ESPN’s X Games and E! Entertainment Daily 10 host, Sal Masekela, will be running in the 2009 ING New York Marathon Sunday to raise awareness for his charity, Stoked Mentoring, a youth developmental program that utilizes non-traditional sports and mentoring to create successful teens. Through his “Run Sal Run” effort, Masekela is hoping to support his charity by garnering attention from corporations, celebrities, and individual donors.

In addition, Masekela challenged Sean “Diddy” Combs via Twitter that he would beat Diddy’s 2003 marathon time (4 hours, 14 minutes and 54 seconds).  In turn, Diddy has committed to donating to Masekela’s foundation if he beats the time. Additional donors to “Run Sal Run” include celebrities, athletes, corporations such as Justin Timberlake, Tony Hawk, Rob Dyrdek, Asics, Tanqueray, Ad.ly, Nixon, and Entertainment Fusion Group.

“I’ve never been more scared to do anything in my life,” confesses Masekela. “In fact, I think I’d rather paddle out 20 feet into Waimea Bay by myself than run the New York City Marathon. However, this isn’t about me. This is about the at-risk and disenfranchised teens desperately in need of the opportunities Stoked Mentoring provides. I’m doing this for them.”  

Check out this video of Sal’s last training run, http://vimeo.com/7210610

In more ways than one, “The Book of Basketball,” the new book by ESPN’s Bill Simmons, proved fatter than a speeding bullet during Wednesday’s edition of SportsNation (weekdays, 4 p.m. ET, ESPN2).

Because of the book’s girth — 700 pages — the SportsNation gang wondered if Simmons’ wordsmithing could stop a bullet. While Simmons was a guest on the show, the curiosity was satisfied when Kevin Wildes, SportsNation co-creator, took the book to the local firing range.

With the book 25 feet away and Simmons watching by remote from the studio with hosts Colin Cowherd and Michelle Beadle, Ray, owner of the indoor firing range, fired one shot from a Smith & Wesson 9mm at the target.

Simmons said he was tense while watching, but that it was one of the most exciting moments of his life. “The Book of Basketball” stopped the progress of the 9-mm bullet on Page 642, and the bullet was found on Page 568.

Later, it was found that the book is not entirely bulletproof, as Ray shredded it with a .44 Magnum.

Fittingly, on  Halloween, Sat., Oct. 31, ESPN Classic will present some of the most shocking sports upsets from 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. ET. Among the upsets: the 2007 Appalachian State 34-32 football victory over Michigan; the 1983 NCAA National Championship Basketball game in which Jim Valvano’s North Carolina State team beat Houston; and Buster Douglas’ 1990 heavyweight title fight in which he out Mike Tyson in the 10th round.

The countdown is on to the World Series of Poker presented by Jack Link’s Beef Jerky, with a $8.5 million first-place prize awarded to the winner, Tuesday, Nov. 10, at 9 p.m. ET.  ESPN will have two poker telecasts — Tuesday, Oct. 27, and Tuesday, Nov. 3 — leading up to the big finale.

The “November Nine” finalists were decided in mid-July (chip counts follow):

1. Darvin Moon - 58,930,000
2. Eric Buchman - 34,800,000
3. Steven Begleiter - 29,885,000
4. Jeff Shulman - 19,580,000
5. Joseph Cada - 13,215,000
6. Kevin Schaffel - 12,390,000
7. Phil Ivey - 9,765,000
8. Antoine Saout - 9,500,000
9. James Akenhead - 6,800,000

While Maryland logger Darvin Moon has the chip lead, the poker world’s focus has been on Phil Ivey.  Even though he’s got a much shorter stack, the seven-time WSOP bracelet winner is considered by many to be the best player on the planet. He has recently been on the cover of ESPN The Magazine, featured during ESPN’s E:60, along with the October issue of All In magazine. In the All In article, popular pro Daniel Negreanu said of Ivey: “A lot things have to go his way, (and despite his seventh-place chip count) I guarantee you that every player at the table is first and foremost worried about him.”

Mike Tirico presents Jon Gruden with the Vince Lombardi Trophy at Super Bowl XXXVII

MNF’s Jon Gruden told the San Diego Union-Tribune that while the Chargers might be looking to get a new stadium, he actually likes the current one — and for good reason. He led the Tampa Bay Bucs to a 48-21 win at Qualcomm Stadium over the Raiders in Super Bowl XXXVII and he had a 3-1 record there as the Raiders head coach.

Gruden: “Obviously the Super Bowl will always be the greatest football experience of my life … So I’m excited to go back there.”

Instead of calling the plays from the sideline Monday night, he’ll be analyzing the game from the booth when the Chargers host the undefeated Broncos in a key AFC West matchup.

Another reason to watch … both the Chargers and Broncos will be wearing their AFL Legacy throwback uniforms.

bestselling author Harlan Coben’s next book Caught will be out in the Spring of 2010.  Despite the title, that book has nothing to do with fishing.  But Coben recently experienced high-stakes bass fishing while attending the Bassmaster Elite Series Postseason in Montgomery, Ala., in September.  On assignment for Parade Magazine, Coben, who has more than 47 million books in print worldwide, served as a Bassmaster Elite Series Marshal — he operated scoring devices and ensured the integrity of the competition — with Angler of the Year contender Skeet Reese.  Reese of Auburn, Calif., was appealing to Coben due to his savvy marketing ability and interesting past (Reese worked as a professional dancer when he was younger).  Coben was quite impressed by the magnitude of the experience, tweeting throughout and updating his facebook with pictures from the event.  Though Reese feel short, Coben developed a respect for professional anglers and said he considers them professional athletes in every sense of the definition.  The Parade piece will publish in February 2010 and will serve as a preview for the 2010 Bassmaster Classic (Feb. 19-21, Lay Lake, Birmingham, Ala.)

New York Times

Ninety years ago, amid rumors that the World Series was fixed, the Cincinnati Reds beat the Chicago White Sox 10-5 on Oct. 9, 1919, to win the best-of-nine series in eight games. Eight members of the White Sox were banned for life from baseball for conspiring to throw the games. ESPN Classic offers two programs marking this historic date in baseball lore. Friday, Oct. 9, ESPN Classic presents SportsCenter Flashback:Black Sox Ban at 7 p.m. ET followed by Top 5 Reasons You Cant Blame the White Sox for Throwing the 1919 World Series at 8 p.m.

Almost 40 years ago, fans at minor league hockey games in Hershey, Pa., got something extra for their $1.50 admission – live play-by-play by a future ESPN announcer.

On the top row of Hershey Arena, where Wilt Chamberlain had his famous 100-point game, 15-year-old Marty Reid was watching the Hershey Bears of the American Hockey League and doing play-by-play into a tape recorder he had received for his birthday. His best friend was his color analyst. Reid was practicing for what he hoped would be his future career, and the fans sitting nearby enjoyed the show.

“A couple of times my mother would go with us and she’d say ‘oh Marty, stop this, you’re bothering the people around you,’” said Reid, who joined ESPN in 1982 and now calls NASCAR Nationwide Series and IndyCar Series telecasts for the network. “Luckily the people around didn’t mind and would say ‘no, no, let him go.’

“I’ve got to believe that knowing what I sounded like back then, some of them were just being kind,” he said. “They were cutting me some slack because I was just a kid and maybe they were thinking ‘he’s not out somewhere getting in trouble.’”

Like many kids growing up in Pennsylvania, Reid played ice hockey and loved the sport. But he recognized that he did not have the talent to go pro, so he turned his attention to broadcasting after his older brother, a disc jockey, had 13-year-old Marty cut a radio commercial with him.

“When you’re 13 years old and you say you want to get into sports play by play, people say, ‘oh, that’s nice, next week he’ll want to be a something else,’” he said.

But Reid took it seriously. “I’d do the game and take it back and listen to it over and over and over and literally practiced over and over,” he said.

Though the Bears never knew what he was doing, others did, including his high school guidance counselor. The counselor contacted Marietta (Ohio) College, which led to Reid being recruited to attend the broadcasting school. His experience gave him a leg up on other students and as a freshman he immediately started doing radio and TV play-by-play for all Marietta sports. He moved on to do local TV sports in Columbus, Ohio, and then ESPN, where he has worked on a variety of sports over the years, including calling one NHL game.

“By the time I was 15, people who really knew me knew I loved sports,” he said. “Back then there was no ESPN, and little motorsports coverage, so I was practicing to do stick and ball sports, just like everybody else, but it all sort of worked out.”