AAU: Perks and Payout?
Outside the Lines (Friday, 1:30 p.m. ET, ESPN; ESPN.com)
As the nation’s largest youth sports organization, the Amateur Athletic Union (AAU) has hundreds of thousands of members and takes in more than $20 million annually. Its mission as a non-profit organization is to help athletes realize their potential, regardless of age or income, but financial documents obtained by Outside the Lines raise questions about the AAU’s spending, including a seven-figure payout to a disgraced former leader. Shaun Assael reports.
“They create their own rules, they create their own kingdom, and their definition of transparency stops at their front door.” – Robin Brown-Beamon, former national chairperson, AAU track & field
“At first blush, it looks like really excessive spending, really far beyond what you would expect for a charity.” – Ken Berger, non-profit consultant, on an AAU leader’s expense report uncovered by OTL
A Story of Abuse
Outside the Lines (Sunday, 9 a.m. ET, ESPN2)
While the Dallas Cowboys continue to defend their signing of Greg Hardy, despite photographic evidence of his history of violence against a former girlfriend, new details show that Cowboy representatives were aware of an abusive relationship involving a player during their championship run two decades ago. The former wife of Cowboy legend Nate Newton says she was physically abused while married to him in the 1990s. Kelly Naqi talks with Dorothy Newton about what life was like living with an abusive husband for more than a decade.
“It was, you know, just the yelling and cussing and throwing things or hitting things. And then it progressed to just hitting me.” – Dorothy, Newton’s former wife, on Nate’s behavior becoming more erratic after the birth of their first son
“I just wrote a letter and signed it: ‘I believe my husband Nate Newton will kill me on this day. If he kills me, (friends) Ingrid and Monte (Ford) promise that they will take care of (their son) Tre.’” – Dorothy, on an action she took before meeting him after he was asked by the Cowboys about his abusive behavior, and suspecting she had told them
The Warrior-Scholar Project
SportsCenter (Saturday, 9 a.m., ESPN)
Credit: ESPN/Producer: Barry Abrahms
Jesse Reising, on the banks of Lake Michigan in downtown Chicago where he lives and works, contemplating life, saying, “We still have a lot of work left to do.”
Jesse Reising’s dreams of joining the Marines were shattered by a devastating football injury in the final game of his senior year at Yale. But Reising found a new way to serve his country: channeling his passion through others who serve. The Warrior-Scholar Project, which Reising founded after law school, prepares soldiers returning from overseas to gain admittance and succeed in the academic rigors of elite colleges and universities. Chris Connelly interviews Reising and some of the more than 300 Warrior Scholars the program has assisted.
“We’ll put you through a very immersive academic boot camp experience before you ever have to set foot on campus, and that academic boot camp is going to prepare them with writing and reading and critical thinking and analytical skills.” – Jesse Reising, on the one-week of intensive training to prep veterans for the academic rigors of elite colleges and universities
“The intense personalized instruction and the immediate feedback on your performance really allows you to really straighten yourself out in large ways.” – Ted Scoufis, former Army Ranger, who doesn’t think he would have been accepted into Columbia University without the Warrior-Scholar Project
Hannah Storm Face to Face
SportsCenter (Sunday, 9 a.m., ESPN)
Carolina Panthers defensive back Josh Norman has become known for his “pony celebration” after a big play, and SportsCenter’s Hannah Storm visited the horse owner to find out exactly why. “With all the attention on Cam Newton’s end zone celebration, we go to the source with defensive player-of-the-year candidate and teammate Josh Norman, who famously has done his “pony celebration” in the end zone,” Storm says. “My first Face to Face interview conducted on a horse” she added after riding Willie Bit o’ Luck while Norman rode his Delta 747.
Sports Reporters
This week’s Panel* (Sunday, 9:30 a.m., ESPN2)
John Saunders, Bob Ryan, Pablo S. Torre, William C. Rhoden
*Subject to change
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