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The Return of A-Rod

 

A Pariah’s Return
Outside the Lines (Sunday, 9 a.m. ET, ESPN; 10 a.m., ESPN2; 11 a.m., noon ESPNEWS)

At age 39, Alex Rodriguez is back on the roster of the New York Yankees after a record-setting 162-game suspension. As he prepared to report to spring training, Rodriguez apologized to Major League Baseball, the players union, the Yankees and the fans, but far from forgotten are the bridges he burned with his repeated unequivocal denials of performance-enhancing drug allegations and his unrelenting efforts to defy, disparage and even sue his accusers and some of his defenders. Outside the Lines’ T.J. Quinn reports on the myriad troubling memories and burning questions that surround Rodriguez’s return from season-long exile, even among some allies.

“There’s a lot of guys that are angry, and I guarantee there’s some of those guys that would like to see him go away and just be done with it.” — C.J. Nitkowski, Rodriguez’s former Rangers and Yankees teammate

“Once you step back in the clubhouse and we get the chance to hear him talk, all will be forgotten and we’ll welcome him with open arms.” — C.C. Sabathia, Rodriguez’s Yankee teammate

 

The Education of Alex Rodriguez
ESPN.com
ESPN the Magazine (the “Analytics Issue” on newsstands Friday)

Six months, four cities, two coasts and one Batman suit – a chronicle of the fallen slugger’s winding road back to pinstripes. J.R. Moehringer reports.

 

 

Black History Month Special: Trailblazers: Past, Present and Future
SportsCenter (Sunday, 7 p.m., ESPN)

Set to a theme of the 50th anniversary of the historic Selma, Ala., march, current African-American sports stars team with living legends for intimate conversations on challenges overcome and those still ahead. John Saunders hosts. The pairs include:
►Cardale Jones, the quarterback who led Ohio State to the national championship
►Doug Williams, the first African-American quarterback to win a Super Bowl
With Jay Harris

►Mo’ne Davis, Olympian and first girl to win and pitch a shutout in Little League World Series play
►Jackie Joyner-Kersee, an Olympian and one of history’s greatest athletes
With Jemele Hill

►P.K. Subban, target of racist Tweets after scoring for Montreal to eliminate Boston from last year’s Stanley Cup playoffs
►Willie O’Ree, NHL’s first black player who runs the NHL’s diversity program
With Saunders

 

 

LPGA’s Sadena Parks and Cheyenne Woods have Arrived
espnW

The LPGA has a different feel in 2015 with Cheyenne Woods and Sadena Parks as tour members, just its fifth and sixth African-American women in history. Now, says Mechelle Voepel, little girls have new faces to look up to and real hope that everyone’s dreams can come true.

 

 

Kyle Korver
NBA Countdown (Friday, 7 p.m., ESPN)

https://youtu.be/uXcKQceGoLE
In what should be the twilight of his career, Kyle Korver is having perhaps his most impressive season for the first place Atlanta Hawks. At the All-Star break, Korver, 33, was shooting over 05 percent from the field and three-point range and over 90 percent from the foul line. He has a chance to become the second player in NBA history to shoot over 50, 50 and 90 percent in each of those categories. Korver’s  success can be attributed to his offseason training program at Peak Performance Project (P3) in Santa Barbara, Calif. where he combines a high tech science approach with the old Japanese practice of Misogi, which led him under the sea in an extreme boulder carrying expedition.

“What is Misogi? Basically, it comes from the idea that, as we get older, you kind of get comfortable in life, you don’t imagine as much, you don’t dream as much, you kind of get programmed. You kind of get set in your ways a little bit and you kind of lose that creative edge to your life. We do this thing called a Misogi once a year where you do something that you’re not sure is possible.” – Kyle Korver

“The rules of Misogi are simple — you got to find something (LAUGH) that’s really, really damn hard and you have about a 50% chance of making. And, you can’t die, OK? That’s it, you can’t die” – Marcus Elliot, MD, P3 Applied Sports Science Director

 

 

Sports Reporters
This week’s Panel* (Sunday, 9:30 a.m. ESPN; 10:30 a.m., ESPN2)

Mike Lupica, guest host
Jemele Hill
Jackie MacMullan
Bob Ryan
*Subject to change