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To Whom It May Concern:

I thank you, and I appreciate all you think you have done for me.  I am blaming your head, and not your heart for this breakdown in communications.  

I was disappointed, and embarrassed by how little you knew of my historic sports media journey and ground breaking community endeavors.  In a recent telephone conversation, you were telling me about a star in track, and field you were trying to convince to appear on my NEW Invitation Only Podcast.

You described my program as a ‘LITTLE PODCAST’ out of Washington DC. You sounded like I was new to the game of sports talk, and you would appreciate it if she would appear on my show???? 

My friend, if this is how you have been promoting Harold Bell/Kids In Trouble/ and Inside Sports describing who I am, this sounds like the Washington Post, ESPN and HBO with Bryant Gumble and James Brown.  I am known around the globe despite their roadblocks–I am one of one!

I was embarrassed only because, you have been up close, and personal for at least four decades when it comes to participating in my pioneering radio sports talk show, and community endeavors. Pro athletes, DC judges, politicians, law enforcement and media personalities were a part of my team.

My historic journey in sports media, and as a youth/community advocate has been like no other in my generation in the past 100 years.  No one even close!

Harold,

CONGRATULATIONS!  Your archives are valuable and should be given the broadest exposure. Have you thought about offering discs of your programs to the new Smithsonian Institution NATL MUSEUM OF AFRICAN AMERICAN HISTORY AND CULTURE (NMAAHC).  A wing of the NMAAHC WILL BE DEDICATED TO THE STRUGGLE IN SPORTS AND WILL BE TITLED “LEVELING THE PLAYING FIELD”,  Your work was a major force over the years in leveling the playing field, especially, in terms of the struggle to define and project “our truth”. I will send you a contact involved in putting the NMAAHC together. Great job over the years,  great timing in reprising that legacy now. The best wishes of me and my family to your wife-she is in our thoughts and prayers.

Dr. Harry Edwards

Sent from my iPhone

On Jan 30, 2014 at 3:05 PM

I remember, NBA and Philadelphia Playground basketball legend Sonny Hill saying, “Harold you can forget your own folks showing any appreciation for your reach back efforts.  They will be the last to show you any love.”

I said to myself, “What Does Love Have To Do With It?”

Watching the Washington Post closely in Connecticut was Bill Rasmussen and his son Scott Rasmussen.  The father and son watched the Grahams fumble the ball with Inside Sports the magazine, and they decided to create a television talk format similar to Inside Sports.

The idea was conceived in 1978 leading to the creation of the Entertainment and Sports Programming Network (ESPN).  They created a 24-hour cable network which was launched in Bristol, Connecticut.

Good Morning America Anchor, Bryant Gumble retired from NBC, and FOUND”Real Sports” on HBO in 1995. 

He found REAL SPORTS much like Christopher Columbus discovered America, the Native Americans living on the land.

Gumble, hired native Washingtonian, James Brown.  I was Brown’s mentor, he  came through Kids In Trouble and Inside Sports as a salesman for Xerox Corporation.  The duo teamed up to win 37 Emmy Awards (copycats)!

The footprints I left in the sand regarding sports talk radio and television, can only be copied-never duplicated!

My friend, if you believed my Podcast was a “Small Podcast in DC”, you also believe, Mayor Muriel Bowser, would like to name you her next Chief of Police! 

Today’s sports talk radio, and television formats were creative by me.  Inside Sports changed the way we talk, and report sports in America, and around the World.

The show was first heard on W-O-O-K Radio in February of 1972 in Washington, DC.  Sports talk has never been the same.

When ESPN named James Pitaro President in 2020, he banned political discussions from all platforms.  He could not stand the heat from Capitol Hill.  The feedback interfered with ESPN’s bottom line-the dollar bill.

The Inside Sports format has been copied, but never duplicated!

The ESPN on air talent discovered, ‘Freedom of Speech Was Not Free.’  Podcast, here they come!

Today, sports talk shows are a billion dollar industry.  Every radio, television, Podcast talk show in America, and beyond copied my INSIDE SPORTS format.

Inside Sports Blazes a Path 1980: Radio and TV Columnist William Taaffe Washington Star. Taaffe would move on to become the Radio and TV Columnist for Sports Illustrated Magazine.

The first to steal my tag Inside Sports was the Washington Post owners, Catherine and son Donald Graham in 1978.  They caught a midnight train to New York City and published, Inside Sports Magazine. They stopped at the Copy Right Office, and copied righted Inside Sports, making my tag their very own.

Sports Editor, George Solomon, writers, Dave Dupree, Michael Wilbon, Byron Rosen, Donald Huff, Dave Kindred, Dave Aldridge all were in and out of my studio talking sports as the plot was being hatched to steal my Inside Sports tag by the Grahams. They were 10 minutes from my WYCB Radio studio in the National Press Building.  This is a sad commentary because I knew Donald Graham when was a rookie cop on the streets of NE DC. His mother Catherine, made give him give up his badge and gun–for pencil and paper.

The writers that went on that failed mission to New York City were so arrogant that they wrote a tell all blog in The Sunday Long Read #SundayLR several years later. The blog magnified the incompetence of the Grahams, Editor John Walsh, Tony Kornheiser, and Tom Boswell. They were the worst writers in the crew.

They went to the Big Apple without a game plan in the Media Capitol of the World. John Walsh was the editor in the Style section of the paper, and knew absolutely nothing about sports, he should have felt right at home with Boswell and Kornheiser as a part of the team.

TheWashington Post failed writers were so arrogant, several years later, they wrote how Inside Sports the magazine failed in a blog titled, ‘The Sunday Long Read.’ They paper lost between two and three million dollars. They caught that same Midnight Train back to DC with their tails between their legs.

KATHERINE GRAHAM THE BRAINCHILD OF INSIDE SPORTS?

The writers that followed Katherine and Donald Graham to New York City had no idea what they were getting into. They were trying to get as far away from Harold Bell, and Inside Sports as they could get.

In the spring of 1979, the writers for the Washington Post realized they were going nowhere fast. Sports lllustrated, and Sports Magazine were dominating the New York sports media landscape.

The Washington Post had a small editorial staff of eight working out of the “New Ventures” department on the 17th floor of the Newsweek building at 444 Madison Avenue. The magazine still needed a name: Grandstand, Spectator Sports, Box Seat, were all floated; then, during a meeting with Katharine Graham, Walsh explained his vision and she said, “I see what you’re doing. You’re trying to get inside sports.”  That was it. She’d nailed it.

What a bunch of liars, claiming Katharine Graham coined the phrase Inside Sports. The First Lady of Inside Sports, is my wife Hattie T. Bell.

Sugar Ray Leonard and Thomas ‘Hit Man’ Hearns poster boys for Inside Sports Magazine

Watching the Washington Post fumble the ball in New York City was Bill Rasmussen, and his son Scott in Connecticut.  While the Grahams were trying to figure out where they had gone wrong. The Rasmussens, decided to create a 24-hour television talk format similar to Inside Sports.

The idea was conceived in 1978 leading to the creation of the Entertainment and Sports Programming Network (ESPN).  The cable TV network was launched in Bristol, Connecticut.

Years later Donald Graham writes a letter asking for anonymity sending me a check when I was losing my home because of their greed and selfishness.

The Copy Cats, Good Morning America Anchor, Bryant Gumble. He retired from NBC, and FOUND”Real Sports” on HBO in 1995. 

Twenty-nine years after the debut of Inside Sports he and James Brown found REAL SPORTS it was much like how Christopher Columbus discovered America, the Native Americans living on the land.

Brown. joined Gumble’s HBO Real Sports/Fake Sports team as an UNDERCOVER co-host/producer.   I was Brown’s mentor in DC. He  came through Kids In Trouble and Inside Sports as a salesman for Xerox Corporation.  The duo teamed up to win 37 Emmy Awards (Real Sports/Fake Sports).

NBA pioneer, Earl Lloyd ask me to help him campaign for his induction into the NBA Hall Fame. My first contacts were the legendary Red Auerbach of the Boston Celtics, and Congressman John Lewis, both said, “Count me in“.

Congressman Lewis, took it to the next level, he put his commitment in writing.

I called Boston Celtics legend, and HOF player, Sam Jones, Sonny Hill (NBA & Philadelphia Playground Legend), and radio sports talk show host, James Brown.

I with met with Sam, James, and I invited The Roundball Report participants (PG County TV), Butch McAdams, Andrew Dwyer, Christie Winters-Scott, and my wife, Hattie. I have always included, the young, aspiring sports reporters in my community endeavors (spread and share the knowledge). There is always someone in the group that bears watching–say hello to James Brown.

I knew going in James could not be trusted, he had stabbed Chuck Taylor in the back for his job as the Washington Bullets TV color analyst. He got the job after going directly to Bullets’ superstar, Wes Unseld. He asked Wes to put in a good word with team owner Abe Polin. The next thing we knew, Chuck was on the outside looking in.

We met at Union Station for lunch to discuss the plans of how to pay tribute to Earl Lloyd during the 2000 NBA All-Star Weekend in Washington, DC. James, and Sam agreed to co-host the tribute, but I got a bad feeling as we were leaving Union Station.

James, asked me, if I had checked with Bullets owner Abe Polin? My response, “JB I don’t work for Abe Polin.” JB was a no-show. The show must go on, and it did!

There would be a basketball clinic at the Charles Houston Rec Center in Lloyd’s hometown of Alexandria, Virginia on Saturday morning with Sonny Hill, Bob Lanier, Al Attles, KC and Sam Jones as facilitators. There were 100s of young people in attendance.

We would closed out the day with a tribute in Lloyd’s honor at the historic home of jazz, the Bohemian Caverns on the U Street NW corridor known as “Black Broadway.” Jazz legend, the late Roy Ayres would provide the music, and comedian Mark Curry would provide the comic relief. Red Auerbach would be our special guest. It was a great outing despite the NBA’s attempt to sabotage our efforts. Earl Lloyd was inducted into the NBA HOF in 2003.

CROSSING THE ISLE WITHOUT DOUBLE CROSSING THE COMMUNITY.

BLACK HISTORY MONTH TRIBUTE: SAM JONES-JAMES BROWN-HB AND EARL LLOYD

GREED & THE DOUBLE CROSS-BRYANT GUMBLE-JAMES BROWN SCAM: HBO REAL SPORTS/COPYCATS

• Bryant Gumbel: Host who led the show from its inception in 1995 to 2023 (won 37 Emmys for fake sports)
• Mary Carillo: Longtime correspondent known for her in-depth interviews and features.
• Jon Frankel: Correspondent known for hard-hitting investigative reports on topics like the gun industry and the IOC.
• Andrea Kremer: Award-winning journalist with extensive experience in sports broadcasting, including work with NFL Films and NBC.
• Soledad O’Brien: Journalist who joined as a correspondent to provide in-depth reports.
• Bernard Goldberg: Correspondent known for his detailed, often critical, investigative segments.
• David Scott: Correspondent who contributed to the show’s investigative journalism. IMDb +6
• James Brown: co-host (undercover)

Famous last words, “Harold Bell has been a voice for those who had no voice. He has been an inspiration for me and other black broadcasters.” James Brown (CBS/NFL)

My friend, if you believed my Podcast was a “Small Podcast in DC”, you also believe, Mayor Muriel Bowser, would like to name you her next Chief of Police! 

How many sports talk show host do you know can say, “The President, and ‘The Greatest’, were my friends?” 

They are two of the most controversial personalities in America history (Nixon will be second by the time Trump leaves office).

How many sports talk show host, and community advocates do you know have been cited on the House Floor in the Congressional Record on four different occasions for their work with at-risk children and youth gangs?

The Governor of Maryland, Martin O’Malley, signed a Proclamation proclaiming, Kids In Trouble Day in the State of Maryland, February 2008. 

Congressman Steny Hoyer (D-5 District)  is retiring after close to five decades on ‘The Hill’ looking out out for the residents in Prince Georges County. 

While some local officials have been playing ‘Hide & Seek’ with the cash flow designated for education, day care, meals, physical, and mental health care, the key aids, and components to help our children to become healthy, wealthy and wise. Steny, was always finding ways to give back! 

My mentor, Senator Decatur Trotter (D-24 District) introduced me to Congressman Hoyer at the Annapolis State House in February 1980. Trotter, introduced us and said, “Harold was just named Washingtonian of the Year, and has his own sports talk radio show, Steny, I need you to help me keep him out of trouble.”  

We all laughed, and went our separate ways.  Trotter, during lunch, reminded me to keep an eye on Steny saying, “He was going to do good things in Prince Georges County.”  Like Trotter, Steny was heads and shoulders above the rest.

Trotter, had my back for over two decades.  He died in 2004 (RIP). 

Hattie T-HB-Senator Trotter, and wife Greta at a tribute for Doug Williams

STENY HOYER AND JOHN LEWIS-BROTHERS IN THE STRUGGLE!

Thanks to Steny’s Constituent Service Rep, Daryl Pendington, he was there for me when I needed him.  You could carry his WORD to the bank!

In 2019, at the Miracle Theater on Capitol Hill, Inside Sports and Kids In Trouble paid tribute to Muhammad Ali.  It was the 45th Anniversary of the Rumble In the Jungle. Daryl was there to read the Proclamation. One year later, she went home to be with the Lord. She was family to the residents in the 5th District.

Meg Spencer stepped into Daryl’s shoes, and she has been a great fit.  In February 2024, Meg walked nine city blocks to the Miracle Theater to make sure I had the Black History Proclamation from Congressman Hoyer paying tribute to Muhammad Ali and Kids In Trouble. We will definitely miss Steny, and his one of a kind staff.

GUEST PANELIST ON MPT TO PREVIEW PBS KEN BURNS ALI

THE VOICE ON SHOWTIME TV DOCUMENTARY “4 KINGS”

Kamal and Virginia Ali are the recipients of the Kids In Trouble Humanitarian Award

I was hanging out on the U Street corridor aka Black Broadway, I was a senior in high school when Ben, and Virginia Ali open what is now the World Famous Ben’s Chili Bowl. I spend six years as the Historian for the Chili Bowl. I told the great history of Black Broadway, and the legend of hotdogs, and half-smokes heaven-Bens Chili Bowl.

It was John Snipes’ idea to take white visitors on tours of the U Street corridor, and teach them the hidden gems of Black Broadway. He encouraged the visitors to eat in the backroom of the Chili Bowl where continued to hold court. He helped me coach, the Harrison Elementary Schoo/ Hillcrest Saturday Programs football and basketball teams. He was more than just a businessman on the U Street corridor, he was a friend, and neighbor.

When I became the historian at the Chili Bowl, the visitors, teachers, and hundreds of students came from around the World came to hear me tell the stories that will live forever in the Nation’s Capitol. Despite the obstacles being place in our paths to suppress Black History-Black will not crack.

Monday February 23, 2026, the DC Commission on the Arts & Humanities teamed up with Ben’s Next Door, the Multi-Media Training Institute Team, led by producer/writer, Lyn Dyson to honor and pay tribute to the life of James Baldwin.

This production resonates with the most difficult times Black Americans have faced in my life time as a 4th Generation Washingtonian. James Baldwin in his own words, “Not everything that is faced can be changed; but nothing can be changed until it is faced!” Let us face up, stand up for our children, and make REAL change. If you are scare go, and hide under the bed!!

VIRGINIA ALI-HATTIE T-HB AND VIDA HANGING OUT IN BENS NEXT DOOR.

Sonny Hill (NBA and Philadelphia Playground Legend) earlier in this blog said, “Harold don’t expect any appreciation for your good works in the community from family and friends. They will be the last to show you any love!”

On Monday February 23, 2026, my wife Hattie and I where in Ben;s Next Door waiting for the tribute to James Baldwin at the Lincoln Theater to start. Hattie was sitting at a long table with Ben’s Chili Bowl founder, Virginia Ali. Virginia was sitting at one end of the table and Hattie was at the other end.

I motion to Hattie to go, and take a picture with Virginia. In the meantime, Vida, the daughter in-law comes over to me and says, “Ma wants to take a picture with you and Hattie.”

As I move around to get in a position for Hattie to be on her right, and me on left, Virginia, looks up at me and says, “This is the man that help save my business.” Hattie, looked at me, and I looked around to see if Bill Cosby was standing behind me!

When I arrived home that night, the first thing I did was to text Sonny Hill, and say, the owner and founder of the World Famous Ben’s Chili Bowl, Virginia Ali said, “I Helped save her business. There is someone who appreciated my good works.”

MAYOR WILSON GOODE-SONNY HILL AND HB TOUR HOTSPOT PLAYGROUNDS IN PHILLY.

FAMOUS LAST WORDS: Today I find myself thinking back to October 17, 2019, when Congressman Elijah Cummings during an Oversight Committee Hearing with former Attorney Michael Cohen over his corrupt relationship with President Donald Trump. Congressman Cummings said, “When we are dancing with the angels, the question we will be asked, what did we do to make sure we kept our democracy intact? Did we stand on the sidelines and say and do nothing?” That is exactly the same question our children will asking us, what did we do to keep our democracy intact in 2026? Did we sit on the fence waiting for someone to rescue us, or did we go and hide under the bed and say, ‘This to shall pass?”