The Sporting News
December 5th, 1994

"Minding her own business"
By: Ted Rogers

Ann Liguori is more than the star of the cable-television talk show, "Sports Innerview." She owns it.
"I'm a business woman," she says. "Not just a host."
She not only lines up the guests, but also makes sure there are cameras and crews. She markets the show and sells commercials. She lined up Sharp Electronics her first year. Three years later, Sharp signed her using her with Rick Pitino, Bill Walsh and Chuck Daily in its advertising.
"When I started, Madison Avenue was predominately male," Liguori says. "Now the ad agencies have women vice presidents. It's not as hard to talk to them."
She started Sports Innerview five years ago. It now has 22 million viewers and is on 10 cable networks. People are noticing. TV Guide calls her "the queen of locker-room talk."
Her style is low key. Perhaps she's a little slow at the start ("You look great-you've lost a lot of weight"). But she draws out her guests, making them feel comfortable.
This week's show is with Deacon Jones. After establishing that he is a contemporary of Art Shell, Liguori discusses the racial term Shell is accused of using. Jones says, "I would have said that." He adds, "I used to call Merlin Olsen a white so-and-so all the time." The context had been set to understand why Jones considers it no big thing, and why its worth discussing at this time.
She describes her style as "probing, yet respectful and conversational." That seems right.
But she is a journalist. For example, she asked Pete Rose about his gambling. When he couldn't avoid answering, he got huffy and snapped "I don't have to tell it to you."
Liguori will have a second talk show when The Golf Network debuts in January. The new show is keeping her from playing golf. "I keep taking my clubs with me, but I can't get out," she says.
She was just a few minutes away from several beautiful courses but was sitting at an editing station. She had work to do.