I have Derek Jeter on the brain after watching him homer in three straight games in Chicago. Alas, it didn’t matter as the mighty White Sox swept the Yankees.
Here’s Jeter dressed as a Yankee wife on Saturday Night Live.
News flash: Somebody actually agrees with Skip Bayless
I’m not the only one who actually thinks Skip Bayless had a valid point regarding his comments about Derek Jeters and PED.
Somebody named Pat from FanIQ.com also agrees with Bayless, although don’t confuse him with being a fan. He writes:
99% of the time, Skip Bayless makes almost no sense at all, and his opinions are completely worthless.
On Wednesday, for the first time in a long time, Bayless actually made an excellent point that no one else in the sports world was willing to make. He was absolutely right, and it was a timely message to the rest of the sports media and to fans.
Surprisingly, everyone ripped Bayless for these comments, and accused him of everything from trolling to being the sports equivalent of Kim Kardashian.
What did Skip say that was so controversial?
Not much, really. Just something that should have been in the back of everyone’s mind for a while.
Indeed, Bayless didn’t say Jeter was taking PEDs. He said you have to allow for the possibility that Jeter, or any athlete, is juicing considering what came out this week on the cheating front.
While it may not be fair, no athlete is beyond suspicion these days. That’s Bayless’ point.
Saturday flashback: Vin Scully as a game show host? Yes, in 1970
Ah, the wonders of Youtube. Who knew that the great Vin Scully once hosted a game show?
This is a clip from a 1970 show on NBC that aired in “living color.” Scully showed his sports connection by noting Pat Harrington was “a good golfer.” Again, who knew Schneider could play golf?
And Scully still radiated cool, even as a game show host. Walking on to the stage with an excited dog, he said, “A dog in search of fire hydrant.”
Bayless wins again; critics keep name in news for Jeter PED comments
You know the old PR adage: Any publicity is good publicity.
If that’s the case, Skip Bayless wins again. The ESPN First Take host has everyone riled up with suggestions that Derek Jeter’s big season at the age of 38 might be the result of taking PEDs.
Name another TV sports personality who generated more ink (cyber-space?) this week?
FoxSports.com went a bit overboard. In a very weird photo-illustration, it placed Bayless’ head on what I assume is Kim Kardashian’s body. Not a good look. In fact, disturbing.
The premise of Peter Scharger’s column is that Bayless has become Kardashian-like in being able to generate undeserved attention.
He writes:
Kardashian’s all over the headlines, but it’s baffling to me as to why anyone would pay attention to her. In the sports media world, there’s only one man she can be compared to. That man is Skip Bayless.
Every few weeks or so, Bayless says something on his daytime ESPN2 show “First Take” that ticks off everyone in sports media world. Like clockwork, someone with a verified account tweets about Bayless’ stupidity, the rest of the sports media world chases after the bone with wagging tongues, and it — somehow, someway — becomes a “story.” It’s a vicious cycle, one that repeats itself far too often, and one that can cause right-minded people great frustration.
Bob Raissman of the New York Daily News also went after Bayless for the Jeter comments:
“First Take” has undergone a bunch of changes since it was created. It is not exactly a ratings juggernaut. The ratings are all that matters to Bayless, his co-pilot Stephen A. Smith and the producers of the show. Accountability finishes a distant fifth.
The employment future of all involved in the show depends on those ratings. If smearing Jeter helps Bayless & Co. reach their ratings goals, and keep their jobs, then it’s well worth the effort. If Jeter is collateral damage, so be it.
Will Leitch in New York has a column with a great headline: “Please stop feeding the Skip Bayless.”
Leitch writes:
The problem is not Skip Bayless; he is simply being Skip Bayless, Numbnut. The problem is us. We all listen to him and quote him and can’t believe how outrageous he’s being, tsk tsk, tsk tsk, oh jeez, look what he’s doing now, that’s totally over the line, let’s let him kick off another news cycle. This is a daytime television shock jock — not even a good one — and people act like what he says has any connection to the physical world we all inhabit. This is just making him stronger.
So just stop. No more watching, but if you watch, no more quoting. No more acting as if Bayless has anything to contribute, and no mentioning him, even if it’s to make fun of him or to mock him. He is forcing his way into every sports story, simply by being an ass. Only we can stop him.
Leitch then adds this kicker:
We’re going to start right now. After this post, anyway.
Right. Chalk up another victory for Bayless.
My First Job: Jittery Golic almost had career-ending moment as analyst in first NFL game
The NFL preseason isn’t just an opportunity for the rookies to impress on the field. It’s also a chance for the rookies to make their mark in the broadcast booth.
In the latest edition of My First Job, a look at people’s initial forays in the media business, ESPN’s Mike Golic discusses calling his first NFL preseason game shortly after retiring as a player. He describes a harrowing moment during the opening kickoff when he thought his broadcast career might be over.
Here’s Mike:
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I did color for the Jacksonville Jaguars preseason games in 1995. It was the first real gig I had going.
I had done some college football previously, but this was the NFL. This was really nerve-racking to me.
I was unbelievably nervous. I would have rather been on the field. My comfort level was on the field. But now I was describing the action, and I had to do it in a time frame to give it back to (the play-by-play man).
Kevin Harlan was the play-by-play man. He was a real pro. They kick the ball off, and Kevin went through the call and then left it open for me. I froze. Maybe I said three words.
I was like, ‘Oh my God, oh my God, I’m blowing it.’ It was just amazing to me.
I don’t know why I was so nervous because I had done college football before that and it was no big deal. But I had just gotten out of the NFL, and this was big. I’m thinking, maybe I’ll do NFL games down the road.
It was so embarrassing. When it finally went back to Kevin, I’m thinking, ‘Oh my god, what the hell was that?’
I had to calm myself. I remember saying to myself, ‘Just talk football, just talk football.’ That’s kind of what I did from then on. I got into the groove.
Still, when the game was over, I remember thinking the guy who hired me must be saying, ‘Oh my, did I make a mistake here?’
The next time I was that nervous was when Greeny (Mike Greenberg) and I did a Monday night game a few years ago. Now this was Monday Night Football. I didn’t freeze like that, because Greeny was more nervous than me. He had never done an NFL game.
Podcasting: Yours truly tries to explain Skip Bayless to Awful Announcing
The Awful Announcing podcast had back-to-back weeks with Darren Rovell and Michelle Beadle as its guests. So I’m guessing Erin Andrews probably cancelled at the last minute, which is why host Matt Yoder turned to yours truly for AA Podcast No. 29.
Regardless, I thank Matt for the opportunity. We had a lively discussion. Topics included the coverage of sports media, Chris Berman, Ken Harrelson, and the new Paterno book.
The conversation, though, got real interesting on the subject of Skip Bayless. I know from listening to previous AA Podcasts that Matt isn’t a big fan of my old Chicago Tribune colleague.
Like many other detractors, Matt thought Bayless utters many of his provocative statements for show. I told him that couldn’t be further from the truth. Say what you want about Bayless–and many people do–but I know from working with him that he believes everything he says with a passion.
Never dull when talking about Bayless.
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Good stuff on the latest Sports-Casters podcast. Guests include Jane Leavy, Jim Trotter, and Jeff Pearlman.
Also, the guys detail their frustrations at being blown off by Joe Posnanski’s PR representatives for an interview request about his book.
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ESPN’s Joe Tessitore is the guest on this week’s Sports Media Weekly podcast.
And Sports Media Weekly has a special podcast on CBS’ media day for the NFL. Guests include Sean McManus, Marv Albert, and Ian Eagle.
Paterno reviews aren’t kind: Time says ‘Bad timing’; Atlantic cites ‘failed defense’
I’m not the only one. The reviews have been tough on Joe Posnanski’s new book Paterno.
They cite many of the same themes I had in my review.
The Atlantic’s Allen Barra writes:
It’s not enough to say that Posnanski does not do well relating the facts of the Sandusky case and Paterno’s role in it. The truth is that he doesn’t really try. “Joe Paterno was fired,” he tells us at the end, “why and how the board [Penn State trustees] made its decision is not my story to tell.” If not Paterno’s biographer’s, one wonders, then whose story is it? And what is so complicated about that story?
Time and again, Posnanski writes as if it was his intention to make clear issues cloudy.
Like me, Sean Gregory of Time wasn’t all that interested in details of Paterno’s life prior to the scandal hitting last November:
As for the rest of the bio, the material not related to the Sandusky scandal and its fallout, covering the first 84 years, not the final couple of months, of Paterno’s life: I can’t speak to that part, because I haven’t read it yet. And I’m not sure I will any time soon.
That’s nothing against Posnanski, one of the best sportswriters in the country. It’s simply a timing issue. Posnanski started this project well before the scandal broke, and he in large part stuck to his original plans. “What follows is the story of Joe Paterno’s life,” he writes at the beginning of the book. But on the heels of the Freeh Report, which contained evidence that Paterno did know about the initial, 1998 allegation of Sandusky’s inappropriate behavior – he previously denied being aware of it – and that Paterno had more influence on Penn State’s handling of the allegations that he had previously let on, Paterno’s life story, familiar to most sports fans to begin with, doesn’t seem very germane.
Guy Cipriano of the Centre Daily Times writes that Posnanski failed to take full advantage of the access Paterno gave him:
The legal drama of the past nine months altered Posnanski’s project, which he reportedly received a $750,000 advance to pursue. But Posnanski, it should be noted, received access to Paterno that no other journalist had in the later stages of the longtime coach’s life. Paterno died of lung cancer on Jan. 22.
He did little with the access beyond rehashing Paterno’s on-field results and offering anecdotes from former players. The “Joe did this for me” stories add no additional layers to the book. Besides timing, nothing separates “Paterno” from other biographies about the coach. The final stages of Paterno’s life are among his most fascinating yet the book offers few visuals of last season other than scenes outside his house after his firing.
Anybody who covered Penn State football in the past 15 years wanted nothing more than 15 exclusive minutes with Paterno. Many beat writers loathed the access Posnanski was granted. Few will envy what the access produced.
Dwight Garner of the New York Times:
“Paterno” doesn’t shy away from whatever truth is behind any of this stuff. But the author talks to many, many former players who felt lucky to know this man, who say he taught them about decency and hard work and changed their lives forever.
Was Paterno a phony? Someone once suggested something similar about the longtime Florida State football coach Bobby Bowden. Mr. Posnanski reprints a sportswriter’s response to that insinuation here: “Well, to do it that long, it’s one hell of an act.”
Chris Nashawaty of Entertainment Weekly:
Despite all of the man-hours Posnanski poured into his book and his unbelievable access to Paterno — the long heart-to-hearts with the ailing coach over his beloved handmade kitchen table — Posnanski doesn’t really unveil anything about the case that hasn’t been reported elsewhere. There are no scoops here. No “A-ha” moments. No dramatic, teary Barbara Walters-style confessions.
School daze: Long-time USA Today sportswriter makes transition to high school English teacher
The first day of school also marks the first day for scores of new teachers throughout the country.
However, only one of them is a 57-year-old who had a 30-plus year as a distinguished sportswriter at USA Today.
What in the world are you doing, Steve Wieberg?
“I’m terrified,” Wieberg said on the eve of his new life as a high school English teacher. “I feel like I’ve been dropped out of a helicopter right into the middle of the Atlantic Ocean.”
The new media landscape has seen many long-time sportswriters transition into new roles in life. Fortunately, Wieberg is making this lifestyle change out of choice and not because he lost his job due to newspaper cutbacks, as has been the case with so many others in the profession.
Wieberg was one of the most respected members of our fraternity, noted for his solid and reasoned coverage of college sports. He covered 29 straight Final Fours and 15 NCAA Conventions.
The grind, though, was taking its toll of Wieberg. He was getting tired of phone calls at 6:30 in the evening, telling him to take the next plane to Dallas or somewhere else.
I definitely can relate. It was one of the reasons why I left the Chicago Tribune in 2008.
“Your life is subject to the whims of breaking news,” Wieberg said. “You get a phone call and you’re off and running. That’s the job. I’m not quarreling with it. But I thought I had lost the balance between work and life in the last couple of years, and it only was going to skew further in that direction.”
Wieberg is referring to a major restructuring of the USA Today sports group, which is putting an increased emphasis on breaking news and setting the agenda. He said he was asked to be part of the investigative and enterprise team.
Wieberg, though, already had made up his mind. He was ready to walk away from the only career he had ever known.
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Wieberg always enjoyed working with kids as a long-time coach for his son’s various teams. Last year, he did some substitute teaching.
“When I got through the Final Four, I decided I wanted to do something different,” Wieberg said.
Wieberg accepted a full-time position at Lawson (Mo.) High School. Despite working for the large circulation USA Today, he always maintained his small-town roots. Lawson, located 35 miles from Kansas City, has 2,400 people. And Wieberg says most of them know he is in a panic about his new job.
“I’ve become known as the town’s basket case,” Wieberg said.
Wieberg said he lost the “romantic notion” of teaching almost immediately once he began to digest all the material he had to teach.
“I won’t be uncomfortable standing in front of a classroom,” Wieberg said. “I will be uncomfortable if I can’t get through 50 minutes of a class. I’m telling the students that this will be the most collaborative class they’ve ever had. They’re going to help me get through this.”
I told Wieberg not to worry. He’s a pro’s pro and that will carry over from journalist to being a teacher.
Besides, putting up with Bob Knight all those years should make Wieberg well prepared for dealing with any obnoxious kids.
My words didn’t calm Wieberg’s nerves.
“School starts tomorrow,” Wieberg said. “I just want to make it through this week and then go from there.”
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Steve, here are a couple of tips. Show your students this post and the Chronicle of Higher Education story about your move. Name another teacher at Lawson High who is getting this kind of press. They should be impressed.
And if things get derailed in the classroom, just entertain them with stories about Knight.
Doing both Live! and Fox NFL Sunday: Strahan will log plenty of air time between New York and LA
Here’s hoping Michael Strahan can sleep on a plane, albeit a private plane.
Apparently, Strahan is going to remain on Fox NFL Sunday along with co-hosting Live! with Kelly Ripa. An official announcement is expected soon.
It is going to set up Strahan for a killer schedule since Live! is in New York and his NFL buddies do their show in Los Angeles.
So how is that going to work? Here’s a scenario:
Strahan does Live! on Friday and then hops in a plane to join the Fox crew in LA on Saturday. He does the Sunday thing, leaving after The OT postgame show. He flies all night and arrives in time to do the Monday show with Ripa.
Makes me tired just thinking about it.
Perhaps Strahan should angle for a trade to CBS. NFL Today originates out of New York.
CBS Sports Network gearing up; Adds NFL show featuring Simms, Gannon, Beuerlein
The CBS Sports Network continues to add programming in a bid to make itself relevant. The latest entry is a new NFL show on Monday night.
It’ll be interesting to see if CBS Sports Network can pull any viewers away from ESPN’s massive Monday night pregame show. Expect to see plenty of promotion for the show during CBS’ Sunday NFL telecasts.
From the release:
With the first of what will be a number of NFL programming initiatives, CBS Sports Network launches a first-of-its-kind show,NFL MONDAY QB. The announcement was made today by Sean McManus, Chairman, CBS Sports and David Berson, Executive Vice President, CBS Sports and President, CBS Sports Network.
Led by THE NFL ON CBS lead analyst and Super Bowl XXI MVP, Phil Simms; Super Bowl XXXVII quarterback and 2002 NFL MVP, Rich Gannon; and 17-year veteran and 1999 NFL All Pro quarterback, Steve Beuerlein, NFL MONDAY QB brings together an elite roster of quarterbacks providing their unique and compelling opinions, and break-down of the week’s games – purely from a quarterback perspective – focusing on how quarterback play impacted the games, key plays, clutch drives, crucial decisions, star performances, winning and losing efforts and much more.
Additional contributors during selected weeks will include other quarterbacks from THE NFL ON CBS roster such as Hall of Fame quarterbacks Dan Marino and Dan Fouts, and Super Bowl XXIII quarterback and 1988 NFL MVP, Boomer Esiason. Adam Schein hosts from the CBS Sports Network studio at Chelsea Piers in New York, and the quarterbacks weigh in from various parts of the country.
NFL MONDAY QB continues the aggressive expansion of CBS Sports Network programming around CBS Sports’ marquee properties. The one-hour show debuts Monday, September 10 on a special season-opening time (5:00-6:00 PM, ET) due to the opening Monday night doubleheader. After Week 1, NFL MONDAY QB airs weekly through Super Bowl XLVII (6:30-7:30 PM, ET).
“I’ve been wanting to do a show like this for years,” said Simms. “Now we have the opportunity to do a totally different show than anyone has ever seen. The fans are going to find out, even though it’s going to be all quarterbacks, we all see it differently. I’m really looking forward to hearing everyone’s opinions and getting a few things off my chest right after the games on Mondays. It’s going to be a lot of fun.”