Brooklyn Nets star in new behind-the-scenes series on NBA TV

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If I was a player, coach, owner or GM, I’m not sure I’d want my team to be part of an all-access show. I’d find it too intrusive.

Fortunately, there are plenty of teams who do want to participate, especially those that need publicity. Next up: The new Brooklyn Nets.

They star in NBA TV’s new edition of The Association. It premieres tonight at 10 p.m. ET.

Here’s the trailer.

Brooklyn could use all the hype it can get as the team settles into its new home. And it’ll be about Brooklyn as much as the team. The first episode includes Brooklyn native, actress Rosie Perez, taking Joe Johnson around the borough.

Perez said:

“I just loved how people were so real with him. Even myself. I said, ‘My goodness, you talk slow as hell.’ He said, ‘Yeah, you just say whatever comes to your mind.’ And I go, ‘Welcome to Brooklyn…get used to it!'”

Last week, Nets GM Billy King and center Brook Lopez addressed the show during a teleconference. Here are some of the excerpts.

King on the opportunity to participate in the show: “It’s a great opportunity for the city and organization as we move into Brooklyn. It will be a great chance for our players and organization to really display what it takes to try and build a winner. To me, it will be a great time for the organization as well as the people of Brooklyn to be able to unveil Brooklyn to the world.”

King on whether he had any concerns about the access: “There really wasn’t any concerns on my part. If this was a young team, I probably would not have wanted to do that. I’m not worried about anything where our players or organization will come out looking bad.”

King on whether he discussed the show with the players: “I didn’t really talk to the players when we first discussed it. The NBA has done a great job of producing the show so the players all get to see it. In regards to the publicity, it’s gone above and beyond what any of us thought. It’s been a great launch.”

King on whether or not there were restrictions placed on the camera and crews: “No. They’ll be in the locker rooms. They get to travel with us. They’ve sort of blended in. The cameras have not distracted them one bit.”

Lopez on participating and having cameras around: “I’ve never really been a part of something quite like this before. It’s a bit of a change….they [production crew] handle themselves very well.”

Lopez on his perception of the change in energy and the mood of the team since relocating to Brooklyn:  “It’s only mere miles but the mentality is completely different.  We are in the city now and have to deal with a lot more media, but the people in Brooklyn have been so welcoming.  The city has a huge sports fan base and is excited to have us.  It has really been noticeable in practice, just the level of competition every day.  I am getting beat up daily by guys like Reggie [Evans] and Andray [Blatche].

 

 

 

 

Will Jay Mariotti ever land another big-time gig? Says he still loves sportswriting

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Jay Mariotti is back–sort of.

The former Chicago Sun-Times columnist wrote his third column this morning for ChicagoSide. The headline read: “Mariotti: Why I Still Love Sportswriting.”

He writes:

Why continue to embrace a craft that literally almost killed me, a profession currently diluted by so many unskilled bloggers and corporate suckups that it has lost much of its soul?

My answer remains the same as it has for three decades: Because I still love sports, and because I still love to write. Sports + writing = sportswriter.

His love letter continues:

After all the madness, all the liars and loons, why would I want to continue writing about sports? Wouldn’t I rather be a factory worker in China? An elephant sperm collector? Not a chance.

There’s no better place on the literary landscape that regularly strikes every nerve on the emotional spectrum, where the best commentators can profile a wonderful moment as easily as they rage over the latest scandal, where the essence of it all—you’re-wrong-and-I’m-right debate—remains a vital American exercise that turns ESPN rabble-rousers Skip Bayless and Stephen A. Smith into polarizing national figures.

And more love:

The ongoing dramas of organized competition reflect life in its rawest form—meaning nothing, really, to the ultimate condition of the world yet evoking mass reaction that keeps emotional juices flowing like no other genre. What would you want me to write about, Obama and Romney? My subjective objectivity would be shot down as biased by rotten political media types with agendas. Music? Yeah, I want to try explaining the Katy Perry phenomenon. Business? Only if fortified by a steady stream of Zoloft. Hollywood? Phonies everywhere.

There’s a reason, through history, why so many acclaimed writers have chosen sports or dabbled in it. Simply, it offers the meatiest subject matter with some of the highest readership.

Clearly, Mariotti wants back in. ChicagoSide, headed by Jonathan Eig, whose work includes excellent books on Lou Gehrig and Jackie Robinson, is giving him the platform for now.

While ChicagoSide does a nice job as a new site that offers a menu of diverse stories, Mariotti, who lives in Los Angeles, wants a bigger stage. And make no mistake: He is available.

Is he is reaching out to some outlets here?:

For every punk hack trying to increase hit totals by ripping an ESPN sportscaster, there thankfully are places such as The New York Times, USA Today and ESPN.com that have moved into the digital era by doing sports journalism the right way.

Later, he writes:

Someone asked if I prefer to have my old jobs back. Nope. I want my new job—multimedia in nature, commenting at large, dictated by the most important stories instead of each day’s news.

Finally, Mariotti concludes:

I hope Mr. Eig now understands why sports writing is a lifelong passion for me, assuming my life lasts much longer. Why do I like it? Because I’m pretty good at it, when others are not. And because I still know why sports matter, when others do not.

Mariotti writes in the piece, “I’ve merrily taken two years off in L.A. to recharge for the next 25.”

Merrily? I hope that’s the case, for Mariotti’s sake. But people who know him suspect two years on the sidelines has been very difficult. Jay doesn’t just chill.

From what I’ve heard, Mariotti wants to work again. Make that: Needs to work again.

But will anyone hire him? He still has that domestic violence incident with a former girlfriend that derailed his career. It hangs out there, regardless of what Mariotti claims really happened. He wrote an e-book, The System: A Manual on Surviving Liars, Loons, Law, Life, which is available on Amazon.

It’s been two years. Why isn’t he back to work on a full-time gig? Is it because of his own choice, or because nobody has called? Or nobody has called with the right offer?

Say what you will about him, Mariotti is a gifted writer and a polarizing figure who can command the room. But will a large entity give him another chance?

Mariotti is awaiting your call.

 

 

 

 

New Golf Channel show: Ultimate buddy trip in tribute to the ‘Dead Guy’

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I like the potential for this show. Sometimes, it is good to be reminded about the best part of golf: Spending time with your friends.

From Vic Mast:

“It was a living metaphor for where we were in our lives. It was traveling fifty-five-hundred miles to where the road ends … to a place where you can play golf in the endless light at midnight of the longest day. So, we had to do it.”

From the Golf Channel:

With his ashes in tow, three Chicago golfing buddies take a journey of self-discovery to the Arctic Circle to play one last round of golf in honor of their deceased friend in a new, six-part Golf Channel series titled Our Longest Drive, premiering Tuesday, Oct. 16 at 10:30 p.m. ET.

Filmed along a journey of more than 5,500 miles in an RV – traversing seven U.S. states, two Canadian provinces and two Canadian territories – Our Longest Drive follows Vic, Dan, Jim and Mike (whose ashes are along for the ride in a cherry wood box) on an adventure of a lifetime. All past retirement age, each with health issues and no previous experience traveling in an RV, it becomes apparent that these men are not ideally suited for the trek ahead. In fact, not 45 minutes into their trip, Vic needs a bathroom break and refuses to use the RV’s toilet. Nonetheless, each man shares a love of golf and for each other, and embraces a common goal to honor Mike with this journey.

Vic Zast is the ringleader of their small group, who has played golf together for more than 20 years at Westmoreland Country Club in Wilmette, Ill. Vic is an entrepreneur who is accustomed to fancy living and it’s no secret that he loves the attention – he spikes his hair with mousse and downs a tray full of heart medications with a beer chaser. He calls golf an “intoxication” and pitched the trip to his friends so they could honor Mike and play golf with him one more time. “It was much more than just a trip or an adventure. It was a way for us to connect with the game we love and with each other,” Vic said.

Jim and Dan thought Vic had a screw loose. “The guy can’t change a light bulb, and yet he wants to drive fifty-five-hundred miles to the Arctic Circle,” Dan said.

Dan Johnson is the worry-wart who obsesses over every detail, especially safety. When the group reaches the Arctic Circle and decides to have a cookout, Dan inexplicably worries about starting a forest fire in the treeless, barren tundra surrounding them. From the very start, his preoccupation is a fear of everything.

Jim Thompson is the introvert. An ex-ad man and diplomat to the core, Jim initially questions Vic about the purpose of the trip but, ultimately, discovers that purpose takes on many forms. He faces his own personal challenges along the way and, with the help of his friends, comes to grips with one of his biggest fears. “It’s not exactly your all-adventure team going to the Arctic Circle, but there we were anyway,” said Jim.

Viewers also learn about Mike Allen – the “dead guy” as they call him – as friends and relatives share remembrances about the way Mike lived his life and how he failed to cope with divorce, depression and diabetes. According to Vic, all Mike had left before he died were his friends and Saturday morning golf. The wooden box that contains his ashes – which is seen in nearly every scene – seems to become another character in the series.

NASCAR gets its TV payday; Signs new $2.4 billion deal with Fox Sports

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The money keeps rolling in.

It was NASCAR’s turn Monday. Fox Sports ponied up with an 8-year, $2.4 billion deal, which begins in 2015 and runs through 2022. It represents a 33 percent increase over the current pact, which goes through 2014.

The release:

With two full seasons left on their current television contract, NASCAR and FOX Sports Media Group (FSMG) announced today an extensive new eight-year, multiplatform media rights agreement that ensures FSMG’s broadcast of NASCAR racing through 2022.

Under terms of the new agreement, FSMG also significantly increases its digital rights to include “TV Everywhere” live race streaming of its portion of the season for the first time ever beginning in 2013.

“NASCAR has been in very good hands and has enjoyed tremendous success the last 12 years in large part because of our fantastic partnership with FOX and FOX Sports Media Group,” said NASCAR Chairman and CEO Brian France. “We are thrilled to be able to extend our relationship in such a significant way for our track partners, race teams, and most importantly, our millions of loyal and passionate fans. This extension with FOX Sports Media Group helps position the sport for future growth as NASCAR continues to be an anchor with one of the world’s largest and most influential media companies.”

As part of the new agreement, which takes effect in 2015, FSMG retains the television rights to 13 consecutive NASCAR Sprint Cup Series points races beginning each year with the prestigious Daytona 500. In addition, FSMG retains the rights to the NASCAR Sprint All-Star Race, the Daytona Shootout, the Duel at Daytona, the entire NASCAR Camping World Truck Series season and practice and qualifying for both the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series and the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series races that FSMG broadcasts.

FOX also remains the exclusive home of The Great American Race through 2022, a title it has proudly held for the last six years and nine of the last 12.

“We’re extremely happy to have worked closely with Brian and his team at NASCAR over the last few months to expand and extend our relationship for what is without question the most popular motorsport in the country,” said FSMG Co-Presidents and CEOs Eric Shanks and Randy Freer. “NASCAR has been a staple at FOX for more than a decade and we consider it one of the signature sports we cover. With our commitment renewed, we look forward to presenting NASCAR thoroughly, professionally and creatively for many years to come.”

On the digital front, FSMG gains “TV Everywhere” rights starting next season to live stream all FSMG races, along with pre- and post-race coverage, race highlights and in-progress race highlights to events it televises. This portion of the deal was made possible by NASCAR’s reacquisition of operational, business and editorial control of its digital platform, a move that takes effect on Jan. 1, 2013.

“NASCAR fans’ demand and desire for NASCAR content stretches across all platforms and distribution channels,” France said. “As we’ve done with this FSMG extension, we will continue to take the appropriate measures to ensure our fans have access to the sport wherever they are and through all available devices. NASCAR is one of the most accessible sports in the world and this new deal builds upon that in a very significant way.”

 

Q/A with Andrea Kremer: Why NFL Network hired her to cover league’s most controversial issue: player safety

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The biggest threat to the future of the NFL is the repercussions of increasingly bigger players banging into each other at increasingly higher speeds.

Not to be a doom and gloomer, but if something truly catastrophic happens during a game, it will cause the country to re-examine this thing called football.

So it’s big news that the league-owned NFL Network just hired Andrea Kremer to cover the one issue that threatens the entire sport.

Sunday, Kremer made her debut on the network as the new “health and safety” correspondent. She did a story (here’s the link) on Oakland receiver Darrius Heywood-Bey, who recently had to be carted off the field after a concussion. Heywood-Bay talked openly about what happened, and Kremer’s interview with a doctor at Cleveland Clinic showed with graphics what happened to Bey’s brain. Sobering stuff, to be sure.

Kremer is an important hire for the league and the network. It begs many questions about the motives and how much she will be allowed to do.

A long-time reporter for HBO’s Real Sports with Bryant Gumbel, Kremer is one of the best in the business as an investigative journalist. Given the subject, her reports on “health and safety” could make things uncomfortable for the NFL and football, in general. She said her domain will span the entire spectrum, including youth programs.

Kremer also is anxious to learn some of the answers. Several times she used the phrase, “cautiously optimistic” about her work with NFL Network during an interview with her last week.

How did it come about?

The NFL Network decided they wanted to launch this unit covering health and safety issues. When I first heard about it, my skepticism oozes out from every fiber of my being. What? Why?

I talked to Mark Quenzel, (senior VP of programming and production). He says to me, ‘Look, we feel we need to do more substantive stories. And the key issue is health and safety.’

They are hiring my credibility, my reputation. I didn’t build that–put it in parentheses over 30 years–to have it reduced to propaganda. That’s not the way it is going to be.

My role isn’t to take anyone down. My role is to present the issues out there. We are not bereft of ideas.

What were behind your initial reservations?

You don’t want to be a mouthpiece for the NFL. There are a lot of issues that exist. I view this as trying to enlighten the audience about these issues in a deeper way. It’s that simple. There is a lot of stuff out there about concussions. What can we show differently about it? There is a lot of concern and misinformation about concussions.

This is like a managing editor position. My job is to generate content. We walked into a brain-storming meeting with 12 very smart people in the room. I have this huge file in my hand. I go, ‘You guys have been thinking about this for about 10 days. I’ve been thinking about this for about 20 years.’

When you talked to Quenzel, what did you say to him? What kind of assurances did you get?

There are never assurances for anything. There’s always good faith, but it’s not as if I had anything written in my contract. I know what I’m comfortable with and not comfortable with. It’s a fluid situation. We’re working on a case-by-case basis. I go back to what I said: ‘I didn’t spend my entire career building up my credentials to have it tossed out here.’

The best way to put it is that I’m cautiously optimistic. I have no reason to not think I won’t be able to bring a different level of programming and ideas to the network.

What kind of statement is NFL Network making by hiring you?

I give them a lot of credit. I know there are people there who said, ‘Do you understand what you’re doing by hiring her? Do you understand what you’re getting yourself into?’ That was respectfully, not negatively. They said, ‘Yes, we do. If we’re going to be credible, taken seriously, this is what we need to do.’

I sense the network is fully aware that this is a huge issue. They have not fully dealt with it. They need to deal with it from a journalism perspective, and they will. But it’s definitely a learning curve for them.

Former players have filed lawsuits against the NFL. Will you be able to report on stories on an NFL-owned network when the league is a defendant?

I haven’t been told (she can’t). Dealing with the lawsuit would be no different than how the NFL Network–or quote-unquote–TV partners with the league dealt with the CBA, handled the refs, or other issues. You had plenty of people at the NFL Network pining about how poorly the refs were. The commentators have been very honest with their assessment.

That’s part of what’s going on. If there’s a former player we wanted to profile who had a number of significant issues, in my mind, as long as we go to somebody at the league or with the players association, if we can find that person to tell their side of the story, then we’ve presented both sides. Our job is to provide the audience with enough information to reach their own conclusion.

Are you concerned that people will view your reports through the prism of the NFL Network? As a result, people might not feel you are totally objective.

I learned through the Twitter universe there’s nothing I can do to mold people’s opinion if they have some agenda.

I can say this: Not only have I been given any indication of censorship, I’m sure not being given any special treatment. I’m not going to get people just because I work for the NFL Network. I’ve been trying to work on a story, and I’ve put in requests and I’ve been rebuffed.

I know how I’m going to approach my job. I know my comfort level; I know what my obligations are, and that’s what I’m going to adhere to.

You’re a top reporter. If you found a story that blew the doors off this issue, are you confident you would be able to run it on NFL Network?

It’s so hypothetical. Here’s all I can say: I’m going to try.  I am cautiously optimistic that we’ll be able to do something that’s impactful.

 

Sunday books: How Gary Bettman changed hockey

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With Gary Bettman into another major work stoppage, and hopefully not his second cancelled season, it seems to be an appropriate time to evaluate the tenure of the NHL commissioner.

Jonathan Gatehouse took on the task in a new book: The Instigator: How Gary Bettman Remade the NHL and Changed the Game Forever.

Tom Hoffarth of the Los Angeles Daily News did a recent interview with Gatehouse. Here are some of the excerpts.

Q: What prompted the idea to do a bio on Bettman? I imagine the process starting a year or so earlier, knowing there’d be a labor issue approaching and he’d be a targeted person again? Was that the thinking?

A: The idea came about initially because it dawned on me that this winter will mark Bettman’s 20th anniversary as NHL commissioner and nobody had really taken a step back and tried to evaluate the impact he has had on pro hockey. And when you think about it, it’s not hard to conclude that he’s become the most influential–and powerful–figure the game has ever known. But at the time I started researching the book, more than 18 months ago, it wasn’t so clear that a lockout was looming. At that point, Bettman was still talking about “tweaking” the current arrangement with the players, not blowing it up. The timing just ended up being great for me, and lousy for the fans.

Q: What caused the word ‘instigator’ to come up as the title to describe him? That’s really eye-drawing.

A: It just seemed to fit. He’s instigated so many changes to the league during his time as commissioner–on and off the ice. And in that very specific hockey sense of the word, he’s the guy who gets paid by the owners to drop the gloves and start the fights.

Q: Going forward, does he seem to be the right guy to “carry on” and lead the league another 20 years?

A: Listen, if Gary Bettman wins this lockout — which I’m convinced he will–he’s emperor for life. Whether he’s the right guy to carry on will be immaterial. The owners respect money, and he’s made them plenty.

Weekend wrap: WFAN to FM; Emmy for Costas; Hall for Olczyk; Deitsch on KHL hockey; Q/A with Daniel Okrent

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Catching up on all the stories I didn’t get to during the week and a random video:

WFAN leaps into the FM world. From Richard Sandomir of the New York Times.

Bob Costas wins an Emmy for his Jerry Sandusky interview. From the National Sportscasters and Sportwriters Association.

Random video: We’ll miss Brian Scalabrine, the player. Here are his career highlights.

Despite the NHL lockout, there’s reason for Ed Olczyk to celebrate. He’s going into the U.S. Hockey Hall of Fame next week. From Jeff Nuich of CSNChicago.com.

Richard Deitsch of SI.com weighs in with a review of the KHL on ESPN.

Jeff Pearlman has a Q/A with Daniel Okrent.

A look at Keith Jackson’s conflicts with baseball and college football during October. From Classic Sports TV and Media.

 

 

Saturday flashback: Sportswriters on TV paved way for PTI, Around the Horn

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Before there was Pardon the Interruption, Around the Horn, and a slew of other similar programs, there was the Sportswriters on TV.

The Chicago-based program featured sports guys sitting around a table talking about sports. Thanks to cable and the quirkiness of the panel, it soon developed a cult following around the country.

Bill Jauss, one of the panelist, died Wednesday. In his obit, there was this quote from him: “I think that is what started all of these (sports) discussion shows that are so prevalent now. It was a pioneering thing at the time, although we didn’t realize it.”

Say thanks Kornheiser, Wilbon and the rest. Here are a couple clips: