Sportscaster Bob Costas
In early 2001, I received an assignment from Minnesota Monthly magazine: Interview famous people and ask what they like about Minnesota. It was a fun story to work on! Here is my audio interview with Bob Costas and the resulting story that was printed in the May 2001 issue. The interview went very well, other than him calling me Bill instead of Phil!
Click on the audio player below to listen to my four-minute interview with Bob Costas.
This illustration of Bob Costas holding Baby Kirby appeared alongside his story
Costas has covered sports for NBC since 1980. “On The Record with Bob Costas,” a weekly show, premiered in February on HBO.
Some people may think of Minnesota as just Minneapolis and a bunch of snow, but the summers in Minneapolis are a treat. Go out on the lakes in the summertime, and it’s about as pleasant as can be. During spring training in 1986, I was having lunch with Kirby [Puckett] and Tonya, who was then his fiancee. My wife was pregnant, and he asked if we had a name picked out. We said we didn’t. Then he asked if we knew if it was going to be a boy or a girl, and we said we weren’t planning to know that until the birth. He said, “Well, how about ‘Kirby’? That works for a boy or a girl!” I jokingly said, “I’ll tell you what. If you’re hitting .350 by the time this baby is born, we’ll name him or her after you.” As it turns out, he was hitting .372. My wife wouldn’t really go for Kirby; she had her heart set on Keith, which is her younger brother’s name. So we went with two middle names, and Kirby became the second middle name. But that is his legal, honest-to-gosh name: Keith Michael Kirby Costas.
MY POSTS FEATURING MY MINNESOTA MONTHLY AUDIO INTERVIEWS
MY INTERVIEW WITH DOC SEVERINSEN
MY INTERVIEW WITH TOMMY SMOTHERS
MY INTERVIEW WITH PATRICK STEWART
Click here to view all my baseball-related posts.
HOW TO SUPPORT THIS BLOG AT NO EXPENSE TO YOU
Just click here or click on the photo of my book on my homepage every time you go to Amazon to make any purchase on Amazon. Thank you so much!
YOU CAN ALSO MAKE A DONATION VIA CREDIT CARD OR PAYPAL
I am tremendously grateful for your kindness and support!
ABOUT PHIL BOLSTA
Phil is the author of Sixty Seconds: One Moment Changes Everything, a collection of 45 inspiring, life-changing stories from prominent people he interviewed, including Joan Borysenko, Deepak Chopra, geneticist Dr. Francis Collins, acclaimed sportswriter Frank Deford, Dr. Larry Dossey, Wayne Dyer, Dan Millman, Caroline Myss, Dr. Christiane Northrup, Dr. Dean Ornish, Dr. Rachel Naomi Remen, Dr. Bernie Siegel, James Van Praagh, singer Billy Vera, Doreen Virtue, Neale Donald Walsch, and bassist Victor Wooten.
Here is a three-minute video that introduces you to Phil and his book. Click here to buy Sixty Seconds. Click here to ask Phil to add you to his e-mail list for updates on his blog and books.
Reading this book is like spending a few minutes face to face with each of the contributors and listening to their personal stories. Click here to read unsolicited testimonials from readers. Learn more by visiting the official Sixty Seconds website.
Sixty Seconds was one of three finalists in the General Interest/How-To category at the 12th annual Visionary Awards presented by COVR (Coalition of Visionary Resources) in Denver on June 27, 2009.
Tags: Bob Costas, Kirby Puckett
