Press - Talking golf with . . . Ann Liguori

"Talking golf with . . . Ann Liguori"
By John J. Glozek, Jr.

Ann Liguori is one of the busiest sports-talk show hosts in the business. In addition to 'Sharp Sports Innerview,' which airs on Sports Channel New York and regionals around the country, her prime time show 'Conversations with Ann Liguori' airs several times a week on The Golf Channel and features interviews with top names in entertainment, politics, and sports. Her weekly radio show, 'Hey Liguori, What's the Story?' has aired for nine years on WFAN-NY.

LGIM: Tell me about Ann Liguori and golf. Where do you play and what kind of clubs do you use?

AL: Callaway. I love them. I use the Great Big Bertha driver. I'm hitting the ball further now. Some of my drives are 250 yards. Off the tee I'm straight down the middle. I think I have to work on my chipping and finesse shots.

LIGM: Do you take lessons?

AL: I have taken lessons. I don't take regular lessons. Just like any golf junkie, when I'm on location at a golf resort, and if I'm there long enough or have any extra time at all, I'll take lessons. I've taken lessons from all kinds of instructors including Jim Mclean and Tom Patri and from professionals who don't necessarily have a big name.

LIGM: How long have you been playing?

AL: I've been an athlete all my life. I can't remember not being an athlete. I've been a jock my whole life, playing every sport imaginable. I did not play golf in high school. They didn't have a girls golf team. They didn't even have a girls tennis team. I had to play on the boys team. I was the number one singles player on the boys tennis team during my senior year.

I didn't pursue golf until much later. I became an addict once I was more exposed to it. I wish I would have started sooner but you can't do everything.

LIGM: Where do you play?

AL: We have a house in west Hampton. So when we are out on Long Island we play all over the east end, including one of my favorites, Fox Hill in Baiting Hollow. Because of my travel schedule we don't call ourselves regulars at any one club.

LIGM: Where do practice when you're here in Manhattan?

AL: I get over to Chelsea Piers and Randall's Island to hit balls. Sometimes I even bring clients with me.

LIGM: You mention clients. What is Ann Liguori Productions?

AL: As the President of my own production company the scope is to produce quality programming week after week. Booking high profile guests who feel comfortable enough to talk candidly, and to quite often reveal seldom heard facts about their lives, is our trademark.

Under the umbrella of Ann Liguori Productions, we currently produce and own Sports Innerview with Ann Liguori, seen on Sports Channel New York in the area. Sports Innerview is the longest running sports show hosted by a women. It aired at least once every week on regional cable networks for the past eight years. The company also produces Conversations with Ann Liguori, which airs daily on The Golf Channel. These two shows keep us pretty busy.

Sharp Electronics has been our main sponsor for Sports Innerview for the last seven years. Callaway Golf has joined us this year, marking the first time Callaway has advertised on a sports interview show that is not just golf related. We work 24-hours a day being ambassadors for both Sharp Electronics and Callaway, providing the companies we work with more value.

LIGM: Who have you had on your shows?

AL: The list is endless but includes Dan Quayle, Charles Barkley, Sylvester Stallone, Joe DiMaggio, Mickey Mantle, Lee Trevino, Amy Grant, Nancy Lopez, Jackie Joyner-Kersee, Raymond Floyd and John Daly. I own over five hundred TV interviews. My library has become quite extensive.

LIGM: 'Hey Liguori, What's the Story?'. That has been your trademark line on WFAN these last nine years. So, what is the story?

AL: I get a lot of satisfaction when people I don't even know come up to me and say, "Hey Liguori, what's the story?". When the Yankees won the world series, I must have heard that twenty times that night at the ballpark. The story is, the show has become a forum for insightful sports talk with special guests and with live call-ins.

LIGM: If someone wanted to call in?

AL: The show airs Friday nights, 1 am to 5. The number is 718-937-6666. I really appreciate the callers. I've had people who have called in every week for eight years. They have become family. It's amazing. They keep me…

LGIM: Awake?

AL: I never have a problem keeping awake. I have a passion for the show. That is why I still do it. It is so much fun to talk sports, not just golf but everything—basketball, baseball, football, whatever they want to talk about we talk about.

We do talk golf though. I get a lot of people who are in their cars, waiting for those tee times at Bethpage who are listening to WFAN. They call me from their car phones. We have a very large golf audience who call up early in the morning.

LIGM: If you had to do it all over again what would you do?

AL: It would be exactly what I'm doing now. I'd be a better golfer. I'd be a scratch golfer.

I've worked very hard at what I'm doing. There has been a lot of challenges. It's tough to be a women in the sports broadcasting business and the sports sales business. What I'm doing here is a little bit of everything. I'm running a company, I'm selling, I'm hosting, I'm producing, I'm managing and I've managed to breakdown a lot of barriers along the way.

LIGM: What is your opinion of discrimination of women in golf?

AL: It is hard to believe that in the day and age, women and minorities are still discriminated against at country clubs. Many women still can not become members at clubs without their husbands, and once they are members they're still discriminated against as far as tee times are concerned. That is unacceptable to me. I have interviewed many celebrities who have been denied membership because of their gender, race and/or religion.

I haven't initiated a membership anywhere in New York because of our travel schedule, but when the time comes to join a club, we will not join one that discriminates. My instincts tell me that could be a problem.

LGIM: You use the word we?

AL: Steve Geller, my husband. He edits and co-produces the show.

LIGM: Does he caddie for you?

AL: No. He's a good golfer. He used to be a tennis pro. We're very competitive out on the golf course. The last time we played I took some money from him. We're very even though. We go back and forth, sometimes he beats me, I beat him.

LIGM: What's your thoughts on his thoughts about your celebrity status?

AL: He's my biggest fan. He's very secure. I could never have married a man who was not completely secure and happy with himself. He's a terrific athlete, a great businessman and works for Ann Liguori Productions. He's a rare breed.

LIGM: In 2002 the U.S. Open will be contested at the Black Course relatively close to Manhattan. What are your long term plans till then?

AL: It's not too far away. I hope I continue what I'm doing now. I love what I'm doing. The challenge is improving what we do all the time. I'm independent. I want to go to places I want to go to. I want to interview who I want to interview. I like being my own boss. Like you, John, you can appreciate what it's like to be your own boss. I love it.

For the past nine years Ann Liguori has hosted her own five-hour radio sports talk show on WFAN. "Hey Liguori, What's the Story?," has been a forum for creative discussions on all kinds of issues with all kinds of guests.

Ann is also the first and only woman in the business who both hosts and owns her syndicated sports show. She is the President of Ann Liguori Productions, Inc., and owns, sells, produces and hosts her own sports interview show. Sports Innerview is seen four times a week on Sports Channel New York and syndicated throughout the country on regional sports cable networks.

Sports Innerview Highlights Form The Past Season

The first in-depth interview with Don Mattingly since he left the New York Yankees
A rare sports-related interview with New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani
A exclusive with Hall of Famer Duke snider, discussing is tax evasion.
A heart-to-heart talk with David Mantle one year after his father Mickey's death
Hockey superstar Mario Lemieux on overcoming cancer.

Ann also hosts "Conversations with Ann Liguori" on the Golf Channel. The show features celebrities discussing their passion for golf, their careers and their opinions on a variety of other issues. An exclusive interview with Sylvester Stallone kicked of the series in 1995.

Since then, Ann has walked nine holes with Charles Barkley, interviewing him the entire way; hit balls with former Vice President Dan Quayle while discussing politics and golf, interviewed Joe Pesci and Annika Sorenstam while they played in an LPGA pro-am and took a putting lesson from Alice Cooper, who's a five handicap.

Some of Ann's golfing exploits this year include traveling to Ireland to play in the Jameson International, a three day golf competition and playing at some of their top courses including Bally Bunion, Waterville and Kelarney, playing with Vince Gill at the Vinny in Nashville, having fun with Meat Loaf during the Jimmy V Celebrity tournament, golfing with singer Ann Murray and pro Kris Tschetter during the LPGA Sprint Title Holders, and being one of the few women invited to play in the Greater Greensboro Open pro-am where she played with pro Ken Perry.

Last year, she co-hosted with Pat O'Brien VH1's Fairway to Heaven, a two-day, rock n' roll golf show featuring Bill Murray, Hootie & the Blowfish, Vince Gill, Alice Cooper, and others.