A good read: Grantland on Oliver Luck; West Virginia AD better known as Andrew Luck’s dad

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Showcasing stories that are worth the read…

Hua Hsu of Grantland has a nice piece on Oliver Luck, who has had an interesting life in his own right. Yet the West Virginia athletic director is known for only one thing these days.

Hsu writes:

A member of the football staff shepherds four potential transfers into Luck’s office and he invites them to sit around a conference table, cheerfully reciting some tidbit about where they grew up or what position they play as they settle into their seats. One of them has brought an entourage of his mom and little brother. Without their helmets and pads to protect them, you remember that they’re just kids: fidgety, restless, vulnerable, averting eye contact, almost shy. “I’m the athletic director around here. The AD,” Luck says. He smiles, and, if you’ve watched football over the past couple of years, you see the family resemblance. “That really stands for ‘Andrew’s Dad.’ That’s how everybody knows me nowadays.” The players laugh. They look up from their hands.

Later Hsu writes on the elder Luck:

“We always tell our student-athletes: Don’t let sports use you — you use it. You be selfish. You use it to get a free education, you use it to meet people. Don’t let it chew you up.”

It might all sound a little jaded, but Luck is here precisely because he understood all this from the beginning. College sports were always a means to an end, one that didn’t necessarily have to involve football. He was a curious and committed student who chose West Virginia over Harvard, Yale, and Dartmouth. He took his studies seriously and was a finalist for a Rhodes Scholarship in 1981. Though he was the Houston Oilers’ second-round draft pick in 1982 and the team’s starter for the 1983 season, he describes his time in the NFL with a sense of detachment. Luck didn’t aspire for a long career and instead set the more modest goal of playing long enough to qualify for an NFL pension. The 1982 players’ strike had pressed him to think about life after football, so in his free time and during the offseason he took night-school classes toward a law degree. In 1987 he retired from the Oilers — with a pension — and received a law degree from the University of Texas. “I was healthy,” he says. “I saw a lot of guys that played 10 or 12 years who were all beat up.”

Luck is quick to point out that there was nothing unique about his extracurricular pursuits — the NFL wasn’t the multi-billion-dollar industry it is today, and a lot of guys in his day didn’t expect to get rich playing football. Still, Luck was obviously a little different: “When I knew I was going to retire, as I was getting ready for the bar exam, I thought, You know, I want to do something fun.” And so he walked away from professional football and became a lawyer.

 

King decides not to use ‘Washington team nickname’; Will let others decide for themselves

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Peter King has decided to make a statement. He writes at MMQB:

I’ve decided to stop using the Washington team nickname. It’s a name you won’t see me use anymore. The simple reason is that for the last two or three years, I’ve been uneasy when I sat down to write about the team and had to use the nickname. In some stories I’ve tried to use it sparingly. But this year, I decided to stop entirely because it offends too many people, and I don’t want to add to the offensiveness. Some people, and some Native American organizations—such as the highly respected American Indian Movement—think the nickname is a slur. Obviously, the team feels it isn’t a slur, and there are several prominent Native American leaders who agree. But I can do my job without using it, and I will. My 2,400-word story on Washington offensive coordinator Kyle Shanahan and his unique approach to the read-option Thursday proved you can write about the team (insightfully, I hope) and not make a big deal about not using the nickname.

I have no idea if this is the right thing to do for the public, or the politically correct thing to do, and I’m not going to sit here and try to preach about it and tell you if you like the name you’re wrong or if you hate the name you’re wrong. I can just tell you how I feel: I’ve been increasingly bothered by using the word, and I don’t want to be a part of using a name that a cross-section of our society feels is insulting.

I’m not speaking for my staff at The MMQB, or at Sports Illustrated. I haven’t ordered anyone who works at our new website to not use the name; it will be up to each person to decide. We had some discussions as a staff about the nickname in August, and I said in those discussions I didn’t want our site to use it. But I felt after some thought that it’s not my place to order people who I work with to do something they may not be comfortable doing. So I decided to make my own decision, then allow the other writers and editors on the site to do what they want. Also, we won’t be changing quotes to eliminate the name in stories, or editing it out of pieces from outside contributors who choose to use it. It will also appear in web tools that categorize stories for searches.

King should be in for an interesting reception when he attends a Washington game this year.

NBA Countdown: Doug Collins could be in line to join panel: Wilbon to have reduced role

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Jason McIntyre of Big Lead has the latest on ESPN’s NBA studio show:

Michael Wilbon’s role on ESPN’s NBA Countdown will be diminished next season, and taking his spot on the set will most likely be former 76ers coach Doug Collins, multiple sources told The Big Lead.

The move is primarily so that Wilbon can return to focusing on the show that made him a star, Pardon the Interruption. In recent years, Wilbon has increasingly appeared on PTI via remote – from Chicago, Miami, Los Angeles, Arizona, etc – diluting some of the outstanding chemistry he’s built up with longtime friend Tony Kornheiser.

Wilbon’s frequent travel has also led to PTI replacing him with Bob Ryan or J.A. Adande, and the end result of both of those factors is that ratings for the show have sagged in the last two years, sources say.

 

Star rookie: Randy Moss has chance to be big as an analyst for Fox

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As Jon Gruden would say, “I like this Randy Moss.”

Or as Jimmy Johnson did say, “Whenever he’s on, he’s tough to turn off.”

While he might not be able to match the football equivalent of scoring 17 touchdowns in his NFL debut for Minnesota in 1998, Moss looks to be the early favorite for rookie of the year on the NFL analyst front. He currently is working for Fox Sports 1 on Fox Football Daily and Fox Football Kickoff.

However, don’t be surprised if Moss eventually finds himself at the big boys table on Fox NFL Sunday, sooner than later. He has some Charles Barkley in him. The combination of being candid and unpredictable will carry him a long way on TV.

On a Fox conference call Wednesday, Moss questioned his old teammates, Colin Kaepernick and Vernon Davis’ ability to mesh on the field.

“From my time there last year, it didn’t seem Kaepernick and Vernon Davis had a rapport. They haven’t shown that yet,” Moss said.

That prompted this response from Davis: “His job is to critique our offense and say whatever he feels is right. But my opinion is totally different from what he’s saying. We’re on a different level, for sure.”

Stirring it up is what analysts are supposed to do. It is why Fox Sports executive producer John Entz called Moss, “a game changer.”

“He was someone we hadn’t thought of until late in the audition process,” Entz said. “It wasn’t something he was actively looking to do. He came in and liked it better than he realized. We immediately thought of (him) as a game changer.”

During the call, I asked Moss how he liked his new job.

“It’s definitely eye-opening to be in this environment as opposed to a locker room,” Moss said. “I’m a work in progress. (The other analysts) were once rookies too. Each and every day, I  learn something.”

Later, Moss was asked to describe his style.

“I haven’t had time to really think about a style,” Moss said. “You can hear in my voice I’m excited to have something different in my life. I don’t know about too many things, but I do know about football.”

Just as it did for him as a player, football also can take Moss a long way as an analyst.

 

 

 

My Chicago Tribune column: Analysts mixed about Bears in 2013; Aikman ‘skeptical’ about Cutler

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In my latest Chicago Tribune column, I talked to the various NFL analysts about the Bears’ prospects in 2013. The consensus: They like Marc Trestman, but aren’t sure about Jay Cutler.

You also can access the column via my Twitter feed.

From the column:

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The national appeal of the Bears always ranks high with the networks. CBS is making the most of its two Bears games this season, and it will send its No. 1 crew of Jim Nantz and Phil Simms to Soldier Field for Sunday’s season opener against the Bengals.

However, the network’s various NFL analysts are mixed on the Bears’ outlook for 2013, with a few of them decidedly down.

CBS’ Boomer Esiason says the Bears will be “a second-rung team in the NFC.”

NBC’s Rodney Harrison, a Chicago-area native, was blunt about his hometown team.

“I would almost have to say at this point I wouldn’t fear the Bears,” Harrison said. “Just too much inconsistent play at the quarterback position.”

Indeed, the analysts all contend Jay Cutler will be the focal point. As he goes, so go the Bears.

Esiason called Cutler “one of the most frustrating players in the NFL.” He even wrestled with whether he’s a top-15 quarterback.

Bill Cowher, the former Steelers coach, contends the time has come for Cutler to dramatically step up his game.

“When the head coach or the quarterback goes into the last year of his contract, it’s a storyline,” Cowher said. “It was last year with Joe Flacco. We know how that unfolded. We have all seen Jay Cutler at times and his mannerisms, and you just wonder if they don’t get off to a good start how much that will play into it. This is very much a career-defining year for him. How he handles the questions and his performance week-in and week-out will be something to watch.”

Fox Sports’ Troy Aikman says he’s “skeptical” about Cutler despite a change in coaches. The Hall of Fame quarterback rattled off the list of offensive coordinators who have come and gone during Cutler’s years with the Bears.

“Every year, you wonder, ‘Is this guy going to be the guy?’ ” Aikman said. “Until I see it, I’m going to be skeptical. Jay has not played well in big games, especially against the Packers. That has to change if they are going to contend.”

******

Even though the Packers remain the favorites in the NFC North, NBC’s Cris Collinsworth thinks the Lions can be a dangerous team.

“When you start with that kind of front seven and especially that front four (on defense), you can control a lot of games,” Collinsworth said. “I think Reggie Bush adds an element to that team. If you can take a little pressure off of Calvin Johnson, it’s just a team with the chance.”

Fox Sports’ Jimmy Johnson still thinks it’s the Packers and everyone else in the North.

“None of those three teams will challenge Green Bay if they stay healthy,” Johnson said.

 

 

Dead season: TV producers work hard to keep fans interested in White Sox, Cubs

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It was on Tuesday when I realized something that probably never happened to me before. I had gone perhaps a week or more without watching a single minute of a White Sox game.

Obviously, the Sox are dreadful this year. Usually, though, I catch an inning or two here and there.

But not last week. I guess I met my threshold of pain tolerance.

It has been beyond bleak in Chicago this year, with both teams in last place. However, the games and the telecasts go on.

Budding sports media writer Paul Sullivan of the Chicago Tribune examined the challenge facing the TV game producers for the Sox and Cubs:

How do they manage to keep viewers interested when their team stinks?

Here’s how two Chicago veterans, Sox telecast director Jim Angio and Cubs telecast producer Marc Brady, manage to create something out of nothing.

Angio, a 35-year veteran dating to the days Harry Caray and Jimmy Piersall called Sox games on WSNS-Ch. 44, said he stresses the three E’s: Education, entertainment and enthusiasm.

“We put a lot of effort into Hawk and (analyst Steve Stone) teaching the game,” Angio said. “Even if Alexei (Ramirez) makes three errors in a game, what they’re great about is they’ll still tell you what happened and where he should be.

“You trying not to drum up the negativity, but (explain), ‘Maintain your focus, see the ball …’ You’re not making excuses that the errors happened, but you teach something and then we move on. Hawk and Stoney do a great job of teaching the game to new and existing fans.”

Brady, a part of the WGN telecasts since 1998, has more of a sabermetrical approach to broadcasts, crunching numbers for new-age fans. Brady introduced “Stats Sunday,” in which broadcasters Len Kasper and Jim Deshaies focus on a statistic, often citing an accompanying article from a guest writer. The Cubs use the Internet more, Brady said, “because there is so much immediacy to what we can show” during a game.

“If Len says, ‘Hey, we had a fan email us and say, ‘Whatever you do, don’t play ‘We Built this City,’ the next thing you’ll hear, of course, is ‘We Built This City,’ ” he said. “There’s so much more interaction with fans. They can ask a question on Twitter and say, ‘We hated this or that.’ But at least they’re watching. The Internet, Facebook and Twitter have all enhanced our games, especially during a down period.”

 

Posted in MLB

L’Shana Tova: Detroit Free Press headline in Hebrew following Hank Greenberg’s big game on Rosh Hashanah

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L’Shana Tova to all. Today is Rosh Hashanah, celebrating the Jewish new year.

I will be spending the day in synagogue and with my family. However, I wanted to leave a post about Hank Greenberg and the holiday that actually had a sports media component.

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With Rosh Hashanah nearing in 1934, the Detroit slugger was debating whether or not to play. “The team was fighting for first place and I was probably the only batter in the lineup that was not in a slump,” Greenberg said. “I was literally carrying the club with my hitting.”

Greenberg wasn’t all that observant as a Jew, but he always promised his parents he wouldn’t play on a High Holiday.

According to Tigers’ radio announcer Ernie Harwell, a rabbi in Detroit looked in the Talmud and found a reference to young Jews playing in the streets of Jerusalem during Rosh Hashanah. A headline in a local paper read, “Talmud Clears Greenberg for Holiday Play”

Greenberg decided to play and hit two home runs in the Tigers’ 2-1 win over the White Sox. On the front of the Detroit Free Press the next day, the headline read, “Happy New Year” written in Hebrew.

“Years later, I heard that the rabbi knew that the Talmud really said that it was the Roman children who played on Rosh Hashanah, but the rabbi didn’t tell Hank that part of it,” sports broadcaster Dick Schaap said.

*****

Indeed, I don’t think I would have gotten that interpretation from my Rabbi, Vernon Kurtz.

 

 

Johnny Miller leaves door open about future; Maybe NBC is ‘grooming new Johnny Miller’

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I haven’t had the opportunity to talk to Johnny Miller in the wake of NBC losing the U.S. Open. So when Miller and Brandel Chamblee appeared on a conference call today, I asked him not only about the Open but also his future in the booth.

Miller, 66, has two years left on his contract with NBC. It gradually pares down to his duties to 10 tournaments in 2015.

As usual Miller was candid about the Open and his future. Here’s a text of the exchange.

Has it sunk in for you that next year is going to be your last U.S. Open? Just wondering if that’s going to impact anything with you going forward in the future as far as continuing to be an analyst?

JOHNNY MILLER:  Yeah, we weren’t going to talk too much about that.  But the bottom line is, I’ve got this year and two more years as an analyst.  And yeah, it’s sad not to do the Open, Senior Open or Women’s Open, or whatever they ask me to do.

I just wish FOX all the best.  I thought it was a pretty amazing decision.  But, again, the train is already going down the tracks.  That’s already happened.  It’s something that’s pretty sad for me ‑‑ my whole year, U.S. Open was always my championship and it’s what I was groomed to do, to play; growing up at Olympic Club and Pebble Beach, and I just always got up for the Open and loved it.  But, I’ll still love it.  I just won’t be covering it.

All of us, even Golf Channel, but especially NBC/Golf Channel put their heart and soul into it, couldn’t have tried harder, Tommy Roy and everybody.  That was the focal point of everything we did.

So I just hope that FOX does the same and puts together a team that can ‑‑ not only at announcers but the cameramen and everybody else, I absolutely wish them absolutely the best.  It’s such a great championship.

It’s not going to really impact my decision on what I do as an announcer.  I really don’t know what NBC/Golf Channel has in store for me after two years.  I would think they are starting to think about grooming a new Johnny Miller‑type announcer but I don’t know who it is, and I’ll probably to do some things, I just don’t know how much.  We’ll just have to see.

Is it a matter of your schedule?  I know you have a lot of projects; you mentioned your various courses and stuff like that.  Are you weighing how much you want to do at a certain point in your life?

JOHNNY MILLER:  Well, my brain is still working reasonably well, so I can do all the things that I need to do but I actually have a lot of time off.  I have about half the year off, and I do that on purpose.

So I have cut down on the amount of outings and I have some real responsibilities with Silverado Country Club, being an owner there, and of course Fry’s coming there next year.  Things are really good family‑wise and I’ve got a pretty good balance.  The announcing, I’m down to 10 events (in 2015) contractually.  That’s just the way it was.  It goes 15 and then next year 13 and then 10 the last year.

So 10 events isn’t exactly stretching me too much.  I think Brandel would like that schedule.

*******

My guess is that Miller continues to work through at least 2016. NBC will want him to be the featured analyst for golf’s debut in the 2016 Olympics. Also, it is a Ryder Cup year, with the U.S. hosting at Hazeltine. That should be an attractive plate for Miller.

However, with Miller cutting back, it will be interesting to see who NBC inserts as his replacement. Really, it should be a no-brainer. It has to be Chamblee. He has climbed into the Miller stratosphere as golf’s best analysts.

 

 

 

Who was at fault: Reporters going with wrong info or Florida coach for lying?

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Mike Bianchi of the Orlando Sentinel has an interesting column that should prompt discussion in sports journalism classes throughout the country.

It seems Florida coach Will Muschamp called out the media for incorrectly reporting that he had suspended one of his players for Saturday’s game.

Muschamp, who went on a two-minute tirade during his post-game news conference,  barbecued the Gainesville Sun, Palm Beach Post and GatorCountry.com — media entities that all incorrectly reported that true freshman defensive tackle Jay-nard Bostwick was among the Gators suspended for the Toledo game.

“That was very irresponsible journalism,” Muschamp said. “You guys can write whatever you want to say about me … But when you take a shot at a kid, and it’s inaccurate and it’s written inaccurately, I’ve got a problem. … It’s wrong. Damn wrong …. Our trust is done, I can assure you of that. And you know exactly who I’m talking to. I don’t know where them Gator Country guys are, but I’m going to tell you right now we’re done.

“Who was your source?” Muschamp asked, and got no response. “Church mice in here. If you want to write something, stand up and stand behind it.”

However, Bianchi notes Muschamp did his part to contribute to the bad report.

Muschamp, too, indirectly contributed to the sloppy reporting by telling one of those “coaching lies” that unfortunately have become an accepted part of doing business in college football.

Interesting that Muschamp talked about “trust” when he deceived the very reporters who wrote the errant information. One of the reporters — Jason Lieser of the Palm Beach Post — asked Muschamp during an SEC teleconference on Wednesday if any players — other than middle linebacker Antonio Morrison — would be suspended for the opener against Toledo.

Muschamp’s response: “No, not at this time.”

The fact is, Muschamp knew at that time that four additional players were going to be suspended, but he chose to intentionally deceive the media. Had he been forthcoming and released the names of the suspended players at the time, there would have been no mis-reporting of the facts.

Bianchi correctly notes that the reporters still are to blame for not getting the facts right. He concludes:

Call me a dreamer, but I believe journalists should do everything in their power to make sure their facts are correct.

Then again, I also believe coaches should be honest and truthful when dealing with the media.

Keep dreaming about that last point, Mike.

 

CBS’ McManus on glut of NFL on TV: ‘I don’t think we’ve hit saturation level yet’

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My latest column for the National Sports Journalism Center site at Indiana University is on the endless feast that the networks will be serving NFL fans this season.

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When Fox Sports swooped in with the NFL in 1994, it dared to be revolutionary by launching a 60-minute pregame show. Previously, the versions aired by CBS and NBC were 30 minutes.

An hour? Such lunacy. Who would want to watch a pregame show almost as long as the first half of a game?

The answer: Everyone.

Less than 20 years later, an hour of an NFL pregame show almost counts as clearing your throat. This year, the various networks are pushing the notion of too much football on Sundays and beyond to the extreme.

Besides the regular Sunday pregame coverage on Fox Sports, CBS, NBC,  ESPN and the NFL Network, there’s two new major offerings this year: “That Other Pregame Show,” a four-hour extravaganza on CBS Sports Network and “Fox NFL Kickoff” on the new Fox Sports 1 network.

This is all in addition to the myriad of shows that provide constant talk about all-things-NFL during the week. And that’s not including the NFL’s 24/7 own network. There’s so much out there, Richard Deitsch of MMBQ needed 3,500 words for his preview of NFL studio shows.

Is there any chance of breaking the saturation point? Or does the concept of infinite not apply to TV and the NFL?

“It’s a logical question when you ask when is too much enough?” said CBS Sports Chairman Sean McManus. “The answer is, I don’t think we’ve reached the saturation level yet.”

ESPN’s Mike Tirico tried to put it in perspective.

“I would assume at this point if we added up all the hours of pregame programming with so many people doing daily shows, it might equal the hours of actual football played during the week in the NFL,” Tirico said.

Actually, there’s probably more. There’s a simple reason for this endless smorgasbord of NFL: The audience is there.

NBC’s Sunday Night Football was the highest-rated prime-time show on TV last year; ESPN’s “Monday Night Football” does the highest ratings on cable; and nothing comes close to the Super Bowl. It’s the football version of “Field of Dreams.” Show the NFL and they will watch.

“I don’t see people complaining that there’s too much NFL product on now,” said NBC Sunday Night producer Fred Gaudelli. “At some point, ratings will get involved and how much you can sell things for will be the determining factor. But with five 24-hour sports networks, I mean how can you not have room for an NFL show or two or three? So I think at some point, we hit the threshold. Where that is I have no idea.”

McManus is counting on viewers finding CBS Sports Network’s new pregame show. Initially, the network was thinking three hours.

“Our feeling was that if you could start at 10 (a.m. Eastern), you also could start it at 9 (a.m.),” McManus said.

Sure, what’s another hour or four? McManus said the network got the idea to do a regular-season show after airing special coverage on CBS Sports Network during last year’s Super Bowl.

“The Other Pregame Show,” which can be conveniently shortened to “TOPS,” will be hosted by Adam Schien and feature Amy Trask, the former Oakland Raiders CEO who will become the first woman NFL analyst on a pregame show. After talking to Trask a couple of times, she has a chance to become a breakout star in her new TV gig.

“The lesson we learned from the Super Bowl is that if you’re creative enough and have some good panelists, you can put on some compelling programming,” McManus said.

Then again, you probably could stick a football with an NFL logo on the screen and it still would do a decent rating. Tirico has his theory on the insatiable demand beyond the fantasy football and betting elements.

“I think football fits the lifestyle of the fan because if you have five or six hours a week to devote to it, which is the equivalent of two Major League Baseball games, those six hours can have you as a pseudo‑expert on your team,” Tirico said. “You watch them play for three hours, watch a couple hours of pregame, listen to some talk during the week, get online and read whatever you need to get your fantasy team ready.  So when people want to access the information, it’s available to them and in a variety of methods of delivery, with personalities and approaches on all those pregame shows. ”

It all starts Thursday with an appetizer of Baltimore-Denver to launch the season on NBC. Then the complete feast gets rolled out on Sunday morning for Week 1.

Dive in America. The networks can’t wait to serve you football, live and in HD.