Molly Sullivan caught my eye on a Sixers TV broadcast about two weeks ago – she’s the Sixers sideline reporter on CSN – and then she caught my ear as well as my eye.

This attractive, shapely, young woman wasn’t merely a piece of eye-candy who specialized in fluff and giggles. It was obvious to me that she was a professional who took pride in her work and performed her job well.

I decided to write her up.

So I sent a message to her on Twitter mentioning my intentions.

Molly ignored my initial message – which was disappointing – but @sullyvegas replied to my message in short order. A quick visit to the Internet informed me that Molly hailed from Las Vegas. So like Sherlock’s Dr. Watson, I put two and two together and deduced that @sullyvegas must be Molly’s concerned father. A couple tweets back and forth confirmed my conclusion.

Two days later and another tweet to Molly and the connection was made. She responded and we sent a couple messages back and forth. My intent was to gather information – the kind of information that the average Internet surfer could not.

Gotta tell ya, Molly’s really nice and she’ really sharp, and she’s willing to be interviewed. But as an employee of a huge network, I’d have to jump thru hoops – pun intended – to get the approval for a sit-down with her. From her perspective alone, I deemed it wasn’t worth the aggravation. It’s not like I’m Playboy magazine, or anything of that magnitude – more about Playboy later.

As I mentioned to both Molly and her father Tom Sullivan, I had no idea who Molly Sullivan was when I started. I just saw this aforementioned attractive image on my TV screen and thought she was the girl-next-door who was making it good. And then I started researching her online – and WOW – I had no idea that Molly Sullivan had already accumulated a list of credits far beyond my scope of knowledge.

– I had no idea that Molly Sullivan had been one of five finalists in Playboy magazine’s “Sexiest Sportscasters in America” – there’s the payback for my earlier mention of Playboy.

– I had no idea she was, at times, a blonde – something that makes her father cringe. I’d post pictures of her from that Playboy competition – but I have no desire to make her father cringe.

– I had no idea she was an ACC swim champion at North Carolina and a four-time qualifier in the 1650 freestyle.

– I had no idea she held the fastest mile in Tar Heel history.

– I had no idea she’d been a nationally-ranked long distance swimmer who tried out for the Olympics. Such swimming accomplishments take motivation, dedication, and self-discipline – and then hour after hour of grueling work. At this point, I was beginning to see where, when, and how she derived the work-ethic I perceived by watching her on TV for a few short minutes.

– I had no idea she’d co-hosted a three-part special for ESPN’s Road Trip series.

– I had no idea she had an extensive portfolio of TV exposure.

– I had no idea she’d co-authored a book.

– I had no idea she had “people” working for her.

– I had no idea she joined Comcast nearly three years ago – where the hell have I been? Listening to Sixers games on the radio instead of watching them.

– I had no idea she did occasional work for TNT and Top Rank Boxing and College Football and Basketball.

Like I said earlier – WOW.

So there  you have them – my primary and secondary impressions of Molly Sullivan. Some day I’d like to get Molly’s impressions of Molly Sullivan.

Barry Bowe is the author of Born to Be Wild and  1964 – The Year the Phillies Blew the Pennant.