Evan Weiner can be reached at evanjweiner@gmail.com
Evan is a speaker, author, with a radio and TV background. He has about 25 topics and has spoken globally. In 2007, the Department of State sent him to talk to foreign nationals at the George Bush Presidential Library in College Station, Texas to speak about the politics of sports business in America. Evan Weiner started his journalism career at the age of 15 by hosting a Spring Valley High School talk show on WRKL Radio, Mount Ivy, N.Y. in 1971. He also, at the same time, was a “correspondent” covering high school sports for the Rockland Journal News, Nyack, N.Y. at the same time. By 1978, he was covering news for WGRC Radio and won two Associated Press Awards in 1978 and 1979. In the 1980s, he started his long association with Westwood One Radio. Evan was a contributing columnist for New York Newsday (2001-05); AM-New York, the New York Press, the Bergen (New Jersey) Record, the Philadelphia Metro, Washington Examiner, Orlando Sentinel, Rhode Island’s Sports Journal, and for The Chicago Tribune’s Spanish Hoy! newspapers in N.Y., Chicago and LA between 2002. He did a daily commentary called “The Business of Sports” for Westwood One Radio between 1999 and 2006. Evan was the New York Sun’s Business of Sport columnist between 2005 and the paper’s demise in 2008 and did interviews for John Madden’s Radio programs between 1988 and 2003.
Evan has also appeared on programs on the former WBIS, Channel 31 (New York, N.Y.), RNN (New York), the History Channel with Al Michaels and Frank Deford, as well as ABCNews Now’s Politics Live TV show with Sam Donaldson, CN8’s sports program and the BBC Radio Documentary Sports and Sponsorship, and MSNBC-TV. He has written nine books about the business and politics of sports and does a daily video podcast called “The Politics of Sports Business.” Evan received the United States Sports Academy’s first distinguished journalist award in 2003 in a ceremony in Mobile, Alabama. He will receive the Ronald Reagan Award for Journalism from the Academy in January 2011. Evan does a daily podcast on “The Politics of Sports Business” and is featured in the documentary “Sons of Ben” about the fans of the Philadelphia Union soccer team that was released in 2015.
He is the author of 12 books. From Peach Baskets to Dance Halls and the Not-So-Stern NBA, America’s Passion: How a Coal Miner’s Game Became the NFL in the 20th Century, The Business and Politics of Sports — 2005, The Business and Politics of Sports, Second Edition — 2010 and 2014 Edition: The Business & Politics of Sports. The Stern Years: 1984-2014. The Politics Of Sports Business 2017, I Am Not Paul Bunyan And Other Tall Tales, The Politics of Sports Business 2018: Politicians, Business Leaders, Decision Makers, And Policy, The Politics Of Sports Business 2019, COVID-19 Edition: The Politics Of Sports Business 2020, The Politics Of Sports Business 2021, The Politics Of Sports Business 2022.
The Topics:
Censorship In America: The motion picture industry, television, books in the 20th century. Why it happened and how it shaped film and TV.
Rock and Roll: The early days. Where did it come from? Why did the “adults” hate it and the teens love it? Was rock and roll rebellious or just an old form of music packaged under a new name or did the music’s originators make America nervous in the 1950s?
The Women Pioneers Of American TV: The early days of TV was dominated by men on the small screen but a surprising number of women (unusual for its time, the late 1940s and early 1950s) left a mark.
The First Ladies Of Comedy. It’s really a man’s world according to the bookers and talent agents but some women did manage to open the door with Phyllis Diller credited to be the first real woman standup comic. Women were held back. But there were others before her including Moms Mabley and Jean Carroll. Joan Rivers and many others have followed in this highly competitive field.
Black History Month – Athletes: African-American athletes have made their mark on sports globally since the 1936 Berlin Olympics and Jesse Owens performance against the backdrop of Adolf Hitler and the Nazis. Many African-American athletes have more than just on field accomplishments such as Jackie Robinson, Elgin Baylor, 22 American Football League All-Stars in 1965, Bill Russell, Muhammad Ali, Curt Flood and many others took principled stands and helped change society.
Jewish Comics – As recently as 1978, it was estimated that 80 percent of the United States standup comics were Jewish. From the Marx Brothers to Jack Benny to Fanny Brice, Jewish comedians went from vaudeville to film and radio. The first satirists were Moe, Larry and Curly from the Three Stooges before Mort Sahl and Lenny Bruce. Rodney Dangerfield and Joan Rivers cut their comic teeth in the Catskills in New York or the Borscht Belt as did Mel Brooks and Jerry Seinfeld. No one knows why Jews dominated comedy but they did.
From Sea To Shining Sea: James Polk was considered a dark horse Presidential candidate in 1844 and had a few issues he wanted to settle. Make Texas a state, grab all the land he could from the northern boundary of the Mexican territory to Russian Alaska and grab all the land he could from Mexico bordering the Pacific Ocean. Polk’s actions would see America transformed during his four years in office from 1845 through 1849 and become a united land with states and territories from sea to shining sea.
1938: Hitler has been chancellor of Germany since 1933 and all of his moves have not been stopped by any country. Hitler takes Austria, gets Czechoslovakia in the Munich Agreement. Tightens the noose on the Jews. Countries refuse to take Jewish immigrants. Kristallnacht takes place in November. War of the Worlds scares America. Abbott and Costello “debut” Who’s On First to a national radio audience. Superman flies for the first time and Snow White is on the big screen. Joe Louis beats Max Schmeling.
1939: The world is on fire. There are three conflicts on the European continent and an undeclared war between Japan and China. Hitler is on the march and survives an assassination attempt. America has taken an isolation stance but Franklin Roosevelt expresses interest in an atomic bomb. Lou Gehrig retires, Gone With The Wind and the Wizard of Oz hit the silver screen and commercial TV starts in America at the New York World’s Fair.
1940: There are two wars being fought in Europe and another war was taking place between Japan and China. The United States was not involved in any of the three wars but President Franklin Roosevelt was preparing an American population that didn’t want any part of the war for war. There was an American presidential election. Hollywood began lampooning Hitler, Disney put out two major children movies and Bugs Bunny is born.
1941: A reluctant America goes to war with Japan, Germany and Italy after the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor on December 7th. Germany invades the Soviet Union. The American Civil Rights Movement is bolstered by FDR. Bugs Bunny becomes a star, an American military vehicle may have been named after a cartoon character. Citizen Kane is released.
1942 – On January 1st, 1942, the United States was in its 24th day of fighting in a war that started 16 months earlier and American’ lives changed. Men and women were off to war and back home rationing and blackouts were part of normal life. Everything had changed. America was no longer an isolationist country. Nazi Germany wanted to extinguish Jews and Japan wanted to dominate the Pacific. FDR said it was okay to play baseball. Bambi, Casablanca and the song White Christmas were released and Bob Hope did his first entertaining the troops show.
1943: The Soviet Union begins making advances against Nazi Germany. The Americans are beginning to have success against Japan in Asia. Allied leaders, Roosevelt, Churchill and Stalin are beginning to feel confident that they will win World War II. American women are joining the war effort working in munition factories and in other areas taking men’s jobs until the war is done. Disney and Warner Brothers make war propaganda cartoons starring their ducks, Donald and Daffy. Americans endure rationing. Rodgers and Hammerstein’s first hit, Oklahoma is on Broadway.
1944: The tide is turning in the European theater of World War II as the Soviets have Nazi Germany on the run. The United States is working on an Atomic Bomb. The Pacific theater sees heavy fighting. The GI Bill is passed, Roosevelt wins a four term as American President. Rationing and blackouts continue, women flood the workplace. The propaganda machines are working overtime.
1945: World War II comes to an end. FDR dies, Churchill is kicked out of office by British voters. The Atomic Bomb is used twice by the US in Japan. Rationing is over, sacrifice is done and there is a transition in the United States from a war time economy to a post war economy. The first civil rights bill is passed since 1875. Frank Sinatra takes a stand for school integration in Gary, Indiana. The Slinky makes its debut.
1946: The Baby Boomer era begins. World War II is over and there are two camps, the United States and capitalism and the Soviet Union and communism. India wants independence, the post war Jewish question of should there be a Jewish nation emerges. Rations are lifted and there are two new pro sports leagues in the United States.
1947: Jackie Robinson breaks baseball’s color barrier, India and Pakistan become nations. The Cold War intensifies. The United Nations paves the way for Israel to become a nation. Was there a UFO in Roswell? Miracle on 34th Street is released.
1948: North Korea and Israel were created. Wars would ensue. Truman defeats Dewey. The Cold War continues. Ed Sullivan and Milton Berle are on TV, Gentlemen’s Agreement wins Oscars and raises eyebrows. The hunt for American communists continues.
1949: America is jolted as the Soviet Union has the atomic bomb and mainland China becomes a communist nation. Berlin remains a problem.
1950: Baby Boomers turn four or younger and are growing up with the outbreak of the Korean War and the continuation of the Cold War. The American economy is booming, the NBA desegregates, Silly Putty is introduced, Charlie Brown steps on the national stage and Disney’s Cinderella is realized.
1951: The American economy is booming but fear is all around. The Korean War is becoming a slog, communists are everywhere. I Love Lucy debuts, DiMaggio says goodbye. The civil rights movement sees a school strike and a riot in Cicero, Illinois. The Term Rock and Roll is introduced.
1952: Truman decides not to run for re-election. Eisenhower wins the election while ushering in a new era, the TV candidate. There are coups in Cuba and Egypt, the US has a hydrogen bomb. Mr. Potato Head, MAD Magazine and Holiday Inn debut.
1953: Ike becomes President, Stalin dies. The Cold War heats up. Queen Elizabeth II takes the throne. The CIA helps to overthrow the Iranian government over oil. There is a truce in Korea. America is clearly the global economic leader. French Indochina is a festering problem. TV dinners and Playboy debut.
1954: No more war and there is economic prosperity but the CIA overthrows the Guatemalan government. The Supreme Court orders school desegregation, Vietnam splits, Elvis enters the building, Joe and Marilyn elope and then divorce.
1955: The polio vaccine is successful. The Montgomery, Alabama Bus Boycott and Rosa Parks. Emmett Till is murdered. America becomes involved in the Vietnam conflict. Disneyland opens and McDonald’s serves its first hamburger in Des Plaines, Illinois. It is next year in Brooklyn and Rock Around The Clock ushers in rock and roll.
1956: There is an American Presidential Election, trouble in the Middle East and two Soviet satellites are protesting local conditions with two very different outcomes. Little Richard hits the song charts but 1956 is the year of Elvis. Martin Luther King jumps to prominence.
1957: America at war with itself in Little Rock, Arkansas school desegregation. The Soviets get into space. Rock and roll entrenches itself. Lennon meets McCartney. I Love Lucy says goodbye.
1958: The United States becomes heavily involved in the Middle East. Cold War tensions continue. The Space Race starts. China and Taiwan have skirmishes, Jet planes changed lives. Major League Baseball moves to California, The NFL’s greatest game ever changed pro football.
1959: Castro takes over Cuba, Alaska becomes the 49th state, the Cold War continues, February 3rd is the day the music died, the Barbie doll is introduced, post-war status quo is ending.
1960: Cold War, Television, Presidential race, African Countries Independence, Civil Rights, Elvis, Ali, The Beatles, The Pill, The Twist and Playboy.
1961: JFK, youthful optimism meets Cold War realities, the Civil Rights Movement and the Space Race.
1962: Cuban Missile Crisis, Civil Rights Movement, The Space Race, Vietnam
1963: Cold War, Space Race, Vietnam, Civil Rights, JFK Assassinated, Beatlemania
1964: The First Baby Boomers Turn 18, Civil Rights, Vietnam
1965: The Great Society, Civil Rights, Vietnam, Cold War
1966: Vietnam, African Problems After Colonialism Ends, Civil Rights, Women’s Rights, The Beatles Quit Touring
1967 Summer of Love
1968: Fifty-Three Years Later How Events 50 Years Ago Shaped The World
1969: Fifty-Two Years Later: The 68 Hangover, Nixon Enters The World Stage, the war continues, man lands on the moon.
1970: Nixon meets hippies, Elvis. Kent State, Cambodia, Apollo 13. Black September.
1971: Ping Pong Diplomacy Opens China. Nixon Bugs Ellsberg’s Office A Watergate Prelude, The War Continues And There Are Other Wars
1972: Watergate, Munich, China, Vietnam
1973: Watergate, Agnew Resigns, Yom Kippor War, Gas Shortages King vs. Riggs
1974: Nixon Resigns
1975: The Fall of Saigon, two assassination attempts on Ford, Israel and Egypt have a truce, Microsoft begins business operations, NYC faces bankruptcy. Jaws is released, Saturday Night Live starts.
1976: A Bicentennial, a Presidential Election, Mao dies, The beginning of the end of Apartheid. Apple Computers is formed, Rocky is born.
1977: Carter is sworn in as US President. Baby steps are taking for an Egyptian-Israeli peace. Star Wars is released, technology is accelerating and Elvis dies.
1978: The Camp David Accords, Jonestown, Spain Reforms Its Government, Rhodesia Reforms Its Government.
1979: The Iranian Revolution, Afghanistan invaded by the Soviets, Jimmy Carter’s sagging popularity, Gas lines, inflation, the introduction of the Moral Majority, ESPN and The Walkman and the end of the original Volkswagen Beetle.
1980: Jimmy Carter’s Problems, Afghanistan, Iran, Inflation. The Miracle On Ice.
1981: Ronald Reagan is now US President. The Iranian hostage crisis is over. Reagan survives an assassination attempt. He forges a bond with UK Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher. Sadat is killed. Charles and Diana get married, Raiders Of The Lost Ark is released.
1982: Ronald Reagan confronts a failing economy, the Middle East is a hot spot, Canada becomes a fully independent country. NFL players go on strike. Prince William is born, E. T. is a box office smash, Thriller breaks records sales and Schindler’s List, the book, is released.
1983: The world came very close to seeing a nuclear war but two men with cooler heads prevented that. The Middle East was a powder keg. The Cold War found Grenada. Margaret Thatcher was re-elected in England. Michael Jackson was a Thriller. Madonna was on Holiday. Sally took a Ride and the Mario Bros. and the Cabbage Patch Kids were a craze.
1984: Reagan is re-elected but Geraldine Ferraro becomes the first woman to run for Vice President. Miss America quits after scandalous pictures appear in Penthouse. The Iran-Iraq War continues as does the Civil War in Lebanon. HIV is identified.
1985: Ronald Reagan starts his second term as American President while Mikhail Gorbachev becomes the leader of the Soviet Union. The USSR remains in Afghanistan, the Middle East remains a powder keg. Steve Jobs leaves Apple, Bill Gates introduces Windows 1.0, New Coke fizzles, Richard Nixon returns to the public eye. The Golden Girls premieres and Route 66 is decommissioned. Mike Tyson and the Super Mario Bros. entered the marketplace and the Titanic is found.
1986: The year where celebrity culture takes over, Oprah, Joan Rivers, Geraldo, but a year filled with crisis. The Challenger Explosion, the Philippines election, Iran-Contra and Chernobyl has a meltdown. America has a new TV network and Bill Buckner’s error during game six of the World Series becomes a national story.
1987 – United States President Ronald Reagan in a speech in Berlin tells Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev to “tear down this wall” referring to the Berlin Wall. Reagan is facing scrutiny because of the Iran-Contra Scandal. Margaret Thatcher wins a third term as England’s Prime Minister. The stock market crashes, NFL players go on strike. Gary Hart gets caught with Donna Rice, Jim and Tammy Faye Bakker’s PTL Club crashes. FOX launched an American TV network. The Simpsons debut and Andy Warhol’s 15-minutes or years of fame ends.
The Early Days Of Radio From The UK To Newfoundland To The Titanic To Entertainment
The Early Days Of Television
Title IX, June 23, 1972 women in the US legally were able to get the same college educational opportunities as men.
How Lucille Ball Became The Most Powerful Businesswoman in Hollywood
1919: The World Series Is Fixed, 100 Years Later Why Did It Happen And Could It Happen Again?
American Territories: How territories became states, why some are not states and how territorial citizens don’t have full American rights.
Journalism Is A Business That May Not Push Facts
The Super Bowl. How America’s Top Sports Event Was Created In The Aftermath Of The AFL All Star Game Boycott Of Jim Crow In New Orleans In 1965
George Washington Slept Here: Barbados And How His Brief Stay In Barbados Had Major Implications A Quarter Of A Century Later For Fledgling America.
Presidential Impact on Sports From Andrew Johnson to Joe Biden
Italian-Americans: It has been said that Joe DiMaggio and Frank Sinatra probably did more than anyone else of their time to bring Italian-Americans into the mainstream of their country’s popular culture during the 1930s and 1940s. Since then, there have been thousands of Italian-Americans who flourished in America. Baseball players, actors, singers who in some cases changed American culture.
Longfellow Is Responsible For Why America Knows About Cajun Culture
Mardi Gras: Most people think of New Orleans when it comes to the Mardi Gras. The North American celebration did start in 1699 near New Orleans but Mobile, Alabama is where the fun really started, then it moves to Biloxi and finally New Orleans. Mardi Gras almost faded away from New Orleans in the mid-19th century. There are also forms of Mardi Gras globally.
Women In Sports: Sexism and Racism Were Two Obstacles In The Development Of Women’s Athletic Competition
The Politics Of Sports Business. How taxpayers became sports partners and give billions of dollars of subsidies to sports and sports owners. The three necessities: Government, cable TV, corporate support.
Football In America: From A Coal Miner’s Game To A Multi-Billion-dollar Business.
Do Athletes’ Protesting Social Issues Have An Impact On Society?
Ted Turner, He Changed The World Of Communications While Winning: The America’s Cup In 1977.
The Space Race: Getting To The Moon, A Tale of the Cold War, Bringing Nazis To America and Cutting Corners.
Baseball In The American Culture, Literature, Song, Movies, The Stage, Radio And TV
Golf: How Westchester County, NY Provided A Launching Pad For The Sport And Arnold Palmer Made The Sport Popular.
The Olympics: It Has Always Been A Political Platform
Florida: The Beatles Meet Cassius Clay, Where Culture Changed In The 1960s
Hawaii: America’s Paradise Has A Dark Side Past
Seattle, Victoria, Vancouver: The Pacific Northwest or the Pacific Southwest? The three cities were products of the gold rushes and opium trading and grew after differences were solved in a disputed territory that both America and Great Britain wanted. America wanted all the territory on the Pacific. Seattle and Vancouver both were destroyed by fires.
A B C Islands are a Dutch possession. Aruba and Curaçao are quasi-independent countries while Bonaire is not. All were once part of The Netherlands Antilles. All are tourist areas but at one time were part of the slave trade. Curaçao helped the Americans during the revolution. There is a link between the A B C islands and New York. Santa Claus’s innovation comes from Dutch lore which is celebrated on the islands.
Canada: Once The Northern Colonies, How Being America’s Neighbor Shaped Its Destiny
Quebec: Where A Good Slice Of Modern North American History Begins In 1759
Nova Scotia: Almost The 14Th American Colony, The Driving Force Behind The Country Of Canada
Bermuda: An English Possession With A Very Complicated History
Boston And Massachusetts: Where America Began
New York, New York: The City That Never Sleeps
California Where Sports Changed Society
The War Of 1812: Who won? The US or Canada. Trick question, as there was no Canada. The War of 1812 created present day the northern America border.
For Men’s Clubs:
Chicago: The birthplace of baseball’s All-Star Game, where the NFL’s oldest franchise started. Where baseball’s color barrier started and where baseball’s Negro leagues started. Where the Harlem Globetrotters defeat of Minneapolis changed basketball. Where baseball’s biggest scandal unfolded.
Wisconsin, Milwaukee and Green Bay: Milwaukee is the birthplace of the modern sports business. Milwaukee politicians went after a Major League Baseball team by building a new stadium and giving the stadium away virtually rent free to an owner. Green Bay is the only community owned team in North American Major League sports. Milwaukee changed baseball in 1953. Green Bay is a throwback to a much different time.
Detroit: Detroit has had the Big 4 Major League Sports for more than sixty years. The University of Michigan is nearby and hosts a legendary college program. Ty Cobb and Hank Greenburg are major contributors to MLB history. The football team was immortalized in a movie that led to Alex Karras’ film career. The basketball team was involved in an infamous brawl between players and fans and Gordie Howe, Mr. Hockey played the majority of his career in Detroit. The city also had rival league teams because rival leagues wanted the Big 3 automakers advertising money.
Sports And Media: There is no doubt that the newspaper wars of the 1890s helped make baseball more popular. Newspaper owners covered baseball in an attempt to sell their product. Radio pushed baseball and college football into new heights in the 1920s, the NFL found radio in the 1930s. Television made the NFL and poured money into sports.
Cleveland: The city has been a football, basketball and hockey failure with a number of National Football League teams starting in the city including the present-day Los Angeles Rams and the Baltimore Ravens. The “new” Cleveland Browns returned to the field in 1999. The city has had pro basketball teams for nearly a century but could not keep a National Hockey League team. The Major League Baseball Cleveland Guardians changed its brand name and logo as the old name and logo were perceived as slurs. The Cleveland area claims Jesse Owens, LeBron James and George M. Steinbrenner III as native sons and two Cleveland teams helped integrate pro sports after World War II.
Toronto is an incomplete Major League sports city. It has a Major League Baseball team, a National Hockey League squad, a National Basketball Association franchise and a Major League Soccer club. Its non-Major League Canadian Football League Toronto Argonauts team is North America’s longest running franchise. Lacrosse is Canada’s national game and in the 19th century First Nations people were barred from the game. Toronto is the self-proclaimed center of the hockey universe.
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2023-2024 Schedule:
Suffolk YJCC, NY, June 7, Jewish Comedians
Reed Library, Carmel, NY, June 8, New York
Atria Riverdale, NY, June 9, Jewish Comics
The Bristal, White Plains NY, June 10, Jewish Comics
The Greens at Cannondale, CT, June 12 TBA
Coopers Corner, NY, June 13 TBA
Sturges Ridge, CT, June 14, 1983
Atria New City, NY, June 15, Radio
Quail Brook Seniors, NJ. June 16, Jewish Comics
Artis Briarcliff Manor, NY, June 18, Jewish Comics
Ridgewood Senior Center, June 19, New York
Atria, Rye Brook, NY, June 19 Territories
Kensington, NY, June 20, TBA
Encore!, Jericho, NY, June 21, Jewish Comics
The Bristal, North Hills, June 22, TBA
Atria Woodlands, NY, June 23, TBA
The Ambassador, Scarsdale, NY, June 25 TBA
Maplewood Norwalk, CT, June 26, Canada Day
JCC of Mid-Westchester, NY, June 27, Washington
Woodbridge Public Library, NJ, June 28, Baseball
Tenafly Senior Center, NJ, June 30, Canada
Atria Roslyn, NY, July 1, TBA
Atria, Ossining, NY, July 3, 1976
Atria, Rye Brook, NY, July 3, Radio
Artis Briarcliff Manor, NY, July 4 TBA
Coopers Corner, NY, July 5 TBA
The Bristal Bethpage, July 6 TBA
Atria Riverdale, NY, July 7, Canada
Kent Public Library, NY, July 10, Ladies
The Greens at Cannondale, CT, July 11 TBA
Sturges Ridge, CT, July 12 TBA
Wyckoff Library, NJ, July 13 Rock and Roll
Bronxville Library, July 14, Comedy
Maplewood Southport, July 16, Polk
Kensington, NY, July 17, TBA
Sid Jacobsen JCC, NY, July 18, Jewish Comics
Atria Riverdale, NY, July 18, 1983
Needham Senior Center, MA, July 19, 1973 ZOOM
Massapequa Library, NY July 19, Baseball
Atria New City, NY, July 20, Territories
Mid Continental Library, Kansas City, MO, July 20, World Series Fixed ZOOM
Tenafly Senior Center, NJ, July 21, Jewish Comics
The Ambassador, Scarsdale, NY, July 23 TBA
JCC Metrowest, NJ, July 24, TBA
JCC of Central Jersey, NJ July 25, TBA
Artis Senior Living, Somers, NY, July 26, TBA
Brookdale CC, NJ, July 27, 1974
Maplewood Norwalk, CT, July 27, American Territories
Maplewood Darien, CT, July 28, Longfellow
Atria Briarcliff Manor, NY, July 28 Jewish Comics
Atria Woodlands, NY, July 31 1974
Artis Briarcliff Manor, NY, August 1, TBA
Atria Ossining, NY, August 2, 1974
JCC on the Palisades, Tenafly, NJ, August 3
Sturges Ridge, CT, August 4 TBA
East Hampton Library, August 4 ZOOM, Jewish Comics
Atria Roslyn, NY, August 5, TBA
Maplewood Norwalk, CT, August 7, 1974
Coopers Corner, NY, August 8, TBA
Whitehall, Hackensack, NJ, August 11, Baseball
The Greens at Cannondale, CT, August 14 TBA
Sid Jacobsen JCC, NY, August 15, 1975
Needham Senior Center, MA, August 16, 1983 ZOOM
Pierre, Hackensack, NJ, August 17, Baseball
Atria Woodlands, NY, August 18, Television
Wanaque Reserve COA, NJ August 20, Jewish Comics
Kensington, NY, August 21, TBA
Atria, Rye Brook, NY, August 21, 1974
Rye Brook Seniors, NY August 22, TBA
Oceanside JCC, NY, September 11, Jewish Comics
Mid Continental Library, Kansas City, MO, September 12, Space Race ZOOM
New City Library, NY September 13, Jewish Comics
Atria Ossining, NY September 14, Censorship
Maplewood Norwalk, CT, September 18, Pacific Northwest
Kensington, NY, September 19, TBA
Englewood Library, September 19 Censorship ZOOM
Naperville Library, IL, September 20, Censorship ZOOM
The Greens at Cannondale, CT, September 21 Jewish Comics
Teaneck Library, NY, September 22, Ladies of Comedy
Atria Riverdale, NY, September 22, Pacific Northwest
Atria Woodlands, NY, September 26, 1965
JCC of Mid-Westchester, NY, September 27, Censorship
Atria New City, NY, September 29, Pacific Northwest
Bigelow Senior Center, CT, October 2, Jewish Comics
Gladwyne Library, PA, October 2, Censorship ZOOM
Royal Oak Library, MI, October 3, Censorship ZOOM
Mahwah Library, NJ, October 4, Censorship
Montville Library, NJ. October 5, Censorship
Atria Roslyn, NY, October 7 TBA
Needham Senior Center, MA, October 12, TBA ZOOM
Tenafly Senior Center, NJ, October 13 TBA
Bigelow Senior Center, CT, October 16, First Ladies of Comedy
The Greens at Cannondale, CT, October 16, 1983
Kensington, NY, October 17, TBA
Bigelow Senior Center, CT, October 23, Early Days Of TV
Atria Ossining, NY, October 24, Radio
Mountain Lakes Library, NJ, October 29 TBA
Bigelow Senior Center, CT, October 30, Early Days Of Radio
JCC of Mid-Westchester, NY, October 31 1938
Mineola Library, NY, November 1, 1963
Atria Roslyn, NY, November 4, TBA
Bigelow Senior Center, CT, November 6, Lucy
Atria Ossining, November 15, 1987
Kensington, NY, November 21, TBA
The Greens at Cannondale, CT, November 22, 1963
JCC of Mid-Westchester, NY, November 28 TBA
Atria Roslyn, NY, December 2, TBA
Atria Ossining, NY December 12, 1965
JCC of Mid-Westchester, NY, December 19 Jewish Comics
Kensington, NY, December 19, TBA
The Greens at Cannondale, CT, December 21, 1965
Mineola Library, NY, January 24, Football
2021 sports business review book
https://books.apple.com/us/book/the-politics-of-sports-business-2021/id1604519095
2019 sports business review-book
https://books.apple.com/us/author/evan-weiner/id595575191#see-all/books
https://books.apple.com/us/book/the-politics-of-sports-business-2022/id6445358443
Black History Talk—from interviews I have done over the years
John Jeansonne
Newsday sportswriter emeritus/Hofstra University journalism adjunct
CATEGORY ARCHIVES: EVAN WEINER
Beyond Jackie Robinson
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Faster than you can say “Jackie Robinson,” the first sports topic always cited during Black History Month is that Brooklyn Dodger Hall of Famer breaking baseball’s color line in 1947.
Naturally. At the time, baseball’s prominence in American society was uncontested—the NBA had been formed only the previous year; the NFL was small peanuts; only college football had any sort of national awareness—so Robinson’s breakthrough represented a vast public advance in civil rights.
But an evening listening to one of Evan Weiner’s wide-ranging excavations of historic nuggets regarding Black sports history adds crucial layers to the subject. Weiner—who describes his career as “radio, a lot of radio, some TV, some pundit work”—lays out the numbskullery and skullduggery in the story of segregated sports.
Such as the dumb “belief”—based on ignorance—by Los Angeles Dodgers general manager Al Campanis, in 1987, that Blacks “may not have some of the necessities to be, let’s say, a field manager or perhaps a general manager.” (Campanis was summarily fired.) And the 1950s NFL edict that its teams could have “up to four Negro players [but] none could be quarterbacks, centers or middle linebackers”—theoretically “cerebral” positions.
Then there was the thoroughly undisguised racism that for years prevented the few Black players on white professional teams from service at whites-only restaurants and hotels. And the kind of double-dealing of George Preston Marshall, who owned the NFL’s Washington Redskins from 1932 to 1969 while barring all Blacks from his team and his Washington baseball counterpart, Clark Griffith, refusing to sign Blacks even as he profited from renting out his D.C. ballpark for Negro League games.
Weiner covered all this and provided other relevant tidbits during a recent 90-minute presentation beamed on Zoom to my Hofstra University sports journalism students—one of countless talks Weiner gives on radio, TV documentaries, libraries and others public forums. He also produces books and podcasts on varied human affairs from rock-n-roll, censorship and World War II.
Here’s one detail I hadn’t realized before Weiner’s talk: When Cleveland Rams owner Dan Reeves maneuvered the transfer of his team to Los Angeles in 1946, making the NFL the first professional coast-to-coast sports entertainment industry, a pre-condition to play at the publicly funded Los Angeles Coliseum was that the team be integrated.
Reeves therefore signed Kenny Washington and Woody Strode, two former UCLA football teammates of Jackie Robinson—the year before Robinson became baseball’s first Black player. In Cleveland, meanwhile, the new franchise in an upstart league, the Browns of the All-American Football Conference, also signed two Black players for the 1946 season, Bill Willis and Marion Motley.
Weiner noted how Baltimore manager John McGraw in 1901 had attempted—unsuccessfully—to sneak a light-skinned Black infielder, Charlie Grant, into the newly formed American League by identifying Grant as a Cherokee Indian named “Tokohama.” Chicago White Sox owner Charles Comiskey objected and McGraw left Grant off his roster. And the so-called “Gentleman’s agreement,” in which baseball owners conspired not to offer contracts to Blacks, prevailed for almost a half-century.
Then there were tales from Weiner of resistance. By Lakers star Elgin Baylor who, in 1959, refused to play an NBA exhibition game in Charleston, W.Va., after Black players couldn’t get equal accommodations with their white teammates. (That led to a league rule against playing in states with such practices.)
And the refusal of Walter Beach, a Boston Patriots defensive back, to stay by himself in segregated living conditions during the team’s 1961 exhibition game in New Orleans. And the Black players joining Hall of Fame center Bill Russell of the Celtics in boycotting a game in Lexington, Ky., after being declined restaurant service in that city. And Black members of the Oakland Raiders protesting segregated seating at their scheduled Mobile, Ala., exhibition game against the Jets, forcing the game to be moved to Oakland.
Weiner’s interactions with key figures spiced his talk, particularly first-person recollections from the late Wally Triplett, who had been Penn State’s first Black player and in 1949 was the first Black drafted by an NFL team (the Detroit Lions). Triplett, Weiner reported, had befriended Jackie Robinson early in Robinson’s career and served as Robinson’s chauffeur, confidant and card-playing buddy, making a point of bringing Robinson to Triplett’s mother’s house for a home-cooked meal whenever the Dodgers were in town to play the Phillies.
One of Triplett’s former Penn State teammates, a fellow named Joe Tapsic, had been a Dodger rookie in 1946, when he played only 15 games and was hitless in five at-bats. The story was that the struggling Tapsic’s Dodgers’ mates wanted Tapsic demoted to the minors and replaced by a veteran pinch-hitter.
Jackie Robinson that season was spending his first season under Dodger contract with their top minor-league team in Montreal, “and while there was no indication that Brooklyn would have brought up Robinson if Tapsic had gone down to the minors,” Weiner said, “Triplett, who was a close friend of Tapsic, believed that Dodger manager Leo Durocher wanted that to happen.”
It didn’t. Until the next season. How’s that for a Black History Month morsel?
This entry was posted in black athletes, black history month, evan weiner on February 26, 2023
A 1945 talk, April 22, 2022-77 years later, problems remain
I wrote because Betty White was going to be 100 in January 2022 but she didn’t make it. , Eventually it will just be a March talk for International Women’s Month. Women TV Pioneers in the US. Dec 28, 2021 talk
July 1, 2021 talk on 1959
Back to work with a mask May 14, 2021
Fun night the the Mahwah, New Jersey Library, October 28 talking about 1969.
1958 talk with a hula hoop
Feb 11, 2019 Springfield Library 1969 talk
Dec 5, 2018, Celebrity Cruises, Private function, Jim Crow and the start of the Super Bowl.
1972 Talk, Norwood, NJ
Zoom Talk, July 18, Somers, NY Public Library
Politics of Sports Business 2020 w/protests
1965 at the Sussex, NJ Library, December 3, 2020
Evan also lectures at colleges and universities about the business and politics of sports, including the globalization of North American sports and how technology is changing sports. He spoke at the George Bush Presidential Library in August 2007 to a specially selected and Department of State approved 20 college students from Indonesia, Venezuela, Russia, Turkey, Nigeria, Canada and the U.S. Additionally, Evan speaks on cruise ships in Europe, North and South America. Two of his books, The Business and Politics of Sports, and The Business and Politics of Sports Second Edition has been critically acclaimed by academic journals and is used as part of a number of sports business management courses at schools throughout the United States.
https://books.apple.com/ca/author/evan-weiner/id595575191
https://www.smashwords.com/profile/view/EvanWeiner
Sports economics addressed
By Heather VanDyke
April 16, 1999 Central Michigan Life
Life Staff Writer
New York native and owner’ of Sports-News Syndication Evan Weiner proved he knew his business well during his presentation Wednesday night on professional sports and their survival in the current economic marketplace.
Approximately 40 students who attended the hour and a half long speech took away one main message- the fan is not important to team owners; what is important is the money and luxury boxes.
‘The owners don’t care about the fans. They care about luxury boxes. They’re pricing college kids out and they’re pricing high school kids out,”
he said. “They really don’t care.”
Hockey tickets are up to $41, Weiner said, and like hockey, other sporting events have raised prices.
“College kids are accustomed to it. They have lived it. The first strike in baseball was in 1981. They know about strikes and lockouts,” he said. ·
“Have you ever thought how much a team really adds to a community?” he asked.
Weiner told detailed stories about team owners and their outside affiliations with network television stations.
“Television is the prime mover in sports,” he said. “This is where sports are headed. It makes for some interesting conflict. TV is where the action start and where the discrepancy is between major and minor league teams.”
Unfortunately, Weiner said, sports are no long around for the sake of entertaining fans.
“Sports is a $19 billion a year activity. CBS spent $4 billion for the NFL. This is where sports are at,” he said. “They wanted to make the young male audience interested.”
Ian Niecko, Battle Creek junior, said he enjoyed Weiner’s speech.
“I became more informed about the behind the scenes politics of sports,” Niecko said. Niecko said Weiner was an excellent speaker who really knew his facts.
“He was very enlightening. I saw him at 3:30 p.m., too. He was a very determined speaker,” he said.
Jim Hornak, professor and chair of physical education and sport, said he was glad he could attend.
“This man obviously knows professional and college sports. What I am amazed at was some of the super elite in the industry who are really controlling franchises all over the nation,” Hornak said.
Hornak said he would have liked to see more students at the speech so more could have had the opportunity to enjoy the speaker series.
“The main thing is this is the fifth year bringing experts to campus. This series is really top-notch stuff. I just wish there were more that had come, but I know it is a busy time of the year,” he said.
One member of the audience, Michael Barkatt, chief organizer for the International Professional Hockey Association, came all the way from Canada to hear Weiner speak.
“College kids and the public need to understand this. It is no longer sports. It is a dollar business,” Barkatt said.
Weiner finished his speech by sharing his view of the reality of professional sports today.
“Sports is a television show – not entertainment,” he said.
Professor Daniel A. Rascher, the University of San Francisco’s Director of Academic Programs, believes, “Evan Weiner understands the nexus between politics and the sports industry unlike anyone else. He is able to stir the pot and get at students’ passions and emotions about sports, policy, regulation, and politics. His columns and articles are an invaluable resource for any course or program in sport management.
“In reality, he is probably the most provocative sports writer in the business today,” sums up Thomas P. Rosandich, Ph.D., President and CEO of the United States Sports Academy, which conferred its Distinguished Journalist Award on Mr. Weiner in 2003. “Evan writes on topics that no one else will dare to touch, and he writes them very well. The part that we find to be so exceptional here at the Academy is the amount of research that he does on each and every one of his articles.”
Cooper Union urban historian Fred Siegel opines, “Evan Weiner’s columns are essential public policy reading for those trying to make sense of what is happening with American cities.” The author of The Prince of the City: Giuliani, New York, and the Genius of American Life and also a senior fellow at the Progressive Policy Institute where he focuses on urban policy and politics, Professor Siegel wrote the introduction to the “Stadiums & Public Policy” chapter
Sheldon A. Saltman, former president of FOX Sports, recently remarked, “A bagel, cream cheese and an Evan Weiner column are my breakfast fare. Evan’s wit and cynicism give an offbeat perspective to the rigors of each day. For me, he’s a ‘must read.’”
Dear Mr. Weiner,
Over my many years in academia I have had the pleasure of listening to many guest speakers. Your recent presentation to our sport management students at Temple University was one of the very best I have heard.
Thank you for sharing not only your knowledge but also your passion for integrity in sport.
As a result of your excellent presentation our students are now better prepared to ask the tough questions they need to approach and succeed in their new careers.
Thanks for taking time from your busy schedule to be with us and please return when your time allows. Please let me know if there is anything I can do to be of assistance to you in the future.
Sincerely,
Joe Goldblatt
TEMPLE UNIVERSITY
The School of Tourism & Hospitality Management: The leader in comprehensive Sport, Recreation, Tourism & Hospitality Research, Training, & Education
Dear Mr. Weiner:
I want to thank you for speaking to my sportswriting class at Farmingdale State College. Your insights into the business aspects of professional and collegiate sports were of great value to the students and I have received many positive comments on how engaging and thorough your presentation was. We were all especially impressed by the depth of knowledge and historical reference you displayed. The students really enjoyed the evening. Farmingdale and I greatly appreciate the time you spent with our budding journalists. To have you, a seasoned pro, share your experiences with them is a great bonus for these students. Again, thank you.
Patrick Calabria VP for Institutional Advancement and Professor of Sportswriting Farmingdale State College
Dear Mr. Weiner:
I want to thank you for speaking to my sportswriting class at Farmingdale State College. Your insights into the business aspects of professional and collegiate sports were of great value to the students and I have received many positive comments on how engaging and thorough your presentation was. We were all especially impressed by the depth of knowledge and historical reference you displayed. The students really enjoyed the evening. Farmingdale and I greatly appreciate the time you spent with our budding journalists. To have you, a seasoned pro, share your experiences with them is a great bonus for these students. Again, thank you.
Patrick Calabria VP for Institutional Advancement and Professor of Sportswriting Farmingdale State College 04/20/15
Evan was part of two John Madden radio sports shows 1988-2003
R Dennis Steele – producer
No Evan Weiner, no Madden show…plain and simple.
From the Chester, NJ library, Donnella Tilery
Thanks Donnella for having Evan give a great presentation on our U.S. history.
It was very interesting, captivating, and informative.
Thanks again. It was great
Sincerely,
Joan Munz
Hi Evan!
Another rave reviewed program!
I got so much great feedback from the attendees. Thanks again for letting me record it! I love being able to share it with the folks who missed it.
I’m so glad our paths crossed and I’m so looking forward to our talk this summer!
Katie Dolan | Program Supervisor
Dickinson Hall | 100 E. Old Mill Road, Lake Forest, IL 60045
Desk | 847-810-4670 Mobile | 224-456-0035
“You still have a great wealth of information in sports and business, I love that about you.. You have always been great at this. It was a great presentation..” Joe Townley COO/Executive Producer at MY-Entertainment
Hello Evan, thanks so much for the program last Thursday evening. You’re a very skilled and informative presenter, and I’m sure you already know that. I learned a lot and the audience did as well. So many nuances that go into this knowledge.
Many thanks, Nancy
—
Nancy Maurice Rogers
Program Director
Jewish Federation of the Berkshires
The 1967 Talk:
Thank you. It was an excellent program!
Sandra Duffy Program Director Mendham Township Public Library New Jersey
Ken Reed – Evan Weiner is one of today’s best sports journalists. He consistently produces high-quality interpretive and analytical journalism. He had this to say about the role of the sports media: “It’s great to watch a game and report on it, but democracy deserves more than a box score when it comes to scrutinizing the business of sports.” Ken’s book – How We Can Save Sports: A Game Plan
Hello Evan,
Just a quickie note to tell you how much I enjoyed your 1945 presentation yesterday at the West Orange JCC. It was so interesting and I remembered everything that you had mentioned, including the blackout shades that my parents used in our house in Newark, and when Bess Myerson was arrested for shoplifting. 😔
Anyway, hope you will return again with another wonderful talk.
Take care and have a great day!
Your “ancient” fan,
Ronni
Evan was in the 2015 documentary “Sons of Ben”
Evan quoted in books:
The Sports card explosion: Sports collectors digest, 1973-1993, Mark K. Larson, Krause 1993
Fisk’s Homer, Willie’s Catch, and the Shot Heard Round the World: Classic Moments from Postseason Baseball, 1940-1996 By G. Richard McKelvey McFarland & Company, 1998 –
Managing Sports Products by Matthew D. Shank — 2001
May the Best Team Win: Baseball Economics and Public Policy By Andrew S. Zimbalist — 2003
In the Best Interests of Baseball by Andrew S. Zimbalist — 2006
Social Science Research Network-
Franchise Relocations, Expansions, and Mergers in Professional Sports Leagues–2007
Sports Journalism: A MultiMedia Primer by Rob Steen (UK) – 2008
Capital Sports Groups by Brett L. Abrams — 2008
The Business of Sports: Perspectives on the sports industry by Brad R. Humphreys, Dennis Ramsay Howard – 2008 –
No Minor Accomplishment: The Revival of New Jersey Professional Baseball – 2008
George Washington University-Federal Communications Law Journal-Preventing the Strategic Misuse of the FCC’s Carriage Regulations 2009
University of North Carolina Law Review 2009
Bad Sports: How Owners Are Ruining the Games We Love By Dave Zirin -2010
Major League Baseball Expansions and Relocations: A History, 1876-2008 – Frank P. Jozsa, Jr., Larry Schroeder – 2010 –
Financial Management in the Sports Industry, Matthew T. Brown, Daniel A. Rascher, Mark S. Nagel, Chad D. McEvoy – 2010
The Business of Sports, Second Edition, Scott R. Rosner, Kenneth L. Shropshire – 2010
Marquette Sports Law Review, Spring 2010
Online Chinese Nationalism and China’s Bilateral Relations, edited by Simon Shen, Shaun Breslin, 2010
Randhurst: Suburban Chicago’s Grandest Shopping Center By Gregory T. Peerbolte. The History Press, 2011
The Multimedia Encyclopedia of Women in Today’s World
Opposing Viewpoints: Gambling, Vol. 1 — Fall 2011
Game Plan: A Social History of Sport in Alberta, 2012 By Karen L. Wall
Lombardi’s Left Side October 2012
Between the Pipes: A Revealing Look at Hockey’s Legendary Goalies. 2013 By Randi Druzin
Bill Giles and Baseball, April 2014 By John Lord
Floodlights and Touchlines: A History of Spectator Sport, 2014 By Rob Steen
We Can Save Sports: A Game Plan, 2015, By Ken Reed
The Life and Trials of Roger Clemens: Baseball’s Rocket Man and the Questionable Case Against Him, 2017, By Hansen Alexander
Call To The Hall: When Baseball’s Highest Honor Came To 31 Legends Of The Sport, 2018, By Kevin Warneke and David C. Ogden
The Making of Modern Baseball Over 100 Years of Change That Formed America’s Favorite Pastime, 2020, By Frank P. Jozsa, Jr.
Backyards to Ballparks: More Personal Baseball Stories from the Stands and Beyond. 2022, By Eric. C. Gray.
Evan quoted in Congressional hearings
July 14, 2004 – Subcommittee on Telecommunications and the Internet of the Committee on Energy and Commerce, House of Representatives, One Hundred Eighth Congress, second session
Evan mentioned in books, The Newsroom Confessions by Bob LeMoullec
Contact Evan at evanjweiner@gmail.com
Evan Weiner Speaker 