Roy Firestone, best known as the longtime host of ESPN’s “Up Close,” displayed many talents that went beyond sports journalism at the Bakersfield Business Conference.
His first big surprise for the crowd was singing “America the Beautiful.”
“You must think I’m just sports, but I also have a lot of musical instincts, I grew up as a singer,” he said.
That was just the beginning.
He then told stories about great sports personalities such as Wilt Chamberlain, Tommy Lasorda and Shaquille O’Neal, impersonating each.
Since the age of 15, he has performed as a comedian.
“I love interviewing and I love entertaining,” he said. “I’ve entertained since I was a little kid.”
Impressions of famous personalities also are one of his specialties.
From an impression of Howard Cosell and Muhammad Ali performing a rap song, to a Sammy Davis Jr. performance singing “Once in a Lifetime,” Firestone had the crowd chuckling from start to finish.
Other impressions included Frank Sinatra, Smokey Robinson, Stevie Wonder, the Bee Gees, Casey Kasem and Ed Sullivan.
With all the comedy out of the way, Firestone described the greatest team who ever lived.
But this team was not a sports team.
“You’ve never heard of these four athletes,” Firestone said. “They never had an endorsement deal.”
Instead, the team were four men on the doomed United Airlines flight 93 that crashed near Pittsburgh, Penn., on Sept. 11.
Passengers Mark Bingham, Todd Beamer, Tom Burnett and Jeremy Glick wrestled the hijackers and prevented them from crashing the plane into a building. The plane crashed in an unpopulated area.
“They became a team,” Firestone said. “Something happened on that flight after Todd called his mother on his cell phone, `Mom, we’re being hijacked, I may die, but there are four of us, we’re going to do something.’
“At 35,000 feet in the air this team became perhaps the greatest team that America will never get to know,” he said.
He then showed a musical montage with images of firefighters, police officers and other people who helped in the aftermath of the terrorist attacks in New York.
He sang “Hero,” the song made popular by Mariah Carey.
The vivid images along with his voice turned the last part of his speech into an emotional moment for all.