ESPN’s Sports Nation host, Michelle Beadle, is possibly every man’s dream. That is of course if you like hot, sports savvy, awesome women, that have tons of talent and can hang with the guys! Now, one of the most recognizable female reporters on ESPN is hosting a new sports show airing on ABC, called the Winner’s Bracket. She’s busy alright, but still made time to sit with Mankind Unplugged’s Heather Welborn and Super Bowl champion Jason David to talk about “Guy Stuff” from a “Girl’s View.”
Check out what Michelle had to say about: celebrity crushes, sports swagger, first date turnoffs, and more!
MANKIND UNPLUGGED: How do guys react to you because you work in sports?
MICHELLE: It’s two ways. Either they think it’s really cool because it is after all, a pretty fun job! Or they feel like they have to challenge me on my knowledge, which is understandable. Either way, I’m good with it.?
MANKIND UNPLUGGED: So if they’re challenging you, do you take that on right away, or do you say oh, boy here we go?
MICHELLE: It depends. If it happens in bar situations or now with the whole Twitter thing it happens on a daily basis. If their attitude sucks then I will be defensive and I’ll fight back. But if they’re kinda’ being cool about it, then I’ll just have a conversation. I think they’re like engrained in their minds that we’re not supposed to know anything about sports, and some of them are just taking a little bit longer to accept it.
MANKIND UNPLUGGED: So, do guys try to use sports as a way to pick you up?
MICHELLE: [With a laugh] Oh gosh, they probably do. I think it’s sometimes a good icebreaker. But honestly, I don’t like to just talk about sports either. So I would hope, they would tend to talk about other things because otherwise I’m going to get bored.
MANKIND UNPLUGGED: So, it’s definitely a first date turnoff if he takes you to that New York Yankees game.
MICHELLE: Oh, God, yeah, no, that’s not going to be good. There probably won’t be a second date.
JASON: [laughs]
MANKIND UNPLUGGED: So no sports at all on the first date probably?
MICHELLE: I don’t mind a little bit of sports, but just not only sports because that’s not all I care about. I don’t want someone else who that’s all they care about. I think there’s nice room for diversity.
MANKIND UNPLUGGED: Let’s play a little game we call “Pick ‘Em”. It’s pretty self-explanatory. So here’s the first one: Jordan or Kobe?
MICHELLE: Hands down, Michael Jordan to me…until I’m convinced otherwise, will always be the greatest basketball player ever.
JASON: And how will you be convinced otherwise? Just curious.
MICHELLE: That’s the thing, I don’t know if I can. [laughs] I’m very close-minded on certain topics. I acknowledge that Kobe is obviously fantastic, but for me, Michael Jordan made me a basketball fan. That’s always gonna’ have a little bit more weight. And you know, you can’t compete with the rings.
JASON: He’s one away
MICHELLE: You know, just telling you it’s Michael Jordan. He should be the logo, the greatest that ever played.
MANKIND UNPLUGGED: Some people get annoyed during the Lakers game when Kobe is mimicking M.J. so blatantly. Are you okay with that?
MICHELLE: I’m okay with it. I think everyone with those two involved has healthy enough egos to deal. Kobe is not stupid either. He obviously realizes where everyone stands in history so far. So I’m all right with it. At least if there was a second place then I would have to name him, but I have to admit Kobe is definitely in the argument so it doesn’t annoy me.
MANKIND UNPLUGGED: Here’s another “Pick ‘Em”. For this one, who makes the cut? Serena, Danika, or Maria Sharapova?
MICHELLE: I gotta’ go Serena. I just think, although I just read something about Twitter where she was getting people to boycott the Farmer’s Classic. I just think she’s intimidating as hell. I mean, I would not want to meet her on the court. I would not want her mad at me if I was her friend. I think she’s just excellent and amazing, and beyond athletic; not that the other two aren’t good. For me, Danika doesn’t do much. I have to be honest. But Serena Williams can back up anything; if she wants to talk about it she can, and I have to admire that. She is competitive and I think sometimes women don’t get credit to be competitive.
JASON: I heard on your show that you’re 5’8” tall. Did you play and excel in any sports growing up?
MICHELLE: I was very competitive growing up. I played all of them — I played volleyball, basketball, and soccer. It’s weird, and then you hit like high school and college and things kind of start to drop off. My parents are still upset because I was very competitive, and if I lost something I would give up. It’s probably the worst trait ever. But track was probably my favorite; I loved running track.
MANKIND UNPLUGGED: All right, what’s your favorite asset on a man?
MICHELLE: Are we talking physical?
MANKIND UNPLUGGED: Yeah, let’s go there first.
MICHELLE: Okay, [laughs] the important stuff. Hmm, forearms.
JASON: I’m actually doing some forearm exercises right now.
MICHELLE: Shaped, but not over the top. You don’t have to be a gym rat. If you have it, you have it. Everyone is always talking about biceps [laughs], but for me its forearms.
JASON: What about tattoos?
MICHELLE: Uh, look, I have some… but there’s a line. It’d be scary if he had an entire lizard, dragon thing going on with his shirt off.
JASON: Are any of these tattoos seen if you watch the show?
MICHELLE: They are. I have one on my ankle, one on my foot, and one on my wrist. And I have another like on my hip.
MANKIND UNPLUGGED: Any sports related tattoos?
MICHELLE: Weird. I don’t have anything sports related. You know what, that scares me. I would never do a logo of a team. I think people screw themselves when they start doing that.
MANKIND UNPLUGGED: A lot of guys need a little help when it comes to fashion. What player have you encountered that has the most swagger?
MICHELLE: We discuss this all the time. I love the way Dwyane Wade dresses. Even when he gets a little bit of that nerd-chic thing, the NBA legends embraced it like a year and a half ago, and I was like oh. But even when Dwyane Wade did it, it was cool. I think he has the best fashion sense.
Make sure to check out part 2 of our interview with Michelle as she talks about female tennis players grunting, Marcellus Wiley, Hollywood guys versus athletes, and Laker hatin.
Tags espn Female Sports Reporters Jason David Michelle Beadle Sports Sports Reporter SportsCenter Winner's Bracket WOMENkind
[…] ESPN’s Sports Nation host, Michelle Beadle, is possibly every man’s dream. That is of course if you like hot, sports savvy, awesome women, that have tons of talent and can hang with the guys! Now, one of the most recognizable female reporters on ESPN is hosting a new sports show airing on ABC, called the Winner’s Bracket. She’s busy alright, but still made time to sit with Mankind Unplugged’s Heather Welborn and Super Bowl champion Jason David to talk about “Guy Stuff” from a “Girl’s View.” Read what Michelle had to say in the first part of our interview here. […]
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