The Garden Of Tweeden: Leeann Tweeden

TELLING PEOPLE YOU WATCH THE FOX SPORTS NETWORK’S THE BEST DAMN SPORTS SHOW PERIOD FOR THE ATHLETES ALONE IS LIKE TELLING YOUR BUDDIES YOU READ PLAYBOY FOR THE ARTICLES.

At least when Leeann Tweeden is on the set.

Don’t get me wrong: I used to loooove watching the always smarmy Tom Arnold – BDSSP’s original co-host with still-standing Chris Rose – quietly reduce and seduce the big-ticket jocks. And listening to the endless chatter of footballers like New York Giants’ Michael Strahan yakking about the fine points of end-zone dancing. And witnessing loons like hyper ex-Sixers owner Pat Croce discuss his life as a pirate.

Which is all great. But what about Tweeden?

The foxiest, brainiest woman in sportscasting made herself such after growing up as a tomboy in Virginia, occupying her youth with go-karting and dirt-biking. But she was no jockonly gal. She left high school early (good grades!) and passed up acceptance into Harvard to work (very briefly) at Hooters, model for Frederick’s of Hollywood (for a decade) and win a Venus International Model Search. The latter led her to be discovered by TV producers from ESPN2, who put her on Fitness Beach in 1996. But Fox Sports Network made her a star, turning the dark athletic beauty into a bright, funny interviewer-hostgossip monger on everything from its Blue Torch extreme sports show to High Octane. But it’s The Best Damn Sports Show Period and her weekly Best Damn Insider gossip report that made her into a thinking man’s babe. Add to that her new role – host of NASCAR Nation, which is filmed in Charlotte, N.C., where I caught up with her – and you have a woman on the fast track.

I know your dad was a drag racer. And that you took to the whole go-kart thing as a kid. At what age did you start going to races?
LEEANN TWEEDEN: And stock cars. I had to be 8 or 10. It’s very much a Southern California thing, as well as down South. A family thing. Totally normal. Never a “you’re-a-girl” type of thing. Nothing my dad would ever not want me to do. It’s what we did nearly every weekend. It was a real event. My mom was in on it – helping out with the karts when she wasn’t cooking. Eventually I wound up on dirt bikes at 16, with my thenboyfriend and his whole family.

Do you see a correlation between your family’s need for speed and the familial aspects of NASCAR today?
LT: Yeah, sure. But the culture of the South is always family-oriented. Sports in particular. Whether it’s local football or go-karts with your brother and his buddies – it’s all about families spending time together. You’re part of the team. And the first team is family.

So was it a real switch moving into the whole girlie-girl world of beauty pageants like you eventually did?
LT: I was doing that pageant stuff when I was doing the tomboy thing (laughs). The tomboy just outweighed the beauty queen. Beat it. I would just be on the baseball field with my brother – banged-up, bruised, stubbed toe, blackand- blue everything – when I had to wear a dress the next day. I had to stop doing the pageant thing by my preteens, because I was always doing something with sports.

But you never waned from academia the whole time, what with you finishing high school early.
LT: What do you think (laughs)? You don’t get to skip grades playing basketball.

OK. Past jobs: Was Hooters as bad a job as I think it must have been?
LEEANN TWEEDEN: (laughs) Well … I was only actually a hostess for about a week. I used to eat at this one in Colorado with my boyfriend, and they poached me to model for their calendar. But since I didn’t really work at Hooters…

You were a ringer!
LT: I was only 17 years old. But I wore the white outfit for a week and they flew me out to do the photos for the calendar. So all I got was paid vacations and money to pay for photos.

And modeling for Frederick’s of Hollywood? They don’t have the same cachet as Victoria’s Secret.
LT: I’m proud I worked for them. Great company. Nearly every one of its bosses are women. They made me a ton of money and I helped them sell millions of dollars worth of lingerie. They were like the greatest family to have growing up as a woman in Los Angeles. I don’t know why people have the racy impression they do of Frederick’s. We weren’t selling porn.

How did the actual jump into sportscasting occur?
LT: It really was simple. I won this model search for Venus swimwear. Some of their people knew some of the producers of ESPN’s Fitness Beach. Next thing you know, I’m being certified as a personal trainer, I’m in Jamaica and I’m filming. That was the start. After that it was all, “You rode dirt bikes,” “You raced as a kid.” [It just] snowballed.

Do you think that being marketed with an emphasis on your sexuality has made it hard for people to take you seriously?
LEEANN TWEEDEN: At the beginning, probably. But any woman in any job goes through that. Whether you’re pretty or not. Most of the women in sports are pretty. But you’re not going to be able to stick around very long if you’re not good. A lot of the guys, early on, looked at me like, “OK, what do you got?” They probably did figure that I was a hot chick that didn’t know her shit and couldn’t put two sentences together. Now – after so long – I’ve proven that I did my homework and know what I’m talking about, I’ve got questions and follow-ups and that I do know my shit. There’s nothing they can say. But women get scrutinized a million times more than men do.

So you’re striving for journalistic excellence?
LT: I’m not trying to be Barbara Walters. I like doing great interviews. But I’m not cramming myself into some suit. I’m not trying to sell myself like a newsman. Or something that I’m not. I didn’t even go to college. But you either have it or you don’t. Plenty of people go to journalism school and suck. There’s just something about me – I have an easy rapport. I bring the best out of people, something that other journalists might not get from them. I make them laugh. I’ve been doing this a while. I must be doing something right.

Have any of the players you’ve interviewed ever made a play for you?
LT: Of course. Players always ask me out. It’s funny. And they do it in public, as if to be playful on set with the secret hope I’ll take the bait (laughs). But I don’t. I play it off. But since I’ve been around for a while, that hasn’t really happened in a while. Now, people know that “Leeann ain’t going out with you.” I never was that sort of girl to begin with. I have a boyfriend now anyway.

Do you have a rule against dating players?
LT: No. I did date an athlete for about a year, a year or so ago. We kept it lowkey. The person I’m dating now has nothing to do with the sports world. The more you put it in people’s faces – create some snowball – the bigger the avalanche when it falls apart.

Who’s been the best damn guest on The Best Damn Sports Show?
LT: Wayne Gretzky. Shaq. But they’re all great entertainers.

What’s been your favorite aspect of the show?
LT: Probably doing spring training with so many of the baseball guys. I learned how to be a shortstop. How to play the hot corner of third base. That was Leeann the fan having the best time, learning all the tricks.

You’ve worked with Tom Arnold and Tom Green. Who’s sillier?
LT: Tom Green! Both have been great friends and very supportive. But Green ... Wow. I can’t even describe. Tom Arnold has been like a big brother. Which is very much the vibe on BDSSP. Everyone there – from the field to the studio – is protective of me. Which is probably why no one’s acted up. They know I work with the best, the pros. Tom was always the first line of defense. And nobody fucked with me from there.

How do the racers you encounter on NASCAR Nation compare to other sportsmen? It seems like they’re a humbler breed.
LT: That’s it exactly. They make as much as other athletes. But they seem to be more humble than your average footballer. I’m not saying all athletes are pompous. But so many of the drivers – in a billion-dollar industry – are just so normal and quiet. There’s something about doing your thing – inside a car, inside a helmet – that keeps them apart. You don’t see them like you see Kobe. They’re not as visible. And the fans are brand-loyal to that, to these very unassuming “average-Joe” athletes. They don’t have bling-bling and tricked-out cars.

While you’re on the subject of average Joes, you’ve done multiple hitches on USO tours. What compelled you to get so involved with the USO program?
LEEANN TWEEDEN: My dad was in the Air Force. We were very American. Very patriotic. Very grateful to be here. I remember as a kid finding a picture of Raquel Welch signed to my dad. She did a USO tour with Bob Hope and signed this photo to him while in the jungles of Vietnam. That stuck with me. The military people? There’s no better audience. That keeps you going back. Whether you believe in the war or not, whether you’re pro-Bush or anti-Bush, these men and women put their asses on the line. They live everything you read in the news every day. Life sucks out there. That’s how I can serve. I’ll always go back. And the camaraderie of stars you go over with – Robin Williams, Matt Lauer, John Elway – is pretty powerful. We bring a piece of home with us.