Monthly Archives: May 2012

After 45 years, still teaching Hockey 101 in Los Angeles

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The Kings have been playing in Los Angeles since 1967. Yet on the eve of their series with New Jersey, the Los Angeles Daily News felt compelled to run a story with this headline:

Hockey 101: Tips for watching the L.A. Kings in the Stanley Cup Final

The piece was written by the Daily News’ fine long-time sports media columnist Tom Hoffarth. Yep, still explaining hockey after 45 years.

I tapped into Hoffarth’s expertise to see how the Kings are covered in Los Angeles. Again, it’s not exactly like Detroit for the Red Wings or Boston for the Bruins.

“Their games are sold out, and they have a real passionate following,” Hoffarth said. “Youth hockey is bigger than you’d think in Los Angeles. You see kids in Kings jerseys. But it’s not like the Lakers or the Dodgers.”

Indeed, while the Los Angeles Times has Hall of Fame hockey writer Helene Elliott, the paper didn’t staff all of their road games. That’s better than the other papers. The Daily News has used a free lancer to cover the team at home. The Orange County Register relies mostly on wires for the Kings. The paper, though, does staff its more local home team, the Anaheim Mighty Ducks.

Jim Carlisle, who writes about sports media for the Ventura County Star, spoofed hockey in a column. He writes:

Mark this down somewhere. It’s a momentous occasion. It’s a column about  hockey.

I know! Amazing, isn’t it?

Next thing you know I’ll be saying something good about soccer. Well, let’s  not get too crazy now.

Of course, hockey and soccer are pretty much the same game; just in one of  them, they don’t know enough to come in out of the cold.

As for television, much was made of the embarrassing gaffe by a local TV report that used a Sacramento Kings logo for Kings story (pictured above). Easy to see how that would be confusing.

Again, all you need to know about hockey in LA.

“Very few of the TV reporters know much about hockey,” Hoffarth said. “It’s pretty humorous to see how they screw up the names. Jim Hill has been around here forever, and he still butchers the names.”

The best thing that happened to the Kings is that the Lakers and Los Angeles Clippers both lost in the playoffs. Even then, hockey didn’t surge to the top headline right away.

“Instead of stories about the Kings going to the Final, the papers all led with obits on the Lakers,” Hoffarth said.

Ah, such is the reality for hockey in LA. If you live in LA and want to learn more about the game, check Hoffarth’s story. It includes this passage about the puck:

Tip No. 1: Don’t necessarily try to focus on the puck.

Said Bob Miller, the Kings’ play-by-play voice:

“I usually tell people who watch the game for the first time just to focus on the area in front of the net. That’s where the puck will end up sometime.”

Added Jim Fox, the Kings’ TV analyst: “The camera’s focus on the puck isn’t as important as its ability to provide close enough action to see as many skaters as possible at the same time. It’s just like watching a basketball game on ice. If you can tell who’s carrying the puck, you don’t need to focus on the puck and follow it pass to pass.”

Again, they aren’t writing this story in Boston.

 

 

 

 

 

Saturday flashback: LeBron James’ first game in NBA

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Last week, we offered ESPN’s broadcast of LeBron James in high school. Today, we’ll look at its broadcast of his first pro game.

I was going to save this for later in the playoffs, but given the way the Indy series is going, I wanted to post this while he’s still playing.

The open, with Brad Nessler, Sean Elliott and Dan Majerle, is featured here. Then amazingly, the game is joined in progress as the Knicks game went long. Can you imagine that happening today?

As a result, ESPN had to show highlights of James’ 10-point first quarter against Sacramento.

 

Kuselias named host of NBC Sports Network talk show

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This just in from NBC Sports Network:

Erik Kuselias has been named the primary host of NBC Sports Network’s NBC SportsTalk. Kuselias has transitioned from Golf Channel’s Morning Drive to serve as the nightly host of NBC SportsTalk.

One of the NBC Sports Group’s most versatile hosts, Kuselias has covered the NFL, PGA, NASCAR, college football and fantasy football during his decade long career as a sports television and radio host.

“It’s great to have a versatile talent like Erik already within the NBC Sports Group family that can help make us better as we continue to grow the NBC Sports Network,” said Sam Flood, Executive Producer, NBC Sports and NBC Sports Network.

Most recently, Kuselias served as co-host of Morning Drive on The Golf Channel. Before arriving at NBC, Kuselias was the host of NASCAR Now on ESPN2 and The Erik Kuselias Show on ESPN Radio. He also previously hosted NFL on ESPN Radio during the NFL season, and served as a host for College Football Live. In addition, Kuselias hosted the Emmy-Award winning show Fantasy Football Now.

About NBC SportsTalk: NBC Sports Network’s flagship news and information show offers breaking news, highlights, features and in-depth analysis from award-winning journalists. NBC SportsTalk debuted on September 8, 2011 and airs from 6 –7 p.m. ET, depending on live sports programming. NBC SportsTalk features talent from across all NBC Sports Group platforms, including Peter King of Sports Illustrated and Football Night in America and Mike Florio of ProFootballTalk on NBCSports.com.

ESPN’s policies on Presidential election coverage: No political commentary

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Perhaps inspired by Charles Barkley’s rant about Mitt Romney on TNT a few weeks ago, ESPN has posted its policies on coverage of the presidential election.

Written by Patrick Stiegman, vice-president and editor-in-chief of ESPN.com, the network wants to make sure its on-air personalities remain neutral.

Too bad Rush Limbaugh no longer works for the network. I would have loved to see ESPN enforce these guidelines for him.

Stiegman writes:

We should refrain from political editorializing and gratuitous references to the candidates, their campaigns or their political positions. This means no personal attacks or “drive-by” remarks in columns or on-air segments. Approved commentaries on sports-specificissues, or seeking responses from both candidates on relevant news issues, are appropriate. However, sarcasm, one-liners, perceived endorsements, attempts at humor or political criticism should be avoided.

And there’s more:

Should a candidate appear at or attend a live event on our air (e.g. MLB game, college football game, etc.), announcers should avoid any political commentary, prolonged references to or live interviews with candidates. A brief mention accompanying video of the candidate is appropriate. If approved by senior news managers, interviews may be conducted or taped for reference or airing either later in the same program or at a later date.

Coming soon, updated ESPN’s policies on coverage of Tim Tebow.

 

 

 

Ozzie Guillen shuts down Twitter account

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Say it ain’t so.

Ozzie Guillen has decided to shut up. At least on Twitter.

Yesterday, the Florida manager fired off this tweet to his 231,000 followers:

OzzieGuillen

my last tweet. me ultimo tweet good luck buena suerte.

What triggered this final tweet? Thursday he said:

“Yeah, I hate Twitter,” Guillen said in the Marlins’ dugout before the game. “Everybody following me can (expletive) his pants. You can quote me on that one. … Don’t follow me anymore. Twitter is a stupid thing. I never make money out of that. When you speak Spanish, you speak Spanish. When you speak English, you don’t know how to spell ‘English.’ Get a real job, get a life. I don’t make money out of that. I’m done.”

Prior to signing off, Guillen did a series of tweets on the death of former White Sox reliever Kevin Hickey, who served as the team’s batting practice pitcher during Guillen’s tenure as manager in Chicago.

The White Sox wish Guillen realized Twitter was “stupid” a while back. He angered General Manager Kenny Williams by starting an account. Then after promising to keep it unrelated to baseball, he did a series of tweets complaining about the umpires while a game was in progress in Toronto in 2011. Guillen let his emotions get the best of him after being kicked out of the game.

The tweets landed him a two-game suspension and $20,000 fine.

 

 

 

 

 

Posted in MLB

Live, it’s Saturday night prime time baseball on Fox

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Once upon a time, Saturday night wasn’t a wasteland for television. In fact, it was the best night of the week.

Check out CBS’ lineup for Saturday night in 1973 and say hello to Archie Bunker:

8 p.m. All in the Family

8:30: M*A*S*H

9: Mary Tyler Moore Show

9:30: Bob Newhart Show

10: Carol Burnett Show

Yeah, only five of the best television shows ever, all airing consecutively on Saturday night. Did we ever go out?

However, somewhere along the way, the networks gave up on Saturday nights. It’s there for the taking if anyone wants it.

ABC saw an opening and has done well with its Saturday night prime time football games. Now Fox is looking to up the ante.

Saturday, Fox will begin eight straight weeks of prime time baseball on Saturday night. The slate has the requisite name: Baseball Night in America.

What’s next? Backgammon Night in America?

The baseball games come on the heels of Fox already airing four NASCAR and two UFC events on Saturday night this year.

All told, Fox plans to have 32 primetime Saturdays with sports this year. The package includes 12 regular-season college football games, the Big Ten Championship game, and Game 4 of the World Series.

Package is the key word here, according to Fox Sports Media co-president and COO Eric Shanks. Here’s my Q/A with him.

Why the move to Saturday night?

We were looking to put the puzzle together. We saw the picture and said, ‘Wow, we actually have 32 weeks of prime time sports here.’ There’s a story there. Things always look better when they’re put in a package. Now all of the sudden we have a Saturday strategy. We have a message to sell to our customers.

‘Check Fox out on Saturday night.’ It makes us look smarter than we actually are.

What does this mean for baseball?

The prime time (viewing levels) are much higher. You’re not only going to see your game, but we’ll also be checking into other games. It’ll be an exciting night for fans.

What happened to television on Saturday night?

Saturday night didn’t used to be perceived the way it is now. It’s a chicken-and-egg thing. Is Saturday night being perceived this way because nobody is putting the effort into it? We’re going to try to put something together and find out what people think.

What’s the real reason behind the move?

I’ve got three young kids. What am I doing on Saturday night? I’m not going out. I’m home.

 

 

 

 

 

Question: Why so much coverage for women of SportsNation?

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Jason McIntyre of Big Lead wrote a long analysis piece on why Charissa Thompson is the likely replacement for Michelle Beadle on ESPN’s SportsNation.

However, McIntyre has a wonderful aside in the second paragraph:

Aside: Clearly, this is the most pub SportsNation has gotten since its inception in 2009. The bandwidth spent on the show over the last month has almost been comical; it’s as if we’re discussing the Monday Night Football booth. Maybe that’s what happens when attractive females are involved? That being said, we trudge onward.

The picture that runs with the post provides the answer. It shows Thompson in a bare shoulder black dress.

Of course, there’s so much focus because these are very attractive women here. I mean, would there be this much fuss if Karl Ravech was leaving Baseball Tonight?

Probably not. Then again: Has anyone seen Ravech in a bare shoulder black dress?

Update: Just heard Ravech extended his contract earlier this year with, alas, no fanfare.

 

 

Cowherd’s incredibly wrong take on hockey writers; calls them young, work for cheap

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I almost drove off the road listening to Colin Cowherd during his ESPN radio show today. He basically blamed a “young,” “work cheap” crop of hockey writers as the reason for New York Rangers’ coach John Tortorella’s terse press conference last night.

Credit goes to the guys at Awfulannouncing.com for capturing the clip.

Here are some of the sound bites:

(Newspapers) are getting a lot of young, cheap people to cover hockey. It’s not like newspapers are sending their best people to cover hockey.

And…

Fox News doesn’t send Bill O’Reilly to a speedbump proposal in his hometown. He goes to a presidential election.

And..

Hockey doesn’t get the cream of the crop in our business…What do you think I’m giving the kid out of Fordham? The New York Islanders. He’s cheap, he’s bright, and his brother used to play hockey.

And finally..

The guy covering the Florida Panthers, he was at a floral show early in the week.

At that point, I’m yelling at the radio, which had to look pretty weird to the person in the car next to me.

Not to stereotype as Cowherd does, but this is what happens with somebody who grows up in the Northwest and doesn’t have a clue about hockey. In my hometown of Chicago and in Detroit, New York, Boston, Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, Washington, and other cities, they aren’t handing the hockey beat to some kid just off the bus.

As somebody who used to work for a major newspaper, I can tell you the beat is hugely important, and the hockey writers are well known among their passionate fan bases.

In Chicago, I was inspired to become a sportswriter in part because of the work Bob Verdi did as the Blackhawks writer for the Chicago Tribune in the 1970s. Verds set the bar high, and the current crop (old pals Tim Sassone, Chris Kuc, Jesse Rogers, Tim Cronin and the rest) are highly-respected members of the fraternity.

By the way, where is Cowherd basing his information? When was the last time he attended a hockey game or sat in the press box? At a Hartford Whalers game?

Before Cowherd goes into another rant about hockey, somebody should tell him the Whalers moved out of Hartford a long time ago.

 

 

 

 

 

Posted in NHL

TBS lands wildcard games; MLB Network gets two playoff games

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Major League Baseball took care of its own Thursday.

It was announced that TBS has landed the rights to air the two new wildcard games in 2012 and 2013. However, in the process, MLB shifted two division playoff games to its MLB Network.

It is a shrewd move by baseball. Post-season games will drive more eyeballs to MLB Network. It also means we’ll likely get to hear Bob Costas on the call for playoff baseball. That’s a good thing.

As for TBS, the American and National League wildcard game should attract big ratings. They will have the feel of the win-or-go-home feel of the NCAA basketball tournament. We love that.

 

 

 

Posted in MLB