Part II: Cheshire Sports Expert Scores with New Book

Editor's Note: This is Part 2 of an interview with Cheshire's Dennis Deninger on the launch of his new book, "Sports on Television: The How and Why Behind What You See."

After nearly 30 years as a production executive at ESPN, Dennis Deninger is now an author and grad. school teacher. He is also founding director of Syracuse Univeristy's Sports Communications graduate program and president of Cheshire-based DeningerMedia.

The idea for the book sprung from an unexpected call from a publisher who was on the Syracuse campus one day. "He called out of the blue and asked for an outline," Deninger said. Because he had been teaching a course about sports on television, Deninger already had a 96-page outline which he used as his lecuture material. 

The book, which will Deninger will use as a textbook at Syracuse beginning this fall, was published by Routledege Taylor & Francis Group of New York City and London. It will be released Friday, Aug. 23 on Amazon.com.

Deninger began his broadcasting career in Hornell, New York while still in high school. He got his big break when Bob Costas, yes that Bob Costas moved on, leaving Deninger to replace him at Syracuse's WSYR-TV.

After he graduated from Syracuse's Newhouse School of Public Communications, Deninger was hired as one of ESPN's original SportsCenter producers. the the nearly three decades he work at the sports network, broadcast television saw its first female sportscaster, and ESPN become a pioneer in women's sports. "They air the entire women's basketball tournament," Deninger points out.

With their headquarters in Bristol, ESPN has been a huge economic stimulus for Connecticut, Deninger said. “It put Connecticut on the media map,” he said. ESPN “brings in interesting and smart people who communicate. It’s a place where communication originates,” Deninger added.

A number of sports executives, sports stars and fellow broadcasters reveiwed Deninger's new book. They consider it a broad and insightful book for both the general public and graduate students:

"He has a deep understanding of the history of our industry and of the process of how and why we get the sports coverage we do every day," wrote Steve Bornstein, president of the NFL Network.

"... Dennis brings an international perspective to the subject, connecting what we see here in the U.S. with sports coverage worldwide. It's a terrific read," wrote Sunil Gulati, president of the U.S. Soccer Federation.

"This serves as a fine guidebook for anyone wo wishes to understand the many layered dimensions and decisions that shape and effect how sports comes through the screen and into our homes," wrote Mary Carillo, television sports commentator.

Here's what Deninger writes in his preface: "... live sports television has affected virtually every aspect of American life: how we spend our time, the clothing we wear, the words and phrases we use... even our understanding of people who come from racial or ethnic backgrounds or from countries different from our own."