BATTER 'UP'
Rose using new show to prove he’s more than just hoops guy
Jalen Rose started taking steps toward this stage when he was still on the NBA one.
As Rose’s basketball career wound down in the mid 2000s — bouncing among the Raptors, Knicks and Suns — the former Fab Fiver was making frequent television appearances: NFL Network, Top Rank Boxing, MTV Movie Awards, “Best Damn Sports Show Period” and BET Sports to name some.
Once hired by ESPN, Rose’s challenge was proving his knowledge went beyond the sport he played.
“People are quick to pigeonhole you,” the 45-year-old said. “If me and you are talking sports, and it’s, ‘Hey he played basketball,’ then we start talking baseball and people are like, ‘What is he doing talking about baseball?’ That’s ridiculous. If you are knowledge- able about something and are able to talk about it, you should be able to express yourself. That’s one of the barriers that I continue to want to break for former athletes who are in this industry.”
Rose has that chance full-time now on “Get Up!,” alongside Mike Greenberg and Michelle Beadle. ESPN built a South Street Seaport studio for the show — the focal point of the network’s New York City operation — and the trio is making a combined $14.5 million, according to the Hollywood Reporter.
Rose dismissed ratings as a personal barometer of success, and that’s a good thing thus far. The ratings for the first two shows — it premiered Monday — were far from ideal. According to Sports TV Ratings Twitter account, the show averaged 283,000 views on Monday — or 44,000 less than “SportsCenter” did on the same day a year ago — and 243,000 on Tuesday.
“I feel zero concern or pressure,” Rose said days before the debut. “I get to talk about sports on television for a living. Every- one wants to be successful. What I’ve learned is how do you determine what that is? It’s being proud of what you’re putting out there and longevity, and that’s what I am hoping we have.”
Rose and Booger McFarland, who also has a significant presence on the show, play the role of analyst on the three-hour program while Beadle and Greenberg seemingly guide the topics. If there is a surprise in the opening week, it’s that Beadle and Greenberg seem to be getting equal airtime. In the months leading up to the debut, the program appeared as if it were being built around Greenberg.
Rose, who started at ESPN in 2007 right after his playing career ended, grew his profile outside of basketball, filling in on “Mike & Mike” and “Cold Pizza” (now “First Take”). Rose also worked closely with Bill Simmons, including a production role in the 30-for-30 on his famed Michigan team.
“I was trying to find unique barriers and use them as a motivation,” Rose said. “One of them was for former basketball players to be thought of the same way football players were because that sport was considered king.
“For so long there was not a Monday-Friday show nationally that featured a basketball player. You had football players: Michael Strahan, Mike Golic, Marcellus Wiley on ‘SportsNation.’ Those are the things that I looked at and in my own little way used them as motivation.”