ESPN The Weekend started today with a weekend full of ESPN programs and special events with ESPN personalities and  sports legends at Walt Disney World.  If you can’t quick get a ticket for Orlando, the next best thing to being there is the Orlando Sentinel’s blog covering all the festivities.  Check out all the fun at http://blogs.orlandosentinel.com/the_buzz/espn-the-weekend/ .

ESPN baseball analyst Tim Kurkjian is perfectly healthy, but he recently joined Dan Levy for his “On the DL” podcast.  Among the wide variety of topics covered during the 30-plus minute discussion, Tim revealed his favorite player of all time (Cal Ripken, Jr.) and shared his thoughts on Alex Rodriguez and on Hall of Fame voting.

Maybe it was a snowy month, or maybe it was the compelling NBA, college basketball, NASCAR and Australian Open action and all the latest news on SportsCenter, but ESPN and ESPN2 each averaged their biggest February audience ever.  On a 24-hour basis, ESPN was up 2% to 640,000 homes, while ESPN2 rose 18% to 273,000 homes.  In addition, ESPN’s four English-language U.S. networks combined for an alltime best February — up 4% to 992,535.

Get out your chisels — fans have voted Illinois’ four sports greats – Michael Jordan, Walter Payton, Ernie Banks and Mike Ditka – the most impressive quartet of sports icons representing each U.S. State, the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico, to be carved on SportsCenter’s “Mt. Rushmore of Sports.”  Illinois received 28.6 percent of the votes via ESPN.com, beating out the other four finalists – Pennsylvania, California, New York and Alabama.

Where to carve their likenesses is another question altogether…the highest point in Illinois — Charles Mound at 1,235 feet along the Wisconsin border — does not seem to present the impressive vista of the real Mt. Rushmore as it is described online as “a gentle high hill…on rolling farmland.” 

The 2009 Bassmaster Classic set an all-time attendance record, hosting more than 137,000 fans at all the three-day event and its surrounding activities. A capacity crowd (pictured here) of more than 9,000 packed the CenturyTel Center for the final two daily weigh-ins.

The 2009 Bassmaster Classic set an all-time attendance record, hosting more than 137,000 fans at the three-day event and its surrounding activities. A capacity crowd (pictured here) of more than 9,000 packed the CenturyTel Center for the final two daily weigh-ins.

With a record attendance of more than 137,000 die-hard fishing fans at the 2009 Bassmaster Classic last weekend in Shreveport, La., and aired on ESPN2, it’s hard to imagine that the first Classic in 1971,  on Nevada’s Lake Mead, was held in a secret location.  Fans and even the anglers were unaware of the venue until the day of competition.  Fast forward 38 years and the sport’s biggest event is a secret no more.  The crowd obliterated the previous attendance record of set in 2003 in New Orleans (82,600).

The 2009 Classic, which awarded $500,000 to the winner and received 12 hours of ESPN2 coverage, will also be remembered for including its first woman competitor, Kim Bain-Moore.  With Bain-Moore’s inclusion, the event truly cemented its reputation as a celebration of the sport of fishing and her story contributed to the fantastic media attendance (a record 320 credentials were issued).   Even Howard Stern was discussing the Classic on his radio show after the event.

For an event that catered to few fans in its infancy, the Classic continues to grow in leaps and bounds heading into the 40th anniversary of the event, which will take place Feb. 19-21, 2010, out of Birmingham, Ala.

In case you missed it … Tony Kornheiser made a special visit Sunday — his first in 2 years — to the longtime ESPN program on which he once regularly appeared, “Sports Reporters.” Kornheiser was in New York City and wanted to visit the show. Longtime executive producer Joe Valerio asked him to not only visit but participate as a panelist.

Alongside John Saunders, Mike Lupica and Bob Ryan, Kornheiser displayed the kind of wit, sarcasm, intelligence and charisma that viewers enjoyed from him regularly on Sunday mornings during the 1990s before Kornheiser’s popular roles on “PTI” and “Monday Night Football” took off.  The highlight of Kornheiser’s appearance was this “parting shot” on Alex Rodriguez and Major League Baseball’s steroids controversy…

ESPN’s Keyshawn Johnson paid a visit to Kitchen Stadium last night (Sunday) as a guest judge on ”Iron Chef America” on Food Network as N.Y. Chef Amanda Freitag took on Iron Chef Bobby Flay.

Missed the show? Catch one of the re-airs this week: Thurs, Feb 26 — 9pm; Fri, Feb 27 — 12:00 AM; and Sat, Feb 28 — 5:00 PM (all times ET).

The catch? Keyshawn owns 12 restaurants across the country.

The former 11-year NFL veteran also has a passion for interior design and will star in his own A&E original series “Keyshawn Johnson: Tackling Design,” debuting this spring. 

With his victory in the World Series of Poker Europe, to be aired on ESPN2 on Sunday, March 1, at 10 p.m. ET, John Juanda picked up his fourth gold bracelet, and a first place payoff of more than $1.5 million. That gives the two-time player of the year career tournament winnings of over $9 million.

Born and raised in Indonesia, “J.J.” once sold bibles door to door while earning an MBA from Seattle University.  He was a high school track and field standout, specializing in the 200 meter sprints and came U.S. to attend Oklahoma State University back in 1990.