#198: Jemele Hill

This week on A Waste of Time with ItsTheReal, we welcome ESPN personality, writer for The Undefeated, proud Michiganite and UNO champion Jemele Hill to the Upper West Side! Jemele discusses her upbringing in Detroit, falling in love with baseball and sports writing at a young age, the perks of interning at the Detroit Free Press as a high schooler, the pull of both Michigan State University and the University of Michigan, her experiences as a college intern at landmark papers in Philadelphia, Cleveland and Detroit, and ultimately driving with her mom down to her first staff job, down in Raleigh, North Carolina. We talk about returning to the Detroit Free Press as a columnist, what brought her down to Orlando, her infamous story with Willis McGahee , how that simultaneously almost got her suspended and got her the attention of ESPN, how even though ESPN wasn't her dream job, she saw and took opportunities, and changed her own trajectory. We dive into podcasting vs. TV production, working with an earpiece live on air, how ESPN approached her and Michael Smith to host SportsCenter, and how she considers her time behind that infamous desk. All that plus the Cleveland Indians of 1995, Boyz II Men, ride-alongs, 2 Live Crew, what Stuart Scott meant to her, her thoughts on The New York Daily News' recent staff firings, how her feelings on Lil Jon's music have changed through the years, the biggest misconceptions of her online and so much more!! Also, please make sure to pre-order our new lined notebook with original ItsTheReal material - RHYME BOOK - on Amazon.com!