Serena: a champion's champion

One of the best shows I've watched on TV in the last five years was "All-Exclusive with Ahmad Rashad" on ESPN in 2004. Normally a NBA analyst for ABC, the former Vikings wideout moderated a panel of world champions consisting of Michael Jordan, Serena Williams, Derek Jeter, Warren Sapp, and Roy Jones, Jr.

The best moment was when Rashad, having previously asked the members to recall their most proud moment as athletes, asked them to detail their most devastating loss. The men all went through recollections of missing out on some key opportunity, costing their teams, their franchises, their cities, and themselves a victory. How it stung months after. How it motivated them. How they never really got over it, even after later success.

But of particular interest, and in my opinion the moment of the hour-long special, was Williams, who silently thought for a moment and then burst into tears, genuinely moved by a memory that she never identified. Jones simply said, "Now THAT'S a winner." Ingenious.

Despite the implication of the show as a front for Nike marketing, it made for good TV.