself became memorable for its tragic finish.
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