Monthly Archives: June 2012

Belmont: O’Neill’s problems muck up good story for NBC

Posted on by

I should know better than to engage in a debate with Bob Costas. He’s much smarter and says it better than I ever could.

However, I disagree with his statement about NBC and its coverage of I’ll Have Another trainer Doug O’Neill during Saturday’s Belmont. Last week on Jim Rome’s show, Costas talked about O’Neill and his upcoming suspension in California. He said:

“(Costas will) hit this issue hard, including with direct interviews with O’Neill. … (but) you have to be careful even though there’s an issue here. Let’s say I’ll Have Another wins the Triple Crown, and there’s O’Neill standing there. … Would you ask Richard Nixon about Watergate while he was descending the steps of the church after one of his daughter’s wedding? If we’ve addressed all of these issues prior to, then I think it can be confined to a single question, and I won’t be afraid to ask it.

I’d say the answer is yes if there were questions about Nixon’s ethics as a father. Besides, it’s a different scenario, and clearly O’Neill’s ethics as a trainer are in question here.

And the question should be asked early and often: Does O’Neill deserve to be the sport’s brightest spotlight?

O’Neill’s presence will be the elephant in a room full of horses, so to speak Saturday. I don’t know much about horse racing, but I think having a sanctioned trainer involved here diminishes the incredible storyline of I’ll Have Another’s bid for the Triple Crown. In fact, I’m not sure I want the horse to win if it means having to watch a post-victory interview with O’Neill.

Perhaps, I’m in the minority. During a 38-teleconference with NBC this week, the issue was barely raised.

I did ask NBC how O’Neill would be handled. Costas actually interviewed him on his Costas Tonight show Monday night. Producer Rob Hyland said Costas will do another interview with O’Neill that will air during Saturday’s telecast. As he said, he won’t be backing off the tough questions.

Clearly, though, it’s an uncomfortable situation. NBC would prefer no distractions from a historic bid that should pull huge ratings. I asked producer Rob Hyland if O’Neill’s presence hung a shadow over the race? He said:

I don’t think so. He’s a likeable guy and he’s been open with what’s going on. We’re going to ask the tough questions and America will get the answers.

Announcer Tom Hammond was a bit more candid:

It’ll be somewhat different. I’ve heard some people call him shady. I don’t think that’s a fair characterization. Certainly he has too many allegations for me to ignore. Yet he maintains his innocence. (The California ruling) was kind of a copeout ruling. But yeah, it makes it different. We have to deal with this when it should be a time for joy.

I followed up by asking how O’Neill would be handled if I’ll Have Another wins. Hammond said:

There will be a mention of it, but I don’t see it being the story. The story of the moment will be winning the Triple Crown. I’ll Have Another will be the story, that’s for sure.

Of course, that will be case. However, given O’Neill’s situation, that would be a tough interview to stomach.

 

 

 

 

 

Posted in NBC

Jay Pharoah does Stephen A in front of Stephen A on First Take

Posted on by

If Jay Pharoah’s take on Stephen A. Smith doesn’t become a regular character on Saturday Night Live, I will be sorely disappointed.

Pharoah stopped by First Take Tuesday and it was like having two Stephen As on the set. He was PHEEEE-NAM-NELLLL again.

ESPN posted two clips. The first includes Pharoah as Eddie Murphy defending Stephen A.

And here’s a second clip of outtakes that include Skip Bayless challenging Pharoah to do an imitation of him.

Durant, small-market Thunder deliver solid ratings for TNT; bodes well for Finals

Posted on by

The Western Conference Finals also were big for the NBA and TNT. Thanks to the star power of Kevin Durant, the small-market series delivered solid ratings.

From TNT:

TNT’s coverage of the 2012 Western Conference Finals (WCF) between the Oklahoma City Thunder and San Antonio Spurs – two of the smallest cities among the 56 metered markets with Oklahoma City ranking 44th and San Antonio 36th – averaged a 5.0 U.S. HH rating and 7,823,000 viewers. The network’s coverage of the Western Conference Finals isup 16 percent in U.S. HH rating (vs. 4.3) and 13 percent among viewers (vs. 6,939,000) compared with last year’s WCF between the Thunder and Dallas Mavericks.

TNT’s coverage of last night’s Western Conference Finals Game 6 – Oklahoma City’s 107-99 series-clinching win over San Antonio – generated a 6.0 fast national rating and 9,498,000 viewers. The telecast is up 30 percent in rating (vs. 4.8) and 16 percent among viewers (8,154,000) compared to the network’s last Game 6 between the Los Angeles Lakers and Phoenix Suns in 2010.

That’s huge for the NBA, and positions Durant to be the league’s next transcendent star if the Thunder win the finals. He’ll leap into the Kobe, LeBron territory, if he isn’t already there.

Naturally, the NBA would love a finals featuring Durant and LeBron James and Dwyane Wade. Big game tonight in Boston. Don’t write off the Heat just yet.

 

 

 

Louisville columnist explains why he walked away from dream job

Posted on by

It’s just a crazy time to be in the newspaper business these days. And it got too crazy for Eric Crawford.

Crawford made his exit last week, jumping from his “dream job” as columnist at the Louisville Courier-Journal to join WDRB, where he will write on that TV station’s site. Long-time C-J columnist Rich Bozich also did the same thing.

In a post with the headline, “Why I walked away from the only job I ever wanted growing up,” Crawford writes:

I loved being in the newspaper. I did not love the newspaper business. Sportswriters get front-row seats. But the shrinking of a newspaper I grew up with and loved was not something I cared to watch from the inside any longer.

There were too many meetings run by executives in McLean, Va., too many “news” initiatives dictated from afar that detracted from news needs on the ground here. And in the end, there were too few of my colleagues left in the building, too many gifted people with productive years left being spun back into the community instead of staying where they belonged, inside that building to cover it.

It wasn’t the fault of local editors and publishers. They could no more stop the slide than they could stop severe storms. If left to call the shots on their own, I have no doubt that a different course would have been set for the newspaper long ago, and its status today would have been far different. But no one in Louisville, ultimately, is calling the shots for Louisville’s paper.

Later, Crawford writes:

Around the nation, especially in cities like New Orleans, Birmingham and Mobile, which soon will see their newspaper circulation cut to three days a week, people are re-examining the importance of local media to life in their cities. In New Orleans, the owner of the NFL’s Saints appealed to the out-of-town owner of The New Orleans Times-Picayune to continue daily print publication.

In more cities than this one, out-of-town corporate interests dictating major media decisions is the norm, as is the reduction of reporting staff, furloughing of employees and, soon, the sharing of news operations among competitors.

These are trends WDRB has rejected, and has had the freedom to reject because of a largely autonomous Louisville-based leadership.

Author Q/A: Is there method to the madness, or is Ozzie just crazy?

Posted on by

I barely finished the question.

“Yes,” said Rick Morrissey quickly in reply to whether he wished his deadline was a few months later for his book, Ozzie’s School of Management?

Morrissey’s last chapter covers Ozzie Guillen’s first spring training with Florida. That was pushing things for a book due out in May.

However, no sooner did the book go to press than Guillen found himself in major trouble for incredibly stupid statements about Fidel Castro. Now that would have been a fun chapter for the book.

“Yes, I wish I could have gotten into that, but that’s life,” Morrissey said. “Frankly, with Ozzie, if the deadline was two months later, there would be something else.”

Morrissey, who covered Guillen first as a columnist for the Tribune and now with the Sun-Times, hardly was lacking in material. He uses the backdrop of Guillen’s final stormy season in Chicago to paint a portrait of a most unusual, complex and compelling man.

Morrissey attempts to explain Guillen’s approach to baseball and life. However, I found this line from him to be telling:

Sometimes there’s not a method to Guillen’s madness. Sometimes, there’s just madness.

Here’s my Q/A with Morrissey.

What does the title say about what you’re trying to accomplish in the book?

The title is a bit tongue-in-cheek. It’s like you’d see in one of those bestseller self-help books. Let’s take a crazy manager and see how he does his job. Obviously, there’s the perception that Ozzie is a wild and crazy guy. I think he is a victim of that big personality. People don’t take him seriously.

But there’s more to him. I wanted to see how he does his job.

Is Guillen crazy or is there a method to his madness?

We had several discussions where I said, ‘Ozzie, you’re doing things for effect.’ He said, ‘No, I’m not. I say what I think.’ I do think he likes the attention. He says he doesn’t. However, some of the things he does are borderline ridiculous. You don’t put yourself in that many situations to be criticized if you didn’t want attention.

You didn’t do this book in partnership with Guillen. What kind of cooperation did you get from him?

It’s interesting. He never said, ‘I don’t have time for you.’ If I thought I was bothering him, he’d say, ‘Don’t worry about it.’

Reporters always are looking for the one-on-one interview, but I soon learned he was better in a group situation. The stories were better and he was more engaged. I knew there’s no way writers could write about most of this stuff. I found I got a lot of insights into how he does things when he was talking to a group of us.

Were you surprised about Guillen’s statements about Castro?

I was surprised in the sense that he would go there. He’s a Latin guy and he’s a smart guy. He knows there are things you don’t say when you’re managing in the Cuban capital of America. I don’t think he meant to say what he said. I’m not apologizing for him, but I think it was more along the lines of ‘I can’t believe this guy still is in power.’ But that doesn’t change that he said what he said.

Do you think the harsh reaction will change him?

I thought he looked very contrite. I had never seen him shaken like that. However, I don’t think you can change him. Maybe in the short term, but not in the long term. That’s his personality.

Guillen is the king of F-bombs. You decided to use all of his language in its colorful glory. Why?

I did think about the kids who might pick up this book. But swearing is as much a part of Ozzie as breathing. I thought if I took it out, I wouldn’t be painting a complete portrait of him.

So what kind of portrait did you paint of Guillen?

That’s a good question. I think I painted a portrait of someone who is a lot more than the cartoonish depiction of him in many circles. There’s always a lot of, ‘That’s Ozzie being Ozzie.’ It is him, but there’s more.

It’s about how he handles his players. He’s a better game tactician than people give him credit for.

It’s also about someone who is very needy in terms of attention and affirmation. He wanted that (contract extension) from Jerry Reinsdorf last year, and he didn’t get it. Then he left. That sums up a lot about Ozzie.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

This week’s SI: Josh Hamilton Talks About Relapses, Religion, Family and Baseball

Posted on by

I figured it was just a matter of time before Josh Hamilton landed on the cover of Sports Illustrated.

So it’s hardly a surprise that he is on the cover of this week’s edition. The shot, though, is a bit unexpected. Instead of depicting Hamilton in full power at the plate, it shows him in a reflective pose with his head down.

The photo ties in with the headline: “The fragile brilliance of Josh Hamilton.”

From the release:

Texas Rangers centerfielder Josh Hamilton is on pace to have one of the greatest seasons in major league history, but one night earlier this year could have altered everything. Hamilton’s battle with drug and alcohol addiction had wasted five years of his career and an alcohol relapse in a Dallas bar in late January gained national attention. His family, teammates, the Rangers organization and most important Hamilton have moved on from this worrisome moment, but the difficult journey Hamilton faces every day is the cover story for the June 11, 2012, issue of Sports Illustrated, on newsstands now. This is the second time Hamilton as appeared on the cover, the first was on June 2, 2008.

 Rangers manager Ron Washington knows the cost of bad choices, as he tested positive for cocaine during the 2009 season. He and Hamilton talk frequently about temptation, the game, people and what it means to be a man. Washington says, “Sometimes he can’t sleep at night. This is when the demons start to come out of him, and he needs someone to talk to. Sometimes it takes 20 minutes up in here, and sometimes we take a half an hour. Then he leaves, and I’m cleansed and he’s cleansed.”

 Senior writer S.L. Price spoke with Hamilton’s wife, Katie, about the battles and the two relapses Josh has had over the last four years. Katie, who like Josh is a born-again Christian, credits their faith for saving Josh’s life, their marriage, his body and talent for the moment when he could return to baseball. After all she has been through with Josh, it would be easy to write off what happened in January, but Katie says, “People that don’t know me probably think I have some kind of co-dependence issue, like I get my value in helping him.  Absolutely not. I fully expect him to be the man and husband that God has called him to be. I should never have to assist him in this.”

 As Hamilton continues to put up what could be historic numbers, through Sunday, he was hitting .354 and leading the majors in homers (21), RBIs (57), OPS (1.138), total bases (142) and slugging percentage (.728), for him, it will be his faith and hard work that keeps him going every day.

Also, On the Tablet: Podcast with S.L. Price and Richard Deitsch and a video of Hamilton’s four-HR from earlier this season.

Bayless might be last ESPN analyst sticking with Heat; Stephen A does great Jay Pharoah

Posted on by

I can’t account for every ESPN analyst, but each talking head I’ve heard out of Bristol is burying the Miami Heat.

Jon Barry blew them up on NBA Countdown last night. While riding in my car, I just listened to Michael Wilbon destroy LeBron James and company on WMVP-AM 1000, the ESPN-owned station in Chicago.

Yet through the chorus of jeers, there’s one person sticking with the underachievers: Skip Bayless.

On First Take this morning, Skip proclaimed: “Miami was the heavy favorite to win it all and I’m not backing off.

Later, he said: “I’m not writing them off. I’m sticking with them in seven games, because they’re still the Miami Heat.”

I’m not even sure Pat Riley agrees with Bayless.

Skip obviously is hoping for the last laugh. If you’re soon-to-be-fired Heat coach Eric Spoelstra, you’re hoping Bayless is right and you’re using the avalanche of negative Heat comments to fire up your dead team.

Of course, you have to go to the 5:40 mark to hear Skip’s comments. The open is a classic rant against the Heat by Stephen A. Smith that goes on for nearly four minutes. I’m not sure I’ll be able to watch Stephen A again without going to Jay Pharoah’s take on him on Saturday Night Live.

Four minutes of my life gone again, but it was worth it.

Ratings report: Stanley Cup down; Golf Channel has huge May

Posted on by

The Stanley Cup Final isn’t exactly how the NHL hoped to finish its season. It has been a ratings buzzkill.

Monday’s Game 3 was watched by 1.743 million viewers, down 37% from 2.757 last year for Bruins-Canucks. The game did a 1.03, down from a 1.58.

It doesn’t figure to get much better tonight with Los Angeles holding a 3-0 lead in the series. The clincher will be on NBC Sports Network if the Kings can complete the sweep. Again, not what the NHL wanted.

Channeling up: It’s big times for another Comcast-owned network. Ratings are soaring for the Golf Channel, which enjoyed its biggest May ever.

From Golf Channel:

Coming off its best year ever in 2011, Golf Channel continues to build on its momentum with a strong start to 2012. Based upon five-plus quarters of growth since becoming part of the NBC Sports Group, Golf Channel is the fastest-growing network on cable (among networks serving 80 million or more U.S. homes). Through May, average viewers are up 20 percent over 2011 and 52 percent over the same time period two years ago. Four out of five months in the books so far this year – and the last consecutive four months – have set a “most-watched” record for that month.

And more good news:

MAY MOST-WATCHED: Golf Channel averaged 112,000 viewers per day during May, spurred by compelling PGA TOUR coverage and strong performances from the network’s original entertainment series:
· The second episode of Big Break Atlantis (May 21) was the highest-rated and most-watched (0.3/349,000) original entertainment program in primetime this year and of any Big Break Episode Two in four years.
· The Feherty episode featuring guest Donald Trump (0.2/215,000) was the highest-rated Feherty premiere this season. The series has bolstered the network’s primetime Monday lineup of original shows, which is up 64 percent over 2011.
DIGITAL KEEPS PACE: GolfChannel.com continues to attract new users in 2012, with page views up 41 percent and unique users up 58 percent so far this year over last year. Page views for the site’s mobile application are up 368 percent over 2011.