(ESPN Images)

2. CRICKET WALL

(Joe Faraoni/ESPN Images)

3. WOMEN IN SPORTS WALL

(Rich Arden/ESPN Images)

4. GOLF CONFERENCE ROOM

(Joe Faraoni/ESPN Images)

5. YANKEES/RED SOX CONFERENCE ROOM

(Joe Faraoni/ESPN Images)

6. BASKETBALL CONFERENCE ROOM

(Joe Faraoni/ESPN Images)

7. WORLD CUP WALL

(Hannah Worster/ESPN)

8. ESPN AUDIO NEW YORK HALLWAY

(Chrissy Racho/ESPN Images)

9. X GAMES HALLWAY

(Chrissy Racho/ESPN Images)

10. FOOTBALL CONFERENCE ROOM

(Joe Faraoni/ESPN Images)

New ESPN Insider and multiplatform reporter
Jeff Goodman (Joe Faraoni/ESPN Images)

Though it’s the college basketball offseason, there is no summer slowdown when it comes to ESPN adding top talent to its reporting roster. The newest member of the team is Insider and multiplatform reporter, Jeff Goodman.

The Boston native, who has worked for the Associated Press, Scout.com, FoxSports.com, and most recently, CBSSports.com, fell in love with journalism in his teens, and college basketball, during his studies at the University of Arizona. Goodman, who is quite active on Twitter (@GoodmanESPN), is already making his mark with breaking news such as this from yesterday on Georgetown’s Greg Whittington.

Goodman visited with Front Row to discuss his new ESPN role and what’s ahead for the 2013-14 season.

What will be your biggest challenge here at ESPN?
I’m pretty confident, but it was a little bit intimidating coming here. There are so many buildings, two campuses (in Bristol) and a ton of people. I interviewed Michael Jordan when I was 14 years old, not that much intimidates me, but walking around here was a little unnerving.

What attracted you to this new role?
There’s nothing like ESPN. It’s the Duke and [North] Carolina. It’s the Kentucky. It’s a place that I didn’t even aspire to have a chance to work at because I didn’t even think it was realistic. I’ve always worked with great people and know that will continue here.

How long have you been covering basketball and how did that come about?
The first interview I ever did was with James Worthy; I was 13. The Lakers were in town [Boston] and I went with a buddy over to their hotel. He agreed to do it, I went back home and called him. We ended up recording it on my dad’s answering machine which beeped every few seconds. Shows you how amazing he was to go through the whole interview hearing that. That was the first interview I ever did. I just knew this is what I wanted to do for a very long time.

What are some stories you are most proud of having worked on?
I built my resume on breaking stories, but I get far more pleasure out of writing great feature stories or even watching some of these kids that I’ve covered since they were a freshman or sophomore in high school. I did the first ever story on Kevin Durant. And watching him get the No. 2 pick, seeing him elevate himself from where nobody knew who he was, those are things that make my job fun.

What can fans expect during the 2013-14 college basketball season?
By my count, at least 10 players who could have gone in the first round of the NBA Draft this year returned to school. Couple that with a really strong incoming freshman class, and you’ve got the makings of a great season. You’re going to have Louisville and Kentucky — the most heated rivalry in college basketball — on as even a playing field as they’ve been on since [Coach John] Calipari arrived in Lexington. [Michigan State head coach] Tom Izzo has another great team. Those three teams have set themselves apart going into the season.

A peek at what WatchESPN on Apple TV will look like

Sports fans have a lot to look forward to this morning with the launch of WatchESPN on Apple TV. Similar to other platforms, live access to ESPN, ESPN2, ESPNU, ESPN3 and ESPN Buzzer Beater/Goal Line will be available to authenticated subscribers, with the addition of on-demand video offerings that feature the most recent and relevant content available to all users.

(Current affiliated video providers include: Time Warner Cable, Bright House Networks, Verizon FiOS TV, Comcast Xfinity TV, Midcontinent Communications, Cablevision, Cox, Charter and AT&T U-verse.)

WatchESPN on Apple TV

Front Row spoke with Senior Vice President of Digital Video Distribution, Matt Murphy, and Vice President of WatchESPN and ESPN3, Damon Phillips, about the launch.

What’s the significance of today’s WatchESPN launch on Apple TV?
DP: We are evolving WatchESPN from a product and content perspective. For the first time on any platform, WatchESPN delivers a one-stop video destination for sports fans, adding curated on-demand video to its content offering, including highlights and news clips from ESPN.com and short-form segments from our E:60 and Outside The Lines programs as well as SC Featured and Sport Science. Fans will notice this rollout in the near future across every other platform that carries WatchESPN.

How does this serve sports fans better?
MM: It’s all about access. Adding Apple TV as the fifth platform that delivers WatchESPN provides greater value to the multichannel subscription. Wherever fans are, they will be able to access ESPN networks and content, simply by being a video customer to one of our affiliated providers, which includes eight of the top 10 distributors in the country – that amounts to 55 million households nationwide.

Flik, who is not a cicada, from Disney’s “A Bug’s Life”

Cicadas aren’t sports fans.

It is the only reasonable explanation as to why, after 17 years underground, billions of bugs visited suburban Bristol, Conn. but none were spotted on our ESPN campus (despite multiple searches from several of our best amateur entomologists).

Maybe they were waiting for an invitation to an ESPN “Car Wash?” Or hoping to get a first tour of the new Digital Center?

The Connecticut brood inspired the culinary crowd and raised the decibel level near ESPN Plaza (to employees listening carefully at their homes it sounded a bit like “Awesome, Baby” on a February evening.)

The last time the crustaceans visited Connecticut, Robin Roberts was preparing to anchor SportsCenter’s Atlanta Olympic coverage; Suzy Kolber was hosting the Spelling Bee; ESPNEWS hadn’t even been announced. . . yet. (It would launch six months later.) And college softball and the NBA were not yet staples of the schedule. The KISS principle – Keep It Simple Stupid – had not made its way to Bristol as evidenced by our website being called “ESPNET SportsZone” and our magazine clunkily referred to as “ESPN Total Sports Magazine.”

When our billions of friends return in 2030, all that is assured is we will have SEC games to lure them to Bristol.

Do you have any predictions for what ESPN will look like 17 years from now? Share your prophecies at our Faceboook page.

Doris Burke (Phil Ellsworth/ESPN Images)

When fans tune into Game 6 of the NBA Finals tonight (9 p.m. ET, ABC), they don’t know if they’re going to see the San Antonio Spurs win their fifth NBA title or the defending champion Miami Heat extend the series to a Game 7. They do know ESPN reporter Doris Burke and Spurs head coach Gregg Popovich, considered the toughest interview in the NBA – if not all of sports – are sure to provide compelling content in the form of Popovich’s in-game interview.

Front Row caught up with Burke to discuss what it’s like interviewing Popovich in the heat of competition.

How does Popovich’s interview style compare with his Heat counterpart Erik Spoelstra?
For me, the Pop interviews are heart-stopping, terrifying experiences. For everyone else, they are must-see TV. It makes me smile, once they are over, of course, that everyone else is having a good time watching them. As far as Erik Spoelstra goes, he divulges nothing, but in a much kinder fashion.

What has been your favorite Popovich interview/interaction so far?
Pop is unaware of this, but he is responsible for one of the best moments of my career. I was sitting in his office before a game that I was in the analyst role for. Pop looked me dead in the eyes and said: “Doris, you are a basketball person. You get this.” That moment gave me great confidence to sit in the analyst role on our NBA telecasts. Pop probably doesn’t even remember it, but I will never forget it.

On an ESPN.com story written by Marc Stein (appropriately titled Do not disturb: Gregg Popovich), you say “there is absolutely a level of anxiety each time I have to do an end-of-quarter interview with Pop.” How do regular season and even playoff interviews with Popovich differ from the NBA Finals interviews?
Here’s the beauty of Pop: He is exactly the same way, whether it’s game one in October or as he will be on June 20 [if the NBA Finals reaches a Game 7].

In a TrueHoop interview after Game 4 with Henry Abbott titled ‘Toughest Job in Sports,’ you say you know Coach Popovich likes and respects you. Can you imagine what the interviews would be like if he didn’t?
Pop is in the game of basketball because he loves the game and he loves his guys. He does not suffer fools, so I try not to act like one.

In a recent SportsCenter feature, you enlisted [ESPN NBA analyst and former NBA head coach] Jeff Van Gundy for “Popovich Practice.” While this was done in humor, did you actually speak with Jeff or anyone else about tips or suggestions for interviewing Pop during the finals?
Everyone, including play-by-play guys who occasionally have to do Pop interviews, has a Pop story. We all commiserate and swap stories. It reminds me of being in a locker room after a particularly hard practice and everyone is venting.

Editor’s note: Game 6 of the NBA Finals between the San Antonio Spurs and the Miami Heat kicks off tonight with KIA NBA Countdown (8:30 p.m. ET) and the game is at 9 p.m. on ABC, ESPN Radio, ESPN Deportes, ESPN3 and WatchESPN.

Last week, former NBA All-Star and head coach Doug Collins spent the morning after Game 3 of the NBA Finals in ESPN’s Bristol studio cohosting Mike & Mike with Mike Greenberg and Mike Golic. At the conclusion of his four-hour on-air stint, the 1972 U.S. Olympian took a few minutes to speak with Front Row about his experience on the set and a variety of other topics.

Collins, the head coach of the Philadelphia 76ers this season, has years of broadcasting experience on television and radio. In the video above, he mentions a broadcasting tie he has with one of the show’s hosts that predates Mike & Mike. Even that experience did not prevent Collins from doing his homework for the co-hosting assignment.

“I’m big on preparing. I put about four hours of prep work into today so I’d know a little bit about what was going on,” Collins said.

Among other things, Collins also reflected on participating in ESPN’s 30 for 30 documentary short Silver Reunion. The film, published on Grantland.com, reunited members of the 1972 U.S. Olympic men’s basketball team more than 40 years after the squad’s controversial loss to the then-Soviet Union in the gold medal game.

Game 6 of the NBA Finals between the San Antonio Spurs and the Miami Heat kicks off tonight with KIA NBA Countdown (8:30 p.m. ET) and the game is at 9 p.m. on ABC, ESPN Radio, ESPN Deportes, ESPN3 and WatchESPN.

Video produced by Ariel Bond

Julie Foudy (R) with 15-year-old Brazilian soccer player, Barbara. (Photo credit: DGA Productions)

ESPN’s Julie Foudy, alongside former U.S. soccer teammate Brandi Chastain, recently traveled to Sao Paolo, Brazil as part of the Sports United program overseen by the U.S. State Department.

“Our mission was not to help train the next Marta Vieira da Silva [five-time FIFA World Player of the Year],” Foudy said. “But to encourage Brazil to support programs that would help produce the next million Martas.”

All eyes are already on Brazil as the country prepares to host the FIFA Confederations Cup 2013, 2014 FIFA World Cup and 2016 Summer Olympics. Front Row spoke with the busy Foudy — who also recently interviewed American soccer star Jozy Altidore — about her South America trip.

How are female athletes perceived in Brazil?
Many Brazilian women told us their culture encourages girls to play only specific sports, largely volleyball and dance. We heard many stories about how soccer for girls in Brazil is very hard to find. It is seen as a male sport and as a result, many parents and coaches do not encourage girls to play. Just to give you some perspective, 13 million girls play soccer in the US and only 400,000 girls are playing in Brazil. This small number seems impossible in a country synonymous with soccer. The path to playing for girls is just not there… yet.

What was the biggest takeaway from your trip?
The universal need we all share — first, having the courage to dream and then having the chance to pursue that dream. Barbara, a 15-year-old we followed from a small town outside Sao Paolo, told me she just wants to be able to dream about one day playing soccer for Brazil. She wants to play the sport she loves and have her country embrace that dream.

What’s ESPN’s presence like in Brazil?
They have three channels of ESPN in Brazil so they are very familiar with ESPN. I saw a lot of Cleveland Indians games while I was there!

What’s next for you at ESPN?
Up next for me is completing an ESPN Films project on our 1999 World Cup-winning [U.S. Women's National] team. “The 99′ers” documentary airs in August as part of the Nine for IX series. We are weaving in lots of footage I shot during the ’99 World Cup along with recent interviews with that ’99 Team and the current US Women’s National Team. It is full of bad dancing, bad mullets and bad singing, so consider yourself warned.

For more info, visit: http://bit.ly/WC2014Home

ESPNBoston.com and ESPNChicago.com

The Boston Bruins and the Chicago Blackhawks are not the only ones working overtime in the 2013 Stanley Cup Final. The staffs at both ESPNBoston.com and ESPNChicago.com are busy working extra shifts delivering quality coverage for fans in both hockey-mad cities.

Through blogging, columns, post-game videos and more, reporters Scott Powers (Blackhawks) and Joe McDonald (Bruins) will be at home and on the road serving fans the latest from all the action on the ice, which through two games has produced two sudden death finishes. Additionally, colleagues from ESPNChicago.com — Jesse Rogers, Jon Greenberg and Melissa Isaacson — and ESPNBoston.com – Jackie MacMullan and James Murphy — provide additional coverage and analysis.

With Game 3 of the 1-1 series tonight in Boston, Front Row spoke to both Powers and McDonald about The Cup and what fans can expect from their coverage on the ESPN Local sites. (Also, SportsCenter has Steve Levy and Barry Melrose on-site for every game. Levy discussed coverage and more in this Front & Center podcast from last week.)

Talk about the diversity of content you and your team produce.
Powers: What I’m looking to do is tell the story of the team I’m covering in whatever way possible. In this case, it’s the story of the Chicago Blackhawks playing for the Stanley Cup. I may do that with something as simple as tweeting a picture of the freshly-painted Stanley Cup Final logo on the United Center ice or typing out a few sentences about lineup changes in practice.

On ESPNChicago.com, our goal is try to keep our Blackhawks blog updated constantly with news stories, features, columns and analysis pieces before, during and after games. There are plenty of stories to be told at this time of year. We also use videos from inside the locker rooms and stand-ups featuring our reporters discussing the team. I think Chicago fans want to devour a bit of everything when it comes to their teams, and it’s certainly a fun challenge as a reporter trying to provide that.

How do you capture the passion of Boston fans in your reporting?
McDonald: Boston fans are passionate and educated about their sports and teams. Growing up in Rhode Island, I was a huge fan of the Bruins and Red Sox, so when I began my journalism career at the Providence Journal I wanted my passion for sports to be reflected in my reporting and writing. Bruins and Red Sox fans keep you on your toes and they’re not afraid to share their opinions with you.

I’ve been extremely fortunate in my career to cover some special events, including two World Series titles for the Red Sox, and now I’m in the midst of my second Stanley Cup with the Bruins. Since both teams have enjoyed success for the majority of my career, the fans’ passion and dedication for their teams in Boston has made it fun for me to hopefully deliver quality reporting.