Time to cut a conversation with Bob Costas short. The new boss — CNN chief Jeff Zucker — is calling on the other line.
Costas, who ended his 40-year hitch at NBC Sports more than a year ago, this week signed on as a CNN contributor to offer commentary on the intersection of news and sports.
The two men have a long history. Zucker's first job out of Harvard University was as a researcher for NBC at the 1988 Olympics in Seoul, South Korea, where one duty was fetching coffee for Costas (no sugar, just a drop of milk).
“My relationship with Jeff makes me comfortable with the whole arrangement,” Costas said. “So far, so good.”
Costas made some appearances on CNN before he was formally signed as a contributor, talking about the return of baseball from the coronavirus lockdown with Michael Smerconish and the involvement of sports figures in social protest with Don Lemon.
As those examples illustrate, his role is to opine when sports news moves onto the front pages. With sports attempting to return, Washington's football team ditching the “Redskins” name and baseball players kneeling to support Black Lives Matter at the start of their season, there's plenty of fodder.
All of the sports are coming back — fingers crossed — to a certain degree. But Costas has the hardest time justifying college football, a sport with constant contact, resuming when student attendance in general will be restricted at many schools.
“It's a great deal to ask of these supposed student-athletes, and it's all obviously in pursuit of television money,” he said. “That's the one I'm most dubious about.”
Pro football has many of the same issues — minus the unpaid athletes — coming back for a season in the fall and winter, when many medical professionals expect COVID-19 cases to surge, he said.
“Good luck with that,” Costas said.
He sees many print journalists addressing these issues forthrightly, but less so on television.
“Most broadcasters ... think of it as their job to cover the games and, if anything, to be boosters,” he said. “If I haven't proven over the last four decades that I'm a sports fans, then I don't know what's been lost between transmission and reception. Still, I've always been someone who's been willing, at the right time and in the right proportion, to take a look at the larger picture."
Costas has waited for the return of sports while staying at his winter home in California, helping the MLB Network mine the archives for programming, like a series on baseball's best broadcasters.
“Am I glad (sports) is back?” he said. “Yeah, I'm glad. If you've asked me if in the last three months with no sports I had to be talked back down off a ledge, no. I've been around long enough.”
MILWAUKEE (AP) — Four years after showing up late for the Beijing Olympics and missing one of his races because of a case of COVID-19, U.S. long track speedskater Casey Dawson is enjoying what he jokingly terms his “villain arc,” peaking at the right time ahead of the Milan Cortina Games.
Dawson secured a spot for next month in the men's 5,000 meters — an event he was forced to skip in 2022 while sick — by winning at that distance at the U.S. Olympic trials in 6 minutes, 12.857 seconds on Friday night.
“I actually got COVID two or three weeks before going to the competition. Tested positive for 50 straight tests,” said Dawson, a 25-year-old from Park City, Utah. “Couldn’t go over to the Games. I missed the opening ceremonies. Missed the 5,000 meters. Showed up 12 hours before my 1,500 meters. So I kind of got a little screwed over from that point of view. But this time around, I’m just looking forward to getting there smoothly and just getting a little bit of redemption.”
And then, with a chuckle, Dawson added: “It’s kind of fun to have, like, my villain arc, I would call it. Just coming back and having some fun.”
Ethan Cepuran was about 6 1/2 seconds back Friday, finishing next in 6:19.335.
The last American man to medal in the 5,000 at an Olympics was Chad Hedrick at the 2006 Turin Games.
Dawson already had secured the lone U.S. place for Milan in the men’s 10,000 — a race not being contested at these trials — and also will be part of the trio for men’s team pursuit at the Olympics.
Dawson, Cepuran and Emery Lehman took the bronze in that event in Beijing four years ago, set the world record in 2024 and claimed gold in the team pursuit at the world championships in March.
In the other race Friday, the women's 3,000, Greta Myers won in 4:06.799. As of now, the United States does not have a berth in Milan for that distance, but one of its athletes could end up in the field if another country relinquishes an opening.
“It's hard to wait,” said Myers, a 21-year-old from Lino Lakes, Minnesota. “But I'm very hopeful. I think it's at least a 50-50 chance that it'll happen.”
The U.S. Olympic roster for long track won't become official until the four-day trials at the Pettit National Ice Center wrap up on Monday. One element that could come into play is that the Americans are allowed to bring a maximum of eight men and six women to these Winter Games.
The biggest star of the team — and the sport — is scheduled to make his trials debut Saturday in the men's 1,000 meters: Jordan Stolz. The 21-year-old from Kewaskum, a town about 40 miles north of Milwaukee, is not just competing at home this week; he's racing at the same rink where he first began taking lessons as a kid.
He made his Olympic debut at age 17 in Beijing four years ago, finishing 13th in the 500 and 14th in the 1,000.
At both the 2023 and 2024 world championships, Stolz earned titles in each of the 500, 1,000 and 1,500 meters.
He's already pre-qualified for the Olympics based on performances at those three distances. All he really needs to do to lock down berths on the squad for the Feb. 6-22 Milan Cortina Games is show up at the starting line this week.
The 500 and 1,500 are slated for Sunday, and the mass start is Monday.
AP Winter Olympics: https://apnews.com/hub/milan-cortina-2026-winter-olympics
Casey Dawson, of Park City, Utah, right, and Ethan Cepuran, of Glen Ellyn, lllinois, left, compete in the men's 5,000 meters at the U.S. Olympic trials for long track speed skating at the Pettit National Ice Center in Milwaukee, Friday, Jan. 2, 2026. (AP Photo/Howard Fendrich)
The Pettit National Ice Center is seen in Milwaukee on Friday, Jan. 2, 2026, the first day of the U.S. Olympic trials for long track speedskating. (AP Photo/Howard Fendrich)
