When you think of MLB insiders, it’s hard to imagine that anyone in the industry does their job better than ESPN’s Jeff Passan. He’s not only an excellent writer and reporter, but Passan doesn’t take himself too seriously. He does a great job of interacting with fans on Twitter but also adds an element of humility that’s missing from a lot of sports media.
And those in the industry like Seattle Sports 710 host Brock Huard have taken notice. Passan made an appearance on Brock & Salk and received a level of praise from Huard, who has become a prominent voice in the Seattle sports scene, in addition to his work as an analyst on Fox’s college football coverage.
Before Huard and Mike Salk got into talking about the Seattle Mariners and the rest of the happenings in the world of Major League Baseball, Huard wanted to give Passan his flowers. He said after a lot of years of working in sports media, he feels almost like a consultant in some ways. Over the weekend, Huard was tuned in to Passan on Baseball Tonight prior to one of the games of the Men’s College World Series between LSU and Florida.
“You exude an excellent confidence with still a likability,” Huard told Passan. “Because I think a lot of times, there’s just an arrogance that can come, but you have this confidence, but there’s still a fun little likability. How do you do that?”
“I appreciate you saying that because somebody sent me a screenshot of me on TV and I believe my response to it was, ‘What a smug bastard,’” Passan replied. “Because I can definitely have that look too.”
There’s the humility that we mentioned above.
Salk was a bit harsher in his assessment, albeit jokingly, he said that when he generally thinks of “smug bastard,” someone like Passan comes to mind.
Passan erupted in laughter.
“I generally think more like smug bastard,” Salk said. “So I’m very surprised. Sometimes Brock gets it right, sometimes he gets it wrong.”
“Well maybe because it’s personal for me,” Huard said in response to Salk. “How is that guy in Hawaii for a week, and still not very tan? To me, that was the likability.”
The answer to that question, according to Passan, is SPF 70.
And that’s what makes Passan so great. He’s an excellent reporter but always finds a way to not take himself too seriously. That’s exactly what Huard was getting at.
[Brock & Salk via Barrett Sports Media]
