Scouting report: REGIS! and sports; Can he make crowd go w!ld?

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With Fox Sports 1 launching Saturday, here is a scouting report for one of its signature shows.

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Crowd Goes W!ld

When: Weekdays 5-6 p.m. ET.

Cast: Regis Philbin, Veteran Wall Street Journal sports columnist Jason Gay; professional tennis player turned comedian Michael Kosta; four-time Pro Bowl defensive end Trevor Pryce; Sky Sports host and news anchor Georgie Thompson; Guyism.com personality Katie Nolan.

Competition: Pardon The Interruption and Around the Horn on ESPN.

Concept: Given the eclectic cast, this has to be the sports version of The View.

From Rachel Cohen of the Associated Press:

Sports may be the theme, but in some ways “Crowd Goes Wild” won’t feel much different from Philbin’s old morning talk shows.

He’ll open up each edition of the Monday-through-Friday program with a commentary, and then later interview a guest — who could be an athlete or an actor. There will be debates on the hot sports topic of the moment, but Davies vows the conversations will be more nuanced than one person arguing the pro and another the con of the issue.

And while the NFL, of course, will be the most popular point of discussion, everyone involved promises talk about a broad range of sports. That will inevitably include tennis, a favorite of Philbin’s.

Even if the denizens on social media howl that no one cares about tennis, Davies is comfortable that the tone of the show will allow for a wider range of topics.

“We’re not a sports news show; we’re a sports entertainment show,” he said. “The standard for us: We’re not trying to set the agenda of what America are talking about on a daily basis. We’re frankly trying to be funny a lot of the time.”

Wildcard: Regis. Do you think?

I mean, the idea of building a new sports show around an 81-year-old man is pretty far out there. He then reinforced the age issue by forgetting the names of his new teammates during an appearance on Letterman.

Regis, though, is Regis. Fox Sports 1 hopes he will be an interesting and unpredictable host and not some wacky old uncle making wild statements. Come to think of it, maybe Fox Sports 1 would prefer the wacky old uncle thing.

What could possibly go wrong? Oh my goodness, where to begin?

Besides Regis going off on tangents about the glory days of Ara Parseghian at Notre Dame, there are a number of ways this show could come off the rails.

This format relies on chemistry more so than anything else. Will this somewhat weird collection of various parts (former player, sportswriter, two women, comedian) be able to come together as a team? There’s the potential that this show could be a yuk fest, with everyone trying to get in their funny lines in an effort to be the break-through personality.

If the producers add a laugh track, you know the show is in trouble.

Prognosis: There’s a feeling among sports media types that this show has the most potential to undergo an overhaul sooner than later. Again, it comes down to the chemistry issue and the Philbin factor.

Then again, this whole thing might work. Things actually stick when you throw them against the wall. You just never know.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Chicago Tribune column: Fox launches challenge to ESPN; Realistic about expectations

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In my latest Chicago Tribune column, I write about the biggest story of the year in sports media: The launch of Fox Sports 1 this week. You also can access the column via my Twitter feed.

From the column:

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Fox Sports 1 will make a strong debut, arguably pursuing a more ambitious agenda than NBC Sports Network and CBS Sports Network. It has a healthy menu of live content (college football and basketball, NASCAR, MLB games in 2014, the U.S. Open beginning 2015, World Cup in 2018, and a lot of UFC).

However, it goes beyond live programming. Fox Sports 1 also is developing its own studio shows to compete directly with ESPN. A new daily NFL program features former Bears linebacker Brian Urlacher, and at 81, Philbin will host the sports version of “The View.”

The centerpiece will be “Fox Sports Live” (daily at 10 p.m.), the network’s answer to “SportsCenter.” It will be a hybrid of anchors reporting news and highlights along with the panel-style debate that ESPN has made so popular. To give the show its own look, Fox imported Jay Onrait and Dan O’Toole, who formed an extremely popular and irreverent sports team in Canada. Think Olbermann-Dan Patrick in the ’90s.

Implied in all this is the message is that ESPN is old and stale while the new network is going to be fun and offer a fresh perspective.

“We have to be different. We have to be the alternative,” said Bill Wanger, the executive vice-president for programming for Fox and Fox Sports 1. “Otherwise, people won’t change the channel from ESPN to try Fox Sports 1. Sports isn’t the news of the day. Sports is fun. It is lighter. People see it as an escape and entertainment. We’re going to give people what they need. It’s going to be in the execution and the tone of how we do it that’s going to be different.”

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And then there was this from Wanger:

This is a long-term play for Fox Sports 1. For all its bravado about being the upstart daring to take on the ESPN giant, Fox Sports 1 is realistic about what will happen when it flips the switch on Saturday.

“I’ve always said our success is going to be judged by years, not days and months,” Wanger said. “Quite frankly, our ratings are going to be pretty small in the beginning. All new networks start out small. It takes a while for people to get used to the channel. So we have no illusions of coming out of the gate and being a behemoth. We’re in for the long haul.”

 

 

Chicago news: Mike North to host Bears/NFL show on Sundays on WIND

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Hey Chicago sports talk radio fans, Mike North is back. At least through the Bears season.

The former WSCR-AM 670 star will host a Bears/NFL preview show on Sundays from 10 a.m.-noon on WIND-AM 560.

“Not a day goes by where somebody doesn’t say, ‘We miss hearing you,’ ” North said. “This is an opportunity to talk Bears and the NFL for 17 weeks. We’ll have some fun.”

North currently hosts Saturday and Sunday night shows for Fox Sports Radio. He also writes a column for the Daily Herald.

The WIND show is being sponsored by PlaySportsLive.com, a new sports website that gives users the opportunity to create their own interactive football teams to play against others.

North will have a supporting cast for the show. “I’m not ready to say who yet,” he said.

“It’s not going to be your daddy’s pregame show,” North said. “It’s going to be a little bit irreverent.”

 

 

Scouting report: Fox Sports Live attempts to be ‘fun’ version of ‘SportsCenter’

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With Fox Sports 1 launching Saturday, here is a scouting report for one of its signature shows:

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Fox Sport Live

When: Every night at 11 p.m. ET, with refreshed editions airing at 12 a.m. ET and 1 a.m. ET.

Cast: Jay Onrait, Dan O’Toole, Charissa Thompson, Gary Payton, Donovan McNabb, Ephraim Salaam, Andy Roddick.

Competition: SportsCenter on ESPN, and the new Keith Olbermann sports talk show on ESPN2.

Concept: Eric Shanks, Fox Sports co-president, explains that it is essentially “two shows in one.”

“You have Jay and Dan at the update desk,” Shanks said. “You have Charissa, Gary, Donovan, Andy, Ephraim and other experts from other sports joining as needed. This show has a lot of different gears and that is why we want to make sure that we can go in a lot of different directions and actually add a bit of spontaneity to sports television. The beauty about sports, and why people watch it, is you never know what’s going to happen.”

Wildcards: Onrait and O’Toole were wildly popular in Canada. Fox Sports 1 hopes they will be wildly popular in the states, much like the must-watch team of Keith Olbermann and Dan Patrick in the 90s.

In a Q/A with Steve Lepore of SB Nation, O’Toole said:

“When Fox approached us, we said, “We want to keep doing what we’re doing.” And to Fox’s credit, they said, “We basically want to pick up your show and move it to Los Angeles exactly as it is.” The biggest testament to that is that they wanted our producer to come as well, to sort of keep the structure of the show as similar as possible, just in a slightly more agreeable timeslot for us so we can go for drinks after the show [laughs].”

Big picture: How can Fox Sports 1 be different than SportsCenter, making viewers switch away from the long-time staple?

Scott Ackerson, Fox Sports executive vice-president for studio production: “What is not out there? What can we create that currently isn’t being done? That’s the approach that we took to the show…The foundation will be the amount of highlights that are done by Jay and Dan, but we also noticed that there wasn’t any type of opinion-based discussions in any of the late-night show. They were centered on around the next and rehashing the previous day.”

That’s where the panel comes in. Thompson will moderate with some significant star power in Roddick, Payton and McNabb.

Payton:  “I’m not just a basketball fan, I’m a sports fan.  We’re going to have a great time because we get along together, and we have a lot of insight of everything. We’re going to have fun.”

McNabb: “We believe the viewers and listeners want to hear Andy give his insight about basketball and football.  They want to hear Ephraim and I give our insights about basketball, track, NASCAR, etc. They want to hear something different instead of us just talking about our given sport because that’s easy. They want to hear our insight and see how deep and prepared we are to talk about all these given sports.  Its energy, excitement, little bit of laughter, some seriousness, but most importantly we’re being informative for everyone that’s watching.”

What could possibly go wrong? After hearing the word “fun” used repeatedly in the teleconference introducing the show, perhaps setting an all-time record, Tom Hoffarth of the Los Angeles Daily News wondered if Fox Sports Live would be a reincarnated version of  Best Damn Sports Show Period.

“We’re going to have fun,” Payton said.

“It’s the combination of being entertained, having fun, and not taking ourselves to seriously,” Thompson said.

“We went into this project to find people that we believe could speak intelligently on multiple topics, would be interesting, can be serious when they need to be serious but could have fun when they needed to have fun,” Ackerson said.

Get the idea? It’s going to be fun.

Fun, though, is a tricky proposition in TV. It can turn quickly into lame. And despite what McNabb says, I’m not so sure I want to hear his take on “basketball, NASCAR (really, Donovan?), and track. I want to hear him on football.

Obviously, with two formats and so many people, there’s the distinct possibility the show could feel disjointed. Pace will be at a premium here.

Also, what happens if the Canadian guys’ act doesn’t transfer over to the states? Given their track record up North, I like that Fox was willing to take the risk on a couple of unknowns here. But it is hardly a given that what plays in Toronto will play in LA.

Prognosis: I do give Fox Sports 1 credit for attempting to take on the SportsCenter powerhouse, something NBC SN and CBS Sports Network have declined to do. I’m intrigued by the Canadian guys (sorry, but quick way to identify them). However, I fear the panel concept could be plagued with potential pitfalls.

When it comes to studio shows, Fox nailed it with Fox NFL Sunday. Not so much with its MLB and college football shows.

Fox Sports 1 has a lot riding on Fox Sports Live. It will set the tone for the new network, giving it an early identity for better or worse.

This much is sure. It will be different. Now we’ll see if different works.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Idiot patrol: ESPN fires Hugh Douglas for acting like an idiot at convention

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It is amazing to me how people blow great opportunities. Wave bye-bye to Hugh Douglas.

From Richard Deitsch:

The former NFL player and Numbers Never Lie panelist was let go by ESPN today after disturbing details emerged last week from Deadspin and The Big Lead regarding an alleged confrontation between Douglas and ESPN Numbers Never Lie host Michael Smith at the National Association of Black Journalists Convention and Career Fair in Orlando.

And here’s a tweet from the former ESPN analyst.

I am very disappointed to be leaving ESPN and will have more to say about this situation and my future at the appropriate time.

 

Will there be Bengals fatigue on Hard Knocks? ‘Why couldn’t they get 49ers?’

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This was completely unsolicitated from my son, Matt.

One of our traditions in August is watching Hard Knocks on HBO. Now that Matt is back from a summer at camp, I asked if he had caught up with last week’s first episode and was looking forward to tonight’s show.

“Yeah, I watched it,” he said. “I’m not really into it. Didn’t we just see them? Why couldn’t they get someone like the 49ers?”

Matt actually saw them in 2009. Since the lockout knocked out Hard Knocks in 2011, it marks the second time Cincinnati has been featured in the last four runs for the series.

I wonder if more viewers feel like Matt.

Do we need to spend another summer up close and personal with Marvin Lewis? Does Cincinnati have any players you want to get to know better? Hey, who knew Andy Dalton is into Pilates?

As mentioned earlier, I can’t imagine the Bengals were NFL Films’ first choice to do an encore performance. And my concern is: Were they the league’s only choice?

In a story at MMQB.com, Richard Deitsch went behind the scenes on the massive undertaking that is Hard Knocks. Even though the crew tries to remain invisible, it is an impossible task. Just too many people and cameras.

It’s little wonder why NFL teams pass.

Deitsch had this telling passage:

HBO executives expect the show to continue for some time—they privately crow that they own the NFL’s best program—and teams have said publicly they believe it can help the business of their franchises. NFL Films recently signed a multiyear contract extension with HBO to continue making the series.

“It would depend on the state of my franchise and where we are,” Tomlinson says of whether participating is a good idea for a team. “It certainly can help you build a fanbase and sell tickets, because people get drawn into it and get interested in the storylines. If I owned a team that needed star power and needed to sell tickets, I would absolutely do it. But a franchise like, say, the New England Patriots? They don’t need Hard Knocks.”

Hard Knocks, though, needs teams like the Patriots to sign on. It needs some star power.

No offense to the Bengals, but I have to admit I wasn’t excited going into last week’s opening episode. I did have a sense of been-there, done-that.

As usual, I got sucked in by the behind-the-scenes nature of the show. The end was dramatic with that rookie getting hurt.

I’ll watch tonight and through the end of this year’s series. Hard Knocks is a superb production.

But I’m not as optimistic about the future of the Hard Knocks franchise. I imagine there will be some serious arm-twisting of owners and coaches when it comes time to select a team for Hard Knocks in 2014.

The Bengals won’t be an option.

 

 

 

 

 

Highly recommended: New ESPN Nine for IX on Mary Decker’s heartbreaking collision with Zola Budd

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As I wrote last week, I hope people watch ESPN’s Nine for IX documentary series featuring women in sports. Tonight’s film is outstanding.

On the list of the most heartbreaking moments in sports, there’s definitely a place for Mary Decker and her dramatic collision with Zola Budd at the 1984 Olympics.

It’s all there in ESPN’s new Nine for IX: The Runner (Tuesday, 8 p.m. ET). Be sure to check out the press conference video below.

Here’s the preview.

The extended clip from the documentary about Decker’s post-race press conference:

Here’s the write-up from ESPN:

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The next film in ESPN Films’ and espnW’s Nine for IX series, Runner, will premiere on Tuesday, August 13, at 8 p.m. ET on ESPN. The film, directed by award-winning filmmaker Shola Lynch, tells the story of American distance runner Mary Decker as she lined up to make her Olympic debut in the 3,000 meters at the 1984 Los Angeles Games.

Decker had displayed unwavering dominance in every distance from the 800 to 10,000 meters. Her wholesome image graced magazine covers and adorned walls all over the world for more than a decade when she was known as “Little Mary Decker.” And at the age of 26, this was her first Olympics: she was barely too young to be eligible to compete in the 1972 Munich Games, stress fractures in her leg had kept her out of the 1976 Montreal Olympics and the U.S. boycott prevented her from competing in the 1980 Moscow Olympics. So the 3,000 was to be her coronation, the gold medal that would validate her greatness.

As fate would have it, though, there was another compelling figure in the race, a 19-year-old barefooted South African running for Great Britain, Zola Budd. Just past the midway point of the race, Budd crowded Decker on the inside lane, and in the panic and urgency of the moment, they collided. Decker fell to the track with a look of anguish. Budd would regain her stride but finish a distant seventh behind the winner, Romanian Maricica Puica. Decker initially blamed Budd, but in later years they reconciled and tried to get past the collision. Still, the one moment of heartbreak and Decker’s response to it came to define what should have been a glorious career.

Shola Lynch (Free Angela and All Political Prisoners) is a seasoned documentary filmmaker and former track star who was called “the next Mary Decker.” She holds a graduate degree in journalism from Columbia University and is working on a book based on her new film.

Randy Moss to fill wildcard role on new NFL shows on Fox Sports 1

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Well, this should be interesting. Randy Moss is joining the crew of Fox Football Daily and Fox NFL Kickoff, two of the new signature shows for the new Fox Sports 1.

Who knows? Moss might have been auditioning for a TV gig during last year’s Super Bowl media day. He made headlines when he said he was “the greatest receiver ever.”

Greg Rosenthal of NFL.com compiled more excerpts:

On finances: “I collect the game check and my family spends it.”

On what Moss wants out of life: “I think it was (Michael Jackson’s) sister or his brother — one of them said, ‘Michael just always wanted to be normal.’ I’m not putting myself on Michael Jackson’s pedestal, but I kind of understood where they were coming from. I always wanted to be able to go to the park and play a game or go shopping or go to the grocery store. I’ve always wanted to be normal.”

On returning to football: “I think that for me to be able to take a year off; I’ve said it before that I really did cry, I really did. I love this game of football so much. I don’t like everything that comes with it, but going out on the field between the white lines and playing football is something I’ve always done.

“I’ve been doing it since I was six years old. For me to be able to just walk away from the game, knowing that I wasn’t ready, mentally or physically, it really hurt me, man. It really depressed me. It warmed me up to know that I wasn’t ready to leave the game.”

On whether he’s ever had an imaginary girlfriend: “If I did, I never told anybody about it.”

It’ll be interesting to see if Moss gets into the TV thing. If he does, Fox may have something here. But knowing Moss, that’s a big if.

 

 

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Even Regis is trash talking: Bill Simmons-Fox Sports Live engage via Twitter

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Fox Sports 1 launches Saturday. And predictably, all parties are turning up the rhetoric.

Even Regis Philbin, the new sports kid at 81, engaged in some trash talking in a Los Angeles Times story on Fox Sports 1 by Joe Flint.

“I think it’s time for ESPN to get a little competition, don’t you?”

Bring it on, Regis.

Over the weekend, Bill Simmons engaged with the Fox Sports Live twitter feed.

Not a bad comeback by Fox Sports Live. However, it still sounds like a little dog snipping at the paws of a 200-pound German shepherd.

When it comes to trash talking, it is hard to beat ESPN president John Skipper. He got off a couple of good lines in Flint’s article.

ESPN President John Skipper isn’t sweating Fox Sports 1 and doesn’t think the Fox News analogy works. “There is a dramatic difference,” Skipper said. “If CNN had exclusive rights to the inauguration, election results and weather, Fox News wouldn’t have snuck up and whupped them.”

ESPN hasn’t built an empire by ignoring its rear view mirror. Over the past few years, it has been shelling out billions to lock up several marquee events, including the Bowl Championship Series. Besides its roster of professional sports including the NFL, baseball and basketball, ESPN has rights to practically all the big college football conferences and marquee golf and tennis events, including Wimbledon.

“We bought up a lot of beachfront property,” Skipper said.

Former ESPN executive Mark Shapiro also put it in perspective:

“It is not a hill they have to climb, it’s the Grand Canyon,” said Mark Shapiro, a former ESPN executive. “ESPN has built such a big moat around itself the Russian army of the Cold War couldn’t get in.”

Ah, it should be fun. And it all starts Saturday in what will be a big week for sports media.

Ken Fang at Fang’s Bites has the complete rundown of Fox Sports 1’s menu and the start of the Premier League on NBC SN.

Starting tomorrow, I will have a look at some of Fox Sports 1’s signature shows.

 

 

 

Shark sighting: Norman receives offer from Fox to be lead U.S. Open analyst

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This makes a lot of sense.

Fox Sports already has offered Greg Norman, 58, the lead analyst’s job for its U.S. Open coverage.

Tim Rosaforte at Golfdigest.com reports that fellow Australian, David Hill of Fox, has to reached out to Norman.

“David Hill has reached out to me, we have spoken and yes, they have offered me the job,” Norman confirmed in an email sent from his home in Florida. “I am flattered to have been asked and I look forward to having discussions with my good friend (Hill) in the very near future.”

It would seem to be an ideal fit for Fox. The two-time major winner and Hall of Famer would has the resume required to sit in the 18th tower of a big event. He also isn’t shy about voicing his opinions on anything and everything. And if a player is choking down the stretch, well….

The arrangement also would work out perfectly for Norman, who likely isn’t interested in taking on a full schedule. Whether he would do the other USGA events that Fox will carry (U.S. Women’s Open, U.S. Senior, U.S. Amateur, among others) remains to be seen. However, this is 99 percent about the U.S. Open for Fox.

Landing Norman would be a good first move.