| ||||||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||
| ||||||||||
| Hellenic News of America | |
| 26 West Chester Pike Havertown, PA 19083 | |
| tel: 610-446-1463 fax: 610-446-3189 | |
| Contact us |
Velas Tours
an incoming tour operator based in Greece with 34 years experience in both, tours and holidays
velastours.com
an incoming tour operator based in Greece with 34 years experience in both, tours and holidays
velastours.com
The Legend of Jimmy the Greek- ESPN 30/30 Sat Nov 10th at 8pmThe Legend of Jimmy the Greek- ESPN 30/30 Sat Nov 10th at 8pm DIRECTOR Fritz Mitchell PRODUCER Wendy Yamano CONSULTING PRODUCERS-George Veras and Gary Paul Gates October 27, 2009 In 1976, Jimmy “The Greek” joined the popular The NFL Today, with Brent Musburger, Phyllis George and Irv Cross and became the common man¢s folk hero, bringing the underground pastime of betting on football games out of the back rooms to spotlight of network television. But before “The NFL Today” Jimmy¢s had led five different Runyonesque lives before got his national television gig at 59. He began gambling in Steubenville as a teenager, set the first football odds from Las Vegas, handled public relations for Caesar¢s Palace, was convicted of interstate gambling and then pardoned and had the twin personal tragedies of having his mother murdered by his jealous uncle and losing three children to Cystic Fibrosis and then finally flamed out on Martin Luther King Day 1989, with a blundering attempt to draw an analogy between the breeding of blacks and their predominance in sports. It branded him a racist and he disappeared until his death in 1996. But now Jimmy¢s remarkable life has been brought back to capture the legend---or the myth. Two time Peabody Award–winning filmmaker-director Fritz Mitchell, who began his career at NFL Today, took the project, brought to ESPN by Jimmy's former producer at the NFL Today, 12 Time Emmy Award winner and Consulting Producer for the documentary George Veras, to bring Jimmy¢s controversial career to life.. For ESPN¢s 30 for 30 series, Mitchell deftly captures the spirit of Jimmy by using actors to re create the Greek in appearance and voice, as Jimmy reflects on his life. Interviewed for the first time ever are Jimmy's son, Anthony Snyder, Jimmy's brother and sister, Angela and John, The NFL Today show cast of Brent Musburger, Irv Cross, Phyllis George and Producer George Veras, ESPN¢s Hank Goldberg, CBS Director Bob Fishman, Writers Gary Paul Gates and Frank Deford and Dan Rather Rather-“I see Jimmy the Greek as a tragedy, a great American tragedy. He got all the way of the mountaintop, all the way to the peak and then have it plummet to the bottom and never even to come up for a little bit. That¢s the story” Anthony Snyder “My father made a lot of money in his career, but spent a lot of money..he went through it all, believe me, he enjoyed every cent of it” Irv Cross - "I knew Jimmy well..Jimmy the Greek was not a racist..and made one slip up and it destroyed his life" For further details go to http://30for30.espn.com/film/the-legend-of-jimmy-the-greek.html or contact George Veras at verastv@aol.com.
|
Print Article© 2010 Hellenic News of America, Inc. - All Rights Reserved