Live (ish) from the ESPYs red carpet

This article was originally on a blog post platform and may be missing photos, graphics or links. See About archive blog posts.

Get comfortable. This could take awhile to read; we’ve got over two hours of red carpet sights, sounds and scenes to summarize. Kobe’s in the house, as is Evander Holyfield, Nastia Liukin, Michael Phelps, Shannon Brown, Mark Sanchez and Blake Griffin. Even Condoleeza Rice showed up.

First impressions of the carpet:

• Everyone loves Phelps. They all want to meet him, see him, whatever they can do.

• No one is star-struck. Everyone here considers them ‘colleagues’ as Raiders cornerback Nnamdi Asomugha put it.
• They have high hopes for host Samuel L. Jackson, but he’s got some work ahead of him, thanks to Justin Timberlake throwing down hard last year.
• It was hot. Bright sunshine, no shade, lots of the guys were in heavy black suits. But when someone told Shannon Brown, who was wearing one of those heavy dark suits, that they wouldn’t want to be him, he replied, ‘You actually would.’
• Kobe and LeBron have no last name when talking to these guys, but Phelps does, which got me wondering: What Michael would be ‘the Michael’: Jordan, Jackson, Phelps or another? Comment with your thoughts.

The ESPYs will air Sunday night at 6 PDT on ESPN.

We interrupt this blog post to bring you Jeremy Piven, who just spoke in the press tent. Piven plays super-agent Ari Gold on HBO’s ‘Entourage.’ What he had to say:

• He started with an apology. ‘I’m sorry I’m not a professional athlete,’ he said.

• When asked whether athletes liked entourage: ‘We’ve had the most incredible cameos this year. We actually just had LeBron and Tom Brady, we’ve been having a blast. Kobe wanted to know when I play anger as Ari Gold ... how I make it so real. I said, ‘How do you drive to the hoop when you have a trillion people watching you and the clock winding down?’ The pressure he’s under blows me away.’
• 50 Cent will cameo on ‘Entourage,’ as will Mark Wahlberg. When asked about Wahlberg’s first pitch at Fenway Park, which went astray, Piven couldn’t explain it. Wahlberg, Piven said, has a full basketball court and boxing ring at his house and is a natural athlete. Piven alluded to President Obama’s first pitch at the All-Star Game, which traveled 58 or so feet and needed saving from Albert Pujols to keep it from bouncing. ‘The president is a great basketball player. Wasn’t the best throw in the world,’ he said. ‘But he’s a natural athlete.’

Now to the red carpet.

Shannon Brown, Lakers

Brown was excited to see anyone and everyone he could. ‘I think I get amazed anytime I see somebody who’s real successful,’ he said. ‘No matter what they do, whether basketball, soccer, hockey, swimming or track, anybody that is super successful, I tend to look at them and wonder how they do it.’

Brown said he hoped Kobe swept everything and that the Lakers won best team. As for Samuel L. Jackson, ‘I think he’s going to be funny,’ Brown said. ‘I think he’s got a couple jokes for us.’

B.o.B, musician, who performed at the ESPYs

B.o.B. was having a ball on the red carpet despite boiling under his black leather jacket. ‘I’m basically sizzling in my skin right now,’ he said. ‘Other than that it’s enjoyable because it’s my first time here and I’m performing for the first time at the ESPYs. It’s pretty grandiose.’

B.o.B. is a football and basketball fan and ‘excelled’ in football as a kid, playing wide receiver and linebacker. He was better at linebacker. ‘It was a stress reliever,’ he said.

He’s seen Jackson in rehearsals and says of the show, ‘It’s hilarious.’

Evander Holyfield, former heavyweight champion

Holyfield took his time walking down the carpet, talking to everyone he saw. He looked comfortable and was enjoying himself.

‘I think it’s an honor because the best of the best get to walk here,’ he said.

He doesn’t get star-struck now, he said, but back when he was coming up as a boxer there were a lot of people he wanted to meet. He’s all about sports (‘Football, basketball, baseball, rodeo, NASCAR. I’m a sport fan. I like a ton of sports,’ he said) and all about Georgia (he moved to Atlanta at age 2). He likes the Hawks, Braves, Bulldogs, Yellow Jackets, Thrashers and everything else Georgia.

Like everyone else, he’s a Samuel L. Jackson fan, but not because of his work. ‘He’s a throwback to the guys that work hard and came up on a bad background,’ he said.

Darrelle Revis, Jets defensive back

Revis had been to the ESPYs twice before, but he said that for the sports lover it remains fun.

‘If you love sports, you come out here to give support to the guys who have been nominated,’ he said.

Revis and the Jets have been working under new Coach Rex Ryan, formerly of the Baltimore Ravens. Revis said Ryan has installed the Ravens’ defense -- and isn’t bashful about letting the players know how to implement it.

‘Rex Ryan says what’s on his mind,’ he chuckled. ‘Which is good. He has confidence in what he says and he backs it up.’

Cullen Jones, U.S. Olympic swimmer

Being at the Olympics, Jones has met plenty of famous athletes. But the one person Cullen is starstruck by, he said, was Michael Jordan. Hard to fault him. He said he met Jordan at a game and Jordan, the Tar Heel, needled Jones, an N.C. State alum.

‘Every time he sees me, he’s like, ‘The swimmer’s here, N.C. State guy,’’ Jones said.

Jones swam one leg of the gold medal-winning 4x100 meter race, otherwise known as Jason Lezak‘s superhuman effort to reel in the Frenchman Alain Bernard during the final leg. He’s been a Lakers fan for a while and has started following Manchester United.

Robert Valletta, from the show ‘True Blood’

Valletta, who played basketball in college, said he had a blast on the red carpet. ‘I’m just really enjoying myself right now,’ he said.

He had an upset pick for the male athlete of the year: ‘Everyone thinks Michael Phelps is going to win, I’m going with LeBron.’

Marques Colston, New Orleans Saints wide receiver

Colston was able to attend the ESPYs because he’s training in L.A. during the off-season. ‘My main goal is to continue to get healthy and shed a lot of weight,’ he said.

When asked about the best NBA player award, he narrowed it down to Kobe and LeBron, ‘But since I’m in L.A. I’ll say Kobe.’

Hasheem Thabeet, center, Memphis Grizzlies

Thabeet, at 7-foot-3, towered over everyone on the carpet and forced the TV crews to point their cameras at a 45-degree angle to talk to him. He was excited, he said, to see ‘Everybody.’

He watched the ESPYs growing up, he said, and to be here was a blessing.

Chester Pitts, Houston Texans offensive lineman

Pitts brought his daughter to the red carpet and trained her well. When asked who her favorite red carpet personality was, before answering Condi Rice, she said, ‘Besides Daddy?’

Pitts was intrigued by the best team award and said it would be difficult to choose between the Lakers and the Pittsburgh Steelers. ‘I think Pittsburgh should get it because football is the ultimate team sport,’ he said. ‘But in L.A., the Lakers just won the championship, and half the people on the board live in L.A.’

If the Lakers don’t win? ‘They may riot. It might get ugly.’

Jordan Farmar, Lakers guard

Farmar said he watched the Lakers win championships not long ago and to win one with them was surreal.

‘I’m just soaking up the experience,’ he said of the red carpet. ‘I’ve never been here before.’

-- Bill Brink