Indiana’s Cody Zeller gets cover treatment from Sports Illustrated, ESPN Magazine

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As a University of Illinois alum, all I can say it that it was nice while it lasted. Following the implosion of Kelvin Sampson, Indiana became irrelevant for a few years. The decimated Hoosiers went 6-25 (1-17 in the Big Ten), 10-21, 12-20 during Tom Crean’s first three years.

However, Crean definitely was the right man for the job. Indiana jumped to 27-9 last year and with cover boy Cody Zeller (Note: SI used five regional covers), the Hoosiers are the preseason No. 1 in Sports Illustrated and ESPN Magazine.

Perhaps, it’s just as well. Things always are a bit more interesting when the traditional powers are in play.

Now let’s see if Zeller and Indiana live up to expectations.

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Richard Deitsch has a comprehensive preview of TV coverage of college basketball at SI.com. It includes a Q/A with Jay Bilas, who had an interesting comment on the lack of a defined started to the season.

Bilas said:

We have no recognized start to the season. The NCAA owns the NIT, which is  nearly invisible at the end of the season. Why not move the NIT to the beginning  of the year, invite the top sixteen teams (which could include at least the top  four mid-majors), and have a national championship event to start the season? In  our game, everyone knows when practice starts. It starts on Oct. 15, but nobody  knows when the season starts. We can fix that, and we can place greater emphasis  on the regular season and make it more meaningful to fans. That is where the  success of the NCAA tournament has negatively impacted the overall game.

 

 

 

 

Barkley on sideline reporters: If you’re an ugly woman, you have no chance of getting a job

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Charles, Charles, Charles. This time, he offered his always candid assessment of sideline reporters in an interview with Richard Deitsch of SI.com:

SI.com: How do you view sideline reporters on a broadcast?

Barkley: I don’t like sideline reporters at halftime because you’re  asking coaches questions, and they are pissed off most of the time. Anything can  happen when you are mad like that, especially if your team is getting its butt  kicked. It’s always easy to interview the guy who is winning, but if you are  getting your butt kicked, it’s a very awkward situation. You haven’t even had a  chance to digest what you’ve been bad at, and they are asking what you have been  bad at!

SI.com: That’s why I love interviews with Gregg Popovich. He’s great television when he  makes reporters uncomfortable.

Barkley: Oh, he’s great. But I will tell you one form of  discrimination no one ever talks about regarding sideline reporters.

SI.com: What’s that?

Barkley: If you are an ugly woman, you have no chance of getting a TV  job.

SI.com: But if you dress like Craig Sager, you can still get hired, right?

Barkley: Hey, I think you have to dress like Sager to get a job now. I  will say this: They have hot, great-looking women on TV now. But if you are an  ugly woman, you ain’t got no chance of getting a TV job.

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Great comeback by Deitsch on Sager.

Regarding Barkley’s comments, what can I say? Looks help for both sexes when it comes to TV.

Thoughts?

 

 

 

 

 

 

Posted in NBA

Bears-Houston game, strong schedule, figure to add to NBC’s Sunday night bounty; NFL ratings soaring

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Ah yes, it is very, very good to be the NFL. And it only figures to get better.

Through the halfway mark, NFL games rank as the top 14 shows on TV this season. Here’s a big reason: Nearly one quarter of NFL games (31 of 132) have had the winning score in the final two minutes of the fourth quarter or in overtime – the highest rate ever through Week 9 since at least 1970.

Best TV viewing in sports: The last hour of the early games on NFL RedZone.

The numbers have occurred during a period when the early fall weather was decent for most of the country and with the games facing competition from baseball’s postseason and the election.

Now that the San Francisco Giants and Obama have been crowned, and with the weather starting to do its cruel turn towards cold and yuk, viewers will have no other choice but to stay inside and watch football, football and more football.

NBC really is in position to cash in with a loaded schedule. Through nine weeks, NBC’s Sunday night games are averaging 21.2 million viewers per game, ranking as the No. 1 show in primetime.

Sunday’s game features the 7-1 Houston Texans traveling to Chicago to face the 7-1 Bears. The Bears always are a strong ratings draw, and even better when they are among the NFL’s best. Houston is the favorite in the AFC. Should do a big number if the game is good.

Flex scheduling then kicks in for NBC during week 11, but I doubt the network will play that card much this year; possible exception San Diego-Jets on Dec. 23 depending on where those teams stand in playoff hunt.

Here’s what NBC has coming up:

Nov. 18: Baltimore Ravens at Pittsburgh Steelers

Nov. 22: New England Patriots at New York Jets (Thanksgiving)

Nov. 25: Green Bay Packers at New York Giants

Dec. 2: Philadelphia Eagles at Dallas Cowboys (NBC won’t give up game at Dallas)

Dec. 9: Detroit Lions at Green Bay Packers

Dec. 16: San Francisco 49ers at New England Patriots

Dec. 23: San Diego at New York Jets

Dec. 30: TBA.

All in all, it’s good to be NBC this fall.

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ESPN’s Monday Night Football isn’t as blessed. Monday’s game features the dreadful Kansas City Chiefs at Pittsburgh. It also is looking at Carolina-Philadelphia (Nov. 26), Jets at Tennessee (Dec. 17).

However, MNF does have some winners: Chicago-San Francisco (Nov. 17), Houston-New England (Dec. 10) and Atlanta-Detroit (Dec. 22).

MNF is in good shape, ranking as the No. 1 show on cable.

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Fox and CBS receive the NFL’s biggest numbers with the Sunday doubleheader games. The NFL reports:

Sunday late afternoon NFL games continue to draw more viewers than anything on TV. FOX is averaging 24.6 million viewers for its Sunday national telecasts and CBS is averaging 23.1 million viewers.  The FOX and CBS national telecasts and NBC Sunday Night Football are the only programs on TV averaging more than 20 million viewers.

More from the NFL:

Through Week 9, NBC’s Sunday Night Football is the most-watched show in primetime and ESPN’s Monday Night Football is the most-watched program on cable.

In addition, the average NFL game telecast (including broadcast and cable) has drawn 16.0 million viewers – more than double the average primetime viewership (7.7 million) for the big four broadcast networks in the new television season, according to information provided by The Nielsen Company.

Since the beginning of the 2012 NFL season, NFL games have topped the local ratings in NFL markets a record 91 percent of the time – up from 86 percent through nine weeks last season.

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The NFL Network is on a record pace, averaging more than 7.6 million viewers (including over-the-air telecasts) in its first year with Thursday Night Football games in the first half of the season.  Last season, Thursday Night Football posted a record average 7.3 million viewers.

Tonight, NFL Network has Andrew Luck’s first of what will be many nationally televised games against the dreadful Jaguars. The NFL Network crew, though, hopes to make the most of its trip to Jacksonville:

NFL Network’s Rich Eisen, Marshall Faulk, Deion Sanders, Kurt Warner and Steve Mariucci are in Jacksonville, FL this week for the Thursday Night Football game between the Jaguars and Colts. Before the game, the group will head to TPC Sawgrass to determine who can come closest to the pin at the world famous 17th hole in a feature that will air during the Kay Jewelers Postgame Show after the game. PGA Tour veteran Jim Furyk will be on hand to assist the guys and help them with their shots.

For the record, I parred 17 the one and only time I played the hole.

 

Did ESPN really ‘forgive’ Bruce Pearl?

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Interesting choice of words from Bruce Pearl in an interview with Michael Hiestand of USA Today. Pearl talked about landing at ESPN as a basketball analyst after rules violations cost him his job at Tennessee in 2011.

He said:

“I realized I’d made a mistake that cost me my dream job,” says Pearl, recalling how he felt after being fired as Tennessee’s basketball coach in March, 2011. “I was hopeful that people would examine my career and evaluate me on my body of work on and off the court. I was hopeful for some grace, that it wouldn’t end my life in basketball. Because that’s all I’ve done for 33 years. I’m grateful to ESPN for forgiving me for my failure.”

Forgive? I don’t think that’s the right word. ESPN hired Pearl because he’s colorful and outspoken. This is about developing a potential break-through analyst, not forgiveness on ESPN’s part.

Forgiveness will have to come from coaches in his former fraternity when he does their games. I know one place where Pearl won’t be going: the Assembly Hall at the University of Illinois.

Don’t get me started.

 

Aaron Rodgers criticizes 60 Minutes profile of him

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During a 60 Minutes profile on Aaron Rodgers Sunday, his teammates noted that he is very sensitive. So it shouldn’t be a surprise that the Green Bay quarterback wasn’t thrilled with the piece done by Scott Pelley and his crew.

Bob Wolfley from the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel reported Rodgers said he was “surprised” at what made the air during his Tuesday radio show on WAUK.

“When you open up your life for four months and allow them to have access to your family and your friends and events, it’s always interesting to see what comes out,” Rodgers said. “I just felt like the editing of the piece could have been done in a way that was maybe a lot more respectful of myself. If I’m sensitive about anything through the whole process it’s – you know they come to the MACC Fund event in May, which is very, very important to me, even more important considering the two boys that we lost this year to cancer. . . . For them to not even show really any of the content from that night, any of the kids, to not say anything about the MACC Fund, what they do for kids with cancer, I think that was the thing that was most disappointing about the piece. They had an opportunity to do some great things and really show some things I am passionate about and didn’t do that.”

I’m sure what set off Rodgers was a segment about his sensitivity to his height, including a quick clip where he rebuked a fan. Obviously, he would have preferred to see something about the MACC Fund instead.

Actually, it was a very positive piece. Guess you can’t please everyone.

 

 

 

Posted in NFL

Hanging with Jimmy Johnson: New NFL Network film examines all of his twists and turns

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There are worse assignments than doing a film on Jimmy Johnson. For NFL Films producer Bennett Viseltear and his staff, it meant spending quite a bit of time at Johnson’s home in the Florida Keys.

“We did have one day when the seas were pretty rough,” said Viseltear of going on Johnson’s fishing boat. “It almost was a little too much for our cameraman.”

Thankfully, the crew survived and likely joined Johnson in some post-voyage beers.

The laid-back Keys made for an interesting setting for latest edition of A Football Life, the terrific documentary series on NFL Network. Wednesday’s show (8 p.m. ET) focuses on the complex career and life of Johnson.

Here’s a link with the preview.

You see the various sides of the driven, if not possessed coach in the college and pros, who eventually retreated to the relaxed lifestyle of fishing and hanging out with the guys on Fox NFL Sunday.

The film includes scenes of Johnson taking Bill Belichick out on his boat and interviews with Dallas owner Jerry Jones, Troy Aikman, Michael Irvin, Terry Bradshaw, Barry Switzer, and many others.

The film leaves you with the sense that Johnson might have left a few titles on the table by fracturing his relationship with Jones and by retiring for good from coaching in 2000. Yet it also reveals that Johnson believes he made the right decision to get out when he did.

It all makes for a compelling film in what has become one of the best sports series on TV. Make sure to set your DVR so you don’t miss another A Football Life.

Here’s Viseltear on the film:

His view of Johnson: He’s a very complex guy. At the same time, he is no non-sense. He won’t spend a moment on something he doesn’t want to do. As a coach, whether he was using his psychology major or not, he knew people. He was a classic button pusher. He knew what it would take to get the best out of you. I could feel him sizing me up in the first couple days we were with him.

On the scenes with Belichick: We heard he invites some current coaches to come meet with him, and we asked if we could shoot the next one. Belichick usually goes down there once during the off-season. They go way back, and their relationship is quite genuine. I don’t know if they talked more football than usual for our benefit, but it was fascinating to listen to from my point of view.

On Jones’ participation: He was up for it. It was a situation where clearly early on they were great for each other. Jimmy couldn’t have done what he did in Dallas without Jerry’s money and backing. But things didn’t work out. In the end, they just couldn’t interact.

On whether Johnson should have won more: Pretty much wherever Jimmy went, he stayed about five years. He only lasted four years (with the Dolphins), and he probably was done after three. Listen, he went 52-9 (with the Miami Hurricanes), won two rings with Dallas, and got Miami to the playoffs three out of four years. It’s hard to win a Super Bowl. They aren’t too many guys out there with two rings.

 

 

 

 

Berman is no Blitzer: Toned-down version of Boomer to candidates

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It’s Election Day, and I asked ESPN senior vice-president Rob King what ESPN.com had in mind.

“We’re getting out of the way and funneling everything in that regard to ABC News,” King said.

That’s just as well, because this is the one day where the final numbers go way behind ESPN’s coverage area.

ESPN, though, did contribute one last blast to the election last night. Chris Berman interviewed Barack Obama and Mitt Romney during halftime of last night’s Monday Night Football game.

It did seem strange that the final interviews I saw with the candidates came during a football game. Then again, maybe not.

Monday Night Football often is the No. 1 or 2 show on that night in prime time, and usually is first in the all-important male demographic. Want to reach the most people on the night before the election? Go to ESPN and its 13-14 million viewers. Certainly beats another sitdown with Wolf Blitzer.

The selection of Berman to conduct the interviews shows that he’s still the main guy at ESPN, despite what the critics say. Clearly, though, the questions were well-scripted. It also was interesting to see the toned-down version of Berman in front of the candidates. Perhaps, he should try to act that way more often.

Anyone expecting any news to come out of the interviews was off base. This was a football game, and Berman asked sports-related questions. Very impressed that the President knew Bears cornerback Charles “Peanut” Tillman had a big game Sunday.

Basically, the interviews served as one last campaign ad for the candidates. ESPN was more than happy to give them the platform.

One final question: Will Berman be conducting the interviews in 2016?

 

 

 

Headlines: Bradshaw pained by chicken remark; Barkley leaving TNT?

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Scanning media landscape while wondering if Chris Berman’s questions to the candidates last night impacted the election.

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Terry Bradshaw is mortified over reaction to a comment he made on Fox NFL Sunday. During a clip of Reggie Bush running for a score, Bradshaw said it was it was “like he was chasing that bucket of chicken with the wind was blowing.”

Huh?

Bradshaw explained to Michael Hiestand of USA Today that remark was directed toward Jimmy Johnson.

Bradshaw says he wasn’t even aware he said “he” — referring to Bush — when he meant to say “you” as a reference to fellow Fox NFL studio analyst Jimmy Johnson. “I can’t defend myself,” says Bradshaw. “I’ve never been in a situation like this. I don’t know how to react, except to apologize for something I didn’t know I said. I’ve been upset today. It’s not me. I’m shocked.”

Bradshaw said the comment was just part of a running joke Sunday that Johnson’s “big thing is chicken, Kentucky Fried Chicken. He won’t share it with anybody.”

And the comment, says Bradshaw, had nothing to do with Bush specifically. “I always include the (other Fox on-air guys) in the highlights because it’s fun. … It could have been with a highlight about anybody. You never know what’s going to come to mind when you do these things so quickly.”

Jimmy Johnson also tweeted that Bradshaw was referring to him. Fox said it won’t reprimand the analyst.

However, you can be sure Bradshaw won’t be referring to chicken any time soon.

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Is Charles Barkley thinking of leaving his studio gig at TNT?  The analyst told SI.com’s Richard Deitsch that he is growing tired of the job.

“I love my job,” Barkley said. “I love the people I work with. And I’m going to  try to do things to keep me engaged. But I have four years left on my current  deal and to be honest with you, it’s going to be a struggle for me to make it  for the whole four years. I really don’t know how much longer I’m going to do  this. I need something more, or something else to do to be honest with you.”

Perhaps Deitsch caught Barkley on a bad day, because it is hard for me to believe he would leave that job.

I’m sure those comments put TNT execs in scramble mode. TNT will find a way to keep Barkley happy. As the post suggests, don’t be surprised to find him on site as an analyst at more games.

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Other headlines:

Strong ratings for LSU-Alabama game. Sports Media Watch.

Q/A with Tony Reali on 10th anniversary of Around The Horn. Big Lead.

Vikings punter Chris Kluwe quits blog with St. Paul Pioneer-Press over paper’s gay marriage editorial.

Jon Miller discusses the upcoming EPL deal with NBC Sports. Philly.com.

Improbable tale: BTN show recalls Northwestern’s run for roses in ’95

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I grew up going to Northwestern football games, which is to say I didn’t see many Wildcats victories. They were epic bad, bottoming out with a record 34-game losing streak from ’79-82.

So the notion of Northwestern going to the Rose Bowl was as preposterous as getting a sunburn in Chicago on Jan. 1.

Then a miracle happened. On Jan. 1, 1996, the purple rode into Pasadena.

The latest edition of Big Ten Elite (Tuesday, 8 p.m. ET, BTN) chronicles Northwestern’s incredible 1995 season. The Wildcats, under third-year head coach Gary Barnett, won the Big Ten with a 10-1 record and faced USC in the Rose Bowl.

The Wildcats, 7-2 going into Saturday’s game against Michigan, are decent now. But at the time, their rise from last to first had to rank among the most unlikely stories in college football history.

Big Ten Elite executive producer Bill Friedman grew up two blocks away from Dyche Stadium (now Ryan Field) in Evanston. So obviously this story hit home for him.

Here’s Friedman on:

Completely unexpected: The Wildcats went 3-7-1 in ’94 and that was a good season for them at the time. Nobody could have forseen on Sept. 1 (1995) what was going to happen to this team.

For me, what stands out is the (17-15 upset victory over Notre Dame in South Bend in the season opener). Northwestern was a 20-point underdog taking on the blue bloods of college football. But when you watch the game again, you can see Northwestern was the better team. It wasn’t a fluke. They outplayed Notre Dame. Then you start to think, ‘Hmm, maybe this team is pretty good.’

Interview with players and coaches: One of the strengths of the show is that we were able to talk to everyone, with the exception of (fullback Matt Hartl, who died of cancer, in 1999). You have Gary Barnett (and his wife, Mary), Darnell Autry, Pat Fitzgerald, Steve Schnur, Rob Johnson. We have all the people you’d expect to hear from and then some. And they all gave candid and honest interviews about how that year affected their lives.

Friedman’s Rose Bowl story: I was born in 1973 and left for college in 1992. My best friend and I always said, ‘If Northwestern ever goes to a bowl, we’re going to go.’ It didn’t matter where or what bowl. We were going to be there.

It just so happens that not only did they make a bowl, but it’s the Rose Bowl. We were away at school, and my friend’s mother stood in the freezing rain to get us tickets.

I went out to Pasadena a couple of days early. I didn’t have a car and I had nothing to do. Each day, they opened a section of the Rose Bowl so you could go and see the inside of the stadium. I must have spent two or three hours sitting in there each day. I kept taking pictures of the endzone. I couldn’t believe it was purple and white.

Even thought it’s been 17 years, the images still are very vivid.

 

 

Bulls Swirsky on Durham: He touched so many lives; Durham recalled in Chicago and throughout NBA

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When Chuck Swirsky became the radio play-by-play voice for the Chicago Bulls, the first person he called was Jim Durham.

“I said, ‘I wouldn’t have this job without you,'” Swirsky said.

Like everyone else who knew him, Swirsky was “devastated” by the news that Jim Durham passed away over the weekend. He was 65.

As I wrote in an earlier post, the loss is particularly acute in Chicago. At the age of 26, Durham became the radio voice of the Bulls in 1973. He was immensely popular here, working both radio and TV on their games until 1991.

Meanwhile, Swirsky was in the process of establishing himself at WGN in the ’80s. Among his early play-by-play duties was calling DePaul basketball games with Ray Meyer.

Swirsky never forgot the assistance he received from Durham.

“He would listen to tapes of my games with DePaul,” Swirsky said. “He would say, ‘You need to tell the score more’ or ‘You need to describe where the ball is more.’ He wouldn’t just say, ‘You’re doing fine.’ His advice was very constructive. He was a great mentor.”

In a story he’s never told before, Swirsky said WGN was interested in hiring Durham for the Cubs’ radio booth after Milo Hamilton parted ways with the team in 1984. Swirsky participated in a meeting with WGN executives and Durham at O’Hare. The job, though, never materialized. Perhaps it was because Durham enjoyed the off-season at his ranch in Texas.

It’s probably just as well. Durham and basketball were a perfect fit.

“He was as professional on the air as he was off the air,” Swirsky said. “He was a tremendous communicator. He loved his craft and touched so many people in the NBA. This is really a very empty day for all of us.”

Among the others weighing in:

Michael Jordan at ESPNChicago.com: “The voice of champions. I will miss him.”

Artis Gilmore in the Chicago Tribune:  “I absolutely will remember Jim Durham for his contributions to the game and his demeanor. He was a people person. Jim called the game the way it was and the way he observed it on the floor. I never took personal offense to any (broadcast criticism).”

Mike Tirico via Twitter: “Sad day for any of us who have been blessed to cross paths with Jim Durham, Hall of Famer in every way. Great man, great talent.”

Marc Stein at ESPN.com: “Some of the things I will never forget about the one and only Jim Durham: How he made the broadcasts of some really bad Mavericks teams in the ’90s sound as important as the games he called for Michael Jordan’s Bulls. … How patient and helpful he was when he had to nurse me through my first few on-camera halftime “insider” cameos on those same broadcasts. … How much Jerry Sloan always loved seeing him when Utah came to town. … How much we all looked forward to him making it official and announcing that somebody hot had it “stuck on automatic.” … How good he and Dr. Jack were together. … How honored I was to actually get to work with the two Hall of Famers on an NBA on ESPN Radio broadcast last spring with JD tossing to me for updates as a first-time sideline reporter. … How Dr. Jack loved to call him JD several times during every broadcast. … And how, as TNT’s David Aldridge so aptly put it on Twitter: Jim Durham was a better man than a broadcaster. And we’re talking about a Hall of Fame broadcaster. What a voice.”

Doug Gottlieb via Twitter: “My first NBA Draft was w/Jim Durham– treated me like an equal despite having no clue of my abilities-will miss his voice on ESPN Radio.”

 

 

Posted in NBA