Saturday flashback: Peyton Manning on Saturday Night Live

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It’s Eli Manning’s turn to host Saturday Night Live tonight. Brother Peyton had the duties in 2007.

Of all the SNL sports hosts, you could make the case that Peyton was the best. His spoof of the United Way commercial was a classic.

SNL didn’t have the actual link on its site, but I did find a clip of the bit that ran during a Fox News report.

Here’s a video of Peyton talking about the SNL experience. Interesting to note that Manning said there wasn’t much rehearsal of the skits prior to air.

Check back later today. I’ll have more videos from the ads Eli and Peyton did together.

 

Why Sports Illustrated devoted issue to Title IX

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There are moments that change sports forever. But what happened in June, 1972 changed lives.

Richard Nixon signed a new statute called Title IX, calling for equal opportunities in higher education for women. The landmark legislation opened the door for young women to enjoy the same experiences in sports as young men.

To celebrate the 40th anniversary, Sports Illustrated featured the words of Title IX on the cover of this week’s issue and then dedicated 23 pages to pictures and coverage inside.

It’s a highly unusual move for SI, considering it never devotes that kind of space to a single issue, let alone an issue about women’s sports. But it speaks to the magnitude of Title IX.

Writes Kelli Anderson:

According a report provided by the Women’s Sports Foundation, 294,015 girls competed in high school sports four decades ago. By last year the number had ballooned to 3,173,549, and it’s growing.

I did a Q/A with senior editor Trisha Blackmar, who oversaw the package.

How did this issue come out about?

Blackmar: Last fall, we recognized we hadn’t done anything on Title IX since the 20th anniversary. We ran it by (managing editor) Terry McDonell and he was very supportive. Outside of a sport preview issue, I can’t think of another time where we devoted the entire feature well to one issue. Once I heard we had the pages, we ran with it.

Why is Title IX an important story for Sports Illustrated?

Blackmar: I think it is important to acknowledge there still is a struggle for gender equity. We thought the best way to address it would be to do stories on the past, now, and looking ahead to the future. They look at the entire scope of issues related to Title IX.

Why did SI decide use words on the cover instead of photos?

Blackmar: Our designer (Chris Hercik) wanted to do a graphic treatment. I handed him the 37-words (from Title IX), thinking he could this as part of the graphic. It was his idea to use that as the whole cover and highlight the words that he did. I thought it looked fantastic when I saw it. It really grabs your attention. It’s all you need to say.

 

 

Hockey fans respond to ESPN Doria’s coverage comments

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Nothing like some comments questioning hockey’s popularity to get its fans to throw down the gloves.

Yesterday, I did a post on Vince Doria, senior VP and director of news, insisting ESPN doesn’t hate hockey. However, the network, which no longer has the rights, doesn’t like it much. Prior to the playoffs, you’d be hard-pressed to find much NHL coverage during SportsCenter.

Doria’s views generated an interesting response. Deadspin dinged him for saying hockey “doesn’t transfer much to a national discussion.”

Wrote Patrick Burns:

It’s always funny when ESPN executives innocently talk about “national discussions,” as if national discussions happen apart from ESPN—as if they rise organically out the soil in New York and Deer Isle and Des Moines and Tupelo and San Bernardino. ESPN is the national discussion; if ESPN doesn’t discuss hockey, the nation doesn’t, either.

Meanwhile, I received plenty of comments on my site.

Reilly wrote:

ESPN, stop being a joke. Stop ramming down our throats Tebow, Lebron, Baseball and actually cover a sport like a real journalist would. I could give two SH!TS about Tebow right now or the draft, i don’t care about game three of the Heat/Knicks which the heat should win, I care about a triple OT game in the second round of the playoffs… and I know a lot of people not in NY or WAS did to!

From DRBEAR:

Well of course there isn’t demand. It is as if McDonald’s used to carry hamburgers, then dropped most of them from the menu and just carried one type at lunch. Then they say “of course we don’t carry many different kinds of hamburgers, there isn’t the interest.” To my mind, an all-sports network should cover all sports. If it doesn’t, it’s not doing its job.

LegendofVT chimed in:

Doria is delusional if he thinks that asking the producers of SportsCenter, Around The Horn, and PTI to add more hockey content during the playoffs, after ignoring the sport during the regular season, is enough to bring hockey fans back. There’s plenty of lip service, but nothing that indicates that they’re willing to repair their relationship with us.

Doria, though, did have somebody who agreed with him. Kaz said:

I agree. As a die-hard fan, I almost prefer to read/watch something very home-team-centric. Maybe I am a bit of a homer and only want to here good stuff, but the bad stuff is interesting, too. I have the Center Ice package, but never watch a game other than my favorite team…

NBC’s Hammond: Kentucky Derby most complex to cover

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It isn’t a stretch to say that 95 percent of the country couldn’t tell you the name of one horse in the Kentucky Derby Saturday. And maybe that number is low.

But many of us will watch simply because it is the Kentucky Derby. It is the oldest continous sports event (happy No. 138) in the the United States, held annually in the first Saturday of May.

Last year’s race drew an audience of 14.11 million people on NBC. Yes, there’s something to said about tradition. Long live the Run for the Roses.

NBC will have complete coverage, starting at 11 a.m. (Eastern) on NBC Sports Network and then at 4 p.m. on NBC.

Tom Hammond returns as co-host. The sport is in his blood. At one point in college, he thought he would have a career in horse racing.

Funny how things works out. As a broadcaster, he wound up with a front-row seat, playing an integral role in covering the biggest races.

I talked to Hammond yesterday. He made an interesting comment about the Kentucky Derby being the most complex event he covers. Hammond also calls Notre Dame football and will handle track at the Olympics for NBC.

Hammond: A football game takes place in a finite area. You know there’s going to be 11 on each team. Here, there is two minutes of action, and yet everything else is so important to capture what the Derby is all about. Somebody says, ‘It’s a horse race, it last two minutes.’ It’s so much more.

The Olympics is the king of the stories, with athletes from all over the world pursuing their life’s dream. In horse racing, there’s just so many different aspects to it: the owners, the jockeys, the trainers. The horse themselves have so many different personalities. To be able to weave all those stories together is a dream come true for a sportscaster. It’s a gold mine of stories to tell.

What about the unpredictability of the race?

Hammond: There are 20 horses in this race, and often the best horse doesn’t get through. It’s so complex in that way. The other great thing about it is that it’s an any man’s race. The owner with the most money doesn’t always win. Multi-millionaires have spent their whole life trying to win the Derby and haven’t been successful. There’s so many different possibilities.

 

 

 

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A no-no: Angels announcers don’t talk about Weaver’s no-hitter

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I know all about this fabled tradition in baseball: Don’t talk about a no-hitter in progress.

But you know what: I’ve stepped on many cracks and my mother never has suffered a broken back.

I am as superstitous as anyone, but I can’t agree with the approach Angels announcers Victor Rojas and Mark Gubicza took in calling Jared Weaver’s no-hitter Wednesday.

According to Diane Pucin of the Los Angeles Times, the TV announcers opted not to discuss Weaver’s no-hit bid. One word, they thought, and they could doom his chance to make history.

Said Rojas, the son of Cookie Rojas:

Some people say jinxes have no place in sports, but that’s just how I am. I didn’t move from my position after the third inning, I didn’t move any paper. I put my pens back in the same spot. That’s just who I am.

Gubicza said:

It’s a touchy situation. It’s a great discussion to have. There’s no set rule book. I don’t have an issue about saying it, but my job as an analyst is just to describe why Jered is pitching so well.

However, the problem with that approach is that we live in the age of the remote and a million TV channels. People are flipping all the time. You can’t assume everyone watched from the first pitch.

I wonder how many people missed out on Weaver’s bid because when they tuned during the eighth inning, they thought he only was pitching a shutout. The announcers didn’t tell the viewers otherwise.

Jim Carlisle of the Ventura County Star wrote:

(Rojas) tweeted about the game while it was in progress, but again he stepped all  around it without mentioning the no-hitter: “7th inning stretch time w Angels up  9-0. My suggestion to you is to find a TV or tune in a radio. Weaver w 8  K’s.”

And then later: “We’re headed to the 9th w/ a SoCal boy back on the hill to  try & finish this one off. 8 K’s/1 BB 9-0.”

Apparently, it was OK to mention that Weaver had eight strikeouts, but the  fact he had given up no hits was taboo. But the Twitterverse was full of Weaver  talk. Even the Angels themselves tweeted about it: “Jered Weaver has not allowed  a hit through 8 innings against the Twins.”

Jon Miller said in Pucin’s article an announcer has to talk about the no-hitter, jinxes be damned.

I feel like I have a responsibility to my audience, to the station, to the network, to say what’s going on. Plus, I want to maximize my audience. If someone hears from me about a no-hitter, he might call others or text or email and that helps my audience get larger. Some guys use all kinds of euphemisms, talking about ‘no runs, nothing at all,’ they make a game of it. I just think, if it’s a big story, mention it. But it’s a quaint old baseball thing. I don’t blame anybody for doing a game any way they want.

 

 

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Lanny Wadkins makes (limited?) return with Golf Channel

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Lanny Wadkins is back, but will it be a one-shot deal?

The 21-time PGA winner returns to television today after a five-year absence, serving as a lead analyst for Golf Channel’s coverage of the Insperity Championship on the Champions Tour. According to the release, “this will be the first of what may be more future Golf Channel tournament appearances by Wadkins.”

What exactly does “may be” mean? A spokesman said both sides want to see how this tournament goes and then make an evaluation from there.

Wadkins was CBS’ lead golf analyst from 2002-2006 before the network opted for Nick Faldo. Wadkins had his critics sitting in the big seat. However, he knows his golf, and it would be a nice addition for the Golf Channel to add him to its roster of analysts.

 

Mickelson takes jab at Woods’ video

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Tiger Woods and Phil Mickelson have a cool relationship. It’s not outright hatred, but they don’t really care for each other.

It shouldn’t be a surprise that Mickelson had fun at Woods’ expense Wednesday. He obviously noted the furor created by Woods’ Q/A video with fans this week.

Rex Hoggard writes in GolfChannel.com:

Phil Mickelson is not one to ever miss the subtly of the moment, so when he entered the Quail Hollow press room Wednesday afternoon he deadpanned, “Didn’t you guys see my video?”

It was classic Lefty and a not-so-subtle jab at Tiger Woods, who skipped this week’s pre-tournament news conference at the Wells Fargo Championship and instead posted a video on his website answering questions he’d received from fans via social media.

Steve Elling of CBSSportsline.com did a tweet noting Hunter Mahan also piled on Woods:

“I was going to announce that I am doing this only on webcasts from now on.”

 

 

ESPN embarrassed by Phillips hoax

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If you really want to make your head spin, check out all the stuff that’s been written about Sarah Phillips and ESPN.com.

Deadspin started it all with a 5,000-word opus, revealing a scammer using a fake identity who landed a column on sports gambling for ESPN.com.

The story has exploded from there, making my head spin even more. Fang’s Bites has compiled a nice digest of the reports if you have three hours to waste.

Frankly, I have little use for scammers. It happens in all walks of life, including journalism. Remember Janet Cooke of the Washington Post winning a Pulitzer Prize for a fictional story?

However, this story underscores the dangers of knowing exactly who you are dealing with in this often wacky Internet age. You could be sure at the WWL headquarters there will be a complete review of the hiring process here, and that changes will be forthcoming.

This whole episode is embarrassing to ESPN. And it should serve as a warning to other outlets that it also could happen to you.

 

ESPN doesn’t hate hockey, or so it claims

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The question was direct.

“Why does ESPN hate hockey?” I asked Vince Doria, ESPN’s senior vice-president and director of news.

Doria tried to suppress a frustrated laugh. He protested, “We don’t hate hockey.”

Hockey fans, though, know ESPN definitely doesn’t love their sport. There’s a limited presence on SportsCenter since its networks no longer carry games. You won’t find the First Take guys talking much about the Phoenix Coyotes.

According to Deadspin’s Bristolmetrics, which tracks SportsCenter’s dedicated time to a particular sport, hockey accounted for 4.7 percent of its coverage from Jan. 7-April 26. The NBA, meanwhile, had 23.4 percent. Hockey couldn’t even beat “other,” which had 8.8. percent.

Now to be fair, ESPN has raised its hockey allotment during the playoffs. Last week, hockey rose to 15 percent. However, a big part of that might have been due to the New York Rangers winning their series in seven games. Nothing like an iconic New York team to get ESPN excited.

Doria admits ESPN won’t ever get too pumped up about hockey. In a recent Q/A with Doria, he explains why hockey doesn’t move the meter in Bristol.

Why does ESPN hate hockey?

Doria: We don’t hate hockey. When I worked in Boston (as sports editor of the Boston Globe), I probably went to more Bruins games than Celtics. There’s probably not a better in-the-house sport than hockey. Watching it live. My own personal feeling is that it never transferred well to television. I’m not exactly sure why that is.

Why does hockey get a limited presence on SportsCenter?

Doria: It’s a sport that engenders a very passionate local following. If you’re a Blackhawks fan in Chicago, you’re a hardcore fan. But it doesn’t translate to television, and where it really doesn’t transfer much to is a national discussion, which is something that typifies what we do.

Baseball fans are interested where Albert Pujols is going. NBA fans are interested in the Miami Heat. For whatever reason, and this is my unsubstantiated research on it, hockey doesn’t generate that same kind of interest nationwide. You look at national talk shows. Hockey rarely is a topic. People in Boston aren’t that interested with what’s going on with the Blackhawks.

Would it be different if you were a rights holder?

Doria: Well, we were at one time. It wasn’t that different. Listen, I guess if we were rights holder, there probably would be a little more attention paid to it. It’s typical that would happen. We might throw it to commentators who were inside the building. Now we’re not inside the building.

Even though ESPN doesn’t have hockey, you decided to keep Barry Melrose. Why?

Doria: When we lost it, we wanted to keep a hockey presence. We wanted to keep Barry, the best there is in my mind. But now the only place to put Barry is on SportsCenter. If you look at the first few years, after we lost hockey, Barry probably was on SportsCenter more after we lost it than when we had hockey.

Before, he would appear on NHL Tonight. Sometimes, we’d put him on SportsCenter. But there was no real demand to put him on SportsCenter. NHL Tonight was his job, and they’d do all the highlights.

NBC Sports Network has locked up hockey for a long time. What’s going to be ESPN’s approach to the sports going forward?

Doria: We’ll be out at the Stanley Cup. If you watch our show, we do highlights and report scores.

But if you go to our radio and television shows, there’s not a lot of hockey talk. It doesn’t seem like there’s a lot of yammer out there to give us hockey talk.

 

 

Sun-Times reporter’s woes demonstrates danger of Twitter

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When illustrating a point during a baseball game, former Cubs and current White Sox TV analyst Steve Stone likes to say, “For all you youngsters out there….”

Well, for all you journalists out there, young and old, there is a valuable lesson to be learned from what happened to Sun-Times reporter Joe Cowley in recent days. Twitter can blow up in your face.

Robert Feder of TimeOut Chicago reports Cowley is on “final notice” following his sexist tweets that went viral Sunday. Feder writes:

Cowley’s reporting continued uninterrupted as his editors ultimately decided to issue a final warning through the guild process. “If he does anything again, it’s pretty much a fireable offense,” a source said.

Cowley may have a job, but his reputation is battered. Cowley has been vilified on Twitter and many high-profile sites, including Deadspin, which started the pounding with the initial posts on Sunday.

Prior to Sunday, Cowley had to be considered a success for what he accomplished via social media. His edgy tweets gave him more than 10,000 followers. He seemed to enjoy provoking and ticking off people.

I actually saw his initial tweet on Sunday morning, where he complained about a delayed airline flight:

Flight delayed because of “Mandatory Crew Rest.” God forbid anyone strains themselves handing out orange juice off a cart for an extra hour.

I then left my computer, and Cowley should have too. From there, a tweet about a “chick pilot” led to him engaging in a Twitter dialogue with sports reporter Sloane Martin. It led to the ultimate tweet that pulled the pin out of the grenade.

@SloaneMartin And when you come back, hottie up that pic a bit more. You look like the Russian icy villain from a 70s Bond movie. XOXO.

Cowley’s “Jimmy The Greek” moment eventually had him taking down his Twitter account. But it was too late. His tweets had gone viral.

What happened to Cowley is why editors are having special seminars about Twitter. They are asking–pleading–with their staffs to be careful about their tweets.

This isn’t a freedom of speech issue. Cowley’s Twitter handle was CST_Cowley. He wasn’t just representing himself. He also was representing the Sun-Times. Its editors don’t want to be known as the kind of paper that uses the phrase: “Hottie up that pic.”

As Feder notes, the Cowley controversy overshadowed news that the Sun-Times actually had an increase in circulation.

The lesson for all you youngsters: Exercise a certain degree of caution when it comes to Twitter. Know there’s a line, especially if you’re representing a news organization. And know that if you cross that line, you are risking your career, and more importantly, your reputation.

Just ask Joe Cowley.