ESPN Radio, BTN come up short in Penn State coverage

Posted on by

I was in the car yesterday, driving to the John Deere Classic in the Western Illinois. It is a three-hour drive both ways, which meant I consumed the Penn State coverage on radio during the morning and evening hours.

A few observations:

With the Louis Freeh press conference coming up at 10 a.m. ET, I tuned into ESPN Radio on my Sirius/XM dial. The Colin Cowherd show airs at that time. Cowherd wasn’t there; Doug Gottlieb filled in.

Didn’t matter because I wanted to hear from Freeh. And I did until about 10:16 when ESPN Radio incredibly went to a commercial. This might be the most important press conference in the last decade, and ESPN, the self-proclaimed WWL, is running ads?

Then it got worse. When ESPN returned from the break, do they go back to the press conference? No. Do they talk about Freeh’s damning conclusion? No. The topic now is Brook Lopez resigning with Brooklyn.

Are you kidding me? Penn State is the biggest story of the year–the program could be shut down–and they talk about basketball in July. Talk about dropping the ball.

I frantically tried to find the press conference. ESPNExtra also didn’t have it. Finally, I found it on College Sports Nation.

I contacted the ESPN folks this morning, and they said they couldn’t run the entire press conference live because of logistics involving affiliates and the running of ads. I’d suggest ESPN fix that situation pronto. When you have a press conference of that magnitude, sports listeners expect ESPN to provide complete, uninterrupted coverage on all of its platforms, including radio.

And by all means, if you can’t cover the press conference, don’t switch the subject to Brook Lopez and the Brooklyn Nets.

******

I heard more coverage during my drive home in the evening. There was a highly absurd segment on Dino Costa’s show on Mad Dog Radio in which a guest named John Ziegler literally was screaming while trying to point out how the Freeh report was flawed.

The guy actually had some points, but they were totally obscured by his top-of-the-lungs shouting. I actually was fascinated to see how long both Ziegler and Costa could keep it up. Finally, I gave up. I can’t tolerate people shouting at me.

Eventually, I turned to my local sports station in Chicago, WSCR-AM 670. Thankfully, evening hosts Matt Abbatacola and Adam Hoge gave a calm, measured analysis of the entire situation. It was some of the best radio I heard all day.

Hoge discussed the Big Ten Network and its decision not to air the press conference live. He also wrote a post on the station’s site. Hoge writes:

Flash forward to Thursday, when once again, the Big Ten Network received criticism for not airing a press conference.

“While some may be unaware, BTN is not and was never intended to be a news organization,” the network said in a statement given to Sports Business Daily. “Our focus is to air, discuss and analyze what happens relative to the field of play, which is what our viewers are most interested in. BTN analysts have repeatedly expressed their disappointment with the way in which Penn State football officials handled the Sandusky situation. When our football coverage resumes later this month, it will be a topic of conversation as to how it may affect the Penn State football program and the rest of the Big Ten.”

When I read this statement, I literally screamed. Not a news organization? I worked at BTN for three years and that’s news to me. As I detailed before, it’s certainly not CNN, but if BTN is not a news organization then why did I sit through all those meetings where we discussed the news of the day and then created a show around it?

And in this case, how does the Freeh Report not have an impact on “what happens relative to the field of play”? At the very least, it will affect recruiting. At the very worst, it will shut down the program.

I agree. One of the reasons why the MLB Network has been so successful is that it hasn’t acted as a PR machine for Major League Baseball. An impression was made early on when the network aggressively covered the Alex Rodriguez steroids story.

The BTN should want its viewers to turn to its network for all things Big Ten. Yesterday’s press conference has far reaching implications for what occurs on and off the field.

The situation was addressed on the BTN’s site. There’s a column from senior writer Tom Dienhart with the headline: “I thought I knew ya, Joe Pa.”

He writes:

Those cold and hard revelations in the Freeh report were horrific. They also sadly are the punctuation point on Paterno’s legacy that is now tarnished beyond reproach. All of those good things he did over four-plus decades as head coach of the Nittany Lions?

Gone.

The generous donations to the school.

The wins.

The charitable work.

Gone, gone, gone.

It all has been swallowed up by Paterno’s confounding inaction in what only can be classified as a selfish act of self-preservation. How did Paterno sleep at night over the past 10-plus years knowing what he knew?

Confounding.

I thought I knew ya, JoePa. I guess not.

Yet while reading Dienhart’s words, I couldn’t help notice a prominent box on the right rail. It said: “Remembering Joe Paterno, 1926-2012.”

 

 

 

 

 

Tim Sullivan lands in Louisville: Describes his ‘George Bailey’ experience

Posted on by

It’s strange how things work out. What seemed to be the worst moment of Tim Sullivan’s career turned out to be one of the best.

A few weeks after his controversial dismissal as columnist of the San Diego Union-Tribune, Sullivan has landed as the new columnist for the Louisville Courier-Journal.

In an email to me, Sullivan writes about the entire experience. Later, he followed up in another email:

I hated to ramble on, but I think there’s a useful message in my experience — that the unknown is not quite as fearful as we might imagine.

No need to apologize. As any columnist knows, there’s nothing better than a good story.

Here’s Tim:

Being unemployed for the first time was initially unsettling — I barely slept the first week and lost seven pounds — but it turned out to be the most gratifying experience of my career. The response from friends, colleagues and ordinary readers was overwhelming and the job opportunities proved much more plentiful than I thought possible at age 57.

Some of this owes to the perception that I was a victim of integrity; that my firing was the result of stands taken in resistance to the political agenda of new management. I am inclined to think I have been given too much credit on that score; so much so that I drafted a book proposal with the working title, “The Accidental Martyr.”

The perception plainly worked to my benefit, though, and became so pervasive that the actor, Alec Baldwin, sent out a tweet recommending me to the New York Times on the basis of my “old school” sensibilities. Dave Kindred wrote a column about me that was so kind I would like it inscribed on my tombstone (though it might have to jump). I felt like George Bailey at the end of “It’s A Wonderful Life,” — the richest man in town.

Within two or three weeks of the day I filed for unemployment benefits, I was in contact with seven papers about potential jobs or freelance opportunities. At the suggestion of Houston Chronicle Sports Editor Nick Mathews, I also dropped in on the APSE convention in Chicago on my way home from interviewing in Louisville.

The possibilities proved much more numerous than I had expected and both my appetite and lost weight returned (and then some).

Ultimately, the Courier-Journal proved the best fit for a variety of reasons — not the least of them the fortuitous timing of Rick Bozich and Eric Crawford leaving the paper for a local TV station within days of my dismissal. Louisville is a three-hour drive from my daughter at Ohio State, and closer still to Cincinnati, where I spent the 25 years preceding my California adventure. Louisville real estate is attractive and the region is familiar.

I spent 23 years as a resident of the Commonwealth, just across the Ohio River from Cincinnati, and have covered 18 Kentucky Derbies and quite a lot of college basketball.

The best man at my wedding, Lonnie Wheeler, wrote a terrific book about Kentucky hoops called, “Blue Yonder.” I am re-reading it now as due diligence.

The strongest selling point, though, proved to be the people in charge at the Courier-Journal. Bennie Ivory, the executive editor, exudes old-school sensibilities and a commitment to the news that I have not always associated with Gannett papers. He ordered an additional seven pages to the paper to cover the Supreme Court decision on Obamacare — and did so without seeking permission from the publisher. That decision resonated deeply with me, as did the 10 Pulitzer prizes on the wall outside publisher Wes Jackson’s office.

Jackson, a former University of Kentucky football player, immediately disarmed me by demonstrating that he was too wide for the bathroom door built to a previous publisher’s specifications. The C-J’s new sports editor, Creig Ewing, is a savvy and amiable guy who let it slip that he once shared an elevator with Bruce Springsteen.

I felt surrounded by both kindred spirits and Kindred’s spirit — I first discovered Dave when he was writing columns for the Courier-Journal — and it felt a lot like home.

MLB Network special 2: Riveting story of the day Darryl Kile died

Posted on by

Judging from the preview, this looks to be a powerful documentary.

From MLB Network:

Marking the ten-year anniversary of his passing, MLB Network will premiere The Life and Death of Darryl Kile, an hour-long documentary about former St. Louis Cardinals, Houston Astros and Colorado Rockies pitcher Darryl Kile, on Thursday, July 12 at 9:00 p.m. ET. Kile died of a heart attack at age 33 prior to a game between the Cardinals and the Chicago Cubs at Wrigley Field on June 22, 2002. Narrated by Bob Costas, The Life and Death of Darryl Kile looks back at Kile’s All-Star career, his reputation as a great teammate and family man, and how his death impacted the Cardinals’ play throughout the rest of the 2002 season.

The documentary features Kile’s former Houston Astros teammate Jeff Bagwell and former Cardinals teammate Mike Matheny talking about Kile for the first time on-camera since the initial days after his death in 2002. Speaking about Kile’s personality, Bagwell said, “He was a great father, great husband, great guy, [and] cared about people. That’s what I want to be in my life…That’s who I want to be and that’s who Darryl Kile was.”

Other exclusive interviews are featured with former Cardinals manager Tony La Russa and general manager Walt Jocketty; Kile’s former Astros teammates Brad Ausmus, Craig Biggio and Phil Nevin; former Colorado Rockies manager Jim Leyland; Kile’s teammate with all three teams, Dave Veres; former Cubs catcher Joe Girardi; former Cardinals broadcaster Joe Buck; San Francisco Giants broadcaster Jon Miller; and St. Louis Post-Dispatch columnist Bernie Miklasz, all of whom discuss their reactions to Kile’s death and their memories of Kile as a teammate and family man. In discussing how Kile’s death affected the Cardinals’ play on the field, Jocketty said “One of the ironic things I’ve thought about is when he died, we had 40 wins. We ended up with 97.  That’s 57, which is his uniform number.  That’s pretty amazing.”

The documentary also includes new interviews with members of the Cardinals staff who were with the team in Chicago on the day Kile died, including Traveling Secretary C.J. Cherre, Resident Security Agent Tony Wagner, and Director of Security Joe Walsh.  MLB Network aired an excerpt of the The Life and Death of Darryl Kile on June 22, the ten-year anniversary of his passing, which can you view here. 

Kile won 133 games over 12 years in MLB and was named to three National League All-Star teams (1993, 1997 & 2000). Kile started his career with the Astros, where he spent seven seasons (1991-1997), and also threw a no-hitter against the New York Mets on September 8, 1993. Kile went on to play for two years with the Rockies (1998-1999) before playing his final three seasons (2000-2002) for the Cardinals. Following his passing in 2002, St. Louis won the NL Central Division title. Since Kile’s death, no other Cardinals player has worn uniform number 57.

Highlights from the documentary include:

 On Kile’s legacy:

Mike Matheny: To me, he was the kind of person that made people around him better.  Yes, everybody wants to win, but you just see very few people that go out of their way to invest in other people and Darryl Kile was one of those.

Tony La Russa: He’s literally too good to be true.  And you had to keep saying, “Was he really as great as we thought he was?”  And the answer was yes…I’ll repeat it until the time you take the [microphone] away. He was so perfect it was not to be believed, but believe it.

Craig Biggio: I hit a home run off him and I remember running around the bases and I remember someone yelling at me, cursing at me, as I’m running around the bases…Then, [Jeff Bagwell] hit, came back later on, and he goes, “Man, did you hear Darryl yelling at you?”  I go, “That was him?  That was Darryl?”…So, season’s over, it’s like two weeks before Christmas and I get a phone call.  It was Darryl.  He goes, “Hey, I want to apologize.”  [I said], “What are you apologizing for?”  He goes, “I want to apologize.  I should’ve never cursed at you, yelled at you.”…He goes, “I should’ve never have done that. You treated me so nicely when I was in Houston.  It helped me when I was a younger player.  You were always there for me.”   And that’s the type of person that Darryl was.

On learning of Kile’s death:

Jeff Bagwell: I just laid on the ground and cried.  It was tough.  It’s still tough.

Matheny: I know that I escaped to a small part of the corner in the trainer’s room. I remember throwing a few things around. I remember looking around the clubhouse at times and seeing people just stuck in a spot.

Walt Jocketty: As you train for this position there is a lot of things you train for but you never train for a player’s death, especially like this.

La Russa on telling the Cardinals players:

The guys knew that there was a serious issue here.  When I walked out there, I think at that point, virtually everybody was fearing the worst, and I went out there and confirmed it.  Just the magnitude of the sadness, the devastation was beyond normal.  Normal would be really, really bad.  This was savage, brutal because [of] who he was, all that it meant to the family, our team, losing a friend. It was brutal.

Joe Girardi on making the announcement at Wrigley Field that the game was cancelled:

I remember it was almost like yesterday.  It’s the hardest thing I’ve ever had to do in the game.  It was harder than taking my uniform off for the last time.

Girardi on playing the Cardinals the day after Kile died:

I kept saying to myself, “I can’t believe we’re playing this game.”  I would watch each player walk up to hit and you could see the devastation and you could see them kind of in a daze.  You’re thinking, “Why are we playing this game?”  I just thought it was too soon.

La Russa on the Cardinals’ initial struggle after Kile’s death:

Our club was so devastated that they were just doing a little bit more than going through the motions.  We went through a period of games where the thing that we pride ourselves on the most – this intense competition –  wasn’t important.  Just get through it.

On the Cardinals’ play after Kile’s death:

Matheny: We were motivated.  We knew we were good first.  Then, we thought too, what a great tribute to Darryl, what a great tribute to him and his family for us to go out and keep playing the game the right way.  All of us thought about him frequently…I think all of us dug a little deeper and realized we had a great chance to do something special.

Jocketty: One of the ironic things I’ve thought about is when he died, we had 40 wins.  We ended up with 97.  That’s 57, which is his uniform number.  That’s pretty amazing.

La Russa: I was certain that this club was going to be rewarded with a World Series appearance.  When the Giants beat us in five [in the NLCS], to this day, I was the most disappointed ever…The good thing was, that team made it a point to just dedicate what we were doing…We just played our butts off and ended up making it happen.  They were courageous, heroic.  It was wonderful.  That club made it a commitment to honor Darryl’s memory.

 

Posted in MLB

MLB Network special 1: Seinfeld breaks down Abbott & Costello’s ‘Who’s on First’

Posted on by

MLB Network has two specials on Thursday. I’ll have more on the documentary on Darryl Kile’s sudden death later.

Here’s MLB’s first for the night. I like the premise for this one.

From MLB Network:

Comedian, actor, writer and longtime New York Mets fan Jerry Seinfeld recently spoke with MLB Network’s Bob Costas for a special interview to air during MLB’s 2012 All-Star break this Thursday, July 12 at 7:00 p.m. ET commemorating the 60thanniversary of comedy duo Lou Abbott & Bud Costello’s first televised performance of the legendary routine “Who’s on First?.”

Filmed at New York City’s Soho House, Costas & Seinfeld: Who’s on First? features extensive footage of the routine that TIME Magazine named as the best comedy sketch of the 20th century, interspersed with comments from Seinfeld on his favorite moments and how “Who’s on First?” influenced him as a comedian, writer and baseball fan. Speaking about why baseball lends itself to comedy, Seinfeld says, “Baseball has a heart of gold. It has a humanity that other sports, they just don’t have, for whatever reason, and humanity is funnier.”

Throughout the 30-minute interview, Seinfeld also reveals details of how “The Abbott & Costello Show” impacted the creation of and characters in the Emmy Award-winning sitcom Seinfeld. Seinfeld tells Costas, “I really wanted to imitate this show in my TV series in a couple of ways. … Even [with] Abbott and Costello and me and George, there’s a physical similarity there.” Seinfeld confirms that even the full character name of “George Louis Costanza” was influenced by the show, saying, “We named him after Lou Costello. We were all fans of Abbott and Costello on the show.”

 

Posted in MLB

Dream Team Book Q/A: Best show ever in basketball; landing an interview with elusive Jordan

Posted on by

Jack McCallum was witness to one of the greatest miracles in sports: He saw me make a birdie on the par 3 12th hole at Augusta National. I dropped a six-iron to within four feet and actually made the putt. Not bad for a 15-handicapper who was playing like a 30 prior to that hole.

“Pretty good shot,” said McCallum, recalling our round the day after Jose Maria Olazabal’s victory in the 1999 Masters.

While it was the highlight of my pitiful sporting career (note: this is my blog and I will try to tell that tale as often as possible), McCallum has seen much greater feats of athletic prowess. Perhaps none were greater than the collective talents of the original “Dream Team.”

Twenty years later, the long-time Sports Illustrated writer is out this week with what should be the hottest sports book of the summer: Dream Team: How Michael, Magic, Larry and Charles and the greatest team of all time conquered the world and changed the game of basketball forever.

It seems like every sports book these days has the “changed the game forever” kicker. Publishers must think it adds some gravitas to entice sales.

Often the label isn’t deserved, but not in this case. The Dream Team did change basketball, and sports for that matter.

It was an unprecedented, and never duplicated, array of transcendent superstars playing for the same team; 11 of the 12 players are in the Hall of Fame. The Dreamers featured Michael Jordan, fresh off a second NBA championship with the Bulls, trying to grab the torch away from Magic Johnson and Larry Bird, two aging stars who saved the NBA in the 80s.

McCallum writes, “It couldn’t have been scripted any better, and when the Dreamers finally released all that star power into a collective effort, the show was better than everyone thought it would be…and everyone had thought it would be pretty damn good.”

McCallum, who covered the team from beginning to end, brings his A-game in telling the many stories and taking readers behind the scenes. He includes personal moments of covering the team, including the time he and fellow David Dupree asked to get a picture taken with the team.

McCallum writes that the moment was incredibly awkward, leaving him open to some good-natured verbal abuse from Bird. “Hey Jack,” drawled Bird, “later on, you wanna blow us?”

On that note, here’s my Q/A with Jack:

There’s no talk about this year’s U.S. Olympic team. What made that team so special in 1992?

It’s a cliche, but it was the perfect storm. There was the first time news angle. Then there was the fact that the international stage was set for them. All of sudden at a time (when overseas fans) were experiencing the NBA as an appetizer, here comes the whole entree in the form of the greatest team ever.

I think it was the only time in the sporting culture where NBA players were the biggest stars. LeBron James is huge, but I don’t think, fair or not, he has the same positive impact across the culture like they did back then.

Those guys truly were rock stars. What was it like to travel with them?

I had seen a mini-version of it with Jordan. The best way to describe it is when they got to Barcelona, there was thousands of people surrounding the hotel. I thought, OK, maybe it will be like this for a day or two. On day 17, they were still there. To this day, I still have a hard time trying to figure it out.

In the book, you revisited many of the players and did portraits of their lives today. Why did you take that route?

As you know, access sucks at the Olympics. I was not inside the bubble. I needed to talk to the players to get information on what occurred during the Olympics.

I also wanted to see what they’re doing now. I wasn’t looking to do a Boys of Summer. These are famous guys even in retirement. But I still knew I could find out something else about them. For instance,  to see David Robinson run his school in San Antonio, that puts him in perspective.

Michael Jordan doesn’t do many interviews these days. How difficult was it to get him?

It was difficult. He’s at war with Sports Illustrated (for mocking his attempt at baseball), although that didn’t have anything to do with me. I made it clear this was not a SI project. Finally, I got, ‘Michael Jordan will see you. But it only will be for 15 minutes and you must keep your questions to the Dream Team.’

I knew I was OK. He’s not Charles Barkley, but he’s pretty honest. Michael is an incredible bullshitter and I knew he’d talk about anything. I also knew it wouldn’t be for 15 minutes. The key was getting in the room. It was a great interview. Afterward, I had a sense of relief wash over me. I got him.

Talk about Jordan’s teammate, Scottie Pippen.

He surprised me. Pippen always got the shortshrift. Every time, I came to Chicago, I’d wind up writing Jordan. One time I came in to write Horace Grant and still wound up writing Jordan.

I found a guy in Pippen who you could clearly see how this experience meant so much to him. He couldn’t believe it when he got invited. The way it validated his career was interesting. Chris Mullin said the same thing. Karl Malone, in his own way, did too. It was interesting to me to see how much these guys needed that validation.

What is the legacy of the Dream Team?

All the players wanted to make the point that there was only one Dream Team. Don’t get into this BS about a Dream Team II. As accomplished as they were individually, they all knew they were on the one team that was different. They knew not only how meaningful it was to them, but also across the entire history of basketball.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

ESPN sends message with press releases about contract renewals

Posted on by

ESPN decided to respond to the trending story line that their big stars are looking for the next train out of Bristol.

Last week, Erin Andrews joined Michelle Beadle and Jim Rome as high-profile personalities waving bye-bye to ESPN. On top of that, Jason McIntyre of Big Lead has recent posts speculating that Doug Gottlieb (a TV/radio package from CBS) and Dan Shulman (possible interest from Fox and NBC) also could fly out the door.

What’s wrong with the WWL?

So it isn’t a coincidence that the ESPN PR machine has put out releases heralding new multi-year packages for Adam Schefter, John Clayton, Mel Kiper, and Ed Werder. Stuart Scott’s new deal got special treatment on ESPN’s Front Row.

It struck me as unusual that ESPN would put out releases for mere contract renewals. I mean, will ESPN execs sleep better knowing Werder is back in the fold for a few more years? No offense, Ed, but you know what I mean.

It turns out these releases go beyond the latest news. They also were meant to deliver a message.

Said ESPN spokesman Mike Soltys in an email to me:

With all the erroneous reports of an “exodus” from Bristol we decided to inject a few facts into the debate. The vast majority of our folks love it here and stay, so for the time being we are reminding people of that. Stu yesterday, NFL group today, more soon.

Really, it’s a just a sign of the times. With NBC and CBS amping up their cable and sports talk radio presence, it figures they are going to be in pursuit of ESPN’s recognized personalities. If anything, for most ESPNers, it’s a great time to be up for a new contract. It’s definitely a seller’s market.

As we’ve seen, ESPN will keep some and lose some.

So expect more speculation about ESPN personalities moving elsewhere, and more releases about those who stay.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Despite dud, All-Star rating actually increases; could have been higher with good game

Posted on by

Yeah, that game sucked. All I can say is that I wonder why Justin Verlander doesn’t pitch that way against the White Sox.

However, surprise, surprise. Despite the National League’s 8-0 victory, ratings for the All-Star Game actually were up 3 percent. Fox did an 8.1 overnight rating, marking the first increase for an All-Star Game in four years.

So that’s the good news for Fox and baseball. Here’s the bad news: Clearly, the rating would have been much higher with a better game.

It was a snoozefest with the American League hitters looking feeble against the NL pitchers. I half-expected Commissioner Bud Selig to reset the score to 0-0 after four innings in an effort to lure back viewers.

 

 

Grantland oral history looks back at 25 years of WFAN; Francesa declines to participate

Posted on by

I don’t think you can underestimate the impact of what happened when WFAN hit the air 25 years ago. The nation’s first 24/7 sports talk station led to a revolution in media that completely changed the sports.

Previously, I posted interviews with WFAN founder Jeff Smulyan and Chris Russo.

Grantland now has posted a major oral history on the station. Compiled by Alex French and Howie Kahn, it features interviews with all the major players, including Don Imus. However, Mike Francesa declined to participate; the authors used quotes for him from another source.

A footnote in the story explains:

“Francesa turned down repeated requests to be interviewed for this oral history. Grantland editor-in-chief Bill Simmons even spent 20 minutes on the phone with Francesa to no avail, explaining afterward, “Since ESPN doesn’t allow its talent to be interviewed on Mike’s radio show, Mike simply didn’t want to be interviewed for a piece that would appear on a site owned by ESPN. He kept saying it was a ‘matter of principle’ for him.” Simmons couldn’t change his mind even though Francesa admitted that he couldn’t wait to read the piece.”

The post is more than 15,000 words and was 29 pages when I printed it out. So carve out some time because it is a fascinating read.

Also, Simmons updates his 2006 running diary of “Mike and the Mad Dog” with some footnotes.

Some quotes from an ESPN release:

Jim Lampley (one of the first hosts at WFAN): I scripted an introductory segment, which was completely and totally facetious in intent. It was a litany of things that I foresaw changing in the culture, and in the sports world, as a result of the genesis of the 24-hour-a-day sport-talk radio station. I forecast a variety of absurdities: People would bend their schedules and neglect their work and their marriages and their children to sit on the phone and wait to be involved in discussions about nothing.

ESPN’s Mike Breen (former update guy for Don Imus): Imus was tough to be around. He used to kid — and it was half-kidding — that you weren’t allowed to make eye contact with him if you saw him in the hallway.

George Vecsey (sports columnist, New York Times): They truly were Martin and Lewis, Sonny and Cher. They were Simon and Garfunkel. Even if you can play a solo show in Central Park once a year, it’ll never be the same as when the two of you were doing it together.

Chris Russo (former WFAN host): The quarters were tight. It wasn’t state-of-the-art. There was no room to escape when you had an issue, when you’re not getting along. You’re on top of each other on a day-in, day-out basis. It probably helped us deal with the fights that we had a little better because they probably didn’t linger. We had no choice but to face up with each other. I only had three or four bad ones. But again, you’re gonna have three or four bad ones in 19 years of a relationship.

 

 

Ozzie fatigue: Yet another dose of Guillen on Showtime series

Posted on by

I have to admit I’m suffering from Ozzie Guillen fatigue. I’ve known Ozzie since 1986 when I became the White Sox beat reporter for the Chicago Tribune. We’ve had a great relationship through the years.

However, it ended badly for Guillen in Chicago. The soap opera drama went over the top.

So perhaps that’s why I’m not all that excited about the new Showtime series, The Franchise, which debuts Wednesday at 10 p.m. ET.

Didn’t we just see this show in 2010, when MLB Network did The Club, a behind-the-scenes look at the White Sox?

The Showtime series will have many of the same elements, only without the bleeps for Guillen’s colorful language. As you can see from the trailer, it’ll be more of “Ozzie being Ozzie.”

Also, there’s a new book out on Ozzie, written by Chicago Sun-Times columnist Rick Morrissey.

Listen, the act wore thin in Chicago. As a White Sox fan, I couldn’t be more pleased with the sense of calm new manager Robin Ventura has brought to the team. And the results couldn’t be better with the Sox sitting in first place at the break.

Meanwhile, Ozzie’s Marlins are 41-44, 9 games back. Yes, we are taking note here.

Having said all that, it’s always interesting to see an inside look at a team. Grantland’s Michael Kruse wrote a piece examining the production of the series.

He writes:

This is documentary work. Fly on the wall. Immersion reporting. Two dozen people work full-time on The Franchise. It’s admirable in scope and intent. There’s a sincerity of purpose and craft that frankly — I’m sorry — I wasn’t expecting.

They’ve got great stuff.

They have players wired during batting practice. They have players wired during games. They have Zambrano wired during a game in which he pitched. That’s a first. It’s never been done. They have players watching scouting videos before at-bats. They have third baseman Hanley Ramirez feeding Yoplait to his little daughter son. They have aerial shots taken from high-priced helicopters. They have cameras set up all over the ballpark for attractive time-lapse material. They have what they call “the natural sound of victory.” They have … the opposite. There’s a place in some of the notes of the producers and editors that I picked up in Secaucus in which the following sequence of words appears: “Eccentric team pres … body waxed for double marathon.” The access, at times, is astonishing.

It’s the most compelling kind of nonfiction. Let whatever’s going to happen … happen. Watch and wait. The aim in the end, according to executive producer David Check, is “to be true to the ebb and flow of the season. We document the season as it unfolds.” There’s no picking the plot. Reality comes as is. The reality here is that the Marlins aren’t very good. And it’s not because there’s an extra set of cameras and that’s a distraction. The Marlins aren’t very good because the Marlins aren’t very good. Those thousands of hours have started to look like an all-access archive of reasons.