Sports

Port's Len Berman Stays Busy

Books, website keeps former WNBC star in the spotlight.

For 23 years, Len Berman delivered sports reports from the set of WNBC in New York. His "Spanning the World" segment, in which he collected sports bloopers from around the country, had national appeal.

The eight-time Emmy Award winner and six-time New York Sportscaster of the Year retired from the day-to-day grind of TV news in 2009 to focus on his website and book career. We caught up to the Port Washingon resident, where we debated who was included in the "25 Greatest Baseball Players of All Time."

He also gave us a primer on what sports stories to watch out for in 2011.

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Patch: Your book about the 25 greatest baseball players of all time was released in late 2010. What has the reaction been?

Berman: Baseball transends generations more than any other sport. I saw Jim Brown play, and tales of Wilt Chamberlain are fascinating, but baseball for some reason has that magnetism.

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Patch: So everyone agreed with the picks?

Berman: (Laughs) This may be the first book that gets attention for what is not in the book instead of what is in the book.

Patch: Speaking of which, how is Pedro Martinez not one of the starting pitchers? When you look at the era he pitched in, wasn't he more dominant than any other pitcher of their specific times? And he did it for a fairly long period of time.

Berman: You're bringing up good points. There was a lot of debate within our blue-ribbon panel, and the book has created a lot of debate. But Martinez didn't make it.

Patch: Shifting gears a bit, what are five sports stories we should be watching out for this year?

Berman: Sure, I think we have to look at:

1) Labor issues in the NFL and NBA

2) How will Tiger Woods play after last year?

3) The Phillies pitching rotation can be one for the ages. How will those guys perform?

4) Will Cam Newton have to give back the Heisman?

5) The Super Bowl, no matter who is in it.

Patch: Just a couple more questions for you. Do you miss NBC?

Berman: I thought I'd miss it, but to be honest, I don't miss the nights. Writing has kept me busy. I did miss covering the last victory parade when the Yankees won, but I also don't miss the outdoor reporting where I'm standing outside Yankee Stadium and no one is watching because the game was on Fox.

Patch: Finally, you've been in Port Washington for a while. Why do you stay? What do you love about it?

Berman: Our kids went to public schools here. It's a great community, a mixed community with people from all sorts of religious, ethnic and economic backgrounds. It's a great community, and my wife is very active as well. She sells real estate here. For us, it's home.

Click here to visit Berman's official site, That's Sports.

To buy Berman's book and see who made the list, click here.


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