Sports Media Report
While it’s only regional right now, a new offering from Chicago’s Marquee Sports Network, the home of the Chicago Cubs, is looking to generate more national conversations. It is called “Class is in Session,” and it is the brainchild of former MLB star Doug Glanville, a longtime advocate and activist on big issues not just in baseball but across sports and society. The New Jersey native, who starred for the Cubs, Phillies and Rangers, is now teaching sports and society at the University of Connecticut as well as continuing his broadcasting career with ESPN and Marquee, and this show gives a great, and rare, regular visual platform to all the talk that continues to go on with the role of athletics, and athletes, in society today.
Case in point is the episode that will air this week, where Glanville leads a discussion with current Cubs outfielder Jason Hayward, former MLB star Curtis Granderson and Fox’s Ken Rosenthal on the issues, and opportunities and debate, that have arisen over MLB’s decision to move the All-Star Game from Atlanta to Colorado this year, due to the ongoing issues with Georgia’s change in the voting laws. Hayward, a Georgia native, and Granderson, always an active and thoughtful voice throughout his career and now President of the recently-formed Players Alliance, give fans a strong insight into the thought process of athletes on and off the field on this still-evolving topic, something that can’t always be gleaned from print or even from short bites of content.
Previous episode topics have included the lack of minority coaches in sports today (guests Dusty Baker and Herm Edwards), the impact and importance of establishing legacy as an athlete (guests Cameron Maybin, Chris Long and Dr. Edwin Moses) and the current state of NCAA amateurism (guests Sonny Vaccaro, Prof. Kenneth Shropshire and Dr. Victoria Jackson).
It is a great format for discussion and thought, and one which Glanville, who was nominated for a 2021 Sports Emmy Award, can use really well with Marquee as its home with a massive Cubs audience. The conversational give and take also allows for varying opinions that are thoughtful, not just talking heads yelling over each other to get the best soundbites. The show whispers more than screams, and that is what makes it so worthwhile to watch and learn from, which is reflective of the way Glanville has handled so many difficult topics in his career on and off the diamond.
You can grab a look at this week’s program here https://www.marqueesportsnetwork.com/doug-glanville-discusses-mlb-all-star-game-and-players-alliance-on-newest-episode-of-class-is-in-session/ and check out the Marquee website and for more details and what’s next.
