Weekend wrap: Will Super Bowl be last Fox game for Pam Oliver? More Erin Andrews; Wilbon and PTI

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Spanning the globe to bring you the constant variety of sports media…

Pam Oliver: Bob Raissman writes that Pam Oliver’s situation is uncertain at Fox after Sunday’s Super Bowl. Her contract is up.

All season long, Oliver, who has been with Fox for 19 years, 12 working as sideline reporter with the No. 1 team of Joe Buck and Troy Aikman, watched the Foxies continue treating Erin Andrews like a queen, giving her a major push on college football and NFL telecasts. Andrews has joined Oliver on the sidelines during the postseason. The Foxies all but fit Oliver for a second-team jersey.

Or were they just greasing the skids for her exit?

For as the countdown to Super Bowl XLVIII winds down, so do the days on the final year of Oliver’s Fox contract. She said she fully expects to have a “nice” negotiation, revealing there already have been some talks. Still, her focus remains solely on Sunday’s game.
“Look, it (that Sunday could be her last game for Fox) has entered my mind. I’m a realist,” she said. “My husband cautioned me, admonished me really, not to treat this as a farewell tour.”
Easier said than done.

Terry and Howie: Richard Deitsch in SI has a Q/A with Terry Bradshaw and Howie Long. They have spent 20 years together at Fox.

Why does the relationship work?

Long: It’s like that phrase catching lightning in a bottle, because I really don’t know. We do come from different backgrounds, and there’s an age difference, but for whatever reason, from Day One we just gravitated toward each other. I am lucky to call him my friend.

Bradshaw: That is what’s so great about this. It’s kind of like true love. People can’t define it, like when you look at an old ugly guy with a beautiful young woman, and she’s happy and totally in love. It’s just chemistry. He represents a lot of the things that I wish I were. He’s a good-looking man. He has a great marriage. He’s a great dad. He’s intelligent. He’s a smart businessman. He’s all of those things. I’m a 180 from that.

Erin Andrews: Brad Gagnon of Awful Announcing does a Q/A.

BG: Do you read what critics write about you?

EA: Yeah. 

BG: What do you take from it?

EA: Some of it really upsets me and some of it I think to myself, ‘There’s always going to be the naysayers, there’s always going to be the haters.’ Even the best of the best get criticized. 

BG: Do you think you handled the Richard Sherman interview well?

EA: I have gone over it in my head 8,000 times. I think after it happened I’m more so worried about if I asked the right thing. I’m my biggest critic. Regardless of whatever these other people that say things think that they are with me. I’m the one that judges myself the hardest. I don’t know, there’s parts of it I wish I had done different. I wish I had thrown it to Joe differently. I didn’t realize that we were going to cut out of my question that quickly so I think I was stunned and kind of just said, ‘Joe, back to you,’ where I wish I had just said, ‘Joe, 90 seconds after he made the play of his life, a very emotional Richard Sherman.’ I wish I had handled it like that.

 Erin Andrews 2: Gwen Knapp at Sports on Earth looks at the fallout from her interview with Richard Sherman.

For some reason, instead of engaging in a more thoughtful conversation, it ends up being easier to unload on Andrews, as if she has created a bad template for women in sports media, defining them all as personalities rather than journalists, willing to date athletes rather than keep a professional distance and available for modeling gigs and “Dancing with the Stars” slots. I understand the concern, but I’m not sure it’s entirely fair. No one has a problem with Michael Strahan crossing over from his mornings with Kelly Ripa to do analysis with Fox, and certain ex-player commentators have visibly struggled with the concept of objectivity. They have the playing credentials, but they do not conform to journalism standards. Yet we don’t think they damage the reputations of the Scotts, Bucks or Bermans, who have more traditional credentials.

Regardless of the larger debate about Andrews’ place in the business, she did not deserve flak for the Sherman interview. I have no idea whether she is good at her job on a regular basis. I don’t pay enough attention to postgame interviews, and I would have missed this one if the clip hadn’t become the Zapruder film of its genre.

NFL TV: Mike McCarthy in Advertising Age has a piece on the possible network bidding if the NFL expands the playoffs.

“If we expanded the playoffs, nobody has contractual rights to those games,” said Mr. Rolapp, chief operating officer of NFL Media, here at league headquarters in Manhattan. “So our steps are, first, to figure out: Does it work from a football standpoint? Second, if it does, how do you schedule to maximize not only your television exposure, so fans can watch it at home, but also fans who are traveling to the game. Then, third, you figure out who the best broadcast partner is to package those and distribute those (games). We’re still on that first part for how to make it work.”

Michael Wilbon: The first installment in the Povich Center for Sports Journalism series “Still No Cheering in the Press Box” features the kid from Chicago. Didn’t know his cousin is Carole Simpson.

I finally met Shirley Povich for the first time as a rookie reporter for The Post when we drove together to cover a boxing match. He was such a helpful mentor who not only spoke words of advice, but also showed it with his actions every day. Some of the best advice he ever gave me was that you only have about three paragraphs to grab the reader’s attention; a lot of times it’s only two. And he knew how to do this in his writing, which would appeal to the audience but not pander to them. From day one, he wanted me treat him as an equal, but I could not help but be in awe of him when he would talk about covering the Jack Dempsey-Gene Tunney, long-count fight in 1927, or Babe Ruth or Walter Johnson or Sammy Baugh. I once asked him if he had any idea how much that amazed me. He simply said, “It’s only time. In 50 years some young fellow is going to point at you and say, ‘See that old guy over there? He knew Michael Jordan.’ And you’re going to think, ‘What’s the big deal?’” And he was right.

PTI: Speaking of Wilbon, Chad Finn of the Boston Globe writes about the enduring popularity of Pardon the Interruption. I agree.

“PTI” is a mixture of the companionable and the outraged. On a recent episode, Wilbon was furious with football fans who had whined about the lack of tackling in previous Pro Bowls, and then complained again about the hard hits in this year’s game. The potential for weather disruptions at the Super Bowl, held for the first time this year at an outdoor cold-weather site, also propelled Kornheiser to suggest fixing a camera on NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell, to catch him when he retreats from his seat to an indoor luxury box: “This is a potential William Henry Harrison situation.”

NBC and Olympics: Richard Deitsch provides an extensive guide to the infinite hours of Olympics coverage.

NBCUniversal, naturally, has attempted to present Sochi in the best possible light because they have a lot invested in the product. The company shelled out about $775 million for the U.S. television rights for these games and the Olympics are always an essential driver to promote NBC’s morning, primetime and late-night programming as well NBC’s cable networks. How much Olympics will NBC air? The networks of NBC — and its online offerings — will telecast 1,539 hours of programming from Sochi, more than the total for Vancouver and Torino combined

“Our plan is pretty straightforward: We’re going to deliver the most comprehensive coverage the Winter Olympics have ever had,” said NBC Sports Group chairman Mark Lazarus.

Changing media: Michael Bradley of the National Sports Journalism Center writes about the continuing evolution in media.

Five years ago, SB Nation did not exist. Today, it enjoys more than 50 million unique visitors per month and has more than 70,000 Twitter followers. Its focus is less on creating objective content along the lines of traditional journalism and more on providing fans with a point of view that matches their passion and perspective. As you can see by the numbers, SB Nation’s model has been wildly successful. More importantly, Vox, through SB Nation and its other sites, The Verge, Polygon, etc., has been face-forward on setting the standard for how journalism should operate in a connected world. It’s one thing for a newspaper to have an on-line presence and another for a company to blend the most modern technology with content people want to consume.

According to Carr, “digital publishing is its own thing, not an additional platform for established news companies”. That’s where the showdown is likely to come in the next decade: the start-ups, which base a large part of their existence on their technological superiority, versus the holdovers that are trying to adapt.

Will Charles Haley’s bad guy act with media keep him out of Hall of Fame?

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Earlier today, I posted an interview with Leonard Shapiro on the voting process for the Pro Football Hall of Fame. Here’s more from the former long-time voter on the human element and how it might keep Charles Haley out on Canton.

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Unlike baseball, where character is a consideration for enshrinement in Cooperstown, Shapiro says the football voters are only supposed “to care about what happens between the lines.”

But Charles Haley could be a case in point of why it doesn’t always work that way.

Haley will be a finalist for the fifth time Saturday. He was a pass rush dynamo who played on five Super Bowl winners for Dallas and San Francisco.

And he was a complete jerk to the media.

“He was surely, mean, arrogant. A rotten man,” said Shapiro, who was a long-time football writer for the Washington Post. “I thought he was despicable and a discredit to the game.”

Shapiro never voted for Haley during the 29 years he served on the committee. When asked to assess Haley as a player, “He’s in the hall of great. Whether he’s a Hall of Famer is debatable.”

Would Haley already be in the Hall of Fame if he was a good guy to the media? He definitely would have a better chance.

Shapiro said there are plenty of voters in the selection room who feel the same way he does about Haley’s treatment of the media.

“Are there guys in the room who think, ‘What an asshole, I’m not going to vote for that guy,'” Shapiro said. “You’re damn right there are guys who think like that.”

This situation isn’t unique to Haley. Shapiro said the character issue almost kept Lawrence Taylor from being a first-ballot Hall of Famer. It should have been a slam dunk, as Taylor might have been the greatest defensive player in NFL history. At the very least, he’s in the top 5.

“It got very heated over Taylor,” Shapiro said. “He had a history of drug problems and other issues. He wasn’t the world’s great citizen. The voters aren’t supposed to take the character issue into account, but it did factor in for LT. One guy said, ‘I don’t care, I’m not going to vote for him.'”

Taylor did get in. There’s no way they could keep him out.

Haley, though, is a different story, as his credentials aren’t as clear cut. Shapiro isn’t so sure the fifth time will be the charm for him.

“There is human nature involved,” Shapiro said. “(As much as it isn’t supposed to be that way), you can’t take that part out of it.”

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Inside selection room: Former voter on why there won’t be any Deadspin controversies coming out Pro Football HOF process

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My latest column for the National Sports Journalism Center at Indiana University provides a glimpse into what will take place during the Pro Football Hall of Fame selection meeting Saturday. While the process isn’t perfect, it is much better than what occurs in baseball.

From the column:

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The 2014 Pro Football Hall of Fame class will be unveiled Saturday. Here are some things you won’t be hearing about the selection process.

*Griping that many voters haven’t covered a game in years and aren’t qualified to vote.

*Outrage over the NFL’s equivalent of Jacque Jones, a marginal player, getting a HOF vote.

*Refusal of voters to give a nod to players linked to steroids.

*A disgruntled selector allowing fans to determine his vote via Deadspin.

Nope, unlike their baseball counterparts, the NFL selection process isn’t likely to create headlines this weekend. However, like everything else, it hardly is perfect.

Leonard Shapiro was part of the NFL HOF selection committee for 29 years. Now on the outside, the former Washington Post football writer sheds some light on his experience.

“It’s a fascinating process,” Shapiro said. “When I came out of the meetings, I felt a combination of exhilarated and ticked off. It was frustrating when qualified players didn’t get in. Yet it felt satisfying to help get some good people in there.”

The process works this way. A preliminary list of 150 candidates is whittled down to 15 finalists. Then on the Saturday prior to the Super Bowl, there is a meeting where a special panel of football reporters debate and then vote for the eventual entrants into the Hall of Fame.

This year, there are 46 people on the committee; one representative from each city in the NFL along with at-large experts like ESPN’s John Clayton and Sports Illustrated’s Peter King.

Therein lies a big difference between baseball, which had 575 voters for the Hall of Fame this year, and some with questionable credentials. That isn’t the case with the NFL, where Shapiro says the voters have at least 15 years on the beat. And they currently are active in covering the sport.

“It’s a really, really good group of people,” Shapiro said.

During the meeting, the person from the finalist’s city makes a 2-3 minute presentation to the group. Then the panel discusses whether the player did enough to merit being in Canton.

Again, another big difference from baseball. Shapiro said the debates did impact his opinions, one way or another.

“In baseball, you get a ballot, and boom, they vote. There’s no discussion,” Shapiro said. “Here, it’s a free and open discussion. You’re supposed to be honest. If a guy in Seattle saw a player 16 times a year compared someone else who saw him only one or two times, that’s a great help. There were times when I thought a player was a dead-solid cinch, and other people would talk about him, and I’d say, ‘I never thought about that.’ It made you think.”

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Here’s the link with more, including Shapiro’s concerns about a lack of transparency in the process.

 

Say it ain’t so: Uecker to cut back on Brewers games this year

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Well, the guy did just turn 79…

Bob Wolfley of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reports on Bob Uecker’s decision to do fewer games this year.

“It’s time,” Uecker said during a conference call with local reporters. “It’s time to enjoy the summer a little bit other than doing a baseball game and traveling.”

Uecker said Brewers chairman and principal owner Mark Attanasio was among those who had encouraged him to cut back.

“Sooner or later you are going to have to bend a little bit,” Uecker said. “I’m not saying I’m not going to work games down to the end of the season if indeed there is the possibility of the playoffs or anything else. I’m going to do that. But now is the time for me to kind of take a few games off once in awhile and enjoy myself. Not that I don’t enjoy the games, because I do. You guys know that. I’m at home at the ball park as much as I am at my own house.”

Uecker is a treasure, as is Vin Scully in Los Angeles. Two greats still going strong deep in their final innings. Baseball fans are indeed blessed.

Posted in MLB

Jenny Dell, girlfriend of Will Middlebrooks, likely won’t be covering Red Sox for NESN

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Chad Finn in the Boston Globe reports on a move that needed to be made:

(Jenny Dell) is in a weird sort of limbo. When asked if Dell would be part of Red Sox broadcasts this season, NESN spokesman Gary Roy confirmed with a statement that her role has changed:

“Jenny Dell, a multi-talented on-air personality, is anchoring NESN Sports Today and handling other assignments for NESN.”

That seems to confirm what an industry source told me Wednesday morning: that she was informed recently by NESN vice president of programming and production Joseph Maar that she would not be part of the Red Sox broadcast team this season.

Later Finn adds:

While a sideline reporter isn’t necessarily a journalist, the effect that fraternizing with the players has on genuine female journalists who have fought for access and credibility is palpable.

While it’s very hard to believe that their relationship was breaking news to NESN management, it certainly appears as though Dell’s status has been affected by either the backlash to that or perhaps her desire to work elsewhere. There was mutual interest between Dell and Fox Sports 1, though that appears to be in a holding pattern.

Indeed, if you are a journalist, male or female, you shouldn’t be mixing business with pleasure.

Posted in MLB

Programming alert: Ozzie Smith, Bob Gibson featured on MLB Network’s My Most Memorable Games

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If you need to be warmed up on this cold January day, take a listen to Jack Buck’s legendary call of Ozzie Smith’s game-winner in 1985.

From MLB Network on tonight’s installment of My Most Memorable Game.

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Co-hosted by Bob Costas and Tom Verducci, Ozzie Smith will reminisce about his walkoff home run to end Game Five of the ‘85 NLCS at 9 p.m. ET and Bob Gibson talks about his record-setting 17 strikeout performance in Game One of the ‘68 WS at 9:30 p.m. ET

Bob Gibson:

When I struck out [Al Kaline], it was 15 and that’s when Tim [McCarver] was making me look at the scoreboard and I had no idea what he wanted me to do. I just wanted the ball so we could keep going, and then I turned around and looked at the scoreboard and I said, “Okay, fine. Let’s go.” I wasn’t concerned with the strikeouts. We needed to win the ballgame.

On his mound presence:

After my career was over and I hear all these horror stories about this ogre that was out there on the mound, it surprised me. And I thought to myself, if I had known that, I probably would have been a lot uglier than I was when I was out there.  … I didn’t like to waste time. I just wanted to get the ball and let’s go. Even to the point where I rushed the hitter a lot of times without really meaning to, and I think most of the hitters thought I did that on purpose and I really didn’t.

On losing the 1968 World Series:

We had a problem with Mickey Lolich. … Before we started playing, [Roger Maris] said, “We don’t have a problem trying to beat anybody on that team except Lolich. You got to watch Lolich because he’s got a really, really good slider.” And that’s the way it turned out. … The reason it hurts is because I think we had a better ballclub. They had more power, [but] I think we had a better defensive team [and] a faster ballclub. We could do some things. … Even though we didn’t win it, I believe we had the best team.

Ozzie Smith:

We all live for those special moments. … For me, playing the game 19 years, I don’t know if it gets any better than that because that really is the dream, the dream to be at the plate in the bottom of the ninth to get the hit to win the ballgame.

I looked at myself and the team as being very fortunate in that we were able to go to three World Series, and there are a lot of guys who play this game for 20 to 25 years and never experience that. So, that in and of itself was a blessing for me and all my teammates, and I would not change anything with what happened to me through the 1980’s because it was the best time of my life. I think it was the best of times for anybody that was a baseball fan, not just Cardinals fans.

It created a memory that will last for a lifetime. … Of course the legend Jack Buck on the call with, “Go crazy, folks.” When I sign things now, it is signed with, “Go crazy, folks.” … It’s become a part of my life.

 

Should Dungy have done Martin interview for NBC? Coach serves on special Dolphins committee

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Yesterday, I wrote that Jonathan Martin’s handlers picked the right person in Tony Dungy to conduct his first interview since the controversy broke. The former coach is one of the most highly respected people in the NFL.

However, it has been pointed out to me that Dungy might have been the wrong choice for NBC.

Visit NBCNews.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

Visit NBCNews.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

The former coach serves on a special Miami committee to review the Dolphins standards of behavior and make recommendations in the wake of the charges that Richie Incognito bullied Martin. Dungy, along with Dolphins great Dan Marino, was brought in by owner Stephen Ross and will begin work on the committee when the NFL investigation is complete.

It should be noted that Dungy isn’t being paid by Ross. However, there is a connection to the team.

The first two segments of the Martin interview ran under the NBC News umbrella, not sports. Last night, there was a short airing on NBC Nightly News. This morning, the Martin interview and then a chat with Dungy aired on Today. More of the interview will be shown tonight on Pro Football Talk on NBCSN at 6:30 p.m. ET

On the Today show, Carson Daly did say, “We also want to point out that coach Dungy was brought in as an outside advisor by the Dolphins in this situation…”

I’m bringing this up because it appears to show there are different journalism standards between news and sports within the networks. Would NBC News allow a similar arrangement to occur for an interview regarding someone in politics or business?

For instance, let’s say NBC had a staffer, one of its experts, who was part of a panel conducting an investigation involving somebody in President Obama’s cabinet. Would NBC gives its OK for that person to conduct a first interview with that cabinet member? Probably not. It would be a clear conflict of interest.

But here, NBC approved Dungy, despite his Miami ties, to do the interview with Martin.

Please don’t say, well, the Martin thing is just sports. The Martin thing likely will result in a lawsuit, affecting numerous individuals. This is a big deal.

I have a call into NBC to see it has an official comment. Will update if I get one.

Bottom line: I like and admire what Dungy has done in football and beyond. He does make a considerable impact.

However, if you follow the rules of journalism, Dungy probably shouldn’t have been the person to do that interview.

 

 

 

 

Posted in NFL

Tables turn: NY Giants PR man feels wrath from Deion

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Pat Hanlon thought he would have some fun Tuesday. The PR man for the New York Giants did a spin as a panelist for NFL Network’s coverage of Super Bowl media day.

However, it went bad for Hanlon. He suddenly got a taste of what it feels like on our end when we say something that ticks off an athlete. Or this case, a Hall of Famer, Deion Sanders.

This one played right into the wheelhouse for Bob Raissman of the New York Daily News.

Following Sanders landing an interview–if you want to call it that–with the elusive Marshawn Lynch, the fun began.

Raissman:

“Prime got him,” Hanlon said smiling. “Hey, they said Prime didn’t tackle anybody (when he played). Well, he just ‘tackled’ Marshawn Lynch… Sorry to bring that up. I’m a Giant.” While Hanlon was delivering the word, Faulk — who was taking this whole Lynch thing way too seriously — glared at the PR man.

A few moments later, Sanders was back on the screen.

“I’m about to go into Beast Mode (on Hanlon). Name one game when you didn’t see me (make tackles) — especially against the Giants. Show me the tape,” Sanders seethed. “See, I get offended when people say that.”

Hanlon did not exactly go Ralph Kramden, but he was looking for a way out.

“When I think about you, I think about you breaking (kicker) Brad Daluiso’s leg (in 1999) returning a kickoff,” Hanlon said.

“Let’s not get off the subject,” Sanders shot back. “Name me one game… One game when you ever saw me cost my team anything? That (Deion Sanders) hit reel is 59 minutes long. If you want to be the last minute on that hit reel, you can.”

Now, Hanlon’s weasel, er, PR techniques kicked in.

“We can replay the tape,” Hanlon said. “I didn’t say you didn’t tackle. I said THEY said you didn’t tackle.”

Later, Raissman wrote:

We will at least credit Hanlon and Sanders for carbonating a flat drink. The only thing better would’ve been Sanders coming on the set and getting in Hanlon’s face. Maybe they would have had to be separated — by Sherman. Now that would have been some smokin’ TV. And the confrontation would’ve also reinforced the NFL’s trash-talking, anything-goes image. It might have also led to new studio segments where the analysts are miked in the Green Room just in case any blood is spilled.

Make no mistake, Hanlon and Sanders saved NFLN’s media day telecast. Unfortunately it was held in New Jersey, so no one will remember it. The Giants PR man will. For his ability to glom the neon spotlight fits right in with words that will be etched on his professional tombstone.

“We got this PR motto,” Hanlon said. “If you can’t promote yourself, how can I promote you?”

Now that’s spin. Welcome to our world, Pat.

 

Posted in NFL