Book Review: Chris Myers looks back on his career in ’That Deserves a Wow'

There are few sports journalists working today with a resume as broad as Chris Myers. From a decade doing everything for ESPN (SportsCenter, play by play, and succeeding Roy Firestone as host of the interview show “Up Close”) to decades of involvement with nearly every league under contract with Fox Sports (NFL, NASCAR, Major League Baseball), the kid from Miami has truly seen and done it all when it comes to sports television. Which is why it’s a little surprising that his memoir, “That Deserves a Wow,” isn’t more revealing.

It hits all the admittedly very high points — the first live interview with O.J. Simpson following the civil judgement against him in the Nicole Brown Simpson and Ron Goldman murders, the 1989 California earthquake that postponed the World Series for a week, and live on-the-scene reporting from the Centennial Park bombing at the Atlanta Olympics in 1996 — but a lot of it is pulled from transcripts and comes across as a rather dry retelling of what fans will recall seeing on TV.

For readers looking to get into the business, though, there’s some good advice in these pages. Myers knew early on what he wanted to do with his life and began writing down his goals. “Get on the radio.

Be an anchor on TV,” he scrawled in lipstick on his mirror as a kid. As he grew, he swapped the mirror for note cards and kept them close to his bed, reading them often as reminders. And as he climbed to a top rung on the TV sports ladder, he followed this ada.