Lesley Visser has been something of a reluctant trailblazer for women in sports broadcasting. There were times when she didn’t necessarily want to embrace her role, but she was the first to do many things, including becoming the only woman to be a part of the Pro Football Hall of Fame. So it wasn’t really her choice.
Now, four decades into her career, she accepts her position and knows it gives her a voice.
So when you pick up her new book, “Sometimes You Have To Cross When It Says Don’t Walk: A Memoir of Breaking Barriers,” what immediately sticks out is the only testimonial on the front cover. It is from Les Moonves, the embattled CEO of CBS.
Moonves is currently under a company-led investigation for sexual harassment, following a New Yorker report that cited six accusers. Visser has never seen that side of her boss.
“In no way do I diminish or demean the bravery of those woman who came forward,” Visser told The Post. “But my experience with Les Moonves was different. I’ve known him for 30 years since he was at Warner Brothers and I was at CBS and I’ve worked for him for 25. That was not my truth. That was not my experience. I’m not diminishing theirs. I’m entitled to my own truth.”
Visser has built a career in a man’s world, but she said she has only been treated with respect by her bosses at CBS — sports presidents Ted Shaker and Sean McManus as well as Moonves — and, before that, at the Boston Globe under Vince Doria, who would go on to become a bigwig at ESPN. It was Doria who green-lit Visser’s transition to TV.
In the early ‘80s, while still working for Doria at the Globe, Visser got her first assignment for CBS. On national TV, Visser made her debut by asking teenage Czech tennis player Hana Mandlikova to what she attributed her rise in the rankings.
When Visser tells the story, she does a Czech accent, and so Visser thought Mandlikova said “my new couch.”
Visser was thinking to herself that it was an odd answer, but maybe Mandlikova was sleeping better, so Visser followed up with, “Did you get some new furniture?”
Mandlikova gave Visser a look like she was a fool and said, “Don’t be ridiculous, Billie Jean King, my new coach.” Visser has told the story countless times, but still finds joy in it.
“Another reason I wanted to write this book is that you, too, can survive national humiliation,” Visser said with her trademark laugh.
Now, at 64, she’s probably the first female sportscaster to defy the norms and work for decades. To go along with her new book, she signed another CBS contract to do features on its NFL pregame show this season.
The Athletic has signed 24-year-old Shams Charania for its forthcoming NBA coverage, but it has a more veteran NBA insider in its sights. The two-year-old subscription website has Turner Sports’ David Aldridge on its radar, sources have told The Post.
If Aldridge, 53, ends up with The Athletic, he could still remain with Turner as well, but it is not fully clear that he will. When reached, Aldridge declined comment.
The Athletic also has shown interest in ESPN’s Chris Haynes, as well as “Around The Horn” and SiriusXM’s Frank Isola, who formerly wrote for the Daily News.
Charania, meanwhile, is set to join Stadium, the growing sports video platform based in Charania’s hometown of Chicago.
“We think he is a really young, cool version of Woj,” said Stadium CEO Jason Coyle, referencing Charania’s rival and mentor, ESPN insider Adrian Wojnarowski.
Stadium is trying to be a go-to source for cord cutters. That said, besides nearly every digital platform, viewers can access it in New York on Fios (Ch. 820) and Time-Warner (92/1295).
Coyle hopes to make breaking news with Charania on the NBA and former ESPNers Brett McMurphy on college football and Jeff Goodman on college hoops, a staple of Stadium’s presentation. McMurphy just caused a stir with his exclusive story that has put Urban Meyer on leave at Ohio State.
Meanwhile, The Athletic’s chief content officer, Paul Fichtenbaum, is bringing in Charania for a couple reasons. While Charania’s news-breaking ability on Twitter could lead to added awareness for the upstart site, the main reason Fichtenbaum made the move is he believes in Charania’s upside.
At 24, there is still a question whether Charania can write. Unlike Wojnarowski — who was a tremendous general sports columnist before becoming mostly a news-breaker — Charania has yet to prove he can string words together that contain more than 280 characters.
“We think he is in a perfect position in his career to make the next step to become an excellent enterprise and feature reporter to go along with his bona fide news chops,” Fichtenbaum said. “If you spend any time with him, you would know the competitive nature that he has. I will say one thing: Don’t bet against Shams.”
Clicker Consulting: ESPN should not have used Keith Olbermann on play-by-play of the Yankees-Mets game Monday. There is no denying Olbermann’s passion for the sport and that his knowledge is excellent, but the problem with an Olbermann game broadcast is that it is always about Olbermann. That can work on a studio show, but the main event Monday was the game.
The other issue is that, to really be a play-by-player worthy of ESPN’s stage, you need reps that Olbermann does not have. Calling a game is harder than it looks. Everyone who listened to Olbermann incessantly going on and on could hear that.
With that said, ESPN’s exclusive coverage of the game delivered a 1.3 metered market rating, which was the highest regular-season number for a non-Opening Night weekday in the last year and a half.
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