Backstage at Radio City is not backstage at all, it is on the eighth floor of this institution, where winners and presenters were brought, if they chose to come -- and few did -- for an old-fashioned media grilling.

ESPN.com left no stone unturned, using the most scientific, state-of-the-art listening devices -- two ears -- in gathering the goods on the greats.

Here is what we heard:

Actor Jeff Daniels (My Favorite Martian): "Anybody care?" before walking off the backstage podium and taking no questions from the media.

Actor Dylan McDermott (The Practice) on his Golden Globe: "I put it in my library right next to my Irish-American Award." On what's coming up in The Practice: "A big fight . a good physical fight, and I break it up."

Actor Dennis Franz (NYPD Blue) is "heartbroken" at the retirement of Michael Jordan: "All things considered, it was a perfect way to go out." Franz said that his sports role model is Babe Ruth and as a kid he did a book report on The Babe Ruth Story three times in grade school. "It filled my mind with great memories and fantasies."

Actress and supermodel Carmen Electra: "Actually my name is Carmen Rodman." On husband Dennis Rodman: "He's in Las Vegas getting in his last bit of partying before signing. I think he's going to sign tomorrow."

Heisman Trophy winner Ricky Williams on how he wants to be remembered as a sports hero: "He's just a regular person. A kid should be able to say, 'he's just like me.'"

Former tennis great Billie Jean King, winner of the Arthur Ashe Courage ESPY, had lots to say on numerous subjects. On legacy: "The difficulty, as Patrick Ewing knows, the more you deal with the union, the more it takes away from your game." On being compared to Jackie Robinson in breaking through the gender barrier: "It's a privilege to be mentioned in the same breath." On Bobby Riggs: "I spoke with Bobby two days before he died and the last thing he said to me was, 'We really made a difference, didn't we?' I think it took some time, but Bobby really began to understand the magnitude of social change."

Actor Josh Charles (SportsNight) on being a sports anchor in a TV show and not on ESPN's SportsCenter: "I've always watched it (ESPN). I like it. We don't read it (SportsNight) as a situation comedy. It seems very real."

Bob Valvano, brother of The V Foundation's namesake Jim Valvano and host of ESPN Radio's ESPY coverage: "You can tell Sammy Sosa is big -- there is a bigger crowd now (around the ESPN Radio table) than when Carmen Electra was here."

Samuel L. Jackson, host of The ESPY Awards: "I liked sports and played sports but I don't know that I had any sports heroes growing up. I don't remember emulating anyone as a kid."