Monthly Archives: April 2012

Guillen controversy: How much will Showtime show?

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Everyone knows what Ozzie Guillen said and the ramifications. Now viewers will get a chance to see what happened behind the scenes.

Saturday at 9 p.m., Showtime will air a 30-minute preview of The Franchise: A Season with the Miami Marlins. The weekly series then will premiere with a one-hour episode on July 11, followed by 30-minute episodes the next 7 weeks.

Here’s the trailer.

Showtime, which is doing the series in association with Major League Baseball, obviously wants to strike while the Guillen controversy still is hot. As you can see from the end of the trailer, the situation definitely is addressed. The final cut shows Guillen being informed that he will be suspended.

The Marlins were picked for the series because of all the new developments going into the season: new stadium, new manager, new high-profile players. Everyone knew Guillen could be unpredictable, but nobody could have predicted he would have spark a politically-based revolt against him in Miami less than a week into the season.

“This is an exercise in flexibility,” said Matt Bourne, MLBs vice-president of business public relations. “What happened is a major story and it will be addressed in a meaningful way.”

However, keep in mind that Saturday’s show is a 30-minute preview, encompassing all the developments from last fall through the first week of the season. I expect the Guillen saga will have small portion of the episode relative to the local firestorm it caused.

Also, remember MLB and the Marlins have a say over the final version. I expect it will be covered here and then it’s time to move on.

Regardless, there will be no shortage of storylines in Miami. The series figures to be lively.

And profanity alert: Unlike the trailer, which has many bleeps, Bourne said Guillen’s colorful language will be heard loud and clear. After all, this is Showtime.

 

 

 

 

NBC to stream every sport live from Olympics

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Farewell to tape delay and waiting for NBC to package the neat stuff in primetime at the Olympics.

The network has decided that all 32 sports in London will be streamed live at nbcolympics.com.

Richard Sandomir reports in the New York Times:

The live streaming of every event is a major shift at the NBC Sports Group, which was formed after Comcast acquired control of NBC Universal. Under General Electric, its former owner, NBC Sports did not stream live events that would be featured in prime time, lest they diminish ratings.

Two years ago, at the Winter Olympics in Vancouver, only hockey and curling were streamed live in order to protect prime time. At the 2008 Beijing Summer Games, 25 sports were streamed live but none of them were important to the evening broadcast, which is usually at least four hours long.

“The way consumers consume video has changed over the years,” Mr. Cordella said. “We can’t go back with hindsight and say we were wrong.”

He said that NBC had data to show that live streaming could increase viewership of a event shown hours later on delay. “We’re not scared of cannibalization,” Mr. Cordella said, adding, “Anytime you have a great event that happens before it shows on the air, it increases ratings and generates buzz.”

It’s the right move for NBC. It will greatly increase traffic to the site, and frankly the people who watch on their computers will be the hardcore fans. The bulk of the primetime audience is made up of casual viewers who care about these sports once every four years.

A win-win.

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Bobby Valentine adjusts to Twitter/social media world

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Interesting piece on WEEI.com’s site on Bobby Valentine and social media. The Red Sox manager, who already is under fire for a 4-8 start, talks about the challenges of the new media world.

It’ll be an even bigger challenge for Valentine if the Red Sox continue to lose. Twitter will become a very dangerous place for him.

From the story:

“The thing I think surprised me, I haven’t managed here in the States in 10 years and I think there’s a difference in the deliverance of information,” Valentine said.

According to the manager, this revelation was brought to the surface just a few days ago, thanks to the media tsunami that ensued after Valentine’s comments regarding Kevin Youkilis. The sound bite was surfaced Sunday night, and by 9 a.m. the next morning he was clarifying not only the initial statement, but a flurry of reaction that had washed over the 24-hour news cycle in the hours leading up to the morning press conference.

“I probably realized it the whole time, but it jumped on me that this is the world we’re living in,” Valentine said. “It’s cool.”

But is it really?

“Sure,” he explained. “It’s another step. When we talk about the good players, they’re the ones who adjust. Adjust during an at-bat. Adjust during a season. To be good at life you have to keep adjusting. When you start going into the grave is when you stop adjusting. So I’ll have to adjust.”

ESPN’s Michael Jordan ad is great

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This new ESPN ad is destined to become an instant classic.

Don’t you just want to give the poor guy a big hug? By the way, according to this site, there are 3,026 people named Michael Jordan in the U.S. They can relate.

 

Examining your couch time with NFL in 2012

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There’s something wonderful about the release of the NFL schedule. I always picture those late November, December Sundays when it is cold outside, giving you the perfect excuse to park on the couch all day and watch football. Of course, I do the same thing on those beautiful Sundays in September.

Here’s my breakdown of how the NFL divided up the goodies among the networks.

NBC: The network gets 19 games this year, including a new Thanksgiving night telecast. And it’s a good one: New England at the Jets.

NBC should get off to a huge start with Dallas-New York Giants on Wednesday, Sept. 5 and then the Pittsburgh-Denver game on that Sunday. It’ll be all-Manning-all-the-time during the first week. Should do big ratings.

Best games for NBC: Besides the first week, its schedule is loaded: Detroit-San Francisco on Sept. 16; New England-Baltimore on Sept. 23; Green Bay-Giants on Nov. 25 and several others.

Landmine alert: NBC has the flex schedule beginning on Nov. 18, so it won’t get stuck with any late-season dogs. Prior to that week, it has Houston-Chicago on Nov. 11. Keep on an eye on that one if both teams underachieve. However, even then, Al Michaels always likes doing a game in Chicago.

ESPN: It gets a better slate than last year, when it had some atrocious games (San Diego-Jacksonville, St. Louis-Seattle) at the end. Still, I can’t say I’m thrilled about a Baltimore-Cincinnati/San Diego-Oakland doubleheader for its first Monday night of the year. It’s not exactly Pittsburgh-Denver.

Best games for ESPN: ESPN gets its first crack at Peyton Manning with Denver-Atlanta on Sept. 17. Chicago-Dallas should do a strong rating on Oct. 1; Philadelphia-New Orleans on Nov. 5 could be intriguing if the Saints hold up; and Atlanta-Detroit on Dec. 22.

Landmine alert: With no flex options, it has several clunker candidates. San Francisco-Arizona on Oct. 29; Jets-Tennessee on Dec. 17 has potential disaster written all over it; and Atlanta-Detroit could be a dud if the Lions revert to their old form.

NFL Network: It’s the first season of their new expanded 13-game package.

Best games for NFL Network: The NFL awarded itself a plum for its opener: Chicago at Green Bay on Sept. 13. You’ve got to like Giants at Carolina the following week; New Orleans-Atlanta on Nov. 29; and Denver-Oakland on Dec. 6.

Landmine alert: Unless Andrew Luck morphs into Peyton Manning really quick, I’m betting most people take a pass on Indianapolis-Jacksonville on Nov. 8.

Fox: The NFC network gets out of the gate quick with San Francisco-Green Bay as its first doubleheader game.

Best games for Fox: Giants at San Francisco in an NFC title game rematch on Oct. 14; New Orleans-Green Bay on Sept. 30; Giant-Dallas on Oct. 28.

Landmine alert: Any games with the 49ers. Are they are a one-year wonder? Fox obviously can switch off its highlighted doubleheader slots, but it would help the network if the 49ers remained strong.

CBS: With Denver’s first two games in prime time, the AFC network has to wait until week 3 to get a shot at Peyton Manning.

Best games for CBS: Denver-New England on Oct. 7 with Manning-Brady; Pittsburgh-Giants on Nov. 4; Pittsburgh-Baltimore on Dec. 2.

Landmine alert: CBS needs Manning to be healthy and playing like his old self. If not, CBS will see a lot of potential ratings points fly out the window for those Denver games.

 

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Mayhem ruining good story for NHL playoffs

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The storyline is being hijacked for the NHL.

Instead of talking about exciting series leading to strong increases in the ratings for NBC and the NBC Sports Network, the story is about a continuing string of brutal, vicious hits making hockey out to be the sport of thugs.

Another one occurred in the Chicago-Phoenix series last night. Watch how Phoenix’s Raffi Torres takes out Marian Hossa.

This is the NBC Sports Network call. I was watching the local telecast on Comcast Sports Net in Chicago. Pat Foley and Ed Olczyk were going crazy. Olczyk, who handles color for the Hawks along with his network duties, called for Torres, a repeat offender, to receive a 10-game suspension.

Amazingly, Torres didn’t even get a penalty for the hit which had Hossa being carried off the ice in a stretcher. Wonder what game they were watching.

All in all, it was another black mark for the NHL and commissioner Gary Bettman, who was at the game. Stu Hackel ripped into the league at SI.com.

After watching too much go too far during the last five days, I think it should be obvious to anyone who has any sense of proportion that the Stanley Cup playoffs are out of control. There have been head-rammings, sucker punches, maulings and ambushes, all of which is apart from the more commonplace vendettas, elbows, crosschecks, spearing, charging, knee-to-knee shots and line brawls that we’ve come to expect each spring.

This isn’t just hard hockey. It is, as one of the sport’s prominent personages called it during the first phone call I got on Monday morning, “a disgrace.”

I began watching the NHL 50 years ago and I can’t recall ever seeing anything like this, not even in the game’s darkest days of the mid-1970s. In more games than not, the play has degenerated into open warfare.

The NHL is ruining its chance to build some serious momentum during the playoffs. This twitter feed from a fan following the Hossa hit should get the league’s full attention.

I almost don’t even care about this game right now. That was one of the most sickening headshots I’ve ever seen in my life. NHL, NFL, MMA.

NBC wins: Manning, Broncos vs. Pittsburgh in Sunday night opener

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As predicted here this morning, NBC won the Peyton Manning sweepstakes.

It’ll be Pittsburgh at Denver on Sunday night during week 1 of the NFL season, according to several reports on Twitter. NBC should score huge ratings for Manning’s first game in a Broncos uniform. Also, it’s a rematch of last year’s playoff game, which Denver and Tim Tebow won in a dramatic overtime finish.

What ever happened to that Tebow guy, anyway?

According to Peter King, Baltimore travels to Cincinnati for ESPN’s first Monday night game of the season.

The entire schedule will be revealed on NFL Network and ESPN at 7 p.m.

Let the Peyton Manning countdown begin.

 

Radio war: Messy situation looms over dismissal of SF host

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Nothing moves the sports talk radio meter like a heavy dose of controversy. KNBR in San Francisco has a good one within its own walls.

Ralph Barbieri had been a fixture at KNBR for 28 years before he was fired last week. The veteran sports talk host worked an afternoon shift with former NBA player Tom Tolbert.

Barbieri is 66 and suffers from Parkinson’s disease. His attorney, Angela Alioto claims he was unfairly terminated.

A San Francisco Examiner story reports:

While station managers reportedly told Barbieri he was being fired for  tardiness, Alioto said that the termination was motivated by age and disability  discrimination, because Barbieri, 66, suffers from Parkinson’s disease. Though  the condition is apparently slow-developing, Alioto said he takes dozens of  pills a day to control it.

“They told him he’s not peppy and energetic,” she said. “He goes to work  every day, it’s just that he’s not as perky as he used to be.”

Alioto told the San Jose Mercury-News:

“The whole tardiness issue is just a cover-up to get rid of someone who is sick,” Alioto said by phone, noting that Barbieri was likely to rack up huge medical bills in future years.

KNBR VP Bill Bungeroth refuted the claims.

“It is disappointing that Ralph’s lawyers have issued a press release filled  with inaccurate statements and baseless accusations,” Bungeroth said. “The  simple fact is that Ralph refused to honor some of the most basic terms of his  contract.”

Looks like this one will land in the courts, and not a basketball court.

Viral video: Ian Eagle says he and Fratello were just joking

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There’s a video making the rounds showing a somewhat heated exchange between Ian Eagle and Mike Fratello during Saturday’s New Jersey Nets-Boston game. All of which begs the obvious question: You mean, people are actually watching Nets games?

Somebody noticed and the video went viral.

In the video, Eagle scolds Fratello over a previous discussion about slip screens. It certainly sounds as if Eagle is ticked off.

However, Eagle tells Bob Raissman of the New York Daily News that the pair were just joking. Eagle said:

“Every bit of that was a put-on. Not 40%. Not 70%. It was 100% busting each  other’s chops. We do it every game. What happens sometimes is the  local audience knows what we’re up to, but when something like this goes viral  the unfortunate part is the familiarity goes out the window. There are people  who just don’t get it, they’re not in on the joke. . . . Sarcasm is hard to  comprehend, especially when you can’t see the broadcasters.”

Do you believe him? Matt Yoder, who did an initial analysis of the alleged spat at Awful Announcing, writes:

While that’s a good story, and it’s nice that Eagle addressed what happened, I’m not buying it…

I will say this: Calling Nets games would be enough to make anyone cranky.

 
 

 

ESPN free agent Michelle Beadle: What is her next move?

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Michelle Beadle is one of the big free agents on the market, and we’re all breathless about her next move. However, I’ll stop short at hyperventilating.

Beadle’s contract with ESPN is up at the end of May. The co-host of Sportsnation currently is allowed to negotiate with other networks.

Colin Cowherd spoofed her about her status during Monday’s show.

Beadle should have plenty of options, including those from outside of the sports realm. However, she is playing coy about her decision.

She told SportsGrid:

I 100% don’t know what I’m doing. I’m not trying to be coy or cute or anything. I really don’t.

In a wide ranging interview with Big Lead last week in which we learn her favorite Friends character is Chandler, Beadle said:

You know what’s funny – I can honestly say that I have no idea. I’m not in the room, I’m not on the phone. That’s all CAA stuff. I go to work, I get questioned a lot, and I’ve gotten some funny comments … but I really don’t know. I haven’t even had a chance to make a decision because technically we’re not allowed to talk to anyone until next week.

Next week now is this week. Presumably, her agents are talking now.

We’ll interrupt regular programming as events warrant.