Open Mike

Who is Mike Hill? For 49 years, he attempted to answer the question, to no avail.

Hill was known to the world as the polished, versatile talent with multi-decade broadcast experience.  After joining ESPN in 2004, Hill made a name for himself at the network, beginning at the highlight desk for ESPN News and later transitioning to some of the carrier’s highest-priority programming, appearing as a host on SportsCenter, NFL Live, Baseball Tonight and NBA Tonight among others. In August of 2013, Hill joined FOX Sports. The embodiment of professionalism, Hill appeared to be living the American Dream; however, his private, internal struggles were taking a toll on his ability to live and to love.

Eventually, the mounting trauma resulting from childhood memories of witnessing his mother victimized by domestic violence, a lack of proper male tutelage, discovering that his stepfather was a murder for hire, and the demise of two marriages,  forced Hill to his breaking point.  Amidst a silent cry for help and a quest to heal from within, forced him to pick up his pen to chronicle the most prolific moments of his life. 

Hill’s forthright and undeniably blunt words atop the pages of his journal, proved to be cathartic. As the words evolved, a resounding message proclaiming that happiness is an inside job broke through.  Open Mike, is the poignant revelation of one man’s quest to discover love from the inside out.  Through the fire, the pages serve as a litmus to Hill’s eternal crusade to forgive himself and to seek forgiveness by any means necessary from the lives he encountered amidst his evolution.  

Riveting, uproarious, and unprecedentedly truthful, Open Mike is both an intimate memoir and a piercing siren that alerts us to embrace a movement that honors masculinity and acknowledges that men feel deeply too.