One of my most treasured benefits of my job is the opportunity to meet and interact with so many outstanding personalities on the East Coast. There are many sports legends who reside in, or from time-to-time pass through, the RCN-TV coverage areas. I could probably fill several blog entries just sharing the names and stories of the nationally-known athletes, coaches and broadcasters whom I have had the incredibly good fortune of sharing a few minutes (or sometimes longer) with, and hearing about so many wonderful experiences.
One of those truly special people I have had a chance to meet was former Olympic track-and-field star, Joetta Clark Diggs. Here is just a sample of her athletic accomplishments:
- 4-TIME OLYMPIAN: 1988, 1992, 1996, 2000
- SELECTED AS USA TEAM CAPTAIN (2000)
- RANKED IN TOP 10 IN THE WORLD FROM 1991-2000 (Until Retirement)
- SELECTED TO “WHO’S WHO” OF AMERICAN WOMEN — 2000
- INDUCTED INTO THE US TRACK & FIELD HALL OF FAME
- INDUCTED INTO THE NJ HALL OF FAME
- INDUCTED INTO THE UNIV. OF TENNESSEE HALL OF FAME
- INDUCTED INTO PENN RELAYS HALL OF FAME
Actually, her title is not just a “former Olympian”, a title which, for many of us, would be a wonderfully special title to own. Joetta is an accomplished motivation speaker, author, coach, social affairs advocate and spokesperson. She is an incredibly engaging personality who has done remarkable work both in and out of the sports world. Clark-Diggs was also inducted into the New Jersey Hall of Fame (not just the “Sports” Hall of Fame) for all of her efforts.
She is one of the true diamonds in the RCN viewing area, not just for her past work, but I found out that she is continuing to do work with young people in the Eastern Pennsylvania regions. She continues to talk about her life lessons with middle and high school athletes, in addition to being one of the top track-and-field minds you will ever find. In fact, she is running a new camp and will be giving us more details on this and other exciting new projects she is working on when she stops by our “SportsTalk” set for this Thursday’s show (live, 7-8pm). Joetta also has some great insights on current regional and national sports issues that she will be sharing with us on the program’s “roundtable” segment.
“SportsTalk” co-host Joe Craig and I had the honor of interviewing Joetta previously, to learn about her tremendous career, her experiences participating in four Olympic games, her family’s support, and their accomplishments and relationship with each other. She also shared her unique experience of having her father portrayed in a major motion picture (her dad is Joe Louis Clark, who was portrayed by Morgan Freeman in the 1989 film “Lean On Me.”) Here is a sample of that interview.
Which other sports personalities who live and work in the RCN viewing area deserve extra attention for their efforts and accomplishments? Is there a former or current athlete you’d like us to invite on our “SportsTalk” show? Send us an email at RCNSportsTalk@rcn.com with your suggestions and keep tuning in as we talk with more great sports personalities each Thursday on RCN-TV and catch our recent shows on our podcast and through RCN On-Demand.
