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CNN Live At Daybreak

Interview with Chris Cotter

Aired June 24, 2002 - 06:45   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: Let's head into the world of sports now. Preliminary results of an autopsy show severely blocked coronary arteries in the death of pro baseball player Darryl Kile. The St. Louis Cards pitcher was found dead in his hotel room on Saturday. He was just 33 years old. Kile's name and number, 57, were displayed at Wrigley Field yesterday as the Cubs beat the Cards 8-3.

Want to talk more sports now, specifically Wimbledon, too. Joining me here in Atlanta is Chris Cotter, radio sports host of 790 The Zone -- Welcome back.

CHRIS COTTER, 790 THE ZONE: Hey, how you doing, Carol?

COSTELLO: I'm doing fine.

COTTER: Good.

COSTELLO: Let's talk about Darryl Kile...

COTTER: Yes.

COSTELLO: ... because what a sad story. How does something like this affect the baseball world?

COTTER: Well, it really affects the baseball world in general, the sports world in general, but especially St. Louis. Just a week earlier, Jack Buck, who is a legendary broadcaster in St. Louis, passed away. So when you talk about an emotional roller-coaster ride, they're going through it right now.

And Darryl Kile, again you get these shocking moments. And I was actually doing the radio show on Saturday when the news came down. And you almost don't even know what to say at a situation like that because here's a professional athlete about, you know, my age, a guy that you look up to. And you say the top one-tenth of 1 percent of people in this country in terms of physical ability and physical being, you would think and you would think he would be fine at his age. And just shockingly, suddenly passing away and you don't know why.

And of course one of the worst things about it is all the speculation about why would a guy at this age pass away in his sleep and this and that. But...

COSTELLO: Well I think the good thing is they came out quickly with the cause of death.

COTTER: Yes, that is a good thing.

COSTELLO: So the rumors didn't get a chance to build and perhaps tarnish his reputation unfairly.

COTTER: Yes, the final autopsy report, of course, will be coming out in the next couple of days. But they did give a preliminary report and said he had 80 percent blockage in one of his -- in his coronary artery. So I mean that's something right there that you wouldn't expect a 33-year-old man to have, but certainly it would be a cause of death.

COSTELLO: Makes you want to run out and get an EKG.

COTTER: Right away.

COSTELLO: It really does.

OK. Let's talk Wimbledon now because I mean is this going to be just all the Williams sisters? Is there any other star at Wimbledon this year?

COTTER: Well you know, Carol, on the -- on the eve, really, of 30 years after Title IX, we have a sport in tennis, professional tennis where that talk you can just throw away because the women's game is so much better than the men's game right now.

COSTELLO: Oh yes.

COTTER: I mean it's not even any contest. You have the Williams sisters, you have Jennifer Capriati who may pull a surprise at Wimbledon. But aside from Capriati, I think it's the Williams sisters, maybe Justine Henin, but it's really going to be -- with injuries, too. Lindsay Davenport is not playing, and she's great at Wimbledon. Also Martina Hingis with the injury, she's not playing either. So it makes what would have been a Williams sisters tournament even that much more a Williams sisters tournament.

COSTELLO: It's so great to watch women's tennis over men because women actually volley.

COTTER: Right.

COSTELLO: It seems like the men serve and that's it.

COTTER: Well it's their (ph) sport, especially at Wimbledon. I mean Wimbledon's all about the big serve. That's why -- one of the reasons why this is so wide open this year because you're missing a lot of the -- a lot of the big name players in tennis. Pete Sampras may not even play. I mean he injured his ribs, and he's going to -- it's going to be a decision right up to his match today whether he plays. And even if he does play, he's going to be hurt. He's not had a very good year. I don't see him being a factor.

COSTELLO: Andre Agassi is just getting old now, right? COTTER: Well, you know what, and he surprises me though because his game -- even though his game isn't what it used to be and he is getting up there in age. He is the oldest men's player in the draw this year at 32. He continues to get close. He continues to play hard and strong and get close to the semifinals.

So I mean, he still may be there in a tournament that he knows very, very well. A lot of young players like Andy Roddick from the United States, Lleyton Hewitt, certainly Marat Safin, Tim Henman who is the local favorite, it's wide open. Any of these guys can win it because they all have monster serves and it's just a matter of, you know, 120 miles an hour and blow it by the guy.

COSTELLO: Just incredible.

COTTER: Right. Whoever's serving is going to have such a huge advantage on the men's draw this year.

COSTELLO: Yes, that's no fun to watch, though. That's why we like the women's tennis.

COTTER: It's a much better game.

COSTELLO: And I know you're going to check out the Williams sister's outfit.

COTTER: Oh always. It's -- well you know what, they also -- it wasn't too long ago where at Wimbledon it was faux paux to make a fashion statement where you had to wear white and it had to be traditional. Now they're slowing -- slowly easing on that. So we'll see how much they ease on it during this fortnight.

COSTELLO: It'll be very interesting.

COTTER: And fun (ph).

COSTELLO: Thank you, Chris Cotter for joining us again this morning. Hopefully you'll come back and analyze the Wimbledon matches for us.

COTTER: Be happy to.

COSTELLO: OK.

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