Mark's Favorites

After doing the nightly sportscasts on Channel Two for some 26 and a half years…one of the most common questions I am asked is…who is your favorite athlete to interview…and who is your least favorite. I can tell you that most of these big time sports heroes are very pleasant people and they are probably a lot more like you and me than you may think. But then again there are some who are very different. A few of the classiest gentlemen I have ever had the pleasure to meet, interview and get to know a little bit are Kenny Stabler, Ronnie Lott, Joe Montana and my all time favorite….the only man ever to coach the Warriors to a championship, Al Attles. I would also have to mention the former Oakland A’s outfielder Eric Byrnes who is from the Bay Area…the first time I met him he said he already knew me…several years ago he was in New Orleans with his dad as a 12-year old getting to see the 49ers in the Super Bowl…before the game he saw me on the field doing some pre-game interviews and yelled at me from the stands to come over and say hello…he said he never forgot how I came over and shook his hand. More importantly he added….”anytime you want to interview me…you got it”. I guess it goes to show you never know who you’re going to meet and who they might grow up to be…which leads me to my least favorite interview…that would have to be Barry Bonds. I know it is popular to bash Barry these days….but I must say he deserves much of the grief he gets…I have seen him be rude to so many people it’s pathetic…these days however he is a perfect example of …what comes around goes around….and as his world continues to cave in around him and he is no longer a superstar not to mention his legal problems…you have to wonder how many kids Barry has ignored…kids who are going to be grownup someday and they will never forget how Bonds treated them….and believe me in the next couple years Mr. Bonds is going to need a few friends….maybe then he’ll learn that the same people he disrespected on the way up are the same ones he’ll be seeing again now that he is on the way down…..retirement could be hard times for Barry Bonds. And that is a “natural” fact if you catch my drift.   

That’s the sporting life,
Mark Ibañez