Snore Classic: Baseball, Fox need to break numbing trend of short World Series

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Forget about all the talk of Boston-St. Louis being a great match-up in the World Series.

If given the choice, Fox Sports and MLB would take a Seattle-San Diego series that goes 7 games over a one-sided 4- or 5-gamer featuring two of baseball’s most storied franchises.

It’s all about games, namely 6 and 7 in the postseason. Those have been in short supply for baseball, which has suffered through a remarkable string of bad luck with its World Series.

Since 2004, when the Red Sox took four straight from the Cardinals (seem to recalling hearing something about breaking an 86-year drought), only 2 of 9 World Series have gone more than five games. There have been four sweeps, including last year with San Francisco running over Detroit; and three five-game series. The lone seven-game series was in 2011 when St. Louis rallied to beat Texas.

By comparison, the NBA has seen three Game 7s since 2004, and 6 of the 9 series went to six or more games. The NHL even has fared better. Since 2001, 6 of 12 Stanley Cup Finals have gone the full 7 games, allowing viewers to hear Mike Emrick, the game’s best, to enhance the drama with his wonderful gift for play-by-play. Only two series failed to reach six games.

Fox’s Joe Buck only wishes he was as fortunate. When Buck was asked about this year’s supposed dream match-up, he tempered his answer.

“Year after year, we talk about the match-up, and who the networks want, and the major markets,” Buck said. “To me, if it isn’t a compelling series, if it is four or five games and out, it doesn’t matter who is playing. If you don’t get down to the games that make it fun, like at the beginning of the post-season where it is win or go home…That’s when the game gets exciting. That’s when the game is great.

“We had Boston in 2007 and they won in four straight (over Colorado). The ratings went down. You don’t have to be a genius to figure it out.”

Indeed, last year’s World Series averaged a 7.6 rating, an all-time low. The previous low was an 8.4 for the 2008 Phillies-Rays and 2010 Giants-Rangers series, which each went five games.

Meanwhile, the 2011 Cardinals-Rangers World Series averaged a 10.0 rating for the full run. As Buck said, you don’t need to be a genius to see how the run of short series have hurt baseball and Fox.

Given Buck and Tim McCarver’s ties, they certainly will be accused of favoring the Cardinals.That would be wrong. They only are pulling for one thing during the World Series: Getting to call a Game 7.

 

 

 

 

Brandel Chamblee stands by column about Woods and cheating; ‘Disrespected his position in golf’

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An Associated Press story has an email from Brandel Chamblee, responding to the fallout from his Golf.com column about Tiger Woods and cheating. Knowing Chamblee, it hardly is a surprise that he isn’t backing down.

In fact, he wrote more in the email than he did in the original piece. From the AP:

Chamblee never says outright he thinks Woods cheated. That was by design.

“I think ‘cavalier with the rules’ allows for those with a dubious opinion of the BMW video,” Chamblee said Tuesday in an email to the AP. “My teacher in the fourth grade did not have a dubious opinion of how I completed the test. But she was writing to one, and as I was writing to many, I felt it important to allow for the doubt some might have, so I chose my words accordingly.

“What people want to infer about that is up to them,” he said. “I have my opinion, they can form theirs.”

Chamblee then states his opinion.

“I don’t feel I’m the one that needs to justify the ‘F.’ The BMW video does it for me, followed by Tiger’s silence — until confronted — and then by his denials in the face of incontestable evidence to the contrary of his petitions,” Chamblee said. “To say nothing of the fact that he was disrespecting his position in golf, the traditions of golf and his fellow competitors, in my opinion.”

As for the threat of a lawsuit from Woods’ agent, Mark Steinberg, well, Chamblee doesn’t appear to be worried.

“I thought it incomprehensible that anyone with the slightest understanding of libel laws wouldn’t know the definition of and the difference between libel and opinion,” Chamblee said.

Actually, Woods likely would sue for defamation of character. But we all know he isn’t going down that road.

Expect a follow-up from Steinberg soon.

 

Icons: Real Sports on Reggie Jackson; NFL Network examines life of Pat Summerall

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A couple of sports icons get examined tonight.

Bryant Gumbel has an interview with Reggie Jackson on the latest edition of Real Sports (HBO, 10 p.m. ET)

A Football Life: Pat Summerall (NFL Network, 9 p.m. ET)

The rundown:

As a player and broadcaster, Pat Summerall’s football life spanned more than 50 years. His passion for sports encompassed 82 years. His voice is eternal.

NFL Network’s Emmy-nominated series A Football Life continues Tuesday, October 22 at 9:00 PM ET with a profile of Pat Summerall – the voice of the NFL.  The one-hour special chronicles Summerall’s transformation from an athlete to broadcaster and details the personal battles and professional challenges he endured along the way.

After a successful career in the NFL as a kicker and with a little luck and a lot of talent, Summerall would fall into sports broadcasting.  Behind a transcendent voice, Summerall developed a public persona which touched millions of viewers, influenced hundreds of this peers and became synonymous with Thanksgiving. Quite simply, through the years, his presence signified the magnitude of a sporting event.

Featured stories in Pat Summerall: A Football Life:

Uphill Battle: Mentally, Summerall lived a fractured childhood. With his parents splitting-up before he was born, Summerall would live with his aunt and uncle as a boy before moving back in with his father. Physically, he was born with a club foot, which doctors said would prevent him from participating in athletic activities. Foreshadowing the rest of his life, Summerall endured.In high school, he was an accomplished football and basketball player which culminated in receiving a football scholarship to the University of Arkansas as a tight end. An injury would end his days as an offensive specialist, but Summerall was undeterred. He transformed into a kicker and, once again exceeding expectations, he would go on to kick in the National Football League and participate in some of the most memorable games in league history.

Voice of Authority:  After starting out as a radio broadcaster, Summerall would eventually work his way into television and his second career took off. If there was a sporting event, Summerall had the talent to broadcast it. By the time he called his final game, Super Bowl XXXVI, he would call over 250 PGA Tour tournaments, numerous boxing and tennis matchups, a myriad of events and studio shows.

The Greatest Broadcasting Duo in Sports TV: When John Madden left the sideline, television executives couldn’t wait to put him in the booth. However, the perfect partner for the former Raiders head coach with wasn’t as definitive. In 1981, after a few years as an analyst, CBS would pair Madden with two different play-by-play announcers – Pat Summerall and Vin Scully. When the year was complete, CBS executives, after much debate, paired the former Super Bowl-winning head coach with Summerall on a full-time basis and, unknown at the time, the greatest duo in sports broadcasting history was born. Summerall and Madden spent more than 20 years together, with two different networks, and broadcasted the NFL’s biggest games.

Relationship with Tom Brookshier:  Before he was teamed with Madden, Summerall worked with Tom Brookshier. In addition to being the No. 1 broadcast team on CBS Sports, the two cohorts were best of friends.  Their camaraderie in the booth was palpable and resulted in seamless broadcasts. However, eventually their antics outside of calling the games became a concern for CBS executives. The demise of the popular duo is chronicled in the documentary.

Greatest Achievement: Throughout his successful professional career, Summerall fought a personal demon: alcoholism. Years of drinking would put a toll on his family life and on his career. After years of battling the disease, Summerall finally sought help after an intervention was conducted by his friends and family. After leaving the Better Ford Center, Summerall would remain sober for the rest of his life – his greatest achievement.

 

Leonard Shapiro: Longtime NFL writer laments he didn’t write more about violence of game, injuries

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My connection to Leonard Shapiro is through golf. We walked many fairways in our day and even did a book together, Golf List Mania. We’re still in the process of negotiating the movie rights.

Len, though, also wrote about another game: Football. He was the long-time NFL writer for the Washington Post. If you go to Canton, you’ll see his name on a plaque at the Hall of Fame.

When it comes to respect from his peers, Shapiro sits among an elite group among the golf and NFL writers.

Now semi-retired with time to reflect, Len wrote a piece Sunday for his old paper with this headline: “For too long, sports journalists glossed over football’s violence. I was one of them.”

Definitely pay attention.

Len writes:

I covered the NFL over four decades dating back to 1972. Now semi-retired myself and five years removed from day-to-day football coverage, I have one main regret: not focusing more of my reporting and writing on the absolute brutality of the sport, particularly the painful post-football lives of so many players.

Instead, like many other sports journalists, I spent much of my career writing positive pieces about the league and its players — puffy features and breathless accounts of thrilling victories and agonizing defeats. I certainly covered my share of serious NFL warts: mounting injuries; the use of steroids and amphetamines; team doctors prescribing far too many painkilling pills and injections; the derogatory Redskins name; and, for many years, the dearth of African American quarterbacks, head coaches and ­front-office personnel. But until the past decade or so, most of us glossed over the brutality of the sport. Shame on us.

And more:

But it’s not just the NFL that needs to fess up. The news media — television, print and digital — also must take some responsibility for frequently glorifying the unadulterated mayhem of this perilous competition. This includes all those war images in our prose: all-out blitzes, bombs down the field, defenders striking like heat-seeking missiles and head-hunting linebackers.

We should have been on this story far earlier. It’s not as if this was a deep, dark secret. At every Pro Football Hall of Fame induction ceremony each August in Canton, Ohio, it’s difficult to ignore former all-pros limping, leaning on canes or rolling onto the stage in wheelchairs. In conversations with countless former players, we hear about replaced knees, hips and shoulders, surgically repaired necks and backs. Worst of all, there’s clear evidence of memory loss and dementia from concussions either undiagnosed, shrugged off or totally ignored.

Shapiro concludes:

Still, when Washington hosts the Chicago Bears at FedEx Field on Sunday afternoon, I’ll surely be in front of a TV set, in my favorite chair and riveted to every play, just like so many other millions of fans across the country and the globe. The game is appealing and appalling at the same time. And I have no doubt that all of us, news media included, will continue to feed the beast, even if the beast keeps feeding on its own.

As always, good stuff from Len.

 

Costas replies to columnist’s critique of his Redskins commentary: Every definition says nickname is ‘offensive’

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Bob Costas wasn’t going to let Jonah Goldberg’s column go without a retort.

Goldberg, who writes a column syndicated by Tribune Media Services, objected to Costas’ recent commentary on NBC saying the Redskins nickname has to go.

Writes Goldberg:

“It is an insult, a slur, no matter how benign the present-day intent,” Costas continued.

This is ludicrous. I say this not as someone who has particular love for the Redskins or its name. I say this as a lover of words.

Goldberg concludes:

Ultimately, of course, this isn’t a fight about words but about cultural politics and the imperative to scrub society of all offensive language (or, often, merely language that offends liberals). That fight will never end, and not just because some people always need to be offended by something. It will never end because words themselves will never cooperate.

Costas wrote a response that appeared in the Baltimore Sun.

Goldberg twice refers to my comments as a “tirade.” I defy any fair-minded person to view the two-minute piece in its entirety and find anything in its tone or content that remotely resembles a tirade. He later refers to my “crusade.” How does addressing a prominent football-related issue one time on the very night Washington was playing on NBC qualify as a crusade?

Goldberg writes: “It strains credulity to believe the team name was intentionally pejorative, or that fans or ownership see it that way today.” I went out of my way to stipulate that very thing. Or don’t the words I actually used matter if they get in the way of whatever point Goldberg is trying to make in this case?

Costas concludes:

Every dictionary I have consulted has defined “redskins” with words such as offensive, insulting, pejorative and derogatory. No such words are part of the definition of Braves, Chiefs, Warriors or any other team name associated with Native Americans.

One would think a professed lover of words like Goldberg would appreciate that clear and compelling distinction, and recognize that many of those who have problems with the name “Redskins” are motivated not by liberalism or political correctness but by common sense and common decency.

Yes, keep those letter coming, folks. I only can imagine the letters Costas received.

 

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New 30 for 30: Kevin Connolly on con artist who bought New York Islanders

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Yo E, whassup? How’s Vinny? Say hello to Johnny Drama for me.

Kevin Connolly, also known as “E,” has gravitated into ESPN’s orbit in his post-Entourage days. Connolly is the director of the latest ESPN 30 for 30, Big Shot (Tuesday, 7 p.m.).

If it is possible for a team in New York to be anonymous, it would be the New York Islanders. They haven’t made much noise since winning those Stanley Cups way back when.

Connolly, though, looks like he has an interesting story to tell.

Here’s an excerpt from Connolly’s write-up on the 30 for 30 site:

My personal connection was the driving force behind wanting to tell this story, but as the filmmaking process began I had to step away and look at it objectively to decide exactly what story I was going to tell and how I was going to tell it. The core of John Spanos story is that of a man unabashedly chasing the American Dream — and his American Dream, which I believe most men share, was to own a professional sports team. He grabbed his balls and schmoozed and lied and forged documents and made it to the top. He didn’t stay there very long, but he did it. During the interview, Spano recalls walking into the Coliseum and thousands of fans rising to their feet and chanting, Save us Spano. Imagine what thats like for this young guy, raised by middle class parents in Ohio. He was lured in by the promise of fame and adoration. It was the lifestyle he desired, not the money.

 

Native American group says Corso’s dressing as Seminole leader showed lack of respect

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OK, here we go.

Andrew Cohen of The Atlantic and others didn’t find much humor in the Bill Murray-Lee Corso exchange during Saturday’s edition of College GameDay.

The headline said Corso dressing as the Seminole leader is “the Native Equivalent of Black Face.”

Cohen writes:

Evidently, no one at ESPN stopped to think: “Hey, maybe some folks might consider Corso’s dance inappropriate” especially for a network that has covered the “Redskins” controversy and has a huge stake in the success and reputation of the National Football League (and college football, for that matter). And clearly no one afteward at the network seemed inclined to offer any sort of explanation or rationale for what had just aired.

But the fact is that many people did consider the episode highly offensive. Here is what a spokeswoman for the National Congress of American Indians told me Saturday evening:

“This is a perfect example of how Native Americans are ridiculed in the course of sports entertainment. Good-natured rivalries are one thing. Wearing the native equivalent of black face is quite another. The Eagle Staff carried by Mr. Corso and thrown into the crowd by Mr. Murray is a sacred symbol of leadership and today is used to honor our Native veterans who have served this country. That it was used as a prop in this mockery and shown such disrespect is proof that our heritage and culture are not honored or respected by the slurs and caricatures used by sports teams.”

I posted the video on my site Saturday afternoon. I thought it was funny, and was shocked that GameDay landed Murray as a guest picker.

However, I did get some responses from people who criticized ESPN for showing a lack of respect in the segment. ESPN is declining comment.

Corso is a Florida State alum and loves the school. It isn’t the first time he has done the Seminole dance on the show. However, given the current climate, it might be the last.

 

 

Golf Channel could feel revenge from Chamblee’s ‘golf cheat’ allegations about Woods; Woods’ camp is irate

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I want to catch up on a story that likely has a few more rounds left in it.

Late last week, Brandel Chamblee did a column for Golf.com, handing out grades for the 2013 golf season. Of Woods, he writes:

Tiger Woods: When I was in the fourth grade, I cheated on a math test and when I got the paper back it had “100” written at the top and just below the grade, was this quote, “Oh, what a tangled web we weave when first we practice to deceive!” It was an oft-quoted line from the epic poem “Marmion” by Sir Walter Scott, and my teacher’s message was clear. Written once more beneath that quote was my grade of “100”, but this time with a line drawn through it and beneath that an F. I never did ask my teacher how she knew I cheated and I certainly didn’t protest the grade. I knew I had done the wrong thing and my teacher the right, but I never forgot the way I felt when I read that quote.

I remember when we only talked about Tiger’s golf. I miss those days. He won five times and contended in majors and won the Vardon Trophy and … how shall we say this … was a little cavalier with the rules.*

100 F

Chamblee then gave himself a F for being inaccurate with his picks for the majors. However he added, “But at least I earned this one honestly.” Clearly, it was another jab at Woods.

It should be noted Woods was the 14th golfer listed in the column. However, Golf.com used his F in the headline and there was a picture of Woods with a red-circled F.

Naturally, Woods’ camp was irate. Last Friday afternoon, Woods’ agent, Mark Steinberg, even threatened a lawsuit in an interview with ESPN.com’s Bob Harig.

“There’s nothing you can call a golfer worse than a cheater,” Steinberg said. “This is the most deplorable thing I have seen. I’m not one for hyperbole, but this is absolutely disgusting. Calling him a cheater? I’ll be shocked, stunned if something is not done about this. Something has to be done.

“There are certainly things that just don’t go without response. It’s atrocious. I’m not sure if there isn’t legal action to be taken. I have to give some thought to legal action.”

Geoff Shackelford tries to imagine a Wood v Chamblee trial.

I’m not sure about the legal recourse here. Defamation of character? Woods probably doesn’t want to go there, given all the doors that likely would open in his personal life.

Woods, though, will be looking to get even, and that could put the Golf Channel in the line of fire. There’s not much he can do to get back at Golf.com. The magazine and site weren’t getting any exclusive interviews anyway.

Woods, though, does appear regularly on interviews during tournaments with the Golf Channel. Chamblee’s main work is with the Golf Channel.

I wouldn’t rule out the possibility that Woods might pull an interview boycott with the Golf Channel–at least at the events where Chamblee is on site as an analyst, which are quite a few. It would be a way for the Woods camp to make Chamblee feel the heat.

Remember Woods is wired much like Michael Jordan. Jordan stopped talking to the Sports Illustrated in 1994 when a cover story made fun of his attempt to play baseball.

As much as I like Chamblee, he went over the line here. If he wanted to label Woods a “golf cheat,” he should have devoted his entire column to the subject and not at the end of his piece.

Chamblee knows the ramification of labeling someone as a cheater, the worst allegation possible in the honorable sport.

Alex Myers of GolfDigest.com writes:

While it’s impossible to argue Chamblee’s assertion that Woods “was a little cavalier with the rules,” labeling him a cheater is an enormous leap to make, especially with someone whose every move is followed by millions of people. Besides, would a guy who is perceived to have cheated on purpose get voted Player of the Year by his peers over strong candidates?

It’ll be interesting to see where the story goes from here. Will Chamblee issue “a clarification” on his comments? Surely, there are some phone calls being made.

Stay tuned.

 

New ESPN ad for NBA: Simmons gets first ride in RV; shares bed with Noah

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Time to get ready for some basketball. Bill Simmons gets invited to ride in the ESPN RV for the first time.

Given Joakim Noah’s shaky health status, Bulls fans request that the center gets his own bed.

Here’s the rundown from ESPN.

********

This week, ESPN will return the popular ESPN NBA RV campaign for the seventh year, in celebration of the upcoming NBA season.

The 30-second spot features NBA analysts Jalen Rose and Mike Breen sleeping soundly in the RV while bunkmates Bill Simmons and Chicago Bulls’ star Joakim Noah deliver a frustrated monologue about their sleeping arrangements. Jeff Van Gundy, unlikely to get any sleep throughout the night, also appears in the ad.

Additional spots will launch throughout the season. The campaign was created in collaboration with creative agency Wieden + Kennedy New York.

ESPN’s NBA season tips off Friday, Nov. 1, when the Brooklyn Nets host the defending NBA Champion Miami Heat at 8 p.m. ET, followed by the defending Western Conference Champion San Antonio Spurs facing the Los Angeles Lakers at 10:30 p.m.

Good read: Ernie Johnson is a better guy than you ever imagined

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Dan Caesar of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch tells us about Ernie Johnson’s life away from the studio and broadcast booth. It is quite a story.

Caesar writes:

But you probably don’t really know Ernie Johnson.

While Johnson, 57, has a very public career at which he has become a major success, his biggest accomplishments come in his home in suburban Atlanta, not far from the Turner studios. That’s where he and his wife deal with a very difficult situation, one that would divide many families. Ernie and Cheryl Johnson’s adult son, whom they adopted as a refugee from Eastern Europe when he was a young boy, lives with them and is on life support — as he has been for two long years.

“He’s on a ventilator with a ‘trake’ (tracheostomy tube),” Johnson says. “We’ve all become very good nurses, everybody in the family. We know how to suction his lungs. He has overnight nursing, but during the day it’s me or my wife or my oldest daughter if she’s got a day off.”

And more:

Michael continues along a tough road. And while his setback of 2011 might have zapped him physically, it didn’t quell his spirit.

“I’ve seen in two years how he’s the same guy, it just takes us a lot longer to do things,” Johnson says. “If we want to go somewhere, we get him up in the morning. It takes a while, because we’ve basically got our own intensive care unit in his bedroom. But we’re able to put the ventilator on his wheelchair; he’s able to drive his wheelchair. We try to do the same things we did before; it’s just without that machine we couldn’t.

“His spirits are always good. What’s crazy too is that he’s a special needs kid and doesn’t have a massive vocabulary but has the most loving spirit.”

Faith plays a major role in the Johnsons’ lives, and the joy of having young Michael in the house led them to adopt a healthy 7-month-old girl, Carmen, from Paraguay in 1993. Then in 2011, the same year Michael’s big challenge arose, the Johnsons brought in two girls — Allison (now 13) and Ashley (now 12). They had been in foster care in Cleveland.

“They had five or six homes growing up, we adopted them and said, ‘Here’s your forever place,” Johnson says.

And finally:

Johnson might have been caught up in that self-absorbing world at one time but no more.

“Sometimes early in my career I thought what I did was who I was,” Johnson says. “As you mature, I’ve learned that is not the case. This is what I do, this is not who I am.”

As Kiely can attest:

“He’s a wonderful human being.” Kiely simply says.

Amen to that.