Out at Fox: Poor playoff game performance likely impacted Billick at network

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Sometimes all you get is one shot in sports. That goes for in the booth too.

Brian Billick likely lost his gig as a NFL analyst for Fox Sports in part because he stumbled during the Seattle-Atlanta playoff game in Jan., 2013. The network has confirmed Jason McIntyre’s report in the Big Lead that the former Ravens coach won’t be back this fall.

“We simply decided to move in a different direction. We appreciate all of Brian’s contributions over the years at Fox,” said Fox spokesman Dan Bell.

Usually, multiple factors are involved, but don’t discount his shaky performance when Fox awarded him and Thom Brennaman a playoff game after the 2012 season. In the video, you can hear Billick commit a major gaffe, saying Seattle won the game. Atlanta did.

OK, that happens. However, Awful Announcing noted Billick was panned on Twitter throughout the entire game.

Newsday’s Neil Best tweet: “Brian Billick said a lot of really weird stuff during last few minutes of Seahawks-Falcons game.”

All the negative vibes made an impression on Fox. Tellingly, Billick-Brennaman were passed over for this year’s playoff assignment for Kevin Burkhardt-John Lynch. And now he’s out.

Look for Billick to expand his role with NFL Network.

 

 

Mark Cuban: NFL getting ‘too hoggy’ with TV expansion; ‘Hogs get slaughtered’

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Take note, NFL. Mark Cuban is comparing you to pigs.

Yesterday, during a pregame chat with reporters, the Dallas Mavericks owner said there are risks for the NFL in trying to dominate every night of TV. He put it in livestock terms.

From Tim MacMahon of ESPNDallas.com.

“I think the NFL is 10 years away from an implosion,” Cuban said Sunday evening when his pregame conversation with reporters, which covered a broad range of topics, swayed toward football. “I’m just telling you, pigs get fat, hogs get slaughtered. And they’re getting hoggy. Just watch. Pigs get fat, hogs get slaughtered. When you try to take it too far, people turn the other way.

“I’m just telling you, when you’ve got a good thing and you get greedy, it always, always, always, always, always turns on you. That’s rule number one of business.”

Later Cuban said:

“They’re trying to take over every night of TV,” Cuban said. “Initially, it’ll be, ‘Yeah, they’re the biggest-rating thing that there is.’ OK, Thursday, that’s great, regardless of whether it impacts [the NBA] during that period when we cross over. Then if it gets Saturday, now you’re impacting colleges. Now it’s on four days a week. …

 “It’s all football. At some point, the people get sick of it.”

And finally:

He compared it to the decline in popularity of “Who Wants to Be a Millionaire” after the game show expanded to air five days a week.

“They put it on every night,” Cuban said. “Not 100 percent analogous, but they handled it the same. I’m just telling you, pigs get fat, hogs get slaughtered.

“Who want to be a Millionaire?” Seriously?

I think the NFL is on an entirely different level. Now if Cuban was talking about “Shark Tank,” that would be a different story.

Cuban is right when he says the NFL is the biggest pig in the world. Nobody, though, will be slaughtering it anytime soon.

 

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Too much hype for Wiggins, Parker? Definitely raises question as two ‘next’ stars combine for 1 NCAA win

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Question name the player who had this line in his final college basketball game:

6 of 14 from the field; 13 points; fouled out.

Did you guess Andrew Wiggins? Jabari Parker? Wrong.

The answer: Michael Jordan.

Yep, in Jordan’s final game at North Carolina, he was locked down by Dan Dakich (with some help from Bob Knight’s gameplan) in Indiana’s 72-68 upset over the then No. 1 Tar Heels.

So before you condemn Wiggins and Parker for coming up short in their first and likely final NCAA tournaments, just remember even the greatest player ever had a slice of heartbreak in March. (Of course, he did hit the shot to win the title as a freshman in 1982)

Yet having said that, CBS’ Jim Nantz was right to question the media’s obsession in hyping players before they play a minute of college ball. It’s hard to remember two freshmen who received more hype coming into a season. Parker even received the LeBron James treatment from Sports Illustrated, appearing on the cover as a high school player.

Wiggins and Parker both might be sensational NBA players. However, were they worthy of such preseason fanfare considering they combined to win one NCAA tournament game?

I know what Nantz said about the NCAAs being a team game. Yet with only five players on the court, in no sport does one megastar have a greater impact on his team. Carmelo Anthony led Syracuse to the title as a one-and-done freshman. Derrick Rose got Memphis to the finals. Anthony Davis helped get it done as the big player in Kentucky’s sensational freshman class.

Fact is, if Wiggins and Parker are truly transcendent stars of the next generation, you make it to the second week of the tournament. Or in Parker’s case, the second round.

Will the fall of Wiggins and Parker cause the media to use some perspective when the next big high school stars come down the pipeline? Will they done down the hype?

Not likely. There is an obsession in the media to label the “next” in sports. We want to know who we are going to be watching and talking about for the next 15-20 years.

So come next year, be prepared to be hear about the next best-thing freshman. The media can’t help it. It’s what we do.

 

 

 

Say what? Catalon says he didn’t know Polish remark was ‘derogatory’

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Unfortunately, people are talking about Andrew Catalon after  calling his first NCAA tournament games last week. However, it is not the kind of attention he wanted.

From the AP Friday night:

A CBS announcer has apologized to a Polish-born Gonzaga player for using a derogatory term while describing the defense Oklahoma State was using against Przemek Karnowski.

In an effort to make a comeback in the second half, Oklahoma State started deliberately fouling Karnowski, who is a poor free throw shooter. Andrew Catalon, the play-by-play announcer for the game, called the strategy ”Hack-a-Polack.”

Catalon’s broadcasting partner, former NBA player Mike Gminski, who is of Polish descent, immediately responded, ”Easy now,” and chuckled at the comment.

Catalon apologized immediately. He then continued the apology tour in an email exchange with Richard Deitsch of SI.com.

Catalon: First and foremost, I’m deeply sorry. The honest truth is that I had no idea it’s considered a derogatory term. I’m ashamed and embarrassed to admit that, but in no way was I aware that I was making an insensitive or off-color remark. That’s not who I am.

SI.com: You apologized to Przemek Karnowski afterward. How did you go about doing that?

Catalon: It was very important to me that I apologized to him in-person. I immediately issued an apology on-air, but I wanted to meet with him face-to-face and apologize. I went into the Gonzaga locker room right after the game and he was very gracious in accepting my apology, as was Gonzaga head coach Mark Few, who offered his support.

SI.com: How concerned are you about this incident staying with you heading forward?

Catalon: I made an honest mistake, and I feel terrible about it. I hope that this does not define me and people will see me for the person and broadcaster that I have always been.

SI.com: What is your response to those viewers who believe you should be suspended or pulled from the tournament?

Catalon: I hope they understand that I made a mistake and I sincerely apologize for my poor choice of words and insensitive remark. I’m not a mean-spirited person. I’m deeply sorry.

Catalon didn’t know that it was “a derogatory term?” If that’s the case, then he better brush up on other terms that might be considered offensive.

Listen, I am all for seeing new people get an opportunity to work big games at the highest level. It was refreshing to hear a new voice in Catalon.

However, I’m sure he knows every announcer’s network future always rests on a precarious ledge. All it takes is one misplaced slip to send a promising newcomer into a free fall.

We likely won’t know until next year’s NCAA whether Catalon pays a price for this year’s mistake.

Weekend wrap: Top 10 sports days; NBA TV talks; Adam Schefter; Review of George Will’s book on Wrigley Field

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Spanning the globe to bring you the constant variety of sports media….

Best sports days: Matt Yoder of Awful Announcing writes about the 10 best sports days on the calendar. As a golf guy, I support his No. 2 choice.

2. Final Round of the Masters

Maybe it’s Jim Nantz and his poetic praise of the azaleas over the piano and strings.  Maybe it’s the hushed tones of the announcers referring to “patrons” instead of fans.  Maybe it’s the sight of sunshine and green grass after a long winter.  Whatever the case, there’s something totally unique about The Masters as a television event.  And more specifically, the presentation of the Final Round convinces you that the entire world is watching.  From Arnold Palmer in 1960 to Jack Nicklaus in 1986 to Tiger Woods in 1997 and Adam Scott last year, there’s no better amphitheater in sports than the Back 9 on Sunday at The Masters and it’s proven year after year after year.

NBA TV: John Lombardo and John Ourand of Sports Business Daily write about the landscape for the NBA as it pursues new network TV deals.

Moving the NBA on TNT off of Thursday night?

Taking on a third TV partner?

Bringing the NBA’s digital rights back in-house?

These are three of the ideas that have been floated as the league starts the process of negotiating its next media deal.

The talks are still in their embryonic stages, so the ideas may never come to fruition. But the fact that such topics are even being contemplated illustrates how the league and its TV network partners are viewing the upcoming negotiations: Everything is on the table as both sides try to figure out how the NBA media landscape will look into the next decade.

Adam Schefter: On page 2 of his voluminous weekly column, SI.com’s Richard Deitsch talks to Schefter about the competition among NFL TV reporters.

Believe it or not, what drives me is my boss, Seth Markman. He knows how to push my buttons. Before free agency every year, he gives me a list of players and the stories he wants me to get. This year he dubbed it “The Markman 50.” He promised me $1 — very Trading Places-ish — for each name I got. Maybe I shouldn’t admit this, but I was obsessed with landing every player I could on The Markman 50. It had nothing to do with the dollar, and everything with the competition with him. We would argue about whether guys belonged, where the credit should be. Even when a player like Ravens linebacker and Markman 50er member Daryl Smith re-signed, it brought me far more gratification than it should. When Seth first sent me this year’s list, he wrote he expected 45 of the 50 stories. So considerate of him to leave such a wide margin of error. All week I felt like I was competing to get as many players as possible on The Markman 50. I told him he’s driving me like a mule. He offered not to do it next year. I told him it’s like going through boot camp; you’re better for having gone through it.

Dodgers TV Network: The Los Angeles Daily News writes an editorial saying the new Dodgers network shuts out too many people in LA.

The Dodgers team that opens the baseball season this weekend should be one of the most fun-to-watch in years. Too bad many fans won’t be able to do so.

For decades, even amid the rise of cable and satellite television, the Dodgers continued to show a lot of games on over-the-air TV. In 2013, they showed 50 games on Channel 9. Only one other major-league team was seen more on “free” channels.

So it may shock Southern Californians to find that in 2014, the Dodgers won’t show any games on free TV. Except for their turns on national broadcasts, all of their games will be on SportsNet L.A., Time Warner Cable’s new all-Dodgers channel. With other TV service providers balking at paying for the Dodgers content, it’s likely only Time Warner customers will see the opening games.

George Will: Sports Book Review Center reviews Will’s latest book on the 100th anniversary of Wrigley Field.

Will has lived in the Washington area for many years, and he certainly can go to an Orioles or Nationals game when convenient. However, it’s still true that your favorite team as a child usually stays with you for a lifetime. “A Nice Little Place on the North Side” is a charming love letter to a team that has frequently broken his heart, yet left him coming back for more.

Boomer and Carton: Neil Best of Newsday writes about national exposures for the WFAN morning team.

McManus said he has not heard complaints from the hinterlands about hearing and seeing New York voices.

“It’s playing well, I think, nationally,’’ he said. “It’s more obviously geared toward local New York sports, but I think both of them are entertaining enough and both of them talk about even non-sports elements sometimes that I think it plays really well.

“Whether you’re talking about New York sports or the Los Angeles Lakers or the Miami Heat, if it’s good entertaining radio and good entertaining television it will play well across a national audience.’’

Covering the beat: Jason Lloyd, the Cleveland Cavaliers beat writer for the Akron Beacon Journal, writes about being on 24/7 call.

I was standing on a golf course when I learned the Cavs were trading J.J. Hickson. I was at Panera trying to have lunch with my wife when Chris Grant was fired.

I was standing in a pet store last summer trying to replace the family goldfish when news broke Andrew Bynum would join the Cavs. When I had a story that was critical of Kyrie Irving a few weeks back, my boss edited it from the frozen-food aisle of Giant Eagle.

Covering the tournament: Michael Bradley, writing for the National Sports Journalism Center at Indiana, says it still is tough to beat covering the NCAA tournament.

The media can’t help but fall prey to the moment, too. Despite the time-honored mandate of remaining objective, writers and broadcasters find themselves rooting – for the event itself. It’s so much fun to be in an arena knowing there are four important games ahead, and the whole day is part of an event that captivates America. Just as the teams try to elevate their performances to reach the tournament’s level, so too do media members seek to do their jobs to a higher standard. Even the pre-game hanging out takes on a tone of greater importance, since A Teamers from outlets around the country have congregated to chronicle the happenings.

APSE: As the association nears its 40th anniversary, president Tim Stephens outlines some goals for APSE.

In D.C., we’ll celebrate APSE’s 40th anniversary with a forward-thinking conference lineup that will emphasize professional development and hands-on training. APSE was formed in 1974 to help set high standards for American sports journalism. It has been a support group, an advocate for access, a source of mentorship and career development and a beacon of quality during that time. Our mission has not changed even if the industry around us has, leading us to evolve with it.

APSE has taken on serious challenges before; we must do so again now.

 

It’s Awesome, babee! Vitale, CBS, Turner excited about first big day of NCAAs

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I got this tweet last night.

If it is possible to hear someone’s voice via Twitter, it would be Dickie V’s. He comes through loud and clear, no matter the medium.

CBS and Turner were just as excited about the first full day of the tournament, if a bit more restrained. Day 1 pulled in the biggest overnight numbers in 23 years.

Looks like it could be a big tournament for all. Looking forward to more tweet from Vitale.

Here is the official rundown:

*******

CBS Sports and Turner Sports’ exclusive second-round coverage of the 2014 NCAA Division I Men’s Basketball Championship across TBS, CBS, TNT and truTV on Thursday, March 20 delivered the highest rating for the first Thursday of the NCAA Tournament in 23 years (since the tournament expanded to four telecast windows for the entire day in 1991). Thursday’s games averaged a 6.0/14 overnight ratings/share, up 3% compared with a 5.8/14 in 2013, according to Nielsen metered market ratings.

The overall tournament average rating, including the NCAA First Four, is a 5.6/12, up 8% from a 5.2/12 last year, and is also the highest rating for the tournament at this point in the event since 1991.

Thursday’s coverage, which made NCAA Tournament history with four overtime games in one day, showed ratings growth among the telecast windows.

The first daytime telecast window (12:00-4:45 PM, ET) averaged a 4.6/15 to deliver the highest rating for the time slot in 23 years.  The telecast window is up 12% compared with a 4.1/14 last year.

The second daytime telecast window (2:45-7:15 PM, ET) averaged a 5.4/14 to garner the second highest rating for the time slot since 1991.

The first primetime telecast window (6:45-10:30 PM, ET) averaged a 7.7/15 to register the highest rating for the time slot in 23 years. The window is up 4% over a 7.4/14 in 2013.

The second primetime window (9:30 PM-1:45 AM, ET) averaged a 6.2/12.

My Chicago Tribune story on monetizing Halas Hall: Bears open headquarters with new event center

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This falls under the category of sports business. However, it also is a follow-up to a sports media story I did last fall.

I did a piece in today’s Chicago Tribune on the Bears looking to monetize Halas Hall, their headquarters and training facility in Lake Forest. The team built a new event center as part of a 43,000-square foot addition.

You also can access the package, which features a video and pictures, via my twitter feed at Sherman_Report.

The Bears’ new space also includes a state-of-the-art broadcast operation. In October, I did a story for USA Today on how NFL teams also are becoming content companies.

All in all, the league continues to find news ways to print money.

Here is the excerpt to my Tribune story on the facility.

*********

Ted Phillips always was struck whenever visitors walked through Halas Hall. The Bears president saw their eyes darting around and the look of fascination on their faces as they toured the team’s headquarters and training facility in Lake Forest.

He realized he had an untapped commodity.

“It amazed me that they were so intrigued,” Phillips said. “Usually, the team wasn’t playing. There weren’t any players around. They loved just being where the Bears practice. It got us to start thinking, how can we do more?”

The result of the brainstorming is a new 43,000-square-foot addition to the Bears’ facility that will allow fans — at least well-connected fans — to have dramatically increased access to Halas Hall. And it will enable the Bears to make some money in the place where key decisions are made.

The sprawling facility, renovated during the past year, includes expanded locker rooms and workout areas, a new dining complex for the players, and a state-of-the-art broadcast operation for TV and radio shows produced by the Bears.

The centerpiece of the addition, from a business and marketing standpoint, is the new event center, which can seat up to 180 people. There also is an airy two-story atrium with touch screens highlighting Bears history and the current team. In another part of Halas Hall, there is a new plush skybox for VIPs to watch practice. The team also is shopping naming rights to the addition, though George Halas’ name will remain on the entire facility.

When asked if Halas Hall now is set up to become a profit center, Phillips said, “No doubt about it.”

Bears officials last week told a group of prominent team sponsors that the space is available for charity functions, business meetings, sales presentations and promotion opportunities. The message was clear: This is a chance for companies to take people behind the curtain.

“You can buy a ticket to a game,” Chris Hibbs, vice president of sales and marketing, told the gathering. “You can’t buy a ticket into this place.”

Hibbs said access will be available only to sponsors, business partners, suite owners and key philanthropic supporters.

“Would we sell space now to someone who came in off the street?” Hibbs said. “The answer is ‘no.'”

The Bears view the event center as a way to enhance the value of doing business with the team. Promotion is terrific, Hibbs said, but marketing has become about providing a different experience to clients.

“Brands across the board in sports realize the need to come up with more experiences that people can’t get elsewhere,” Hibbs said. “Not to oversell this, but it’s just different from what people have seen before. The average fan doesn’t get a chance to see this. They’re usually blown away.”